I have made it to site! I am a sworn in Peace Corps Volunteer, I live in a village on a mountain, and its great!
Right now I am celebrating Christmas with fellow PCVs in town. We had a secret santa gift exchange, where the presents included peanut butter, cookies, pasta, and plastic buckets. Its funny what you come to appreciate most living in this country. You can never have enough buckets. Never. You need as many as you can get in order to horde water, wash dishes in, shower out of, wash clothes in, sit on, store food in, make bucket wine in... Its also really useful to keep a bucket in your room in case you have to pee in the middle of the night and your choo is too scary to use after dark. This happened during homestay, only I didn't have a bucket. I used a candy container instead. Peeing in your room is an interesting experience.
I can already see how living in Tanzania is changing me. I have become so much more aware of my water usage, and how much fuel it takes to cook my food or heat water. Taking a hot shower is such a luxury. I haven't taken one since I came to Tanzania. A cold shower is super safi, because it isn't out of a bucket.
Before joining the PC, my friend told me a story about a Volunteer who, early on in her service, had to deliver a baby, and ever since then I have been certain that that would happen to me. I researched how to deliver a baby, what to do in the case of certain complications. Its all written down in my big black book of knowledge. So, on my first night at site, when a woman came to my door speaking rapid Swahili that I couldn't understand, I should not have been surprised to find a woman in labour at the clinic and me expected to help her deliver the baby. Let me tell you, its completely different when its in Swahili. There I am, alone with this woman, and I am stuck on the fact that I can't tell her to breath, because I don't know how to say that in Kiswahili. Luckily, she had done this before and was very calm. Eventually, the nurse for the clinic arrived, and then immediately the baby came out! I stand there, see the baby slide out, hand the nurse the clamp, string, scissors, then I'm wiping the baby down and rubbing its chest to get it to cry. The nurse is helping the mother to deliver the placenta. I am holding this floppy new born baby. Oh my god. Birthing a baby is disgusting.And really cool. This is my life right now.
So, everything else at site has been normal and slow and after that. I go on walks. Talk to people. I have already gotten really good at staring out my window for entertainment, or watching the cows and goats eat out of the garden in front of my house. Things are pole pole (slow). I have a really annoying cat that the previous volunteer left behind. She cries all the time and is really high maintenance; how she has survived this long in Tanzania is beyond me. It makes me miss my cat in the States, her sassy independence, how she talks to birds, how she will yell at you. Brandy, are you taking care of her?
I'll let you know if I deliver any more babies.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Shadow Week or Maisha wa Voluntia
I'm not sure if that is proper Kiswhili, but I am shadowing a PCV this week in Mbeya region, in southern TZ. Mbeya could not be more different from Tanga- cold, mountainous, evergreens. I have gotten to see what life as a volunteer looks like. Some highlights:
I met a man named Flamingo Body and a girl named I don't know.
Full grown men and women sat on me during a 4 hr bus ride.
I baked 3 loaves of bread on a charcoal jiko using pots in one day.
I watched a Tanzanian drama, which is surprisingly similar to Asian dramas, just in Swahili.
I saw a pig be born.
Shadow has made me much more excited about living at my site. Living with a host family is a good experience, and the best way to learn about Tanzanians, but it is not indicative of what life will be like at site, so, future PCTs, if you are having a hard time in training, know that things will change. If you are in Turkmenistan and stay with a home stay family for 2 years, pole sana.
Some other recent habari is that we got our site announcements! I will leave the process of site announcements shrouded in mystery and anticipation, as it was for me, but I will tell you that I am going to be in central TZ, in Dodoma region, near Kondoa. Dodoma is a desert, but my site is in the foothills, so it should be a little cooler, I will be by a health clinic, and should have solar power to my house, which is a BFD. Swear in and installation is in about 2 weeks!
My cross country trip to Mbeya from Tanga for Shadow enhanced how grateful I am to be in this country. It is beautiful and diverse here. Every PCV I have talked to has emphsized the importance of not making generalizations, how every village is different, how culture can change across just a few kilometers. In the States I think we make broad assumptions about other peoples and countries, especially about "Africa." The people- and landscape- in Tanzania are so diverse, with different languages, religions, clothing, food... there is no way to make bblanket statements about an entire continent. This is something that I have to work on- I catch myself talking "Africa" based on what I have seen here, but I don't know anything about "Africa." I barely know anything about Tanzania. I know I am in the right place when my coworkers tout diversity over generality.
I also find it strange to be in the midst of development work. I was a biology major, I know nothing about development, yet I find that I have very strong opinions about how development should be done, especially in this place where development is such a hot topic. A man came into the village of the PCV I am shadowing a month ago and built a bunch of pump wells, which is great, except that now they are all broken, and no one knows to fix them. Where was the education or training for the villagers? Why didn't he contact the other American living in the village? Electricity is slowly working its way up the mountain to her village now, too, which will improve life and is great, but why not bring supplies for using a renwable energy resource instead, like solar? It probably would have been easier to carry a bunch of solar panels in a truck than build giant poles all up the mountain for electrical wires, which still need to be connected to each house.
I read this National Geographic article on how the Earth's population is at 7 billion, and how fertility rates and population density correlate to amount of resources used. Much of the Earth's population is condensed into developing countries, but it is the devloped countries- which have fewer people and lower fertility rates- that are taxing Earth's resources most. Most devloping countries are reducing fertility in an effort to increase economic development- or maybe decreased fertility is a byproduct of development, kind of like the chicken and the egg. There aren't necessarily resources sufficient to support 7 billion people, and counting, but people also shouldn't continue living without sanitation and infrustructure when other people have private jets and yachts.
Development is interesting, and frustrating, and difficult, and there is definitely a better, more sustainable, way to do it. I hope I can do it the better way.
I met a man named Flamingo Body and a girl named I don't know.
Full grown men and women sat on me during a 4 hr bus ride.
I baked 3 loaves of bread on a charcoal jiko using pots in one day.
I watched a Tanzanian drama, which is surprisingly similar to Asian dramas, just in Swahili.
I saw a pig be born.
Shadow has made me much more excited about living at my site. Living with a host family is a good experience, and the best way to learn about Tanzanians, but it is not indicative of what life will be like at site, so, future PCTs, if you are having a hard time in training, know that things will change. If you are in Turkmenistan and stay with a home stay family for 2 years, pole sana.
Some other recent habari is that we got our site announcements! I will leave the process of site announcements shrouded in mystery and anticipation, as it was for me, but I will tell you that I am going to be in central TZ, in Dodoma region, near Kondoa. Dodoma is a desert, but my site is in the foothills, so it should be a little cooler, I will be by a health clinic, and should have solar power to my house, which is a BFD. Swear in and installation is in about 2 weeks!
My cross country trip to Mbeya from Tanga for Shadow enhanced how grateful I am to be in this country. It is beautiful and diverse here. Every PCV I have talked to has emphsized the importance of not making generalizations, how every village is different, how culture can change across just a few kilometers. In the States I think we make broad assumptions about other peoples and countries, especially about "Africa." The people- and landscape- in Tanzania are so diverse, with different languages, religions, clothing, food... there is no way to make bblanket statements about an entire continent. This is something that I have to work on- I catch myself talking "Africa" based on what I have seen here, but I don't know anything about "Africa." I barely know anything about Tanzania. I know I am in the right place when my coworkers tout diversity over generality.
I also find it strange to be in the midst of development work. I was a biology major, I know nothing about development, yet I find that I have very strong opinions about how development should be done, especially in this place where development is such a hot topic. A man came into the village of the PCV I am shadowing a month ago and built a bunch of pump wells, which is great, except that now they are all broken, and no one knows to fix them. Where was the education or training for the villagers? Why didn't he contact the other American living in the village? Electricity is slowly working its way up the mountain to her village now, too, which will improve life and is great, but why not bring supplies for using a renwable energy resource instead, like solar? It probably would have been easier to carry a bunch of solar panels in a truck than build giant poles all up the mountain for electrical wires, which still need to be connected to each house.
I read this National Geographic article on how the Earth's population is at 7 billion, and how fertility rates and population density correlate to amount of resources used. Much of the Earth's population is condensed into developing countries, but it is the devloped countries- which have fewer people and lower fertility rates- that are taxing Earth's resources most. Most devloping countries are reducing fertility in an effort to increase economic development- or maybe decreased fertility is a byproduct of development, kind of like the chicken and the egg. There aren't necessarily resources sufficient to support 7 billion people, and counting, but people also shouldn't continue living without sanitation and infrustructure when other people have private jets and yachts.
Development is interesting, and frustrating, and difficult, and there is definitely a better, more sustainable, way to do it. I hope I can do it the better way.
Friday, November 4, 2011
PST or Why Am I Doing This?!
I have been at my CBT (community based training) site for two weeks now. I live in Kilulu, a village near Muheza town in Muheza District. I live with a host family, who speak no English, have no running water and no electricity. The night I got to my host family, I was terrified. I was soooooo nervous. I had spent the last week in Dar, spending every moment with my 40 other PCTs, speaking English, enjoying electricity, drinking beers in the gazebo in the evening, and really having no interaction with Tanzania at all. My mama came out to the car when we pulled up, a tiny worn woman, and carried my bags in for me- bags that I have trouble carrying, and I have multiple inches on this woman. She walked me through her dark little house to the courtyard in the bag, sat me on a stool, and continued making dinner on a wood fire in a hut outside, in traditional TZ style. I was immediately surrounded by silent children, staring at me. I know how to greet in Swahili at this point, that's it. One little girl hands me a baby she's holding, so now I am holding someone's baby, being stared at, with nothing to say. That was basically my first night in homestay.
In TZ, people use the choo, which is a structure usually unattached from the house, with a hole in the floor, where people do their business and shower. Its basically a bathroom. Choos are terrifying places. And I have a nice choo. The top of the structure is roofed by some kind of dried veggitation, and spiders like to inhabit it. I don't like spiders. I don't like little spiders in the States. Spiders in TZ.... you could put a leash on them and take them for a walk. There are seven in my choo. My solution is to crouch as low as possible without actually crawling on the floor so as to put as great a distance between me and the giant spiders.
I have a very nice room. I actually feel really bad because I have a huge room to myself, and the rest of the family- mama, baba, kaka, and dada wawili- all sleep in one room. I have a lock on my door and bars on my window, to PC standards, and I have an insecticide treated net over my bed- which I religiously keep tucked to keep bugs off of my bed. There are cockroaches. We cohabitate very well I have found. I found one of the giant spiders on my wall though one night. I walk into my room, see it, and stop. I can't just leave it there. I am not going to sleep with that thing on my wall. But I cant squish it either because it is bigger than my shoe. So I got the kids. I bring them into my room and point at the spider, and they look at me, like, whats the big deal? They eventually killed it, which caused me to scream, and everyday they make fun of me for my fear of ndudu, bugs.
I go to shule Monday- Saturday with my 3 CBT mates to study Kiswhili. Our language instructor is a brilliant Tanzanian nicknamed Big Boy, and he knows more American slang than I do. I read on a blog once about how PCVs talk about three things: sex, shit, and food. Its true. There isn't any real habari (news) so we just make it up, hypothesizing on who will hook up with whom, who already has, what the drama in other CBTs is. Everyone knows when someone has the runs, or when someone hasn't pooped in a week, color, consistency, etc. And we talk about American food and Tanzanian food constantly. About how much we hate ugali. About how we are always full. About how salty the mchicha is. About how much we are craving peanut butter and pizza.
On Sundays I do housework- TZ style. I wash my clothes by hand. I walk ten minutes to get water, and carry it back in a bucket on my head. I cook on a wood burning stove, and by stove, I mean three large rocks arranged in a circle. I have seen my mama pluck and tear apart two chickens with her hands already. These are chickens from our front yard. I think that when I get to my site, I am going to be a vegetarian. The inside of a chicken is disgusting. I would, however, eat my rooster. I would eat every rooster in Kilulu, because roosters do not just make their screaming cockle-doodle-doos when the rises, but all night, and all day. I really hope we eat the rooster someday.
Really, I am living the idyllic American in Africa fantasy. I am surrounded by barefoot children, who follow me everywhere, yelling my name. They pronounce it like "caught," but very sharp and short. It is beautiful and lush and green, and everyone is friendly, and everyone knows everything I do.
Training is hard, but I am so glad I am here.
In TZ, people use the choo, which is a structure usually unattached from the house, with a hole in the floor, where people do their business and shower. Its basically a bathroom. Choos are terrifying places. And I have a nice choo. The top of the structure is roofed by some kind of dried veggitation, and spiders like to inhabit it. I don't like spiders. I don't like little spiders in the States. Spiders in TZ.... you could put a leash on them and take them for a walk. There are seven in my choo. My solution is to crouch as low as possible without actually crawling on the floor so as to put as great a distance between me and the giant spiders.
I have a very nice room. I actually feel really bad because I have a huge room to myself, and the rest of the family- mama, baba, kaka, and dada wawili- all sleep in one room. I have a lock on my door and bars on my window, to PC standards, and I have an insecticide treated net over my bed- which I religiously keep tucked to keep bugs off of my bed. There are cockroaches. We cohabitate very well I have found. I found one of the giant spiders on my wall though one night. I walk into my room, see it, and stop. I can't just leave it there. I am not going to sleep with that thing on my wall. But I cant squish it either because it is bigger than my shoe. So I got the kids. I bring them into my room and point at the spider, and they look at me, like, whats the big deal? They eventually killed it, which caused me to scream, and everyday they make fun of me for my fear of ndudu, bugs.
I go to shule Monday- Saturday with my 3 CBT mates to study Kiswhili. Our language instructor is a brilliant Tanzanian nicknamed Big Boy, and he knows more American slang than I do. I read on a blog once about how PCVs talk about three things: sex, shit, and food. Its true. There isn't any real habari (news) so we just make it up, hypothesizing on who will hook up with whom, who already has, what the drama in other CBTs is. Everyone knows when someone has the runs, or when someone hasn't pooped in a week, color, consistency, etc. And we talk about American food and Tanzanian food constantly. About how much we hate ugali. About how we are always full. About how salty the mchicha is. About how much we are craving peanut butter and pizza.
On Sundays I do housework- TZ style. I wash my clothes by hand. I walk ten minutes to get water, and carry it back in a bucket on my head. I cook on a wood burning stove, and by stove, I mean three large rocks arranged in a circle. I have seen my mama pluck and tear apart two chickens with her hands already. These are chickens from our front yard. I think that when I get to my site, I am going to be a vegetarian. The inside of a chicken is disgusting. I would, however, eat my rooster. I would eat every rooster in Kilulu, because roosters do not just make their screaming cockle-doodle-doos when the rises, but all night, and all day. I really hope we eat the rooster someday.
Really, I am living the idyllic American in Africa fantasy. I am surrounded by barefoot children, who follow me everywhere, yelling my name. They pronounce it like "caught," but very sharp and short. It is beautiful and lush and green, and everyone is friendly, and everyone knows everything I do.
Training is hard, but I am so glad I am here.
Just Put A Kanga Over It or Tanzania's Multitool
In Tanzania, knees are very provocative, so to ensure maximum coverage women will wear an extra piece of fabric over their skirt, called a kanga. This is not the only use for a kanga, however, so it is essential that one must have multiple. I have two, and its a struggle. These uses include, but are not limited to...
skirt, dress, shirt, swimsuit cover, shawl, towel, sunshade, yoga mat, cushion, pillow, rug, hat, curtain, wall decoration, table cloth, water filter, bag, scarf, and I have even seen khangas used to keep a car's hood attached to the rest of the car.
Personally, my mama insists that I have an indoor kanga, an outdoor kanga, and that I wear two kangas to the choo when I shower.
Kangas are more multi functional than my Gerber.
I will post a picture eventually, promise.
skirt, dress, shirt, swimsuit cover, shawl, towel, sunshade, yoga mat, cushion, pillow, rug, hat, curtain, wall decoration, table cloth, water filter, bag, scarf, and I have even seen khangas used to keep a car's hood attached to the rest of the car.
Personally, my mama insists that I have an indoor kanga, an outdoor kanga, and that I wear two kangas to the choo when I shower.
Kangas are more multi functional than my Gerber.
I will post a picture eventually, promise.
Monday, October 10, 2011
STAGING!
I am in Philidelphia for Staging, which is one long day of ice breakers, meeting other future volunteers, and final preparations for leaving for service. The most comforting and affirming thing we covered today was the PC mission statement. Being my cynical self, I have frequently questioned my going oversees as a representative of the US, sent to spread democracy and promote how fantastic the US is, not feeling comfortable with that role. By covering the mission and goals of the PC, though, I decided that the intention of the PC really is to promote peace by increasing understanding between different peoples. I like peace, I can be a proud PCV.
My fears of not being able to make friends has been assuaged- everyone wants to make friends, and I must have a lot in common with these people if we all decided to give up running water and electricity for two years of bucket showers and eating caterpillars! But really, we talked about how to deal with people feeding us caterpillars. It could happen.
I had my final dinner in the US tonight with my burgeoning group of friends at a fancy Italian returant, complete with calamari and the best Riesling wine I have ever had- I had not only two sips, but two glasses, are you proud of me, Brandy?
The real excitement will begin after my 18 hour flight tomorrow, when I finally land in Tanzania! Get ready for Traaaaaaaainiiiiiiiiiinnnnggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, no worries if there is no word for a while; I will not have internet access imediately after landing in country.
My fears of not being able to make friends has been assuaged- everyone wants to make friends, and I must have a lot in common with these people if we all decided to give up running water and electricity for two years of bucket showers and eating caterpillars! But really, we talked about how to deal with people feeding us caterpillars. It could happen.
I had my final dinner in the US tonight with my burgeoning group of friends at a fancy Italian returant, complete with calamari and the best Riesling wine I have ever had- I had not only two sips, but two glasses, are you proud of me, Brandy?
The real excitement will begin after my 18 hour flight tomorrow, when I finally land in Tanzania! Get ready for Traaaaaaaainiiiiiiiiiinnnnggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, no worries if there is no word for a while; I will not have internet access imediately after landing in country.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
I am Packed! or I Swear It All Fit Before!
I have finished packing! Which is good, since I leave tomorrow morning and, whereas other departing volunteers have no doubt been working on packing for the last month, I started this afternoon.
The useful information: I have one carry on backpack, one large duffel bag, and one large hiking backpack. Everything is labelled with my Tanzanian address, and they are just shy of the cumulative 80 pound maximum. Now to hoping US Airways doesn't charge me a fortune to check my bags. This is why I love Southwest (shoutout!)
The not so useful information: I am pretty sure the bulkiest thing in my pack are the 40 pairs of underwear I am bringing. Overkill- mayhaps- but I refuse to budge on underwear. I can't manage to get laundry done more than once a month when I have a washing machine, I most certainly won't do it more often when I have to do it by hand. I left socks at home to make room for the undies, instead. I also bought a bug hut before making sure it would fit, but its pretty boss, so I made some room for that by leaving out some clothes and shoes. East Africa is a giant thrift shop, right? I will be fiiiine.
Now that everything fits into my bags, the next hurtle is seeing if I can can actually carry all of it to Tanzania. Bon voyage!
The useful information: I have one carry on backpack, one large duffel bag, and one large hiking backpack. Everything is labelled with my Tanzanian address, and they are just shy of the cumulative 80 pound maximum. Now to hoping US Airways doesn't charge me a fortune to check my bags. This is why I love Southwest (shoutout!)
The not so useful information: I am pretty sure the bulkiest thing in my pack are the 40 pairs of underwear I am bringing. Overkill- mayhaps- but I refuse to budge on underwear. I can't manage to get laundry done more than once a month when I have a washing machine, I most certainly won't do it more often when I have to do it by hand. I left socks at home to make room for the undies, instead. I also bought a bug hut before making sure it would fit, but its pretty boss, so I made some room for that by leaving out some clothes and shoes. East Africa is a giant thrift shop, right? I will be fiiiine.
Now that everything fits into my bags, the next hurtle is seeing if I can can actually carry all of it to Tanzania. Bon voyage!
A Grand Adventure or You Don't Have to be Rugged to be Accepted to the PC
Two days before departing for Staging, I return from a 3 day camping trip in the Grand Canyon. This was my attempt at being outdoorsy and "roughing it," while accomplishing something on my Photo Scavenger Hunt of My Life List.
In case of flash floods...
Yeah, I climbed that.
At Mooney Falls, named after a prospector that fell the 200 feet when his rope broke and died...
This trip also provided an opportunity for growth as a budding backpacker...
Lesson learned: you do not have to be rugged or outdoorsy to be accepted to the Peace Corps. Wink wink, Phanny.
In closing, here is a PSA from Brandy (aka Goose):
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
One Month To Go! or What the Hell Am I Doing?
Travel arrangements have been made, overwhelming email about travel logistics and the first few days in country received, and bike helmet purchased! I have less than a month now before I finally get this show on the road!
I have spent the past month perusing the Tanzania Facebook group, http://www.facebook.com/groups/121447591273117/?id=159690090782200¬if_t=group_activity, and talking to people currently in TZ, where I have procured lots of information and advice that I have then used as an excuse to buy really cool things like solar chargers and a Kindle, which I have no idea if I am actually going to use while in TZ. I'll let you know if such purchases were a good idea or not.
After making my travel arrangements to get from Arizona to Philadelphia for staging, PC was kind enough to send out an email with documents describing just how inappropriate all of my clothing is going to be in the predominantly Muslim Dar es Salaam, how the first two weeks in country are going to a whirlwind of not knowing what I am doing, and that I have to bring a bike helmet with me. I really think that bringing a bike helmet is a very American concern that people living in Tanzania do not think about- which is probably why I have to bring one with me instead of buy one there- but seeing as I found it necessary to bring my non stick frying pan- even though I don't really cook- I guess I have no room to judge. So, I have one hideous white, very safe helmet to pack. Unfortunately, the cute pink one with the pandas didn't fit. It did say it was a child's helmet.
My excitement and anxiousness is increasing as time draws near. My plans for passing the rest of my time in the States include watching as much television as possible on a daily basis, eating ice cream and chocolate everyday, going back to the wonderful Bay area for a final farewell to my friends and family there, and camping in the Grand Canyon (yeah, I can be outdoorsy, too, environment volunteers, just watch me!). I really think the Grand Canyon might kill me, though. I built a set of shelves the other day, and was sore for the next two days. Me thinks this does not bode well. Also, I am hiking out of the canyon, and driving back home, two days before leaving for staging. Poor choice? Mayhaps...
My greatest concern going into this is how am I going to make friends with people?! Truth be told, I have not made a friend for a year. I got lazy my last year in college and just stopped talking to people I didn't already know. I joined this Facebook group and would timidly add my questions to the page- how am I supposed to interact with people when the anonymity and distance of the internet even makes me nervous! So, we'll see how that goes....
In closing, I want to apologize to the man who I stole this picture from, but this is basically what I want to spend my time in Tanzania doing. I am bringing lots of candies to make the babies love me. Is that really so wrong?
P.S. Dear Peace Corps Journals, could you put my blog under Tanzania for me? I can't figure out how to change which country its under. Kthxbai.
I have spent the past month perusing the Tanzania Facebook group, http://www.facebook.com/groups/121447591273117/?id=159690090782200¬if_t=group_activity, and talking to people currently in TZ, where I have procured lots of information and advice that I have then used as an excuse to buy really cool things like solar chargers and a Kindle, which I have no idea if I am actually going to use while in TZ. I'll let you know if such purchases were a good idea or not.
After making my travel arrangements to get from Arizona to Philadelphia for staging, PC was kind enough to send out an email with documents describing just how inappropriate all of my clothing is going to be in the predominantly Muslim Dar es Salaam, how the first two weeks in country are going to a whirlwind of not knowing what I am doing, and that I have to bring a bike helmet with me. I really think that bringing a bike helmet is a very American concern that people living in Tanzania do not think about- which is probably why I have to bring one with me instead of buy one there- but seeing as I found it necessary to bring my non stick frying pan- even though I don't really cook- I guess I have no room to judge. So, I have one hideous white, very safe helmet to pack. Unfortunately, the cute pink one with the pandas didn't fit. It did say it was a child's helmet.
My excitement and anxiousness is increasing as time draws near. My plans for passing the rest of my time in the States include watching as much television as possible on a daily basis, eating ice cream and chocolate everyday, going back to the wonderful Bay area for a final farewell to my friends and family there, and camping in the Grand Canyon (yeah, I can be outdoorsy, too, environment volunteers, just watch me!). I really think the Grand Canyon might kill me, though. I built a set of shelves the other day, and was sore for the next two days. Me thinks this does not bode well. Also, I am hiking out of the canyon, and driving back home, two days before leaving for staging. Poor choice? Mayhaps...
My greatest concern going into this is how am I going to make friends with people?! Truth be told, I have not made a friend for a year. I got lazy my last year in college and just stopped talking to people I didn't already know. I joined this Facebook group and would timidly add my questions to the page- how am I supposed to interact with people when the anonymity and distance of the internet even makes me nervous! So, we'll see how that goes....
In closing, I want to apologize to the man who I stole this picture from, but this is basically what I want to spend my time in Tanzania doing. I am bringing lots of candies to make the babies love me. Is that really so wrong?
P.S. Dear Peace Corps Journals, could you put my blog under Tanzania for me? I can't figure out how to change which country its under. Kthxbai.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Turkmenistan Closed or I Don't Have to Live in a Desert Anymore!
I hope my ominous title sends chills down your back, especially considering that I am now melting in the Arizona heat and would love to feel some chills.
August 9 I receive a call from the Peace Corps- that familiar 202 number that I so looked forward to seeing on my phone 3 months ago while waiting for my invitation. This call, however, is the opposite. Turkmenistan has closed, and I will no longer be going there.
Uhhh??????????
But I will go somewhere. Apparently in situations like this, when a country closes, the future PCVs are given a new placement, but they may have to wait up to 6 months, or even longer- you know how it is- especially considering the recent budget cuts Peace Corps has experienced. Luckily for me, though, this will not be the case...
I will be leaving for Tanzania, in Sub Saharan Africa, still as a health volunteer, only a couple weeks later than planned. Forgive the religious reference, but Hallelujah, because I don't want to wait any more! This does, however, mean that I will need to change some things, and the past three months of preparation have turned into only two months left to prepare for Africa, a place I never expected to go. My blog name will have to change, I won't need thermals anymore, the Turkmen that I haven't really studied will no longer be useful, my dreams of marrying an oil sheikh have been banished and I will have to depend on Sean and Meghan to pay for my vacations and lavish lifestyle in the future. Africa seems so much more outdoorsy than Central Asia.
I really was kind of disappointed at first. I was glad that I still got to go somewhere, and I didn't even have to wait too much longer than I had expected, but I had never wanted to go to Africa. I don't know anything about Africa. But I researched Tanzania and considered it more. Tanzania has a tropical coastal region, is surrounded my giant lakes on its inland borders, is home to giant national parks for all of its wildlife- including giraffes (my favorite), monkeys, and wildebeests- is not a desert, has an Arab influence, and I actually know a lot more about the health issues in Tanzania than I thought I did. Or maybe Tanzania just has more health issues than Turkmenistan does, so there is more for me to know. I think I can do this.
Now to start preparing....
August 9 I receive a call from the Peace Corps- that familiar 202 number that I so looked forward to seeing on my phone 3 months ago while waiting for my invitation. This call, however, is the opposite. Turkmenistan has closed, and I will no longer be going there.
Uhhh??????????
But I will go somewhere. Apparently in situations like this, when a country closes, the future PCVs are given a new placement, but they may have to wait up to 6 months, or even longer- you know how it is- especially considering the recent budget cuts Peace Corps has experienced. Luckily for me, though, this will not be the case...
I will be leaving for Tanzania, in Sub Saharan Africa, still as a health volunteer, only a couple weeks later than planned. Forgive the religious reference, but Hallelujah, because I don't want to wait any more! This does, however, mean that I will need to change some things, and the past three months of preparation have turned into only two months left to prepare for Africa, a place I never expected to go. My blog name will have to change, I won't need thermals anymore, the Turkmen that I haven't really studied will no longer be useful, my dreams of marrying an oil sheikh have been banished and I will have to depend on Sean and Meghan to pay for my vacations and lavish lifestyle in the future. Africa seems so much more outdoorsy than Central Asia.
I really was kind of disappointed at first. I was glad that I still got to go somewhere, and I didn't even have to wait too much longer than I had expected, but I had never wanted to go to Africa. I don't know anything about Africa. But I researched Tanzania and considered it more. Tanzania has a tropical coastal region, is surrounded my giant lakes on its inland borders, is home to giant national parks for all of its wildlife- including giraffes (my favorite), monkeys, and wildebeests- is not a desert, has an Arab influence, and I actually know a lot more about the health issues in Tanzania than I thought I did. Or maybe Tanzania just has more health issues than Turkmenistan does, so there is more for me to know. I think I can do this.
Now to start preparing....
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Ride of Steel! or A Really Sentimental Weekend
I spent this past weekend visiting friends in So Cal and spending a day at Six Flags. There were five of us, including two of my beloved housemates, all of us preparing for two year stints abroad in the near future. One girl is leaving for Kenya in two weeks, another for Senegal at the end of August, I am leaving for Turkmenistan in September, and two girls are in the latter half of the PC application process.
The weekend provided an opportunity to reflect on our individual preparations with each other, and at the end, we said good bye. One observation made last night was that none of us are old enough to be saying these kinds of good byes. None of us have any comprehension of what it means to leave everything that is familiar for two years. We said what could amount to permanent good byes to people who have shaped our development over the past four years. I do not regret my decision to join the PC and I am excited for the challenges and opportunities for growth it will provide, but I was reminded of how young I am this weekend, and how little experience I have in the world. I have never left my friends and family for such a long time before. I do not know what it will be like to not see them for possibly two years.
We also talked about how this is an experience that will force us to confront who we are. All five of us consider ourselves to be adventurous, exploratory people, but travelling by ourselves to a new country will test that, and we have to be ready to accept it if we can't make it, if we really aren't what we have always thought ourselves to be. Which would be a huge blow to one's pride.
But this is the point of going. To test myself, to see who I am, to grow, to be challenged, to have an adventure. I am little, I am inexperienced, and I will probably be scared, but I want this, and I am grateful that I have friends that are going through this experience with me, however far away they might be.
Also, thank you to Tiffany for being a pansy with me on all of the roller coasters, and to Rachel for making me open my eyes on Superman even though you were terrified, too. You should become a crisis counselor.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Family, Waiting, and Band Aids
We have had a turbulent relationship during most of my life, but over the past two years it has turned into what I would imagine constitutes a healthy father-daughter relationship. I ask him for advice, he gives me restrictions, I break said restrictions, and he adjusts his expectations in order to deal with me. Last summer, he explicitly told me "You can leave the state [for work, school, etc.] you just are not allowed to go to the east coast or leave the country." I was applying for the Peace Corps at the time. With time, he has grown to be surprisingly compliant concerning the plans I have for my life, which are so terribly different than the plans he had for me.
This lead me to consider how this experience would have been different had I accepted my other invitation option to leave in June. I would have been so busy, consumed in rapid preparations after finals and graduation, that I wouldn't have had time to reflect on anything, or think about my family at all. I would have had to be focused on my departure, and probably would not have even thought about my family or friends until I arrived in country and finally had some down time. Not leaving until September has allowed me to take time to visit everyone I love, but it has also given me time to fester over the changes that will ensue, like slowly peeling off a sticky Band Aid. I know that I already made my decision, and there is no going back now- and I don't want to, really- but which would have been better? Ripping the Band Aid off quickly by leaving in June, or this anticipation allowed by the slow peeling that is leaving in September?
This is my dad. If he ever learns how to use the internet and finds this blog, he probably won't love that I put this picture of him on here, but he is such an adorable man, I couldn't resist.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What I Do As a Professional Bum Now That School Has Ended and PC Is Yet To Begin
With the end of May has also come the end to my lease on my apartment, but not my desire to stay in Berkeley, so I have subletted an apartment from a friend who is leaving for June, and have become the new roommate of my dear friend Fuh. Fuh is a brilliant film major who took a feminist film class last semester, so now we get to talk about representations of women in media and I can get all feministy and she doesn't mind.
This summer she is taking a class from the art department on creating film, but since it is from the art department, she has to make the really awful types of films found in film installations in modern art museums that make you want to plug your ears and close your eyes after two minutes. I have been serving as a sounding board during her creative process, validating her as she does actual filming, and acting as what I consider to be akin to hired muscle against the stares of passersby while filming random things on the street. I also tend to overly provide input on the overarching themes in her films, even when she does not intend them to be there. I am like an English student who bullshits because I can do nothing else.
This afternoon, while reviewing her most recent addition to her film-in-progress, I made another such comment about how something in her film alludes to the theme of whatever I have projected into it, which lead to this memorable exchange....
Me: I think I would be stoned if I were to ever take an art class.
Fuh: I would think it would be better to be stoned while in an art class.
Me: No, I mean stones would be thrown at me.
Notes:
1. This is probably one of those times where this is only funny to me and Fuh.
2. I only said "bullshit" in my blog- which I think is a word that is potentially inappropriate for this medium- because it conveyed my intended meaning and Fuh said it was artistic, and the next month is going to be all about being artistic.
3. The overarching theme of this entry is that I have too much time and nothing to do now that I only have a part time job and am no longer in school.
This summer she is taking a class from the art department on creating film, but since it is from the art department, she has to make the really awful types of films found in film installations in modern art museums that make you want to plug your ears and close your eyes after two minutes. I have been serving as a sounding board during her creative process, validating her as she does actual filming, and acting as what I consider to be akin to hired muscle against the stares of passersby while filming random things on the street. I also tend to overly provide input on the overarching themes in her films, even when she does not intend them to be there. I am like an English student who bullshits because I can do nothing else.
This afternoon, while reviewing her most recent addition to her film-in-progress, I made another such comment about how something in her film alludes to the theme of whatever I have projected into it, which lead to this memorable exchange....
Me: I think I would be stoned if I were to ever take an art class.
Fuh: I would think it would be better to be stoned while in an art class.
Me: No, I mean stones would be thrown at me.
Notes:
1. This is probably one of those times where this is only funny to me and Fuh.
2. I only said "bullshit" in my blog- which I think is a word that is potentially inappropriate for this medium- because it conveyed my intended meaning and Fuh said it was artistic, and the next month is going to be all about being artistic.
3. The overarching theme of this entry is that I have too much time and nothing to do now that I only have a part time job and am no longer in school.
Friday, May 20, 2011
99 Woods But a Brick Ain't One
After adding my blog to Peace Corps Journals, a current Tstan PCV found me on Facebook, and has been providing me with great packing advice. One of my questions for her was if it was silly to bring my favorite board game with me- would I have an opportunity to play it? Of course, she says, and actually, PCVs right now are obsessed with this one board game... Settlers of Catan...
WHAT! That is the board game I am bringing (and Seafarers)! Not only has Settlers taken over the Berkeley scene, but it is popular on the other side of the world, too! How does this happen?....
Thank you Rohan for introducing Geeti to Settlers, who introduced it to the rest of us, which lead to countless hours avoiding studying during finals. Miss you, D Unit!
WHAT! That is the board game I am bringing (and Seafarers)! Not only has Settlers taken over the Berkeley scene, but it is popular on the other side of the world, too! How does this happen?....
Thank you Rohan for introducing Geeti to Settlers, who introduced it to the rest of us, which lead to countless hours avoiding studying during finals. Miss you, D Unit!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Now I Have An Alma Mater
Grades have been posted and I have officially graduated! I am a student no longer, but, in Ric's words, a "vagabond." For reals, though, I'm gonna be "in between addresses" for the next two and a half years, at least.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Turkmenistan... Where is That?
This is the beginning of my Peace Corps blog!
A week and a half ago, April 6th, while working on my goal of watching all of LOST before the end of May, I received a call from a 202 number. Luckily, the night before I had been reading blogs about Peace Corps invitees receiving calls from a 202 number, so I knew exactly what was happening... I was being Invited. What followed was the best interview of my life in which I flaunted all of the amazing experience I had gained that would make me the greatest PCV ever! No, really, I did. And then the woman on the other end of the line asked me, "Would you like to be invited to the Peace Corps?" Umm, lemme think about this... YES! She gave me the options of leaving in June to Eastern Europe to work part time in a community health clinic and part time doing health education in a classroom, or to leave in September for Central Asia to work in a health clinic on maternal and child health, infectious disease, and preventative health. Charming as lesson planning seems, I would prefer spending more time in a clinical setting, and seeing as I prioritize being able to watch the last installments of Harry Potter and Twighlight before I leave, I chose Central Asia! My Invitor went on to say that since PCV have such "high visability" in Central Asia, PC is very selective in which applicants go there, and that my application highly recommended me. That may be one of the most flattering things anyone has ever said to me.
Then I wait. Upon invitation, apparently, you are only told your region, so then you have the pleasure of anxiously awaiting the arrival of more information via snail mail. Tis the methodology of the Peace Corps. I would like to say that I had more self control than to stalk my mailbox for a week and a half, but I can't.
A week and a half goes by. Today is Cal Day, and the celebration of Peace Corps' 50th anniversary, so Peace Corps had a presence on campus, including a commemoration of the anniversary in which current applicants were asked to RSVP and attend. My housemate, Meghan, and I go, and its charming, with anecdotes from the field and Skyping with current PCVs. Unexpectedly at the end, the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps announces that we had some important people in the audience, and "I think I hear a call coming..." and then she called my name to come up to the stage! She had my invitation package, complete with fancy ribbon and Peace Corps luggage tag! She continued to introduce me to the audience, saying how I would be graduating with a BA in Integrative Biology, that I became a competitive applicant by serving as a Health coordinator for University Health Services and a research assistant in the School of Public Health... she made me sound so fancy! I shook hands and hugged the Deputy Director of the peace Corps! It was SO FANCY!
So then I go back to my seat and I open my package, and read that I am going to... Turkmenistan! The people around me ask me where I will be going, and respond in one of two ways when I say Turkmenistan: 1. a wide eyed and impressed "Oooh!", or 2. "Turkmenistan... where is that?"
Then I wait. Upon invitation, apparently, you are only told your region, so then you have the pleasure of anxiously awaiting the arrival of more information via snail mail. Tis the methodology of the Peace Corps. I would like to say that I had more self control than to stalk my mailbox for a week and a half, but I can't.
A week and a half goes by. Today is Cal Day, and the celebration of Peace Corps' 50th anniversary, so Peace Corps had a presence on campus, including a commemoration of the anniversary in which current applicants were asked to RSVP and attend. My housemate, Meghan, and I go, and its charming, with anecdotes from the field and Skyping with current PCVs. Unexpectedly at the end, the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps announces that we had some important people in the audience, and "I think I hear a call coming..." and then she called my name to come up to the stage! She had my invitation package, complete with fancy ribbon and Peace Corps luggage tag! She continued to introduce me to the audience, saying how I would be graduating with a BA in Integrative Biology, that I became a competitive applicant by serving as a Health coordinator for University Health Services and a research assistant in the School of Public Health... she made me sound so fancy! I shook hands and hugged the Deputy Director of the peace Corps! It was SO FANCY!
So then I go back to my seat and I open my package, and read that I am going to... Turkmenistan! The people around me ask me where I will be going, and respond in one of two ways when I say Turkmenistan: 1. a wide eyed and impressed "Oooh!", or 2. "Turkmenistan... where is that?"
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