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.
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