Life continues as usual and I am trying my best to smoothly fit in again. Now that my 21 days of incubation period (no quarantine!) have passed I feel more relaxed and don't think too much damage was done to my mental and physical state. Besides the unforeseen and difficult circumstances I feel kind of good about my first experience as an aid worker and the curiosity of 'what else is there' is slowly making its way again to my head and heart. I knew the moment I signed my contract that this would change my life (again) and now I realize that there is no way back...I have become one of these strange expats, giving friends and family the impression to be a bit lost in life but actually knowing very well which direction to go.
Does it matter that I don't manage to plan more than 3 days ahead since I got back? That I don't really care where we go for dinner or what the plan is for today, but want to leave all options open? Is it selfish that I can feel so close to someone for some precious moments and the next day want to be on my own again, planning my next biking holiday in Thailand? Or is this what it means to be an aid worker and finding ways to deal with the things you experience during life in a mission and the person you want/need to be in the outside world?
No damage done...
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| Announcing that the paediatric and obstetric hospital was suspending activities due to the current ebola outbreak, Bo, Sierra Leone (Veerle Hermans, 2014) |
