Back from Botswana
Posted by Nathan on October 7th, 2008
So…6 weeks!
I can’t believe it – but I have been back in Canada now for six weeks! The time has flown by in a similar fashion to the way that my summer went by so quickly. No though, I don’t feel as if every single moment is quite so precious or treasured.
Getting back into the swing of the life as a typical university student in southern Ontario was a little challenging. I had less that 48 hours between when my plane touched tarmac and when I started in at the University of Guelph. To say the least, there was a lot of catching up to do with family and friends – and it all happened too quickly!
The reverse culture shock was definitely noticeable, but not detrimental to anything. I felt as though I was living a very lavished and expensive lifestyle here back home. The general person seemed much less interested in my life and much colder. There was not the same laughter or the same human-to-human contact in Canada, that I had grown so accustomed to in Maun, Botswana.
I missed the people and the sights and the memories for a while. Though, after getting to share my story with various friends, groups and really just anyone willing to listen, they have become my tool for teaching. I have shifted now to sue my experiences and what I saw and learned to impart onto others in hope that they too can have at least some part of the learning that I was so graciously provided.
Even now, six weeks later – one and a half moon cycles over of the Kalahari desert – I am still being asked about my summer and my trip and my experiences. This trip is not over now, it will never be over. This is simply another story in a new amazing chapter of my life called ‘now’.
