E-mail to Stephanie...
I am starting to adjust better for sure. The first 2 months (5-6 weeks especially) sucked big time. I cried...alot. I was more homesick than I thought i would be. I feel bad for leaving the boys and just miss the simple little life I had. It is simple here but in a different way. You don't have to think much, no one really gets up and goes to work in the morning, etc. BUT i have to walk to a pump to get water, going to the bathroom and bathing is a big chore, you have to start a fire to cook (I won't have to because i have a gas tank and stove top), you have to collect and burn your trash, you have to go out of your way to buy food and use a bike, walk 4 miles or take a bush taxi to get there and back. You have to do laundry by hand...still walking to get the water to do that. So just day to day shit takes up all your time. But then when there's down time it's really down. after dark there is NOTHING to do. There's no electricty, no TV, no phones...NOTHING. Thankfully I have my computer and when I get to site I'll be able to keep it charged as the marternity house (where I'll be working has a solar panel and I can charge my stuff). I have TV shows and a ton of movies downloaded. I don't think I'll be able to watch it all in the 2 years I'll be here. As far as the 2 years go. Am I going to stay the whole time...i don't know. Before I left I was adamant that if I commit to the 2 years I'm going to do the 2 years. but after these 2 months I think I'll play it by ear!! hahahaha...one day, one week, one month at a time. This shit is hard and it's hot as balls here!! Of course that won't last. It's hot season and so it's been as hot as 115 during the day and it's 80 at night...but 90+ in my room. Soon the rains will come and everything will flood. The road that goes to the matrone's (mid wife) house is a dry river bed. So that will fill up and I will need to find other ways to get around town. The mosquitos will come along with the frogs. Give me a lizard anytime. After rainy season is dry season that starts out the first part (October thru February is dry, cold season). i think this weather will be very comparible to San Diego. 70-80 during the day and down to 50 or less at night. Should be AWESOME!! Then back to dry, hot season.
I shower/bathe out of a bucket at least 2 times per day. Sometimes I will take another shower in the middle of the day because it's so hot you think your brain is going to fry. That's not as bad as it sounds (the bucket bath not the brain frying0. I bought a five gallon camping shower bag so at least I can run water over my body once I set it up at my site. I leave tomorrow for the place that I should be living in for the next 2 years. i'm excited and scared. I already have some projects in mind so that makes me excited. I really liked the people that i met and will be working with. but NO ONE speaks english. My language skills are mediocre at best. So communication is going to be at a real minimum. I'm nervous that my language skills will never be enough to work as effectively as I could if I had those skills. But I am going to study and I have a tutor lined up to help me. I passed the language test at Intermediate mid. That's better than I tested at in French when I got here after 2 semesters.
What do you do when you have your period. Well...the same thing you do at home but instead of putting your products in the trash or flushing them everything goes down the nyegen. Some of the older peace corps volunteers said to make sure to put everything down the nyegen. She had thrown out her trash and later that same day saw some kids running around with her used tampon tubes on their fingers playing like monsters. LOL!!! You can't make that up. That's some gross, funny shit right there.
I am turning color for sure. One of the girls at my new home site when I went for my visit was asking me why I had a white stripe across my wrist (watch mark) and the rest of me was brown. I tried in my broken Bambara to explain how white people change color. Didn't go over that well. My face is a mess. All that time i spent getting rid of the sun damage I did to myself in my younger tanning years and in 2 months it all back...with a vengence. I don't get to look in a mirror that often in a good enough light to see myself and that's probably a good thing. I have lost 18 pounds. I haven't seen myself in a full length mirror since I've been in Africa so I can't see the good progress either. i imagine I will lose more weight when I get out to site. My hope is to cut out all the carbs they fill up on here. Rice, toh (a startchy nutritionless substance they use to fill up their bellies) and potatoes...OK maybe not the potatoes because they are really good here...both white and sweet...but I won't eat them all the me. I'm going to try to stick to fresh vegetables and fruits as storage will allow. without refrigeration it's hard to keep things for any period of time. Anyway, I had bought some pants with me that didn't fit before I left the states and now they do...one pair is already to big. And I have a pouch at Loreen's to be mailed that has extra underwear and some smaller size bras (from before I gained all this weight) that I think she needs to send. I have a pucker in the bras that I'm wearing now. Bye bye girls!!
So, that's my life in a nutshell. Our swearing in ceremony is tonight. It is at the president's palace. first time ever that Peace Corps has been able to have their ceremony there. We are all really excited. I have a very fancy Malian outfit that you wouldn't catch me dead in in the states. But here...I'm gonna be the bomb. Pictures will follow.
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