Half of a Year!

6 Months in Botswana!

   Today marks 6 months in country for myself and the rest of Bots10!  Here are some things that I've experienced, along with the rest of Bots10, so far over the course of the last 6 months:

Staging in Philly and meeting the rest of Bots 10!

The long flight to Botswana and all of the excitement and anxiety that came along with that!

A couple of days at Big 5 Lodge-starting to learn some Setswana, meeting some PC staff, and adjusting to malaria medication, adjusting to being far away from home

Meeting host families and moving to Kanye for the rest of Pre-Service Training (PST)

PST-2 months of Setswana lessons, trainings, getting to know other trainees better, learning from host families, learning to eat and cook new foods, exploring Kanye, shadowing volunteers, and finding out our site placements

Host family party- thanking our host families and saying goodbyes in Kanye as well as making a lot of food and having fun with a fashion show 

Moving Day- saying goodbye for now to other PCVs and moving to our new homes in our villages 

2 Months of Lock Down- Adjusting to living in our villages and away from the rest of our training class, getting to know people, conducting our community assessments, and figuring things out

IST-In-service training, being reunited with the rest of Bots10, more language learning, and adjusting to being around a lot of other Americans all over again…some of us felt a little overwhelmed at first

Past two months at site- Going back to our villages and saying goodbyes to PCV friends again after IST, but enjoying no longer being on lock down and being able to visit other volunteers and work on projects with them. Realizing that I'm still figuring things out and have so much left to learn and that's ok.

   I've been thinking a lot during the past week about how lucky I am to be here and for the experiences I've had so far. I feel enthusiastic for the next 20 months because I know this is only the beginning. There is so much that I still want to do here and so much that I am still learning, and that is a little scary, but it is also pretty exciting. Bring it on!