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| bean harvest - the most wonderful time of the year |
I recently went on a 10,000 mile journey: I left my
Senegalese home to visit my American one! While in the United States, I ate
myself silly, luxuriated in bathtubs, and, of course, spent precious time with
my stateside friends and family. It was a dizzying time of freedom and choices - like do I want hot or cold water to come out of this sink? (?!?!?) Overall it was incredibly relaxing and
energizing. It also brought to light the gaps in knowledge that people have
about my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
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| mom making dinner, looking angry |
Allow me to explain my life in a nutshell. I am a Peace
Corps Volunteer, which means I’ve dedicated 26 months of my life to service in
a country outside the United States. As of now, I have only about five months remaining.
(!!!) I’ve spent the past 21 months in a Wolof village (population: 350) in
rural Senegal, West Africa. My technical work involves health education but I consider
my most important job that of a sort of cultural broker. I speak a language
called Wolof all day, every single day. I wear West African clothing, I
celebrate Senegalese holidays, I exchange Muslim greetings, and I eat Wolof
food.
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| nature walk |
Prior to my trip to the states, I often lamented how little
my host family understands about the US. (Host mom: “Do you have ice in
America? Charettes? Watermelons?”) At this point I feel very close to my host
family, especially my moms, and I think if they understood the first 23 years
of my life, I would make a lot more sense to them. I want the cultural exchange
to go both ways, but just talking to them about life in the US is nothing
compared to the experience I’m getting living life in Senegal. Also, it’s hard
to diplomatically explain that everyone I know in the US has electricity and
ice (and cars and roads, etc) without making us sound like a bunch of super privileged
jerks.
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| that one time my cat caught and ate a squirrel |
It was a bit jarring to realize upon my arrival in the
states that American people know just as little about Senegal (“Where is that
again?”) and virtually nothing about village life (“Why don’t they speak
English?”). I guess I had forgotten how little I knew before I came. I realized
that just because Americans have the internet at hand at every second of every
day doesn’t mean they are or should be experts on Senegal. Then I realized I was
suddenly tasked with the job of explaining an entire culture in sixty seconds
or less and I might as well explain it in Wolof if that was all the time I got.
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| it rained finally! peanuts ready for harvest. |
That’s how I found myself, even while sitting in front of a
plate of eggs benedict and a bloody mary, feeling discontent. I felt like a
cultural orphan, not quite fitting in in Senegal but not quite belonging in the
US either. Fast forward to my overdue, triumphant return back to village in
which mobs of people crushed me with and in their happiness. Finally I understood
that my Peace Corps dream was and is being realized because now I have two
countries, two homes, four mothers, and five more months to enjoy my village.
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| triumphs abound!!! |
When my (American) father used to edit my high school
essays, he critiqued me for my tendency to go over the top in the concluding
paragraph. I tended to insert some grandiose optimistic statements to end the writing
on an unnaturally high note. Well, dad, this post proves that old habit die
hard. And if Peace Corps isn’t a time for you to turn your struggles into
triumphs, I don’t know what is.
