I know I'm starting a little late on this, I already have a blog with WordPress but it's a more formal one that I need to submit to my program. I imagine it wouldn't be acceptable to make inappropriate or ridiculous comments there, so naturally I decided I needed another one for precisely those purposes. I'm going to Africa. I'm going to need to scream, swear, and yell in excitement and shock. Repeatedly.
So I'm not a huge fan of writing about things I'm experiencing. I generally don't keep journals. In a way, I find it therapeutic and cathartic. But it also is a very strange thing for me. The speed with which I can write cannot keep up with the erratic flow of my thinking, and I end up editing and chopping my stream of consciousness. It feels somewhat artificial and contrived, which isn't really my style.
THAT ASIDE, I think it's important for me to do this, to mark my ideas, thoughts, and experiences. In about a day, I'll be starting an entirely novel and transformative period of my life. There'll be many moments when I feel incredibly overwhelmed by everything that is happening to me, and when it might help to spew out some of the awesome mess in my head.
So just to clarify the purpose of the blog - I am going to Mochudi, Botswana to intern with an NGO called Stepping Stones International. SSI offers an after-school outreach program to youth affected by HIV/AIDS. Mochudi is a village about an hour away from the capital, Gaborone. Not sure what my internet connection will be like, but I'm hoping I'll get a chance to update this with some images to show you what it's like on the ground. And the NGO itself, I've heard amazing things about it. It appears to be a long-standing, robust development operation. I can't wait to learn.
Currently I'm in the process of packing, it's going better than I anticipated. I generally leave all that until the last minute, but this time I'm prepared. I have everything I need, all lined up on my living room floor. It's all neat and organized! I love order, it balances out my mental chaos.
I'm...so excited to be able to do this. It's hard to have any real idea of what it's going to be like, and I'm not really trying to create one. It's going to be what it's going to be. If I've learned anything from travelling, it's to keep my expectations to a minimum and to just ride whatever adventure comes my way.
I hope this blog will be of some use or interest to the people that stumble across it, and a way for me to make slightly more coherent the things that will be rushing through my consciousness for the next 3 months. Thank you to all the friends I've seen this week, I appreciate your support and existence much more than I could ever say.
Farewell for now,
Milena
PS. Mosquitoes, food poisoning, and cockroaches can bring it.
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