Part I
Hey folks. Long time no talk. I think from now on you can just assume that I apologize for not having updated my blog in a while, instead of me apologizing and making excuses every time. Deal? Cool beans.
I will say one thing, though. One of the reasons I don’t get around to writing that often is that I try to put some thought into my entries, and sometimes I have to wait a bit to be inspired. Well, just a few minutes ago I received an inspirational text from Bryn, one of my best Peace Corps friends, and closest neighbor from my stage (she’s only about 200k away!). Anyway, her text mentioned that the new stage is gathering today in Atlanta, which is where they will have a few days orientation and then depart to the motherland of good ‘ol Ahhfreekah!! Obviously I’ve known that the one-year mark was approaching, but for some reason knowing that the next group of volunteers is officially on their way makes it seem real. So that, my friends, was my inspiration to opening up my computer and writing a blog entry.
And now this is the paragraph where I say something profound. And this is the part where you have to insert your own profound thoughts, cuz now that I’m here I don’t have any.
As I’ve been sitting here trying to decide what to write, I decided I would have a celebratory Fun Dip…you know, the candy that has a stick of pretty much pure sugar that you use to dip into more sugar? It didn’t have the desired affect. It didn’t elicit any profound or even remotely intelligent thoughts. My tongue is just a little more raw than it was before. Sigh.
I guess the reason I’m having a hard time putting words to my thoughts is that my thoughts are seemingly contradictory and probably don’t make much sense. Recently, I’ve been amazed at how comfortable I’ve gotten living here. I’ve also realized that at times I’ve almost resisted getting comfortable, for fear of….I don’t really know…getting too comfortable maybe? Preferring Senegal over America? Losing a sense of what’s “normal?” Losing western ways? Or just becoming straight up weird and crazy?
A few weeks ago I took a vacation and went back to the States (more details on the trip to follow). I think what made me realize my resistance to getting too comfortable in Senegal was my relief to still feel normal and at home in America. I was really afraid that I would be totally freaked out by...everything. Freaked out by America, the fast pace, white people everywhere, the cleanliness, speaking English, freezing in an air-conditioned house, grass, trees. I was afraid my stomach would be freaked out by not eating oily rice for nearly every meal, which I guess was a pretty legitimate concern! I’m sure you will all be relieved to know that neither my stomach nor I as a whole was freaked out by America. My stomach welcomed the balanced diet and I definitely appreciate everything America has to offer even more now. But being in America and talking about Senegal and trying to explain it to people made me appreciate Senegal, the culture and my experience here more, too. The culture in Senegal is just really cool! Really different, and sometimes really frustrating, but still really cool. It’s not the kind of culture that jumps out in your face, like ridiculously scary piercings and tribal war songs and dances and clicking languages that sometimes stereotypically define Africa. It’s the kind of culture that you can only learn by living and experiencing daily life here. Being in America made me realize how much I’ve learned in a year, and how much more comfortable I’ve grown to be here, how normal it is for me to go about my daily life here.
And then, the vacation was over. As always it was hard to say bye to family and friends, but the transition back to Senegal was pretty easy, too. I’ve come to the conclusion that America is what it is and Senegal is what it is. I don’t need to overanalyze my being in one place over the other. Instead of counting down days until I leave hoping that I’ll make it and still want to be here in a few months, I have more of the attitude that I only have a year left, and I want to enjoy it and make the most out of it. I think that’s good, right? I can do my thing and just be :)
Now the contradictory part. As I said I’m comfortable in Senegal, it’s been a great experience, and I feel at home and normal here. However, when I got the text about the new group of volunteers coming to Senegal, I thought, “WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAZY PEOPLE!! They’re voluntarily coming to Africa for two years! Why? They have no idea what they’re getting themselves into! I wonder if they’re feeling the same way I did this time last year?!?” And then all of the sudden I understood why so many people thought I was crazy for wanting to do this, and how they didn’t really understand why I did want to do it.
Maybe it does make sense. Now that I know what’s gone into this past year and I realize how different American culture is from Senegalese culture, I see that it might seem strange to intentionally take yourself out of your element and be plopped down in another, completely different world. It’s really great though most of the time! I promise!
So now you know the inner workings of my mind. Not quite sure why I’m putting this on a public website.
Next topic: America!! I went home in August for a short vacation, and it was fabulous. I was home for less than two weeks, and I was pretty busy most of the time! I got to have a couple dinners with family and friends, which were great, and week of it was spent at the beach on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. I had several friends from college and high school fly in from various locations to spend some time with me and my family at the beach….it was so great! Thank you to everybody who came, it meant so much to see you guys :) Everybody helped me celebrate my 23rd birthday while we were at the beach, too. The week at the beach went by pretty quickly, and after only one more day in Richmond I was back at the airport, heading back to Senegal.
So Im back now, and I feel like a lot is happening! Im planning on coming back to internet after lunch, so I will hopefully write Part II very soon and fill you in!
Hey folks. Long time no talk. I think from now on you can just assume that I apologize for not having updated my blog in a while, instead of me apologizing and making excuses every time. Deal? Cool beans.
I will say one thing, though. One of the reasons I don’t get around to writing that often is that I try to put some thought into my entries, and sometimes I have to wait a bit to be inspired. Well, just a few minutes ago I received an inspirational text from Bryn, one of my best Peace Corps friends, and closest neighbor from my stage (she’s only about 200k away!). Anyway, her text mentioned that the new stage is gathering today in Atlanta, which is where they will have a few days orientation and then depart to the motherland of good ‘ol Ahhfreekah!! Obviously I’ve known that the one-year mark was approaching, but for some reason knowing that the next group of volunteers is officially on their way makes it seem real. So that, my friends, was my inspiration to opening up my computer and writing a blog entry.
And now this is the paragraph where I say something profound. And this is the part where you have to insert your own profound thoughts, cuz now that I’m here I don’t have any.
As I’ve been sitting here trying to decide what to write, I decided I would have a celebratory Fun Dip…you know, the candy that has a stick of pretty much pure sugar that you use to dip into more sugar? It didn’t have the desired affect. It didn’t elicit any profound or even remotely intelligent thoughts. My tongue is just a little more raw than it was before. Sigh.
I guess the reason I’m having a hard time putting words to my thoughts is that my thoughts are seemingly contradictory and probably don’t make much sense. Recently, I’ve been amazed at how comfortable I’ve gotten living here. I’ve also realized that at times I’ve almost resisted getting comfortable, for fear of….I don’t really know…getting too comfortable maybe? Preferring Senegal over America? Losing a sense of what’s “normal?” Losing western ways? Or just becoming straight up weird and crazy?
A few weeks ago I took a vacation and went back to the States (more details on the trip to follow). I think what made me realize my resistance to getting too comfortable in Senegal was my relief to still feel normal and at home in America. I was really afraid that I would be totally freaked out by...everything. Freaked out by America, the fast pace, white people everywhere, the cleanliness, speaking English, freezing in an air-conditioned house, grass, trees. I was afraid my stomach would be freaked out by not eating oily rice for nearly every meal, which I guess was a pretty legitimate concern! I’m sure you will all be relieved to know that neither my stomach nor I as a whole was freaked out by America. My stomach welcomed the balanced diet and I definitely appreciate everything America has to offer even more now. But being in America and talking about Senegal and trying to explain it to people made me appreciate Senegal, the culture and my experience here more, too. The culture in Senegal is just really cool! Really different, and sometimes really frustrating, but still really cool. It’s not the kind of culture that jumps out in your face, like ridiculously scary piercings and tribal war songs and dances and clicking languages that sometimes stereotypically define Africa. It’s the kind of culture that you can only learn by living and experiencing daily life here. Being in America made me realize how much I’ve learned in a year, and how much more comfortable I’ve grown to be here, how normal it is for me to go about my daily life here.
And then, the vacation was over. As always it was hard to say bye to family and friends, but the transition back to Senegal was pretty easy, too. I’ve come to the conclusion that America is what it is and Senegal is what it is. I don’t need to overanalyze my being in one place over the other. Instead of counting down days until I leave hoping that I’ll make it and still want to be here in a few months, I have more of the attitude that I only have a year left, and I want to enjoy it and make the most out of it. I think that’s good, right? I can do my thing and just be :)
Now the contradictory part. As I said I’m comfortable in Senegal, it’s been a great experience, and I feel at home and normal here. However, when I got the text about the new group of volunteers coming to Senegal, I thought, “WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAZY PEOPLE!! They’re voluntarily coming to Africa for two years! Why? They have no idea what they’re getting themselves into! I wonder if they’re feeling the same way I did this time last year?!?” And then all of the sudden I understood why so many people thought I was crazy for wanting to do this, and how they didn’t really understand why I did want to do it.
Maybe it does make sense. Now that I know what’s gone into this past year and I realize how different American culture is from Senegalese culture, I see that it might seem strange to intentionally take yourself out of your element and be plopped down in another, completely different world. It’s really great though most of the time! I promise!
So now you know the inner workings of my mind. Not quite sure why I’m putting this on a public website.
Next topic: America!! I went home in August for a short vacation, and it was fabulous. I was home for less than two weeks, and I was pretty busy most of the time! I got to have a couple dinners with family and friends, which were great, and week of it was spent at the beach on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. I had several friends from college and high school fly in from various locations to spend some time with me and my family at the beach….it was so great! Thank you to everybody who came, it meant so much to see you guys :) Everybody helped me celebrate my 23rd birthday while we were at the beach, too. The week at the beach went by pretty quickly, and after only one more day in Richmond I was back at the airport, heading back to Senegal.
So Im back now, and I feel like a lot is happening! Im planning on coming back to internet after lunch, so I will hopefully write Part II very soon and fill you in!
posted by Sandy at
5:22 AM
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