Metamorphosis

So I just got to actually watch the news story that I previously posted. The highlight of the entire story was hearing my little brother talking. He has grown an insane amount over the time that I have been abroad. Just hearing him talk on the phone, I can tell already tell a difference in his articulation. It is amazing to discover the subtle nuances of daily life that I took for granted before I left the country.

All is going well in Botswana. Matt and I have been spending the last two or three nights in a hotel, acclimating ourselves to the area, while the others have been staying in their village stay in Sexaxa. It has been nice to have some time to readjust myself, to "switch gears" from living on the quaint, island town of Fort Dauphin, to the landlocked, bustling tourist town of Maun.

I miss a lot of things about Madagascar. I will list them for you:

1) The people. I had spent a month and a half building relationships with an amazing group of individuals (students, professors, homestay family members, etc), and they were all taken away from me in a matter of days. I miss these guys a ton, and it will be interesting to start building a group of friends all over again. The people here are extremely nice and friendly, but the group in Madagascar will always hold a special place in my heart. I love and miss you guys.

2) The countryside of Fort Dauphin. I was basically living in a little Caribbean paradise for a month and a half, and I miss the ocean and the cool ocean breeze.

3) Classes at Libanona. The classes here are held in a conference room at a hotel. While that is all fine and good, it is not my quaint little peninsula that overlooked the Indian Ocean. Lunch will no longer be spent outdoors in the grass. I am now in an actual touristy town, and I miss the outdoors.

4) The accessibility and quality of fruit. They have fruit here, but I do not get to go into the market and buy freshly picked mangos and bananas from a little street vendor for 10 cents. Everything here is sold in packages, much like the US, and I despise it.

5) Speaking french. I didn't expect this at all. I was often times frustrated with the french language. But now that I am unable to use a language that I have been depending on for the past month and a half, I miss it. Matt and I speak the beautiful french language sometimes, but overall, it is just not the same.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are many things about Maun that I really like. The internet is fast. I can drink the water without getting dysentery. Items are much more accessible. The food is still tasty. But it is definitely a change for me.

Yesterday afternoon, Matt and I found our way to Sexaxa, the village where the rest of the SIT kids are staying (and also the village that I will be living in next week). We had an interesting time finding the correct bus, etc., but we finally made our way to the lovely little village. It was nice to meet some of the villagers and to become acquainted with the area. From just seeing Sexaxa for a couple of hours, I can already tell that this village stay will be a lot different from the one in Faux Cap. There are some people who speak English (thank goodness), and the families here are just not as poor as the families in Faux Cap. All of the villagers have access to Maun by bus, and a good portion of the villagers have lived in a larger city at some time or another. It is not uncommon for the villagers to have a house in the city, as well as the country. Also, all of the compounds are relatively close together, and the students are able to interact a lot more than we ever could at Faux Cap.

Ever since I have come to Botswana, I have felt a little bit lost (academically speaking). The past week has felt like a vacation in the sense that I have been travelling and living in a hotel in this new country. I think it will take some time to find a new niche for myself here in Botswana, but I suspect that it will all come in due time. Throughout this entire experience, I am definitely learning how to adequately adjust to and cope with change--something that has been quite difficult for me to handle in the past. I am proud of the way I have personally handled this entire situation, and I can already see myself morphing into a new and improved "erin elizabeth."