I am the
first of my Peace Corps Mozambique group to COS (shout-out to
MOZ15!!!) and as I close out my service, I keep hearing talk of
“Reverse culture shock”- that complicated phenomenon that hits
expatriates upon return to the homeland. Contrary to popular belief,
returning home is not as easy as just picking up where things were
left off. Time has elapsed, people have changed, everything isn't the
same.
In a way,
going to Africa was easy because I was mentally, physically, and
emotionally prepared for something completely new and different. On
the other hand, I don't know that I'm prepared to feel like a
stranger in my own country.
I kept a
weekly blog during my two years abroad (Musings from Mozambique).
Now as I enter the next phase of this crazy adventure, I'll be
writing about my experience coming home and re-joining American
society.
Some of the
blog names I considered in creating this blog:
- Life Without Mel (my dog)
- Menos Moz (“without Moz”)
- No More Lanche (a reference to the Mozambican custom of having snack time between meals)
- De lá para L.A. (which would work if I actually lived in Los Angeles and not San Diego)
- Voltando (“returning”)
- Embora (“away”)
In the end
I chose USAmbique, which I felt encompassed the sentiment of being
stuck in the middle, neither here nor there, in limbo. I loved my
time in Mozambique and I'm sooo excited to be home but I anticipate
that the next few months will be a challenging and emotional adjustment.
Join me on
my journey of re-entry, as I re-learn what it means to be American
and come to terms with being, finally, an RPCV.
Viv
1 comments:
You might also find how easy it is to lose sight of things you learned or appreciated here. You start dong the things you did back home and forget about the little things like greeting everyone or walking really slow even though you're already 15 minutes late. Or even flaking out because it is raining or you have diarrhea.
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