No Need To Say Goodbye

This is the end of my stay here in Cote d’Ivoire, but it just the beginning of my journey.
Ok that was super freakin cheesy and I’m really sorry but I had to say it. I can finally write all the things that have happened to me because I’ll be home before my mom has time to freak out. I’ve gone through a lot of stuff here, and questioned everything I have believed in. I have also found belief in things I never would have before. I’ve seen girls get circumcised, I’ve had a machine gun pressed against my forehead (mom don’t freak), I’ve run from an exploding building, I’ve had a child die in my arms, I’ve watched countless other people breathe their last, I’ve been pushed around and made fun of daily because of my white skin and my inability to understand the native tongue here, I’ve met some of the most bizarre people, I’ve nearly gone insane a few times, and I’ve spent some nights crying me eyes out because I couldn’t handle all the emotions going through me…and I’ve never been happier in my whole life.
Shit happens. That’s what I’ve learned here. Shit happens and you deal with it as best you can. I’ve also learned that it is a teenage feeling to want to change the world. No one can change the world, but we can make differences. No action is too small. You may feel you have no way of making a difference in the world, but you have no idea how many lives you’ve touched just by living yourself. If you’ve ever given someone money when they were low on cash, if you’ve ever shared your umbrella with someone in the pouring rain, if you’ve ever gone out of your way at all to help someone else, you’ve made a difference, and it may seem small but you have no idea what it meant to the person on the receiving end. As I write this now, a song by the amazingly talented Regina Spektor’s The Call runs through my head. This may be the end of my first real adventure, but there is no need to say goodbye. I’ve got loads of new ideas, no approaches, and new perspectives, and a new plan for my path in life. Not to say I have a path already, I’ve yet to create it, but I have an idea of how I want to go about things now. I feel like I’ve matured about 20 years since I’ve been here (although I still act mentally challenged when I have a lot of sugar so no worries people). I’ve also found I am a lot calmer. I never used to be able to concentrate a lot on things because I always wanted to be running all over, but now I can sit for a long time and just read. It’s a great feeling to just sit and think, to just take a step back and look at the world from a different perspective. Now I can't wait to come home and use what I've learned. But I think I'm done blogging for a little while. I just won't have anything cool to say when I am back in Madison now that I've experienced all this! But maybe I'll drop by every once in a while to put in my two cents. Thanks for listening to my rambling even though Uncle Sam cut it short. I can’t wait to see you all when I get back home and thanks for all you’ve done for me. Also thanks for leaving comments on my blogs so I knew anyone actually read them!