It is becoming challenging for me to step out of my daily
life and take the time to reflect on everything I’m going through. Quickly
things are becoming routine and commonplace and I forget how different my life
today is from my life 3 or 4 months ago.
Then I was roadtripping with a friend in the US, able able to
communicate easily with anyone I met, to come and go as I pleased, able to
travel hundreds of miles in a day if we so desired or find solitude on a
mountain hike.
Now I’m lucky if I speak English once a week. Fortunately my
French level is decent enough that I’m still able to communicate with people, assuming they speak French- which most men and young people do, but with the
older generations, especially women, its rare. And since my local language skills
are nowhere near conversational, there are people I encounter on a daily basis where the words we exchange are utterly incomprehensible to the other. I can only get as far as the greetings or say
where I’m going or coming from, yet even that is usually enough to get some
smiles (especially from some of the marche mamas who seemed to have decided that
my new name is “Alafia loo”, the response to most of the greetings). Needless
to say, as soon as the conversation goes past my few stock phrases, there’s
little I can do but smile, shrug and say I don’t understand. Sometimes I do
this even when I do understand, like when the question has to do with my
husband or the person wants me to give them money and I’m just not in the mood
to make jokes (more on this later).
Now, it takes me an hour to go only 20km and I have to dish
out 2000CFA (about $4, which I’ve come to view as expensive) to catch a moto
just to get to the nearest town with another Volunteer. Somedays the journey is
absolutely necessary, afterall, that’s where my mail is sent. But most days it
seems like way too much energy to leave village. And traveling hundreds of
miles in a day? Forget about it. Even if I wanted to, travel here is not
conducive to long distances or quick arrivals. But I’m okay with that. For now
I’m content to rest where I am, at least most days.
As for the mountain hikes, well, I can do that here. But its
unlikely I’ll find any solitude in the process. There are people everywhere all
the time and when I go for a walk, all eyes are on me. I’ve been sick the last
few days and all I wanted was to be able leave the house and walk to the hospital
without needing to talk to every person who sees Ouyobekpere (me). But that would be rude, and so despite
the fact that I felt like I was about to Level 10 (Peace Corps lingo for
crapping your pants), I still greeted almost everyone I met.
There is one mountain, Siriyobe, where I can find solitude, but it’s
supposedly inhabited by gorillas and giant snakes so no one goes there. While I don't fully believe the stories, they only make me more curious about Siriyobe.
But despite the challenges and the occasional discomforts,
for the moment I don’t want to be anywhere else. It’s a little confusing when I
think that it’s nearing the end of October and no doubt the leaves of the
Midwest are in full color (or perhaps already fallen up in the UP). I get
nostalgic when I think of the snow that will soon come to the UP, the smell of
Autumn and the coming winter, or the aroma of pumpkin pie. Or when I think of tricker-treaters showing up at
my parents’ doors back in California or of the Thanksgiving feast my family
will soon be sharing.
Most days I try not to think about such things. Because
there is also my life to be had here. There are new holidays to learn and
embrace, new seasons to follow, new languages to speak and new faces to love.
“There is something to be seen in everything, and all pleasureable;
things need not be especially strange or beautiful. One can get high on the dregs
of wine, and full with nuts and vegetables. On this principle, where should I
not be happy?”
-Su Dongpu
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