Before coming to South Africa everyone, including myself was wondering how we would adapt to a new culture. Now that we have been here for ten weeks I have completely emerged myself into the country and am starting to wonder how I will adapt to going back home. I have gotten so used to the ways of living here that I am not sure I will be able to go home and pick up where I left off. Everything here is so exciting every day. When I go home I know that there is no way that I will be able to have as much fun on a regular basis. Even the exciting things will seem mundane. I am afraid that I will place unreal expectations on my friends. Even my friends have already come to this realization. They too are afraid that they will not be able to live up to my Cape Town life. They have made comments that have made me feel like a terrible friend even though nothing has happened yet. I want to make sure that none of these predictions come true, but I am not sure how to achieve this. Along with the exciting life here I have also made new friendships with the people that have been sharing these experiences with me. We will always have a bond that no one will understand because we did this program together. How will my friends understand this? They won’t be able to comprehend why and how I have changed without having been here. And now that this experience has become such a big part of my life I know that I will not be able to stop talking about it for a long time. But I know that everyone else who I left behind won’t want to listen to me go on and on about the amazing time I had. Sure they will initially want to hear about the fun things I did, but after that they will want to move on to the present. So how do I deal with not annoying them and still being able to reflect on the past four months of my life?
I know none of this will be easy and I don’t know if I will have the mental strength to deal with it. I am hoping that I am just being dramatic and that everything will fall nicely into place. But I know this is too much to ask for. Things in life are never that easy, as I have fully learned in South Africa. None the less, I am not dreading going home. I love my friends and family and know that our relationships are strong enough that we will work through any obstacles we face. I am so happy they have supported from the beginning and know they will continue to do so.
