So looks like I’m averaging about an entry every 2 months. They said that people staying on an outer island would probably only have access to internet once every couple months...you would think, therefore, that I was living on an outer island. But I’m not...just very busy – which is a good thing. I thought, therefore, that 2 entries in 1 day was only fair...
Since last I wrote, my projects are going very nicely. Wally is still alive and growing very quickly. He is very loud and very strong with big paws...I think he’ll probably be a big dog, if he lives to adulthood, that is. He already had one near-death experience earlier this week. I swore I saw him go completely underneath the tires of a car, but somehow he just limped away with a sore back leg and a small cut. It was traumatizing nonetheless –probably more so for me than for him, he was running around 2 hours later. So it’s back to being tied to his rope, which my host father likes to call prison. I talk about him in class with my students, so now they always ask about him, and want me to bring him to school. I think mostly everyone just gets a huge kick out of the white girl (or mataan ahset) with the dog she treats like a person. oh well...goal 3 of Peace Corps Mission: Bring American culture to host country community. Check.
Paddling is going great. I know so many more people in my town now that I’ve been paddling for a couple months. We’re getting closer to the final races at the end of this month. We practice twice a day (once at 5:30 am, again at 5:00 pm), I usually only go in the afternoon. I’m definitely not a morning person and it’s really hard for me to socialize and be peppy that early in the day – I’d rather not expose the whole town to my grumpy morning self.
My garden is...not doing so great. It’s finished and we planted some cabbage, but they aren’t thriving like I imagined they would when I first thought of starting a garden. Out of the 20 or so we planted we’re down to about 7. I joked around with my host parents when we first started the garden that I hoped I hadn’t inherited my mother’s black thumb of death...I’m trying to nurse the poor little guys back to health, but I may very well be doing more harm than good.
We are about to finish the third quarter at school. My students are now completely comfortable with me in the classroom...their behavior has been more difficult to manage lately because of it. I’m tossing around the idea of trying to start an after school program of sorts for next school year. I haven’t done anything more than just talk with some other teachers about the idea, but they seem to think it would be good. It would be a way to incorporate some art, sports and maybe even music into the curriculum. Like any development project, it should strive to be sustainable – meaning it would still be here after the person who initiated it (me) leaves. I read somewhere that development workers should strive to put themselves out of business. Great quote; it should be a prerequisite mission statement for all development organizations around the world.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Travel Skills 101
It may seem a somewhat self evident observation, but in my opinion of all the problems a visitor encounters in his or her travels the most difficult is the utter foreignness and inevitable conspicuousness he or she faces on a daily basis while traveling abroad. Although people like to romanticize the experience as the “joys of traveling,” I believe it is at these times when a person’s real “travel” skills – patience, creativity, acceptance, and daring – are put to the test.
Haven’t we always been told, “Patience is a virtue?” This is nowhere so true as in a foreign country. Between conquering language barriers, bartering the price of the fish you need to cook dinner, navigating foreign streets without getting lost (or maybe while already lost), waiting for everything – buses, taxis, people, animals – it’s good to be able to take a deep breath and practice the art of patience.
I have always said that creativity is not one of my strengths – but after joining the Peace Corps I’ve reconsidered this assumption, perhaps I have always been too hard on myself. As any traveler can attest to, replicating even the easiest recipe from home can be a test of a person’s creativity. After all, how does one make chili without chili powder? Answer: lots of hot sauce, some salt and a little hot pepper.
Before embarking on any sort of adventure – the big ones across the world, or the little ones down the street to the store – it is best to accept the fact that you will forever be conspicuous in everything you say and do. Unfortunately, there is no hiding for the weary traveler. Seeing as the visitor is at all times susceptible to attention in all its forms – the good, the bad, and the really, really annoying – it is best to adopt a “go with the flow” attitude. Accepting now that those people in the market will follow you for blocks and blocks trying to sell you the ugly monkey-head statue that you’ve already said, a hundred times, you didn’t want, will save some unneeded stress in the future.
Upon taking that first step out of the front door the traveler must recognize his or her spirit of adventure. This is unquestionably the universal travel skill that will be called upon infinitely more often than all the others combined. It takes daring to jump into unknown and, almost certainly, uncomfortable situations. But, as I’ve found in my limited traveling experience, a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at oneself are the best recipes for a successful adventure experience.
I recently began my sixth month living in Kosrae. Although I am far from being considered any sort of “local”, every day I am getting better and better at blending in: my language skills are improving every day; my wardrobe is slowly morphing into those of other Kosraean women – I have enough skirts to clothe a small feminist army; my food preparation skills are amazing – I can gut a fish, slice it, salt it and fry it with the best of em. And though I may never escape the visitor status while I’m here, the skills I have learned, the people I have met, and the friends I have made more than make up for the conspicuousness of the title Peace Corps Volunteer.
Haven’t we always been told, “Patience is a virtue?” This is nowhere so true as in a foreign country. Between conquering language barriers, bartering the price of the fish you need to cook dinner, navigating foreign streets without getting lost (or maybe while already lost), waiting for everything – buses, taxis, people, animals – it’s good to be able to take a deep breath and practice the art of patience.
I have always said that creativity is not one of my strengths – but after joining the Peace Corps I’ve reconsidered this assumption, perhaps I have always been too hard on myself. As any traveler can attest to, replicating even the easiest recipe from home can be a test of a person’s creativity. After all, how does one make chili without chili powder? Answer: lots of hot sauce, some salt and a little hot pepper.
Before embarking on any sort of adventure – the big ones across the world, or the little ones down the street to the store – it is best to accept the fact that you will forever be conspicuous in everything you say and do. Unfortunately, there is no hiding for the weary traveler. Seeing as the visitor is at all times susceptible to attention in all its forms – the good, the bad, and the really, really annoying – it is best to adopt a “go with the flow” attitude. Accepting now that those people in the market will follow you for blocks and blocks trying to sell you the ugly monkey-head statue that you’ve already said, a hundred times, you didn’t want, will save some unneeded stress in the future.
Upon taking that first step out of the front door the traveler must recognize his or her spirit of adventure. This is unquestionably the universal travel skill that will be called upon infinitely more often than all the others combined. It takes daring to jump into unknown and, almost certainly, uncomfortable situations. But, as I’ve found in my limited traveling experience, a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at oneself are the best recipes for a successful adventure experience.
I recently began my sixth month living in Kosrae. Although I am far from being considered any sort of “local”, every day I am getting better and better at blending in: my language skills are improving every day; my wardrobe is slowly morphing into those of other Kosraean women – I have enough skirts to clothe a small feminist army; my food preparation skills are amazing – I can gut a fish, slice it, salt it and fry it with the best of em. And though I may never escape the visitor status while I’m here, the skills I have learned, the people I have met, and the friends I have made more than make up for the conspicuousness of the title Peace Corps Volunteer.
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