I went through a period of time where I started to become one of those people who judged others who fell in love with somewhere after only being there for a short time; those who visit briefly and then talk about it for the next 2 years… Now, I’ll be the first to admit, this was quite condescending of me, because I felt the same way about Haiti after I left. But after I spent my first 5 months in Ghana, I began to judge myself for my love of my brief experience in Haiti. I began to think about why others probably judged me.
When you spend more time in another country, you realize how little you saw in that one month…That one month is barely enough time to get used to the food, the weather, get over your culture shock, and start to find your way around… When you stay in a place longer, you see so much more… You discover the little things you love about the place, the people, the culture, and you find a way to make these count more for the things that make you angry, upset, frustrated. If you are willing to step outside your comfort zone, away from the padded walls of the volunteer or expat community, you witness a different side of life, a different way of living. You are exposed to both beautiful and terrifying circumstances. You go through ups and downs, some days loving everything about your surroundings, some days cursing every person who singles you out because you are a foreigner, wishing you could blend in for just a day… You learn the language and even more so, the way people communicate. You learn to suspend your judgments and hold your tongue because your opinion isn’t going to change a cultural trait that has existed for hundreds of years before your coming-and it’s not your job to change that. You learn patience and your life slows down a bit, which comes as a frustrating halt of the brakes for some, but can become a paradise of easier living if you embrace it. You find tolerance in dealing with the constant hassles of being an outsider…and you also learn when to say screw that tolerance, and stand up for yourself. You are challenged daily, but your life also often changes daily, bringing you new surprises and reasons to smile and laugh. You are broken down and put back together over and over again until you begin to see what you are truly made of.
Now I understand why I fell in love with Haiti in one month. Why so many fall in love with Ghana in just a few short weeks. I think it’s that taste of wanderlust. It’s that brief moment of realizing that there is more to the world out there than what you have known all your life, and that that world is beautiful and interesting and new and is waiting to be explored. It’s seeing that there is so much more to a place than what the media and news in our home and the 20 people who asked if we would live in huts during our stay, tell us. For one brief moment in time, you are put so far outside your norm that you begin to look at the world like a child again-everything is new and interesting and foreign. You have to learn things all over again-language, social interactions, your way home at the end of the day. But it is this childlike sense of adventure and wonder, gazing at something completely new to you, that fascinates people for years after they visit a place. It’s the awareness that the world is far bigger and grander than your imagination could possibly carry you…
So no, I don’t think you have any right to walk away from a month in Africa and think you’re Mother Theresa and you helped so many people who were desperately in need. But I do believe in and respect the love for a new place, new people, and a new experience, that can come from even a few short weeks. And what’s more, I encourage everyone who has even the slightest desire to see someplace new: get up and go. Stop dreaming (well keep on dreaming, but make your dreams happen), (save up), buy your ticket and go. Even if its for only a few weeks. If you can stay longer, that’s absolutely wonderful-you will see and touch and experience more than words can say. But if a few weeks or months are all you have to spare, go and see something new. Shake yourself up, leap outside your comfort zone and awaken something new inside yourself. Life is too short to have the same experience every day. To see the same people, the same buildings, the same streets, to drive to the same job, every single day. The world should be your playground, no matter where you are. Now go explore it.
We are all wanderers on this Earth. Our hearts full of wonder and our souls deep with dreams.
Wandering through Wonderland 