Really Stoked and A Little Crazy

I am super excited to be leaving the country finally! However, I don't think it has totally hit me yet. It comes in waves. Like today when I saw the date April 11th somewhere. My first thought was "I'll be out of America by then!" My second was, "I'll be in Botswana that day, probably meeting my host family." That's when it starts to sink in that I've never been to Botswana or even Africa before, and I'm moving there for 27 months. My former roommate, Sara, is moving to Japan to teach English a couple of weeks before I leave . She's never been to Japan. We were talking the other day about our impending departures, and agreed that we feel really stoked, but also a little like crazy people.

I can't wait for my next two years in Africa! I have no doubts that it will be an amazing and stretching experience. Beyond that, though, I'm not really sure what to expect. But, I guess this is also about teaching myself how to be flexible and patient in the face of uncertainty. Lord knows that what I took out of the application process!

As for the crazy person part of this post...

I remember thinking while working in the international office how thick the students' files were. It takes a lot of paperwork to get out of the country. Just explaining the application process to the perspective international students made me tired. And, that was just paperwork that went through our office, not even personal life things like packing or saying goodbye to friends. Now, I am experiencing first hand what the students had to go through. Between applying for a passport, packing, shopping, moving all my stuff to my parents house, and doing my Setswana lessons, I don't know that I'll have much time to worry about actually living in Botswana. I think it will just be a relief to board the plane.

So, instead of thinking about things I am nervous about (learning the language, wearing a skirt everyday...ect.) I have decided to make a list of things I am excited about:

• My new Peace Corps friends
• My new Batswana friends
• Learning a new language (it's on both lists)
• My new job- I get to fight AIDS
• Meeting my host family
• Learning to cook new foods
• Traveling
• Learning about a new culture
• All the African sunshine I'm going to get walking around

I'm going to stop there, because the most common advice I've heard from PCV's is not to have too many expectations. Peace.