Yes, We Know It's Christmastime in Africa.

It's 7am on December 25th and I've just woken up to find my family having tea and laughing at  my brother who is still sleeping off last night's adventure. We're trading stories and joking about the way they all protected me from the men at the bar.

It's 2pm and I'm in the car with my siblings driving down a 30k dirty road for over an hour on the way to see mom. Trucks packed with people keep flying past our little car as we occasionally stop to grab a different fruit or berry for me to try from the Bush. My sister asks what we do in America on Christmas. I tell her we get together with family and eat a lot.

It's 6pm on December 25th and we're all sitting around the fire at masemo  (the farm lands) listening to the rain and eating porridge. My host mom occasionally looks at me smiling and then chuckles something in Setswana. I know she's worried I'm not warm enough, she's worried I'm not learning enough Setswana, she's clearly worried I'm not eating enough. I smile back. Life is good.

It's 8pm and I am wrapped in blankets, reclining in the front seat of my sisters car, listening to the rain fall. I had hoped to spend a night in a traditional but, but due to the rain, a leaky roof, and a moderate Christmas gathering, I offered to join my sister in the car. My heart is bursting with joy at my fortune.

It's 10am on December 26th and my sister, nieces, and I are picking morogo (a type of spinach) from the ground next to the goat corral. We're talking about men and family and work as I laugh about the donkeys mating nearby and the kids play.

It's noon on December 26th and I've just been fed for the third time today. My mom is making sure I'm eating as much as possible and that I'm trying all of the traditional foods from the land. My tea is mostly milk and sugar and my finger nails are caked with dirt. The kids are worn out from our morning dance party with the car stereo and my brother is hard at work cutting down trees for the fence. A neighbor comes to visit and my mom shows her the beautiful necklace my mom in America sent for her. She is glowing as she says "from mami to mami."

Seems like Christmas to me.

Home Sweet Home

Peace Corps has made me a home-body. 

Now I learned long ago that home isn't really one place but a place that makes you feel a certain way. It's the feeling you get when you wrap yourself in your favorite blanket and watch the fire flicker next to the Christmas tree. Or the feeling you get when you relax in the hammock enough to drift into sleep with the birds as your lullaby. It's the feeling you get when you're in your best friends apartment for the first time and you already know it because her belongings from past apartments are strewn across the room. Home is where small talk isn't necessary because the hug says it all. For me, home is in 100 different places across three different continents. The longer I'm here the more I want to be in the village at home, because there are only so many months left to truly call this home mine. 

Going home to Ohio was incredible. I saw so many loved ones and was busy non stop for the whole 12 days. I spent nearly every day with my nieces and nephews, and I really couldn't have asked for anything more. I got to spend so much time in Cleveland and I could get anyone to join with a simple reminder that my Homecoming was temporary. My best friends were all home for the wedding and we got to be together for the first time in three years. Ohio was a fairy tale for those two weeks. I can't express enough love and gratitude for the people who went the extra mile for me while I was home. Especially my incredible parents who simply asked for my schedule and my grocery list and went along for the ride. 

I thought it would be hard to go home to Ohio. I thought it would be hard to come back to Botswana. But neither happened. Sure, I sometimes had difficulty explaining my experiences, and sure, I cried in the airport after I said my goodbyes, but both places held my heart, so each gave me comfort. Going to Cleveland was exactly what I needed, like it always has been. Finally being back home in Bots was exactly what I needed, like it always is. With only 9 months left I feel like I finally have my solid footing here. I know my routines and I feel confident in my abilities. It was almost like overnight I went from feeling like I had no idea what I was doing to feeling competent as a PCV. Within reason. I did, after all, somehow lock a chicken inside my house for the night. 

It feels like I finally am figuring things out. So get ready for some big new adventure to come crashing through and toss everything in the air again. But for now, I'm enjoying time at home. And I'm thinking about everyone back at home.