Them dogs days are over Florence; they are they are!

Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You cant carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head
Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your loving, your loving behind
You cant carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

“Dog Days are Over” by Florence and The Machine

I am very much aware of the fact that it is August 13^th today.

I am very much aware of the fact that I have been home for almost a month.

I am very much aware of the fact that my Nchito Yabwino experience ended almost two months ago.

I am also very much aware that my reflection blog is way past due.

Here’s the thing. I have a difficult time ‘just writing’. I can’t just sit down. And write. It normally only happens in two cases. One, when I have a deadline or am under pressure. Two, when the mood smacks me upside the head and the thoughts pour out.

Blogging worked well in Malawi largely because I was in a state of constant think-dom. It was not that difficult to regularly make public what was going on in my mind as there was a whole host of experiences to choose from.

It is not that I didn’t want to after we finished. Or felt that I didn’t have to. Or. Anything disrespectful like that. I understand I left my part hanging, full of loose ends and inconclusive thoughts. And I apologize. I blogged on June 13 and then in that last week so much happened. We went back from Chintheche to Lilongwe, we wrapped up with Laban and Allan and Steve, Dennis and Patricia. We did a presentation to the staff on our 6 weeks. And then it was Sunday, June 20^th. And it was alllllllll over. Done. Finito. Thing is, I happen to be a very emotional and sentimental person. So you can imagine that I’m pretty awful at saying goodbye. I can’t do it. It hit me like a ton of bricks that we were finished. I had completely forgotten that I didn’t live in Lilongwe. I had pushed it out of my mind that this was only a 6 week student placement. It’s not that I didn’t want to go home. It’s just that I had forgotten that I would. I forgot that, to be honest, I led a life that was vastly different from the one I was leading in Malawi.

When I arrived back home on July 15^th my family was awaiting me at the airport. It felt extremely strange to be back at home. I have travelled many times before and have been away from Winnipeg for much longer lengths of time than this time. However, I felt like I was seeing everything for the first time.

Friends and family would ask “So. Tell me ALL about Africa”. To which I would, and still do, respond that I simply can’t. Instead I find my stories come out in unanticipated moments. Fixing the fence with my dad and remembering the time we held the rope to repair the borehole. Back at my job as a server at Luxalune and talking about how I had to confront cultural differences and Western expectations head-on while eating out in Malawi.

What I am generally able to tell them about my time ‘in Africa’ was that I feel different now. I feel like a proper grown-up. I know, look at me… falling into the stereotype. The all-encompassing and awfully-generalizing ‘Africa’, has changed me. Yes, I am over my fear of creepy-crawly bugs. And yes, I am a much happier person. And yes, I feel more confident. And yes, (insert crescendo-ing music) I finally have moved from a university student into twenty-something adult world.

One of my fav current singers, is Florence and The Machine, whose lyrics for the song “Dog Days are Over” are posted above. Dog days, according to the credible source that is Wikipedia, refers to a hot and stagnant period that is “marked by a dull lack of progress”.

I feel like that is exactly how I have changed.

My dog days are over because I don’t feel like I’m in some sort of stagnant state in life anymore. I feel like I’m finally starting to ‘get it’. We accomplished a lot during our time in Malawi. We learnt a lot about development and communications. We learnt a lot about interpersonal interactions and dealing with difficult situations. It really was ‘Service Learning’.

This experience has put into context the fact that my life is officially moving. It is also the first time that I don’t have a ‘natural progression’ life-plan; I don’t have the next step, I have lots of options and it’s up to me to figure out what I want from life. I always knew I would go to university. But that was generally as far in the whole ‘thought process of life’ that I would get. I am done that. No more stagnant, follow-through-the-steps for me.

I can hear the horses coming, and I’m going to run.