Ok, so returning from IST has been
rough. We were warned that most people experience their lowest low
right after IST- which makes sense. You spend two weeks with
Americans, speaking English, experiencing American culture again, you
aren't alone all the time, eating safi, American-esque food instead
of the random food you can find in your village or manage to cook for
yourself, and then you expect to start all these projects and get
things done when you return to your site, becoming the amazing PCV
you imagine yourself to be.... but that doesn't happen. In reality,
you return to your site, you miss Americans, it is shocking to be so
alone again, it is shockingly quiet in your house, and it takes a
really long time to get things started. Or, at least, I feel like I
am taking a long time to get things started. Talking to other
volunteers, they are accelerating, they are starting things. People
are starting to teach life skills at their secondary schools, or
starting sports clubs, or starting tree nurseries... and I am doing
the exact same thing I have been doing since I got to site. Granted,
I work at my clinic three days a week, but I want to start my
projects- it just takes so much time, and I need resources that I
don't have in my village- like internet, and electricity. Also,
internet is becoming more expensive, and it still sucks. Its like
Comcast in Berkeley. It is the necessary evil in one's life, but it
is so evil!
Ok, being more positive now. Friday was
a really good day. I went to the clinic in the morning to clean with
my mama and baba, and I told my mama all my ideas for projects and
she told me that I was such a good child- she calls me her child- and
that I have such wonderful ideas. Even if I accomplish nothing in my
village, having the approval of my mama makes me feel so much better.
I go back later in the day when clinic starts, I set things up, and
I'm about to start asking the mamas for their cards to write their
babies weights on, and my baba comes up to me and asks me to teach. I
haven't prepared anything. I would be teaching in Kiswahili. I ask if
I can teach Monday, at the next clinic, and he asks if I could just
teach for ten minutes. Some background: my clinic is really
understaffed, so even though we are supposed to teach something every
clinic day, we don't. We are also supposed to do outreach to other
villages, and don't, because only two people work at my clinic, and
me. So, I give a lesson on family planning, off the cuff, and it is
amazing! Women are answering my questions- which is really difficult
to get them to do because of the Tanzanian education system and the
use of corporal punishment in schools, which all these women are
products of- they are laughing, I did a condom demonstration- condoms
are a sensitive topic in my village- and my favorite part was blowing
a condom up like a balloon in front of all of these women to dispel
the myth that “condoms are too small.” Then we continued with a
busy clinic day. By the end of it, I was exhausted- speaking
Kiswahili all day is exhausting- but I felt so productive, and so
good about what I am doing in my village. You can experience so many
emotions in one day- when people describe PC as being a roller
coaster, they are not lying- its kind of like being in puberty again
because all of the emotions you experience are so intense.
I received a package from the girls
that I lived with in college! It made me so happy! They sent me a
portrait of the seven of us that hung in our house for two years, and
wrote me a colorful letter with pictures. They sent me magazines, and
bacon, and hot chocolate- with marshmallows!- and Sponge Bob mac and
cheese! I miss them so much, and this package came at just the right
time.
Which brings me to... This is what
would be in the ideal care package from home (I have put a lot of
thought into this)
Pictures from home to hang on my
walls or show people in my vill. They make me so happy to look at
them, and Tanzanians are fascinated to see America.
Dark chocolate. It does not exist
in Tanzania. Chocolate is really expensive, a luxury, so really, any
chocolate is appreciated, but especially dark chocolate.
Any and all cheese products that
could survive the trip across the US, Atlantic Ocean, and most of
the continent of Africa. Cheese is really difficult to find here. If
I travel for two days to So High in Southern TZ, I can find real
cheese, and sometimes I can find a cream cheese-esque thing in my
regional town, but that isn't guaranteed.
Mac and Cheese- not easy mac
because I don't have a microwave, but old fashioned mac and cheese
with the boiled water.
Tuna packets. My friend brought
one back to me from the States, and I cut the package into pieces so
I could lick all of the tuna out of it. It was so good. I do not get
enough protein on a daily basis. The Tanzanian diet is heavily
reliant on carbs, and the most common protein source is beans.
(I now have more deorderant than I can use before I am 30. I have made good use of them as presents for PCVs, though) Deodorant. It is not in Tanzania.
Tanzanians don't use it. I like Dove, powder scented, but any brand
would be acceptable, but just no strong scents- the point is to not
smell my armpits, even if they do smell like oranges. Considering
how rarely I shower- and how I expect it will get worse when the
rainy season ends and I stop having water- deodorant will be much
appreciated for my own sense of wellness.
Wet wipes- too lazy to get a
bucket of water to shower, or need to wash your feet before getting
into bed? Bam! You're clean! Cat brought a lizard into your house
and left blood on your floor, but you don't have cleaning products
because you live in a third world country? Bam! Lizard blood gone!
For Jodi- this is a shout out to Little Amy. And nighties, and spritzers, and throwing cucumbers in people's eyes. Sometimes, I really love Peace Corps.
