2 Years

This past week marked 2 years of me living in Botswana. It also was the 2 month mark until I get to go home. It's crazy to think I have been gone that long and only have such a short amount of time left here! There have been plenty of times I thought the 2 year mark would never come, and now it has come and passed. 

When I was an undergrad at Miami University, I took a summer trip to China for a month. That was the first time I had been out of country and overseas. It was a great trip with many memories, but I specifically remember meeting some other people in the program who had been there for 1 or 2 years. After meeting them I remember thinking to myself there was no way in hell I would ever be able to live and work/serve away from my friends and family in a foreign country for 1 or even 2 years like those people were doing. And now I have done just that.

As my time here dwindles I have noticed that lately I have been a little disengaged with what I am doing here. I am starting to make plans back at home and pack my things here. I'm finding it hard to stay motivated with the few projects I have left. Many of my projects are coming to an end and even though new opportunities pop up I have to kindly turn them down due to lack of time. I still have 7.5 weeks here, so there are still some things that can and need to be done before I leave. Recently I have started to realize the importance of properly saying goodbye to the people here that have supported me (big and small) throughout my service. I have spent 2 years of my life here in Machaneng. Throughout that time I have formed a number of different relationships. 2 years isn't something to look at lightly, it's a nice chunk of my life. I hope I do a proper job of saying goodbye to all of my friendships and acquaintances I've made here. I don't want to forget someone and then on the plane or 6 months down the road feel guilty about it. It's weird that I will no longer call this place home.

In the end these past two years have been a lot of growth and learning in myself. One of the biggest things I think I have learned about myself over this time is my ability to press on. No matter what came in my path throughout my service I picked myself up and kept on this journey. I never gave up and now I am almost finished. The end is approaching and I look back at all I have done, even when things looked bleak, and I feel very accomplished and proud.