Maun

How can I describe what life is like these days?! For the first time this semester, in the last 3 weeks I have felt like I'm actually settled in one place. After shifting around every couple weeks, living in Maun on our own feels comfortable and stable. We got moved into a chalet after some luggage was stolen from our campsite (luckily the police actually caught the thief the next day with all the stuff intact!). The chalet enables us to continue our communal dinners without having to build a fire. The biggest perk may be that we can nap because we have beds and AC. It's been a crazy time, really. We take care of each other but we each do our own thing. Many mornings we will walk the 20 minute commute to Backpacker's Lodge for french press coffee and sit by the river under a huge fig tree. Those mornings are divine. At night we put candles outside and sit on our porch to eat dinner. It's truly adorable. The town gets to us all sometimes-- it's small and gossipy and being the new kids in town we stand out a bit. But overall we've had lots of good fun with expatriate and local community members alike.

My project is coming along. It's not going to be a masterpiece, but I have done a number of interviews and have learned a lot already. The people of Sexaxa have been extremely helpful, especially Ryan's old host brother Canaan, who has helped me translate. It always amazes me how many people in the world will do nice things with no expectations in return.

Well folks, I fly home one month exactly from today. It seems like such a long and a short amount of time all at once. I am happy here, but I'm excited to get home. So I'm going to focus on enjoying this time, but anticipating a joyous homecoming!