I've been in Tamba-meme (the capital of the region of Tamba) for 3 days now. For lack of a better vocabulary, its hot. Sticky, nasty hot. The other volunteers from the region have been staying at the regional house with us to help us buy everything we need to take to village with us. (I don't know why but we say "to village" instead of "to the village.") Its nice to spend time with people who have already been through this process. They have been so helpful, offering support for our near-future breakdowns. Their stories are funny about their own breakdowns. A lot of little things will happen throughout the day and you'll suck it up being a strong PCV and all, but then your pen runs out of ink, literally not figuratively, and you can't stop crying for an hour. I anticipate these moments and look forward to laughing about them later.
Yesterday I bought a big metal trunk that will act as my closet, one pan, two spoons, one fork, a tupperware container, two plastic cups, one metal cup, an obnoxious plastic mat with a picture of a lion that will be a barrier between me and the concrete, a metal tea kettle, a plastic kettle (aka toilet paper), two plastic buckets with lids for water storage, a big yellow baignoire for washing clothes, a bucket of white primer, red, blue and yellow concentrated paint to add to the primer to make pretty colors, rope, thin metal wire, two foam mattresses because I'll have an indoor and an outdoor bed, and a small gas burner. Today I need to buy gardening tools, a plate, a solar charger, a short wave radio, soap, sponges, salt and pepper. I'll also have a trunk kept at the regional house where I can store stuff like the clothes that I won't need in village, like the cashmere sweater and peacoat that I wore to staging in DC (its too funny to me that I actually have those things here with me) and my laptop.
All in all, I'm really excited to move into my village. Its just going to be a lot of work today and tomorrow involving lots of sweat. I can't wait to unpack my suitcases for good. I've been living out of them this whole time because I've been back and forth between the training center and my host family. I'm excited to establish my own routine and to cook my own breakfast. I'm ready to learn enough of the language that I can get the basic idea of what locals are saying and can convey my basic thoughts. I feel as though that's the first hurdle and then learning more technicalities will come easier afterwards. Once my Pulaar is at the level my French is now, I think I'll be comfortable. Quite a few volunteers are really advanced in their languages and I hope to achieve this. Its those volunteers that seem the most integrated and have a good time with even the little, monotonous interactions. I have high hopes of establishing relationships like I had with my host Mom and sister during training. I think the sooner I can do that, the sooner my time in village will be much more enjoyable. Just people to have comfortable, relaxed conversation with when I'm bored, that are receptive of my random thoughts and feelings. I'm looking forward to getting my biking ability back up to par. I miss riding in France everyday. I hope I don't let the heat deter me from riding as much as I want to right now.
Like I said, its hot here. After the hot season is the rainy season and apparently it floods. Even with it being hot and dry right now there are plenty of places you must walk that are so littered and dirty, I can't even imagine how gross it will be once its flooded and/or muddy. Wish I would have brought my goulashes! C'est la vie.
Ok that's all I have for now. Maybe I'll update this again before I leave tomorrow. If you're reading this and you love me, call me during the next 5 weeks to check on my mental stability. 221 7767 20361.
Hope everyone is doing well. Make your A/C a little cooler in my honor. xoxo
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