The Runs are Not Much Fun

*Disclaimer: The following post contains reference to bodily functions and could be perceived as unpleasant to most readers. Also please take into consideration high amounts of dark humor and sarcasm were used in light of the current mood*

I’m sitting here now on the tile floor of my room at the Gambian Pastoral Institute as mosquitoes tare me apart. The sounds of never ending car honking and crickets seep through the window. My roommate Tim and the others have just finished dinner, another helping of extra chewy bread and rice, and have gone to lay out by the rotunda. We leave Wednesday for the start of what I’ve been calling, “Peace Corps Boot-camp”. This several month training takes place in alternation between Tendaba and my training village where I will be learning the language of Mandinka. In my small village will be only two other trainees: Katie and Amanda, but I’ll get to see the rest during the day at Tendaba. I sadly most likely won’t be able to post another post on this website until my return from training around mid April when I will be sworn (god willing we all maintain good health and pass our tests) as a Peace Corps volunteer. Because of this lack of internet access I won’t be able to return your messages but leave me some and I’ll try and respond to all of them when I can. I’m thinking if I ever get free time I may mail an entry to Eric to post for me but we’ll see. If you would like to get a hold of me I purchased a cell phone here, I can’t call out internationally but you can call in. I have e-mailed my Brother, Mom, and Shari that number if you’d like it. Not quite sure how well it’s going to work, or how and when you’ll be able to get through, but stay patient, keep trying, and I’ll get the call eventually (I just hope I’ll be able to answer it). I sit now waiting for it to ring.

Well now that we’ve gotten some technicalities out of the way let me tell you how I’m doing. I’d like to start off though with a quote from last night which made me laugh, *Travis commenting on the leftovers from Olivia’s food* “Olivia how can you do that.” “Do what? I wasn’t that hungry” “Don’t you realize there are children starving in Afri… in… well here.” Things have been down lately in our group of trainees I’ve noticed, it seems like every day I hear the doubts and homesickness of different people. I’ve begun even questioning it myself. It seems like days go by and we’re extremely stoked for what’s too come and then there are days when all we can do is think about quitting… and it’s only been a week. Two years just seems like an exponentially impossible task, but I’ve decided to take it day by day. As the title suggest I have come down with a pretty nasty case of diarrhea, I think I’ve gone almost 8 times today and I feel drained and pale. It seems some of the others have come down with it too. I don’t even believe it’s from a parasite but just the stress and introduction of a new diet. Today we got a big medical lesson on how to self treat ourselves for dysentery, malaria, and other diseases. We have a little book (“Where there is no doctor”) which tells us the prescription and dosage to treat most things. Along with the book we have a shit-ton of pills for all the different maladies along with thermometers and mosquito nets.

Speaking of mosquito’s I moved outside to the rotunda to hang with, Zack, Travis, Dan, Tim, Tara, and Harinder… they all say hi by the way, but yea the mosquitoes are eating me alive, and I have a coat and long pants on too (they head strait for the neck). It’s so amazing how one second (a few seconds ago) I can feeling like utter shit and then go outside and feel so much better. The people here it seems all have a tendency of make us laugh just when we need it, I think we all hold each other together and it’s going to be very hard without most of them at the training village. Tim’s singing and playing on his guitar (He’s freaking amazing) and Harinder (a PCV of two years who we’ll be replacing) is telling jokes about kids playing Frisbee with machetes. I’d like to apologize for my rambling, but this may be the last post for a bit so I’ve decided to make it a little meaty. We got a security training fieldtrip where were taken to an open taxi station too watch people pickpocket in front of us… those kids are damn good.

So I just realized you can chew the Pepto-Bismol instead of sucking on it as Travis and Dan laugh at me for it, damn this shit’s nasty. I’m really glad I wrote this post, somewhere between the cold tile floor and the guitar I’ve found a small optimism; but that’s Africa for you, it seems it just kills you some days and eats you away and others it rekindles a fire and light inside all of us that keeps you going. There’s going to be some bad days, and some good days in the weeks of training to come, but I’ll take it a day at a time. Humor’s seeming to be my greatest strength lately so I’ll keep going, at the very least to keep the other’s laughing.


*Tonight (Feb 11th) we lost one of our group members and I just wanted to write something about it*
Nikki, have a safe trip home, don’t fall asleep in Dakar that place is a shit-hole (not that I know, I’m just assuming). You better send us a few care packages and come and visit (+ work on your Mandinka when you’re bored). Take care of yourself, we will all miss you very much and I hope that when ever you feel uninspired you remember the passion you had to take the leap of faith too Africa, because it was that leap that was something special.