What South Africa did to Me

An experience of a lifetime is what I just came from and  I am noticing is little things on how it changed who I am.
1. I am not much of a TV watcher anymore. It actually makes me anxious to watch TV during the day. I usually only turn it on as I'm getting ready for bed.
2. I am now a coffee drinker! Lincoln did that to me. Nightly coffees with the host parents and late night chats were the best.
3. I have become less of a texter. Unbelievable huh? Sometimes I just do not like being connected to the world anymore.
4. I love my students even more. There is an overwhelming love that is shone between the Americans and South African students. Coming home I have noticed how much more I care about my students and want to know more and more about them. I cannot wait to see what next semester brings with a new group of students.

Of course there is a lot more that Africa did to me and so much that I will only see as I continue to move forward. I have been home a month and some days it is hard to remember ever being there, but the pictures remind me of all the fun times we had as a group.

I would be wrong if I said that I haven't really had time to think about Africa. School, moving and work has thrown me back into the real world really fast. Some days I have to remember to take a minute and remember being there. Or like today when I was unpacking the rest of my clothes from moving I stopped and a smell I only knew from Africa got me. The laundry soap and the Saunders' house smell was still in some of my clothes. It is the little things that I will remember to remember as time continues to pass.