My head bangs against the
metal as we swerve to miss the potholes in the road to only hit smaller ones. It is a
feeling that I am all too familiar with. The sun is hitting my arm like the
feeling of laying on asphalt on a warm summer day; a sad reminder of what is to
come in hot season. When we stop to let a passenger out, the windows quickly
fill with women and children selling water, juice, peanuts, cashews, the fruit
of the season or phone credit. 12 hours. In my brain it is a long time to stare
outside a window but in reality it goes by relatively fast. It is amazing how
the human brain is able to drift away from everything that is real once those
ear buds are put in place or a book is opened. 12 hours, this is the amount of
time that it takes to get from my site to Dakar, the capital city of Senegal,
and I know this trip all too well. I only take it if need be, I don’t go up to
Dakar just to hang out because of the adventure that I know awaits me.
I was up north for a few
different reasons including Close Of Service Conference, the annual All
Volunteer Conference, or AllVol as it is commonly referred to, and the West
African Intramural Softball Tournament. AllVol always has sessions detailing
volunteer projects, career panels or talks with some of the more influential
administrators. One of my more favorite sessions that I attended was a session
about how to document your service through writing and photography. While I
already do both of these things I never studied it in school, I am a mere
enthusiast, and I figured I could pick up a few tips and tricks. Describing the
scene is something that was pointed out that I don’t think I do enough. How did
things smell? What was the reaction of someone’s face after telling the story?
What were some of the background noises that we going on at the time? All of
these things set the scene for the reader and can put the reader in the shoes
of the writer. I though this was great advice, something simple that could be
done to make an account of something into a story.
 |
| Kolda Region! Our theme was Where's Waldo? |
In the beginning of
February the Health group along with my group, the CEDers (Community Economic
Development), had their Close of Service Conference, which is designed to help
with life after Peace Corps. Now lets set the stage, we are surrounded by the people
we have known the longest, talking to staff who at least pretends like they are
going to miss us and we are talking about the future which for the most part
does not include each other. It was sad. Don’t get me wrong, there were happy
moments where we all told our favorite stories of each other, first impressions
or embarrassing moments but then reality would hit and someone would tear up
which only caused a chain reaction. Alexx and I prepared a slide show of our
group and while I thought it would be tearjerker it was actually really funny!
It is amazing how much we all change over the course of two years, even small
things like how long/short someone’s hair is and without looking back on some
of those initial memories you don’t even realize it. I will try to get a final
slideshow together and post it for you all to see!
As for my second, and last,
AllVol/WAIST combo it was everything that I imagined; exciting to see people
you never get to see, exhausting always being on the go and sad to be saying goodbye
to people that I will probably never see again. Peace Corps had to play in our
own league for the softball tournament, again, as we should, and I can actually
say there was way more drinking and horse playing than actual softball, which
wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think four official softball games actually
happened but the next day it quickly stopped once we were asked to come back at
9am, the morning after the Marine’s Masquerade Ball. We all knew this was not
going to happen but we tried to stay positive but when walking back at 4am in a
vampire-like cloak that my homestay Megan and I took from a Marine we realized
the 9am thing was not going to be happening. 11am rolls around and we finally
turn up to the fields and the number of people that were there, already
drinking and attempting a game of softball was impressive. There were not
enough people to form any team really so it quickly became a game of the north
versus the south. Those of us that were not into playing softball after a night
of festivities were able to lie in the grass, listen to music and try to take
down that first beer, which is always the hardest. We ended up getting kicked
off the field resulting in us finding another one and starting a game of
kickball. Once everyone was too tired of kickball we just did some more grass
laying and beer drinking. Really it was a perfect afternoon. Other than
softball and the masquerade ball, as far as Peace Corps sponsored events, there
was bowling, pub trivia, and a talent show- Lily, Karen, Alexx and myself had a
dance routine again this year along with the Kolda Region performing a K-Pop
routine and I am proud to say they were both a hit!
With less than three months
left in country I am left thinking, what next? We were told during our Close of
Service Conference to do the next thing that interests us. This is where there
is a bump in the road. What does interest me? Do I want to teach English abroad
for a little bit? Do I want to push papers to try to move up in an
organization? Do I want to try and find that perfect dream job that allows me
to live abroad with a base somewhere in the states? And if I am going to live
in the states there is always the question of where? While I have no idea what
I am going to be doing in three months it leaves me with a freeing feeling. I
can do whatever I want and I can live wherever I want. Now is the time to
actually do whatever interests me. On the other hand after doing what I have
been doing for the past two years, and pretty much being away from anything
that I consider normal life back in America, am I really equipped mentally to
make these hard life changing decisions? As a Peace Corps volunteer, and I am
sure most, if not all can relate, you lose all sense of decency in
those two years! We eat with our hands, when we shower it is out of a
bucket, we are always late to meetings and we narrate every detail of
our lives since nobody really understands us. Well, as one may say when talking
about guys, I just need Mr. Right Now, not Mr. Forever!
Cheers.
