Heeeeyyyy, Family and Friends!! As you can tell, this is my blog for all things African and Peace Corps and it will be where I will post my online musings on my Peace Corps experiences for the upcoming two years (that is, if I have electricity at my post). I am pretty new on this blogging experience and my writing skills are a little rusty, so bare with me. And for those of you who don't know me and just stumbled on my blog, here's a little background. I'm in my early twenties and in 2007, graduated with a degree in social work. As I had no concrete job aspirations or grad school applications in the mail, I decided to do something crazy, life altering and hopefully career furthering. I decided to apply for the Peace Corps. I figured since I had no job or family obligations (aka kids), right now was the best time of my life to do this. Or I could wait till I was sixty-five years old and my kids grown up to do this, but, honestly, I didn't want to wait that long. Soooo, I applied and waited eleven tortuous months and finally got accepted in November of 2008. I leave for East Africa, specifically the beautiful country of Rwanda, a week from today. I will be training for three months in one of the largest cities in Rwanda, learning the languages (kinyarwanda and french), health education, culture and safety training. Then, I will be assigned a small village and health outpost to work at. I will be working with the outpost or clinic in HIV prevention and outreach and integrating into the community.
So, there you have it. My life condensed to a single paragraph. Hopefully, I will be able to post more information as I go along but, honestly, it depends on electricity and internet access and if anybody steals my computer while I'm there.
As I haven't started Peace Corps yet, I will regail you with the boring details of my life thus far in the United States. I quit my job a week ago, theoretically to pack my suitcases and finish some loose ends here at home. In reality, I have entered into a new dimension of laziness. An example or two is needed. On Sunday, I spent a large portion of the day eating and watching reruns of CSI. After finishing my third CSI episode, I quit watching but only because there were no more reruns to watch. Then, I proceeded to stay up until 3 am organizing my music files on my computer. Last week, I finished a whole season of Charmed and started the second season. To make matters worse, I am so bored that I keep eating. And when I mean eating, I mean all the time. I guess I will lose weight in Africa (fingers crossed) but, right now, I don't fit in a third of my clothes. Which brings me to an important debate in my mind. Should I pack clothes that I like but don't fit me in the hope they will fit me when I am starving three months from now, or should I leave them here in the United States? I am not accustomed to making home cooked meals every day, going to the market or raising vegetables. Who knows what I will be eating when I am left to my own devices in a little mud hut in a remote African village. Better eat up now while fatty, indulgent American cuisine is a phone call or short drive away. In the coming week, I will be hitting up all the Mexican, Chinese, and fast food restaurants in town and, as a result, not be able to fit in the rest of the clothes I own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
+302.jpg)
You are hilarious! I'd pack the clothes you like and don't fit into, because you'll be walking or biking everywhere. Those pounds will shed pretty quickly!
ReplyDeleteHey beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for you in what you are doing. Right now I am writing as I am speaking to you and my impression is a lot of excitement with a little fear. Quite honestly I would be a lot more scared then you seem right now. I have enjoyed so much. We have had a lot of fun getting to know each other and honestly stuffing ourselves with American food and it is a bittersweet end.
Ridiculously bitter for the amazing friend and counselor you have been to me for the past 6 months. Of course I am not losing you, but it is hard to imagine how I will survive, or have survived before without you at most a phone call away. Sweet is something I am sure I could probably come up with in a lame joke.
Either way, I am so proud to know you. What you are doing is so amazing and to put so much before yourself demands respect. You inspire me to be greater than myself and I know you will live to inspire millions. May God watch over you in everything you do. I only wish I could be there with you myself.
With all my love
Nathan
Hey Trish's blog followers! Trish got her first email out to family today. Here are some excerpts:
ReplyDeleteWhen I arrived in D.C., I met all the other volunteers and was amazed at how easy it was to establish friendships with them. We are all very similar in goals and mentality yet we are also a very diverse group. There are seven males and twenty-seven females in our group. There are three African-Americans, several Californians (they go in their own group J jk), one Hispanic, one half-French, one half-Arabic, one Canadian (I think) and the rest are from all over the United States. We also have two married couples with us. One of the volunteer husbands spent a stint in Brazil so he loves talking to me about all things Brazilian. He also talks to me in Portuguese.
D.C. was fun, although cold and a little scary. About every night, all thirty-five of us would go out in groups to restaurants and then we would play games at night. I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant for the first time while I was there and will, therefore, never eat Ethiopian food again.
While in D.C., I started to understand how excited everybody was that we were going back to Rwanda. In essence, since our group is the first since the war, we are receiving the Peace Corps "red carpet treatment." In D.C., the Peace Corps headquarters prepared a reception for us at their building, and we were able to meet the Rwandan ambassador and the interim Peace Corps director. Since then, we have met the American ambassador to Rwanda, the Rwandan Minister of Health, the director of USAID in Rwanda, and the government officials of Butare. It's a little intimidating talking to these people, but it's also very cool.
The director of Peace Corps has told us that this present government is not like other African governments. Corruption is very low, people are held accountable, standards are very high, and their work ethic is exceptionable. The government is 100% behind us; they are welcoming and want to do anything and everything to help us.
My plane trip went fine. It was long and the food was bad. I can say that Kigali is very beautiful. The main roads are paved and without potholes. The city is spotless. The city is also very green. There are flowering trees, bushes, and grass everywhere (like Goiania).
After we stayed in Kigali for three days, we traveled by bus to Butare in southern Rwanda. It was about a two and a half hour drive and it let us see the countryside. I really want you to visit now because the view was breathtaking. Rwanda is very hilly and there are large swaths of forest, farm land, and tropical trees. There are fruit trees and flowers everywhere. It looks like a garden of Eden when you travel through there. It is very peaceful and serene.
I have been in Butare for about four days now. Classes started yesterday and they are pretty intense. The language teachers are all Rwandans and they rotate among us.
Kinyarwanda is difficult and it feels like I am learning new words all day long. It is hard to keep up. They use the "hard immersion" system where the teachers mostly speak Kinyarwanda to us or use pictures or point to things. Today, I learned the longest word ever, igitagangurirwa. It means spider. And, oh, my job title is umukorerabushake wa Peace Corps. It means Peace Corps volunteer.
I love you guys and I miss you. I'm doing fine here so far. I have not gotten sick and I have gotten at least three meals a day. Sooo, no worries. I am adjusting slowly but surely. I will try to communicate as much as possible.
Love you guys,
Trish