Today is Wednesday, May 7, 2008, and I’ve been living in Mandinaba for 2.5 weeks now. I decided to write a blog entry, and then publish it later when I have the internet. Right now I am chillaxing in my friend’s house. She lives in Brikama (about 8K) away, and has ELECTRICITY!!! She had to go to a last minute meeting, so she left me here, but I’m not complaining because I can actually use my computer now. I tried to use the stupid thing last week in Farjara at the Peace Corps office, but apparently my computer needs to be updated or something to handle the wireless internet that the Peace Corps is using. Stupid government programs!!! So I lugged the stupid thing all the way there, and then wasn’t even able to use it. Oh well. Next time I go there I have to figure out what I need to download for the computer, and then do so and place it on my USB drive to be downloaded on my laptop whenever I have the chance. The Peace Corps has really come a long way. We are one of the countries that they are trying the wireless out in, so I really want to make sure that the Peace Corps keeps it here! I find it so funny that we all have laptops, and we have cell phones practically glued to our hands. (Okay, I’m sure not everyone uses their cell phone to text people as much as I do, but I consider texting to be therapy. If something goes wrong, or if I really need to share something funny that happens, I can always reach out to someone else. PCVs of the past are probably rolling over in their graves with shame at the amount of technology that is currently at our hands. If I really want to I could just ride my bike 20 minutes and use an internet café. I choose not too because I hear that the places are crawling with computer viruses, but I still have the option.
My first goal was to learn everyone in my compound’s name. I believe that I have now accomplished that goal. Okay, there are some family members that show up sometimes on the weekends that I have not managed to get down, but they’ll come sooner or later. I have a host father, two host mothers, and a whole bunch of siblings and other extended relatives. One of my favorite people (other than my niece of course) is my host uncle. He speaks English fairly well, and seems to be educated. I’m not sure what is wrong with him exactly, but I plan on figuring that out over the next two years. It’s not uncommon for me to find him at the pump watering imaginary buckets of water. He sits along the side of the road every day (our compound is right on the road), and just greets everyone that walks past. I’ve started sitting with him sometimes because he is a really nice person. We watch the cars drive by, and we just sit and talk about random things that come up. He seems to have a really good memory, and can remember meeting my friend Steven, and also is learning all of my other friend’s names as well. Today when I said that I was going to Brikama, he remembers which friend I was going to see. I asked someone about him, and it just seems that one day he sort of lost it, and just ran away into the bush. He reappeared some time later, and since then has never been the same.
I still cannot figure out what to do exactly as far as work goes. I’ve been traveling with the nuns to a nearby village to help out at the “clinic.” I used the quotes because it’s really just a room with medical equipment from the 1950s. The group is funded by the Catholic Church, and I guess that the group has not been getting as much money lately. I love to ride in the truck with the nuns, because the “driving nun” always cracks me up. Every time we pass a small child on the side of the road it’s “Thank you Jesus.” She does this every single time the car starts, we clear a crowded area, go up or down the hill to get on the road, etc. I don’t really do too much there, I just weigh the babies, and help fill out their vaccination cards, but I enjoy going every week, so I figure that I’ll keep going for the time being. Next week I guess that I am starting to work with the nursery school. My village has a library, so the headmaster of the school wants me to teach “skills” to a different class each day. I’m hoping that this will eat up a good deal of my morning each day. When I was talking to the headmaster we kept saying that he wanted the children to learn “skills.” I finally asked him what sort of “skills” he wanted to children to learn, and he told me drawing, tracing, and reading. I just sort of said, “um okay,” and decided that I would work on something better later. A few days ago I spoke to the guys who run the library, and we decided that I would work on the alphabet, numbers, and tasks like washing hands. If anything I figure that the kids might enjoy being read too, especially the smaller children. The nursery school is made up of kids aged three to seven, who are learning English, so it should be quite an experience. I’m sure that I’ll have many funny stories to tell later.
I still feel like I am not doing enough, but when I talked to other people who were assigned jobs, they seem really stressed out. They were not given the chance to really get to know their families. I guess that it is a good thing that I have this time to get to know everyone, because these are the people that I will be living with for the next two years. Now that I am starting to feel more comfortable, I also have the time to go and meet other people as well. There are roughly 3,000 people here, and everyone claims that the last PCV knew everyone’s names. I find this hard to believe, but I guess now I have to try. The other day I was walking down the road when I met a small child that was named after the previous PCV. I then thought, “oh great, now I’ll have to work extra hard to get one named after me as well.” One of the host sisters told me that I’d also probably have a child named after me before I go. I really hope so. There are no little girls named Katie here, so it would be pretty cool for that one, very special child to be named the most wonderful name in the whole wide world.
Now that I have the burner working, I’ve started making my own dinner. My host family is having a hard time understanding that I want to make dinner myself, but I’m working on making them understand. One day I ate the Ramón noodles that PC gave us. This was my first time ever eating the things, and honestly they weren’t too bad. I’ve also made pasta and sauce a couple of times. I’ve created a pretty good sauce. I take mashed up onions, tomatoes, and garlic, and then add tomato paste, water, and parm cheese. It’s actually pretty good, but a little seasoning would probably make it better. If worse comes to worse, I just buy a potato sandwich from the market. It’s probably the best thing on Earth!!! It is bread, with mayo, cut potato, and a little Jumbo sprinkled on the top. Now I’m not sure what Jumbo is exactly, but it is some sort of seasoning that I’m pretty sure as MSG in it. Whatever it is it is amazing, and the people put it in everything. I want to add hardboiled egg to the potato sandwich and make some sort of potato salad sandwich. The other evening I created what is probably the best thing ever!!! I took bread, and added mayo and ketchup to it. Then I fried some potato, onion, and egg, and added that to the bread as well. Of course I added Jumbo on the top when I was all done. I’m sure that the thing was packed with fat, but seeing how I mostly just eat rice and fish, I figured that I am allowed to splurge every once and a while.
Oh well, it seems that the power just went out. The electricity is turned off during the day, and then comes back on at night. Hopefully my camera got charged pretty well so I can take some more pictures. I think that things will be okay, especially if I can get rid of these cats (see previous blog entry.) I feel happy most of the time (minus Thursdays when my malaria medication makes me depressed), and I really cannot see myself doing anything else right now. The whole thing is annoying, and sometimes pretty lonely, but I figure that I am living the American Welfare dream. How many people can say that they live off total monetary support of the Government? Not too many. For the next two years Uncle Sam will be paying all of my bills. Sure there’s a lot of responsibility, but at the end of the day all I really have to do is be my charming self.
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