I was supposed to be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer this past Wednesday, and go to my site (and finally see where I'll be living and working for the next 2 years) this past Thursday.
Instead, I am sitting here in the city, in... a very nice hotel, actually. You can tell from the way I have wireless internet, see.
I actually feel pretty bad about that bit as well. I mean, the hotel is nice, but that makes me feel even worse, because Peace Corps could be spending its money in such better ways, but instead they're stuck spending it on me. They don't normally put Peace Corps people here, but (a) I couldn't handle stairs so I needed a hotel that had rooms on the bottom floor, and (b) I had to be near to the physical therapist and to headquarters.
So you might have caught on that I've been injured.
Well, I don't know if "injured" is the right word. I don't have any idea what I did that caused the back pain, but man, was it awful. I couldn't really walk for a lot of the week-- I could for short periods of time with shuffling steps, but I never knew when my back would just rebel and I'd be standing there, unable to take an other step.
Last Monday was really horrible, actually. That's when it started. So then I was lying in the infirmary, all alone, terrified because I couldn't walk and convinced that Peace Corps would send me back to the US. Then some of the staff came and said it was time to go home (to my Tanzanian family I mean). They had me sit up on the bed (which was, at that time, VERY painful), picked up my purse and then put it down on the other side of the room, and told me that they'd be back in five minutes. Then, they didn't come back. Not even to tell me that it'd be another couple of hours, or even to tell me I could lie down again.
I ended up having to sort of fall out of the bed and crawl across the room to go to the bathroom, and then crawl to where they put my purse (which had my phone in it) in order to, still sprawled on the floor, call people to figure out what was going on.
It was truly miserable.
Eventually, after a couple hours, I made some calls and finally got people to come and help me home.
On the other hand, the staff driver who drove me to the city (3 hours away; everyone was going, not just me, but I was in a separate car) was *wonderful*. He heard me squeak in pain once when he went over bumps, and after that, without my having to say anything, he went super slowly whenever there were bumps of any kind-- even though sometimes some of the other cars honked at him. I was so grateful-- that car ride could have been torturous, but instead it wasn't bad.
So now I'm in physical therapy. I really started feeling better Friday, and now I can pretty much do most regular activities with, well, there's still a little bit of pain, but it's manageable. The only things I can't really do now are leaning over and lifting heavy things.
They're moving me out of the nice hotel today (it was supposed to be tomorrow, but I really don't want Peace Corps to spend the money here when there are SUCH better places it could go), and will move to one with stairs and without room service. I'm REALLY hoping that I'll be able to go to my site sometime this coming week, though. So keep your fingers crossed for me!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Life as a Peace Corps Trainee
Habari za leo?
Well, considering that training is almost over now, I figure I should tell you a little bit of what Peace Corps Training was like.
I live in a home with my Tanzanian family. I've got a Bibi (grandmother) and a host brother and-- sorta-sister, sorta-aunt? She's two years younger than me, but she's my Bibi's daughter. (She also has the same name as my American aunt: Joyce. Weird, huh?)
Anyway, my Bibi is pretty awesome. A couple of weeks ago she won an election, and now she's the Women's Rights council member for our ward. She's basically fluent in English, so we have to try pretty hard to only speak Swahili (Trainees aren't supposed to speak any English at all in home stay). She used to be a primary school teacher, but she's retired and now has a little duka (shop) in front of my house where she sells all sorts of useful little odds and ends.
As I think I've mentioned, our house has electricity (though it's out at least a few nights a week). We've only had running water once. My host family used the opportunity to stock up on water, but the only way it affected me was that the shower started dripping during my bucket bath. I tried to turn the knob (didn't care if I was turning it on or off, I just didn't want it dripping on me). But the knob came off in my hand and water started spraying at me horizontally from the spot where the knob used to be. So, overall, I was pretty content when I found out last week that the house where I'll be living for the next two years will have electricity, but won't have indoor plumbing. But more on that soon.
We had class all day, Monday-Thursday and Saturday, at our CBT (Community-Based Training). It's a secondary school, so for the last three weeks we also taught our subject there; but mostly, it was lots and lots of Swahili training. Then on Fridays, all the trainees meet up for training in Tanzanian culture, safety/security, teaching techniques, health issues, and so on. Then on Sunday we get a "day off," which generally involves doing chores.
My school was a 30-40 minute walk from my house, so most days I biked to school, exchanging greetings with locals as I passed.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, we recently found out where we're headed to for the next two years. I'm not allowed to say publicly where I'm going-- though there's a very interested, largely undocumented UNESCO site I'd like to, well, document photographically, so I don't know how that will work in regards to this secret-location thing. Eh, there'll be plenty of time to figure that out.
What I think I can tell you is that I'm in an actual town, so I'll be right by an internet cafe. Thus I'll be able to update a lot; probably more than I have been now, as training is hella busy and you have to go downtown to get to internet. I've been so exhausted from every day and my brain is rebelling from too much Swahili jammed in there. (I get internet on my phone so you can email me, but I'm not good at typing on a normal phone pad yet, so I rarely respond, lol.)
So now, we've all gone to stay with a current volunteer. This way we get a taste of how Volunteers live, what it's like, etc. Right now we're in a fairly big city; we're going to the village today, and staying there for a few days. I'll try to let you know how that goes in my next post!
Until next time!
Kwa Heri!
Well, considering that training is almost over now, I figure I should tell you a little bit of what Peace Corps Training was like.
I live in a home with my Tanzanian family. I've got a Bibi (grandmother) and a host brother and-- sorta-sister, sorta-aunt? She's two years younger than me, but she's my Bibi's daughter. (She also has the same name as my American aunt: Joyce. Weird, huh?)
Anyway, my Bibi is pretty awesome. A couple of weeks ago she won an election, and now she's the Women's Rights council member for our ward. She's basically fluent in English, so we have to try pretty hard to only speak Swahili (Trainees aren't supposed to speak any English at all in home stay). She used to be a primary school teacher, but she's retired and now has a little duka (shop) in front of my house where she sells all sorts of useful little odds and ends.
As I think I've mentioned, our house has electricity (though it's out at least a few nights a week). We've only had running water once. My host family used the opportunity to stock up on water, but the only way it affected me was that the shower started dripping during my bucket bath. I tried to turn the knob (didn't care if I was turning it on or off, I just didn't want it dripping on me). But the knob came off in my hand and water started spraying at me horizontally from the spot where the knob used to be. So, overall, I was pretty content when I found out last week that the house where I'll be living for the next two years will have electricity, but won't have indoor plumbing. But more on that soon.
We had class all day, Monday-Thursday and Saturday, at our CBT (Community-Based Training). It's a secondary school, so for the last three weeks we also taught our subject there; but mostly, it was lots and lots of Swahili training. Then on Fridays, all the trainees meet up for training in Tanzanian culture, safety/security, teaching techniques, health issues, and so on. Then on Sunday we get a "day off," which generally involves doing chores.
My school was a 30-40 minute walk from my house, so most days I biked to school, exchanging greetings with locals as I passed.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, we recently found out where we're headed to for the next two years. I'm not allowed to say publicly where I'm going-- though there's a very interested, largely undocumented UNESCO site I'd like to, well, document photographically, so I don't know how that will work in regards to this secret-location thing. Eh, there'll be plenty of time to figure that out.
What I think I can tell you is that I'm in an actual town, so I'll be right by an internet cafe. Thus I'll be able to update a lot; probably more than I have been now, as training is hella busy and you have to go downtown to get to internet. I've been so exhausted from every day and my brain is rebelling from too much Swahili jammed in there. (I get internet on my phone so you can email me, but I'm not good at typing on a normal phone pad yet, so I rarely respond, lol.)
So now, we've all gone to stay with a current volunteer. This way we get a taste of how Volunteers live, what it's like, etc. Right now we're in a fairly big city; we're going to the village today, and staying there for a few days. I'll try to let you know how that goes in my next post!
Until next time!
Kwa Heri!
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