I am sitting at my hotel in
Lilongwe anxiously awaiting my flight for Edinburgh tomorrow. I do wish the
flight was headed for St. Louis but this still marks one step closer to September,
the end of my dissertation work, and becoming an American again!
Malawi has been an
experience of a lifetime and I know that once it is over I will be able to look
back and be glad that I was here. At the moment I am so happy to be leaving
though. Part of it is missing the comforts of home and part of it is missing
the normal life that one can lead in their home. So I am looking forward to take
away coffee, hot showers, internet, the comfort of feeling safe at night, independence and freedom, not
having the color of my skin draw unwanted attention… I will miss the sun and warmth of Malawi though – both
in the temperature sense and that of many of the people. I learned a little bit more about what I do and don't want from a career or a job. I think I also realized that I don't want to live in a place like Malawi for good but do hope to be able to visit once again!
I have not succeeded in
writing as much of my dissertation here as I had hoped or planned to but I also
did not expect that just living here would be such a challenge for me. The essentials of life take up so much time here, such as transportation, buying food, cooking meals, laundry, etc. leaving little time for much else I found. Looks
like I have a lot of work ahead of me when I return and get settled down back
in Edinburgh!
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