Demystified

 

This past weekend the Peace Corps sent us out on what they call “Demystification Weekend”.  The 70 of us new trainees were split into small groups and assigned to a currently serving volunteer to visit their sites for the weekend.  We set off on Saturday afternoon, and traveled about 3 ½ hours by bus from Addis Ababa to Hossaina.  Our guide and host for the weekend was an education volunteer named Christina.  She lives on a family compound, and has her own 2 room cement house.  The accommodations were pretty nice, considering.  She has regular electricity, no running water, and shares a toilet A.K.A shint bet A.K.A hole in the ground and shower A.K.A bucket bath room with the rest of the compound. 

We spent all day Sunday performing an all important Peace Corps Volunteer activity- killing time.  It seems as though I will have a great deal of free time, especially in the beginning of service.  We basically wandered around town, stopping at different cafés and loitering.  Oh yeah, and we played with monkeys- totally normal!  We were quite a sight, 6 American girls walking around, and we attracted plenty of stares, laughter, and comments of “feringi” (foreigner).  Being the one who obviously does not belong and sticking out will be something I’m not sure I’ll get used to anytime soon.

On Monday we were able to visit 3 primary schools in town.  Primary schools run from 1^st to 8^th grade, and there can be a broad range of ages in students in any given grade.  The schools were about what I expected.  We were able to visit a newly built, very small school for 1^st-3^rd grades.  It was in a more rural part of town, and I just loved it.  The kids were absolutely adorable and the teachers and school director seemed very nice.  On our 2 mile walk to this school, we attracted a mob of probably about 40 kids following us.  They were cute at first until they started screaming “money” at us.  It was a little disheartening to hear these kids asking us for money.  It was sad to me that they thought that was an appropriate behavior.  Whether the kids really knew what they were doing or not is debatable.  They may have just wanted our acknowledgement.  They were certainly curious about us, but probably didn’t have the English capacity to communicate.  Regardless, on the walk back through town, I really couldn’t take a repeat of the “money, money, money” screaming at the top of their lungs, so I started what I’m going to call a game with the kids.  It began with the little boy who was walking next to me just looking at me.  I turned to him and gave him a funny look bugging my eyes out.  The kid was so scared he just about fell over.  I, and all the other kids, of course thought this was hilarious.  I turned away and kept walking, a few seconds later, he was back at my side just staring at me again.  I turned to him and reached to grab him.  He ran away with a look of terror on his face.  I almost doubled over laughing so hard.  This turned into a game of me chasing about 20 kids on a dirt road, in a long skirt and dress flats, on a sunny, hot afternoon with lots of laughter.

All in all, I found “Demystification Weekend” to be just that- demystifying.  I definitely feel as though I have a clearer picture of what Peace Corps life is all about.  I feel reassured about the living conditions most volunteers have.  I am more aware of the challenges I will face as a “feringi”, as a teacher, as an American who is used to seeing immediate results.  I understand just how important learning the language and assimilating into my community will be and how those things will impact my overall effectiveness.  To sum it up- here are the top 5 things I learned while being demystified- in no particular order…

1.    Avocado and mango juice mixed together is delicious!
2.   I will have A LOT of downtime, especially in the beginning.  Plenty of    time to catch up on my reading!
3.  You’re not an official Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa until you poop your pants. (So far,   I’m not official!)
4. I have to be ready to accept the possibility that my work may have very little impact in my community, and I might face resistance to new ideas or even just to my presence.
5. I would rather have internet than running water.