First Visitor

I wasn't really planning on posting today but I figured the upcoming EPIC EVENT OF EPICNESS, might need a little preamble before I do a full post a few weeks from now.

My cousin, ladies and gentleman, and everyone in between, is getting on a plane today to fly to...

ATLANTA!

But after that he is going to get on another plane where he will fly to

BOTSWANA!

Well I guess technically he is flying to South Africa but after that we are going to get on a bus to Bots, so I think it pretty much counts.

In about a day and a half (though I am sure it will feel longer for him) my first ever relative will be touching down in Africa to visit me and I couldn't be happier...or more freaked out. On the one hand this will be the first member of my family that I have seen since December, for those of you who don't feel like counting that means a long 5 months! I miss my family every single day, and so having someone here to bring a little piece of that to me is going to be wonderful. On the other hand I am worried that this trip isn't going to be everything he is hoping it is going to be. I mean this is his first time to Africa! Weren't we just talking about this in the post below? How men are men, and women are women and there are crazy animals running lose everywhere? Well he hasn't been here for over a year tempering that view which means it is my job to make sure that his stay lives up to all those crazy ideals.

But interwebs...SO MUCH goes wrong here...ALL THE TIME.

I am constant walking proof of Murphy' Law, and normally that is fine but now one of my closest relatives is coming to visit and is going to be sucked into that and I don't know how to avoid it. What if the combi doesn't come, or it comes and it breaks down and then we get to the park late and we miss seeing rhinos and then MY COUSIN NEVER GETS TO SEE A RHINO?!? Or what if he has an alergic reaction to some of the traditional food I have been arranging and then he spends his whole trip puking or something? What happens then? What do I do? Because it is my job tat he has a good time, and it is my job to make sure that he sees the right side of this amazing country and goes home and tells everyone he know "South Africa is boring, you need to go to Botswana!" Because lets me real people, I can count on one hand the number of people I know who come to Africa to vacation anywhere other than South Africa, and I think that is a little silly.

So yeah, I'm freaking a bit, and my whole house is clean, and I'm pretty sure I have planned everything down to the second, but I'm not 100% sure and I'm hoping he can just roll with the punches (I'm pretty sure he can and that I am just freaking for no reason.) Only time will tell though, and so this is going to be an interesting experience.  

Wish me luck!

Hugs and smooches,
Claire/Tlotlo

Romanticizing Peace Corps

United States Peace Corps

When you read those words, if you are an American, and grew up in a middle to upper income home, chances are you think of some things, or have a certain feeling come over you. I have found that, for the most part, these mental stirrings fall into one of two categories. The first is that Peace Corps is an organization that sucks down American tax payer money, and that it is filled with dirty hippies thinking they can do something to change the world, but who are, in fact, just bringing the big scary western machine to the innocent, unsoiled corners of the earth. This actually encompasses two negative views, the first being the more conservative negative view point and the second being the more liberal negative view point. If you were under the impression that there aren’t liberals who hate Peace Corps, I hate to break it to you but you are wrong.  

The second and vastly more popular view of Peace Corps is a wildly romantic and idealized view. It involves a bunch of determined Americans covered in mud, building a bridge, talking in the local language and generally being the type of people that make the world a better place. If you are thinking of men, they have beards and if you are thinking of women, they aren’t wearing bras and probably have incredibly long hair. They are all eating weird exotic food, and if they are wearing shoes, they are probably made of hemp or banana leafs. They are undoubtedly pooping in a hole (Unofficial Peace Corps Anthem) Let us explore this issue shall we?

Firstly, we started in an insanely beautiful and Cinderella like story that involved JFK giving a speech on the steps of the University of Michigan Union in 1961, in the rain, at 2am in the morning, to a group of students that asked only that their country give them a chance to serve. And then we went out into the world, and probably like you may have thought, we built bridges and schools and we did what is known as “gap” filling. This was a wonderous testament to what the youth of America could do if they put their minds to it, and it made a super pretty picture, but ultimately it wasn’t helping people and it was only completing a short term vision. Because, you see, if you build a bridge but teach no one to maintain it than it will go to ruin, and if you don’t teach anyone to fix it, then it will fall down, and then you don’t have a bridge any more.

So we moved to the capacity building model, which means I don’t get to do diddily squat unless I find a person in my village who wants to do it with me. I think this village needs a support group for teen mothers, but no one is on board because the last support group they tried to start went dead? Tough cookies! If I want to set up an income generating cooperative for single mother’s but there is no one who wants to help me with it, nothing happens. This model works better, it insures that the projects we start today don’t fail when we leave, it helps check that the things we are doing are actually needed and wanted within the community, and it creates a natural form of investment.

But that isn’t really what we are talking about with this, what we are talking about here is the interesting social spot in the American psyche that Peace Corps has. Since I started the application process I have gotten comments like “well my life isn’t as adventurous as yours” and “you must have it so much worse than I do.” This type of thinking is most detrimental to those who are looking into Peace Corps, a.) because you tend to think you are going to work a lot harder than you actually are, which may prevent you from applying in the first place, and b.)because if you actually apply, and come out to whatever country you were invited to, you are going to be carrying more baggage than what is in your suitcase. I was truly under the impression, prior to talking to RPCVs, that volunteers work 24/7 in very back breaking, physical labor; that was until a recruiter set me straight: “Peace Corps will be two of the most laid back years of your life.”

So let’s take on some of these misconceptions one at a time.

First: “My life must be cooler than yours because I live in Africa”

This statement must be divided into two portions, firstly that “Africa” is a heavy baggage word in the US, and two that you may not be at a super happy place in your life, so you assume mine is better. The novelty of living in the Botswana (or anywhere else in Africa) might get you through PST and a month at your new site. At some point though the fact that you are traveling in an overcrowded combi, and you have a chicken shitting on your lap (I meant ‘sitting’ but both could be happening) just becomes frustrating. The lack of water can be fun and campy but you hit day 3 or 4 and all you want is a shower. The rice and beans/ lentils joke is cute, but you haven’t eaten anything else for a month and you are pretty sure your system is starting to lose its ability to digest anything else. The Africa baggage is because a lot of Americans seem to think that Africa is a single country, and that is it full of animals and adventure; where men are men, and women are women, and all the little black babies with distended bellies are just begging for help. This is not how it is here, and if it was I don't know why you would think it would be cool to work here, it would be depressing, and void of humanity.

I work with real people, people who have families and jobs and feed their kids and creating loving communities. I do NOT work in a UNICEF commercial. The “coolness” of life here doesn’t last forever, and it isn’t something that is going to get you through a two year service. Don’t apply if all you got going is the “cool” factor, you will ET if you don’t find more to ride than that. Peace Corps is a two year commitment that requires you to swear into a pseudo-government position, it is too hard if all you are doing it for is so that you can use it to pick people up at a bar later on in life.

Second, “My life must be super hard, because I live in Africa.”

Okay, I know we just talked about how Peace Corps is hard, but the portions of my life that are hard, are not usually the portions of my life that you think are hard. Firstly, I serve in Botswana, and unlike a lot of other parts of Africa, this country has their business together. We have roads, and hospitals, and business people, and not everyone is toting a gun and looking for trouble. 

My house has water and electricity (when it is on), and I have a refrigerator, as well as a bath tub. My life is not as hard as you think it is physically, and harder in a lot of ways it would be difficult to describe, emotionally. The reason for this is because we, as humans, are incredibly adaptable and we get used to certain norms very quickly, and adjust our lives accordingly. This is why homo sapiens live in SO MANY different climates, because we learn to adjust. Just check out “Human Planet” on BBC.

I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I miss the familiarity of home, and that is not something that should be down played, but I’m not living in squalor, I’m not starving, and I’m not infested with parasites that are eating away at my eyelids. My life is hard, but not the kind of hard you are talking about.

Third “I am a better person, because I have decided to do this.”

Let me make it clear that Volunteers are a wide mixed sample of the American people, sure we have a lot in common in how we see the world, but we also have a lot of differences. There are lazy, active, greedy, giving, self involved, altruistic, Volunteers from all walks of life, which means that there are a infinite ways to spend a service; including doing very little over the course two years. I would like to reiterate that this is not the majority of volunteers, but just like any big organization or company, you have people that work harder, and people who don’t work quite as hard. There are also a million different reasons for joining Peace Corps in the first place. Some people join to run away from something (student loan payments, divorce, job loss, depression, dissatisfaction with life), some people join because they want to travel, some people join for purely career based reasons, and some people join because they have a fervent want to help their fellow man. The why of people joining often crafts what sort of job they see themselves as responsible for doing. 

I don’t know where I fall on this, there are days when I work my ass off, there are also days when I just don’t feel like dealing with it and so I sit and count pills and chill out with the staff at the clinic. Now, at this point you could say that I am “doing something” but just being around, because sometimes I talk about the US, and people get to know me and just my simple self is affecting the world for the better. This may all be true, but it is not the sole reason that the organization exists, and usually not the reason people join up. I am no better or worse a person than I would be if I had stayed in the US and continued to work at my deli mail order assembly line job (which was hands down in my top three jobs along with being a volunteer and a substitute teacher.) I have changed a lot during the past year, but my essence has not changed, at least I don’t feel like it has, and though there has been a lot of fine tuning, I’m going to be recognizable when I get back.

So that is it, three of the more popular comments I receive when talking about my Peace Corps service. Now that we have all that covered I wanted to make another little happy announcement for the day:

SAME SEX COUPLES ALLOWED IN PEACE CORPS!

Starting on June 3rd, the United States Peace Corps will begin taking applications for same sex couples! 

I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER about this, and it makes me so proud to be a part of this organization. Peace Corps has been taking heterosexual couple applications since its inception and this move has just proven that the are not only willing to "talk the talk"of greater inclusion and more rights for gay and lesbian couples, but that they are also willing to "walk the walk." 

For those of you that might have some questions but don't want to read the article, PC will still devote it's time to finding SAFE placements for these couples, and will not break any domestic laws that certain countries may have, as they do with all Volunteers (i.e. same sex couple will not be placed in any of the 80 countries that have anti-homosexuality laws that Peace Corps might be working in.) Also, staff in countries deemed safe will get special training dealing with same sex couples and special challenges they may come across. 

I'm so happy about this, and I hope the Supreme Court is taking notice :)

~Claire

Birthday 2 of 3!

Happy 24th birthday to me!

It is crazy, stupid, nuts to think that I left for Botswana at 22, and am now celebrating my 24th birthday. I'm one of those rare volunteers who had their birthday in PST, which means ultimately I will be spending a total of 3 birthdays here, even though service is only a little over two years.

What normally happens on my birthday in the states: I'm woken up by family with birthday cake and gifts in bed. This is a fun Swedish thing, and I love it (didn't realize most families don't do this until much later in life.) Go to school or work, depending on what age I am, and then come home to Mom making birthday dinner (which is planned for ahead of time since we get to have whatever we want.) Usually another cake is involved, and at some point I talk on the phone, or get emails from a lot of friends and family, wishing me another happy year. I would also like to note that our next door neighbors have NEVER ceased to send all of us kids a birthday card every year, which I think is wonderful. Go to bed happy and full of cake.

This year: woke up at 5am to shower, and feed the cat. Made cheesy eggs and coffee, and tuned on the laptop to watch Glee while opening the packages I have from Grandma and Grandpa, and the Amazon book from my parents. Put on birthday sweater and scarf from G&G, and actually put on makeup for the first time in months. Make my way to the clinic for the morning meeting where I am scolded for not letting everyone know it is my birthday. I have brought juice that we are going to make for everyone for lunch. Get my leave form signed by my CP (counter part) and head over to the library where I am going to teach the kids how to play softball and review our relay skills.

Head back to the clinic to enjoy lunch and juice with everyone, and maybe try to catch up on a few letters  am writing (only a few days behind but they stack up quick!) Go back to the library to skype with my Mom :) Before heading home, make a pit stop at the post office to fax off my paperwork, and check for any birthday packages. Once I get home I have a bunch of veggies, and a potato to make baked potato supreme with. I also have "Pudi Wine" (wine that has a picture of a goat on the front) chilling. Make dinner, watch more Glee, and enjoy a glass of wine before taking my book and heading to bed.

Its going to be a lovely day, and I couldn't be happier with where I am at in life. Life is good, and fingers crossed this year is going to be even better than the last.

Hugs and smooches,
Claire/Tlotlo

Birthday sweater and scarf!

Pre-Holiday Reflection

Not going to be a super long post, but wanted to let you know that I am still on top of my month of letter writing and that, interestingly enough, just by posting the goals that I did, I have started to be more mindful of them. I have been getting out of bed earlier, I have been making myself breakfast, I read a book on Judaism yesterday, and I washed my hair last night... when really I could have gone at least another two days before it started to smell ;)

I think this one year project is going to be really good for me, and I'm looking forward to taking it on. I am going to swap out next month's goal with another one though, since it is dark until around 7am here now, and it will be easier to enjoy the morning when I have light.

I have a really fun post I am writing about seasons, and since we have a national holiday here tomorrow I am going to work on it and post it either saturday or sometime next week. Other plans for tomorrow: write more, do laundry, crochet, watch Glee (I got a couple seasons from a friends hard drive), hang out with my cat. So basically...what any stereotypical old spinster lady would do on her day off...

Hugs and smooches to all,
Claire