I thought it fitting that my first post title was questioning my arrival (I’m in Africa?!) and now my possibly last post title is questioning my departure from this lovely place.  Time has flown.  In less than 6 hours I will leave Windhoek for a week in Cape Town, South Africa and in 8 days I will be on a plane bound for home.  When did that happen?

I don’t have any idea how to start a post that sums up my experiences here. They were overwhelming. Eye-opening. Enlightening. Beautiful. Upsetting. Heart-warming. Frustrating. Humbling. The list goes on. But ultimately, because of the good and the bad, this semester has been wonderful.  Every day presented a new adventure.  Every adventure had a lesson to be learned.  I know that I will continue to learn from my days here long after this, especially in my first months back at home.  People always tell you that studying abroad will change you and your life, and while I can’t say for sure, I can foresee myself agreeing with that statement.

I’ve been working on this post for two days and I’m still at a loss for what to say.

My housemates, my homestays, my travels, my classes…they’ve all given me more than I could have imagined in one semester.  The question I think we’re all struggling with though is how to take it all back.  At this point everything I’ve learned is still pretty overwhelming.  Just know that when you ask me how my semester was, the short answer that you’re expecting won’t even begin to skim the surface of how my time here went.

I’ll leave you with the link to CGE Namibia’s blog which we were required to write in throughout the semester.  I don’t know why I didn’t think to post it earlier, but it will give you much more insight into what we learned about here than my blog has.

We’re off to the airport in a few minutes and I have no idea when, if ever, I’ll be able to return to Namibia.  I’m not sure that I have really realized that yet either.  Since I’m doing a terrible job at summing things up here, perhaps I’ll give it another try when I get home.

Thank you Namibia and CGE for giving me the best semester yet of my college career!