And here it suddenly is: my last day on the job. One year sits behind me.
Tomorrow I leave Mokhotlong for Maseru, and the following day I fly back to the United States. My year-long fellowship at TTL is complete.
I still vividly remember the day I arrived here, and the stream of thoughts that shot through my head: Crazy roads. Amazing villages. Cute babies. Wild mountains. Rapid language. Lots of sheep. Strange world. So different. Here I am. Lesotho. Africa. Rural as hell. Wow… Here I am, and I have a whole year ahead of me.
I remember unpacking in my rondaval, finishing, laying down on the bed and looking up at the thatched roofing. I was a little overwhelmed, felt the physical distance between my loved ones and me, but I was also excited. Really excited. I told myself to just take it one day at a time.
The next 364 days went by much faster than I thought they would. And here I am at the end.
It feels abrupt, awkward, sad, unreal, and, again, exciting. I’m leaping forward into the next chapter in my life — just like I was on my first day in Mokhotlong.
As for what the next chapter will entail, I’m still unsure. I have a lot to figure out. What’s my next adventure? No clue.
I’ll miss my coworkers. I’ll miss the boss. I’ll miss the pace of life, the slow weekends here, the simplicity of town and the basic, every-day sense of adventure that comes to me on waking up in a foreign, remote and vastly-different country than my own.
I’ll miss the smell of a clean baby in my arms, little hands wrapped around one of my fingers, and the privilege of playing every day with an ever-revolving crew of toddlers who I get to become close with.
I’ll miss seeing those toddlers go through the transformations that occur here at TTL all the time, from malnourished and sick to happy, healthy and rambunctious.
As for TTL itself, I know it will continue to thrive and grow without me.
And as for this blog, it will also continue on.
I’m happy now to introduce the newest TTLF Fellow, my replacement at TTL, and the newest author for this blog: Meghan Werner.
I’ll let her introduce herself, but urge all of you to keep checking in with her for all the latest updates from TTL. I know she’ll keep you posted!
Meghan: It’s all yours. Enjoy it while it lasts. It will go by quickly.
The TTLF Fellow is a representative of the North American organisation The Tiny Lives Foundation. Based for one year in Mokhotlong, Lesotho, the TTLF Fellow serves in an administrative support capacity for the Basotho charity TTL.
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