April 14, 2011
Today we left Tubaniso. It’ll be 2 months before we go back again.
Thankfully most of our gear went out on big trucks on Saturday to be taken to our transit houses. In case I’ve never explained a transit house…there is one house in each region available for PCVs use. It is somewhere that a PCV can go to decompress with electricity, internet, air conditioning, running water…shower, toilet and everything. You can stay up to 36 nights a year. You have to sign in and out and make plans to stay overnight before hand. It’s usually a fairly big, traditional as we would know it, house. A living room, dining room, full kitchen and several bedrooms…big enough to fit several bunk beds in each room. So the plan was that PC was taking the bulk of our luggage, trunks, gas tanks and stoves, bikes, etc to each of the transit houses in our area. Then today we would take a bus to said transit house. Spend at least two nights giving us the opportunity to go to the big market and buy things we will need to get settled in…pots, plates, buckets, mattresses, maybe a chair to sit in (which I did not get, along with the bed frame I needed…so I am sitting in my mosquito tent with my mattress in it), etc. Spending a second night and then “installing” ourselves by taking public transportation with all the above mentioned items into our homesites on the third day.
So I would have to get myself, 2 large suitcases, a small suitcase, a metal trunk, a gas tank, stove, water filter system, buckets, camping backpack, regular backpack, 2 rugs/mats, a mattress and a bike to the bus stop, on the bus, negotiate a price (the ticket for me will always be the same but if you have a lot of luggage you have to pay extra), have them drop me and all my stuff off at the bus stop by my home and then get all this stuff off the bus and to my house. Hmmm!! And this is new this year for PC. Up until now they have always dropped the PCVs off and “installed” them right to their homes. Thanks!! I guess for them no matter how you do it it’s a logistical nightmare. For us it would just be a nightmare. I only live about 35 minutes from the transit house by bus. By car about 25 minutes. So I told my regional director, “Now, I don’t mean to sound like a baby but, by the time you put all my stuff in and on the car, take me to the bus station, we buy the ticket, take all the stuff off the car and put it in the bus it will take an hour. You can just drive me to my site in 25 minutes and be back in 25 minutes.” Makes sense, right? Luckily we have a fantastic regional coordinator and he didn’t think it was a good idea to have us go out to site by ourselves. Our stoves have to be set up and they didn’t show us how to do it, we don’t have the language to properly go to the dugutigi and say hello and give blessings and it is just plain stressful…not to mention almost impossible. At least I live on the main road, but some people live 5, 10, 20+ kilometers off the main road and the only mode of transportation is a donkey cart. Anyway, he is helping to “install” all 6 of us from the Bougouni area. We said we would do whatever we had to to make it work. That included 2 of us having to be installed today instead of spending the night and doing it tomorrow. So guess who got to go early. Yeah…me!! This is something you have to mentally prepare for so I was not happy. I know they picked me because it was already getting late and I live the closest to the transit house. So travel time would get me there and them back to Bougouni before dark. But knowing this did not make me feel any better. The only good thing about it is that it is finally done. I would have stressed all night about having to leave in the morning. Now it’s done and over. I’m at site, by “bed” is set up, my shit is all together in one place and I’m ready to start my new life.
Everyone seemed really happy to see me. As soon as the car pulled off the road in front of Maternity people swarmed us, all shaking my hand, giving greetings and blessings galore…I didn’t even get out of the car. I was a little excited to be back as well. I finally will be able to start what I came here for. Almost. I’m not supposed to really do any planning or start any projects until after the 2nd part of training which is in 2 months. On June 11 we will return to Tubaniso for 2 weeks for more intense technical training. After that I can begin real work. In the meantime, I will integrate into the community, work on my language skills, do some community assessments (finding out what the community thinks they need) and I will go to work with the matron at the maternity (clinic). She sees sick babies and moms, does prenatal consultations and delivers babies. I may actually get to see my first baby be born. I’m excited.
Only problem with me installing early…unfortunately in the morning I was going to go to market and buy some fruits, vegetables, rice, pasta stuff, etc. so I can cook and have food for the coming week…as my market day in the next town over was today and I missed it. Now I am here and have no food and market day is a week away. I told the matrone before I left site visit that when I come back I’ll be set up to cook for myself. It’s 20 after 8. I don’t think she’s coming with dinner…which also means no breakfast. I’m a little hungry.
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