What Have I Become

I started out as a freshly graduated university student. I had never had a ‘real’ job before. Note: I don’t count being GS camp counselor, class grader, or lab researcher a ‘real’ job—they were way too cushy.
Although I had been lucky enough to have done some traveling before, I really was unprepared for coming to my first African country. In my mind I thought I packed myself up before to do my senior year of high school in Italy, I can do a year in Rwanda. I spent a summer working in London; I can do a year in Rwanda. HA. As much as I might have lived alone and far from my family, nothing had really prepared me for what I was going to go through—and I’m not sure that anything could have prepared me for it.
I was (am) a type A personality that likes to be in control. I like logic. I like set rules, schedules and plans (maybe that is why I was good at ChemE). As much as I thought I was flexible, I had never truly been tested.
All I knew about Rwanda was what I had read about in the various books before I came-and lets be honest not much of it was ‘good’.
I dreamed of meeting some nice ex-pat people, becoming great friends.
And most importantly I really thought I would only do it for a year (hence why I hadn’t really considered the Peace Corps because their commitment is longer).

Now look at me-
I’ve become hardened from dealing with different types of people in various situations (though I have yet to get full control over my crying). I totally feel comfortable getting on a bus for over 24 hours to get to my destination. I still like rules and logic, but I’m learning how to cope with all that logic and planning being flushed down the drain on a daily basis. I’ve learned so much not only about Rwanda, Africa, and the world by really following various news outlets [I admit I have become an even bigger news junkie than I was before I came, I realized before I was only a JV news junkie]. Based on my volunteer time I realized that my life style as a volunteer didn’t really mesh well with a lot of the big NGO ex-pat employees here and our experiences were much different, I actually got a long better with Africans and other volunteer types.
And probably the most important thing that I have become is married. In my first year I met a Ugandan guy and we stayed together and are now married and come October we will have been married for a year.

It’s strange to think back to senior year at UD and the following months at home, because surely when I thought about my time in Rwanda and what I hoped to accomplish I had not thought that this would be the path I would be on…but here I am.

Stay tuned in the next few months to read about my reflections about living here for 3 years and my thoughts about moving back to the US..