Saying Goodbye to Serowe

Time passes strangely in Botswana. The first few weeks in Botswana seemed like months. Even though only a few weeks had passed, such a massive change had occurred in my life, that it seemed like it had been a long time since I had been home.

Now, time is passing quickly. We only have a few days until we swear in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. We learned about our site placement last week, and we met our supervisors soon a few days later. Each volunteer is assigned a supervisor and counterpart at their site who is tasked in helping them learn about the organization they will be working at, assisting them in developing projects, showing them around the village, and introducing them to important members in the community.

At first, I was very excited to learn about my new site. I am working with Red Cross Botswana in Sefhare. Sefhare is a small village in eastern Botswana that hosts around 6,000 people. When I learned about my site, I kept on imagining the people I would meet, the projects I would work on, and the new places I would see. However, as our swearing-in date has gotten closer, I have realized that living at my site, means that I will be living away from the friends that I have made these past few weeks.

PST has been so many things. It has been challenging, stressful, exciting, boring, informative, and wonderful. And, as I find myself saying goodbye to the friends I have made here, I am nostalgic. Entering into the Peace Corps has been a unique experience. Because of this, I have bonded closely with  many other Trainees. We have become close because of the intense changes we have gone through together. And, once I leave, I know I will miss my new family of volunteers very much.