Yesterday, two of the current
volunteers who came to help out with our training (called resource volunteers) were
helping to explain the cycle of ups and downs that we will experience in our PC
life cycle. Up until then, I had kind of been in denial about having low points
because I was, as indicated on the power point slide, admittedly at the
honeymoon stage of being fresh in a new place. However, having remembered the
state that Milea and I ended up in in Paris I knew that isolation would become
a big factor to the “downs.” (I didn’t really get “culture shock” (I still hate
that term) in Morocco because I was surrounded by Americans all day every day).
The difference here is that the Parisians were reluctant to connect with us- or
it may have been us shutting down to even trying after initial frustrations-
whereas I think that the Basotho will be crowding me with company, because they
really have very little other forms of entertainment. Maybe it’s now slowly
turning into the first tiny low dip now that I’m realizing that training is
going to suck (the actual sessions, not being with everyone- that is awesome)
and that the bulk of the theoretical stuff they’re teaching us isn’t going to
be useful. The only things I remember from the training sessions are the
real-life anecdotes and input/advice from the resource volunteers. Also, after
training, I just want to go back to my house and relax in silence (hah…silence...one can dream)
without having to talk to everyone I pass on the street. But even so, it kind
of lifts you up when you get your Sesotho right or when someone remembers your
name.
I know I will miss being able to
hang out with all my fellow trainees every day, but then again I will probably
get sick of a lot of them. It’s cool that I have found such good people to hang
out with either one on one or in smaller groups. Big groups do weird things to
people’s personalities and make some of them almost unbearable. The one I hang
out with the most is Lee- we do assignments, cook, and work out at each other’s
houses. He said that he thinks that the bo’me, with their daily “water tap
meetings,” (aka hanging out and talking as they fill up their buckets for the
day) are probably gossiping about us. I’ve definitely seen that Basotho girls
usually hang out with other girls and boys with other boys. Since leaving my
all-girls high school, I have had a lot of close friends who are guys, but having
a close, opposite-gender friend is not really a thing here, so I don’t really
know how they interpret us. In other Senate-centered news, Hillary (another PCT
who lives really close to me) says that the adults are always talking about me
(in a good way, she says) and how I do gymnastics and play with the kids and
such. They wonder how I can do that stuff “at my age.” That kind of made me mad
that they discount someone’s ability to have fun and play based on their age. I
wonder if it is looked down upon that I play with and “act like” the kids. I’m
already weird by default because I’m a foreigner- another level of weird isn’t
going to add that much to the mix. They’re just gonna have to get over it.
Again, I’m coming home to my ‘me
and ntate being so excited to teach me everything. My ‘me wants to look at my Sesotho
notes every night after we eat dinner. I think I’m starting to pick it up; I
can even understand words here and there on the radio. I’m just a little
frustrated with my language class because I’ve learned many languages before,
so my brain is wired to learn quickly, but I’m not being taught enough
structure. I think they’re gonna switch the language groups around based on
ability soon, so maybe I’ll get a teacher who is more matched to my learning
style.
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