So I think I've come to a certain point in my service where I don't feel like I'm here as a Peace Corps Volunteer serving a community. Without losing sight of my objectives as a PCV, I just kinda feel like I live here.
I mean, ultimately in the end, I think that the government's not-so-hidden hidden agenda is this large international PR campaign of sticking Americans in these villages as some sort of Ambassador so that children grow up thinking that America is awesome, lol. I mean it makes sense. Africa has a shitload of NGOs coming in and out doing all kinds of building, rehabilitating, educating, etc, etc. Whereas for Peace Corps, we LIVE in the damn place for well over 2years. The job is simply the bi-product, to show that America's tax dollars is going towards something measurable like: "Built 5 water wells" some crap like that. The main job is clearly forming a relationship with the community. What's my backup for this theory? Well, when you teach at a village school, you may have 1 kid that might be smart enough to probably amount to something. But now, you have a village of 100 asking if I know a Bob Smith from Indiana that did Peace Corps in the 70s. On top of everything else, they love America. Job well done, the villagers have been brainwashed, lol. It sounds kinda, bad, yet strategic, but that's on the high government level. As the PCV, yourself, the personal intentions are there, no hidden agendas, and you form relationships b/c you integrate into the community.
Integration for me has been going well in many aspects. I'd like to mention my largest feat in integrating into Sierra Leone.........the food, lol. I know I had this angry rant of how I hate the chop a few entries back, but things have changed. Do I love Sierra Leonean chop? No. Can I eat it without complaining? Yes. A few reasons:
1) My mom's cooking wasn't that great.
2) Hawa's cooking is WAY better.
3) I only eat rice & plasas once a day.
4) Portion Control: I eat just a small amount of rice & plasas as a means of survival, just to feel full enough. Depending on how hungry I am, on some days, I even look forward to my rice & plasas, lol.
5) I was too quick to judge, even though the primary diet is rice & plasas, there is other kind chop.
So I'm no longer sneaking in the ketchup and I haven't bought Laughing Cow cheese in weeks. The cheese is partly b/c I'm too cheap to pay the Le5000 (~$1.25) for it, lol. I think alot of this is largely due to the fact that I now have control of my diet and it is my choice to eat the rice & plasas once a day. And the rest of the day is a mixture of the street lady cham that's sold at the school and fruits. Also, mixed with the occasional American snack that I crack open from my care packages. BOOM! I'm a happy motherfucking camper! I can go on and on about the food but I won't.
So back to why I feel like I live here........
I have my own place, I have a job, and I have friends. That's what happens when you're out living on your own, right? It's really as simple as that. Having my own place has greatly contributed to my happiness.......privacy. I mean, I'm rarely inside my house unless it's evening or siesta hour after school but I like having my space my way and being in it when I want to. My job is not much different from any other job I've had. Summer school in Bo helped a great deal with my fears of teaching children. So now, I'm just working and attack issues just like how I did back with my previous employer. The job is way less stressful but my contributions are huge for them. They lack resources so they lack the knowledge of certain technologies like the computer. And by just having that "thinking outside the box" mentality, you can accomplish so much here. My mind is just overloaded with secondary projects, it's crazy. I mean, secondary projects don't have to be big. For example, I was asked to join Guidance & Counseling, the office is a plain empty room. I pulled all these ideas out of my ass of how we should decorate and set up the place and teaming up with an NGO for a workshop to properly train us. Do I have the background to call shots like this, absolutely not! But Sierra Leoneans haven't experienced a school counselor's office and issues like self-esteem, and whatnot. So here I am, being a supposed expert on random things based on stuff I was exposed to in my life in America. I've already started my after-school adult computer literacy program with the teachers. The demand was clearly there when I presented my syllabus for the students during staff meeting and all their questions about the syllabus were: "Well, what about us?!?!"
So onto the friends. I had it all wrong here. In the beginning, I had been so wrapped up in "I'm a PCV and I'm here to serve a community" that I never really truly considered what integration meant. During PST in Bo, I had my American friends and my Sierra Leonean friends. I treated the two differently and I felt that I was closest with my PCV buddies. It made sense b/c I spent most of my time with my fellow Americans. But my perception of Sierra Leoneans were that these were people that I'm out here to help and serve, lol. Which in the end seems like a load of bullshit, lol, b/c actually they help me more than I help them and they're just my fuckin' friends is all, lol. And my family, I don't call them "host fambul", den jus na mi fambul dem, na in dat (they're just my family and that's that).
In the end, PCVs are in their community by themselves so you're not surrounded by your American buddies. I mean, we call and visit each other but the day to day is with Sierra Leoneans. I've been really happy at the school, I really like the staff. Everyone has been really welcoming. Just like any job, you work and then shoot the shit in the break room. Everyone has been super nice to me. I was talking to Anthony, a teacher and good friend, he was telling me how everyone really likes me and that made me feel really good. It's not like I'm super close with all of them but I like them all. Hawa is my rock, she is such a good friend. She is so straight-up and tells it how it is. I sometimes question her if she is Sierra Leonean b/c of her straight forwardness, lol. Friends are friends, no matter what part of the world you come from.
I used to be so aware of me being an outsider like: they are black and I am not. I mean, ya, I still get stared at which I've already gotten used to. As well as, children running after me, yelling OPOTO and waving their hand is a daily occurrence. Excluding those slight nuances of being somewhat like a local celebrity or maybe even community curiosity, I actually live a very normal village life. I'm not so conscious of the difference of skin color which was more of like difference in culture translated by skin color. It doesn't cross my mind anymore, just like back in America where I don't really think about difference in ethnicity. That's just how it is in the Bay Area, it's diverse, you don't notice. I'm sure that it has alot to do with feeling like I belong to a community rather than being a PCV in a host community.
I've really adjusted to life here in Salone. When it's sunny, you bruk b/c your clothes will dry fast. When it rains, you put out your buckets to collect rain water. When "light don kam" (light turns on via generator), you make a mad dash to the closest outlet to charge your phone, lol. When you eat, you say "kam it" or "ta de di" (in Temne) b/c you never eat alone. When you leave you say "a de kam" or "i ti der" (Temne) b/c you never say goodbye.
I'm sure I'll have my every now and then shitty moments but right now I'm just basking in the awesomeness. I'm loving it here!
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