August 11, 2001
It's finally here -- the end of my 3 months of training!! I'm so excited to get moved into my house with my stuff in my town & start my work! In some ways, the weeks have flown by; in other ways, well, there have been challenges. : )
We spent two days in the political capital -- Yamoussoukro -- meeting our Ivorian coaches. Mine, Kodja, is the Chief of Technical Services at the mayor's office here in Taabo. I guess he's about my age, & he's very forward thinking, at least from what I've seen. He seems to know a lot about Americans &/or other cultures, & says he tolerates the differences easily. That's good -- I've already warned him that Americans are direct compared to Ivorians, & I'm direct as Americans go, so he'll have to help me with protocol.
My house is so cute! When I signed up for the Peace Corps, I really expected I'd be living like I was camping. But my program -- Urban Environmental Management -- has a really high standard of living. Since we work with the Mayor's office, we live like the professionals in the mayor's office. Lucky me!! My house is a 3 room duplex -- kitchen, living room, & bedroom. The rooms are all large -- larger than any bedroom I've ever had, that's for sure! The bathroom has a shower -- no hot water, & terrible water pressure, but hey -- a shower! The volunteer before me left a bed, wooden recliner chair, & kitchen table & chairs. I thought she was leaving the stove & refrigerator, but she didn't. I'll buy a stove first & see how I feel about the refrigerator next month. Lots of people don't have one -- it's definitely not necessary, unless I want cold coke in the a.m.!
There is a lot of work to be done here, that's for sure, but I'm not rushing into anything. They say the first 3 months are spent thinking of projects before you really start anything. That seems long, but in another culture, it takes awhile to get your feet on the ground. Initially though, there's no trash collection, the "worker's neighborhood" has sanitation problems, & we have to get more kids in school. School is technically free, but books & supplies & uniforms run about $100-$200 per year. That's a lot by Ivorian standards. Lots of kids can't go at all, or go one year & earn/save money the next to return again. The daughter of my boss is 18 & still has 3 more years of high school, so I imagine there were money problems along the way. That's not at all unusual.
Tonight I'm sleeping in my new place for the first time -- no electricity or water until tomorrow -- but I'm too excited to not stay there! I hope the people I've been staying with understand -- it's hard to be really expressive in other languages -- I tried to explain how excited I am to have my own place, etc.
It's the 2nd full day of my site visit, & I'm not ready to pull my hair out speaking only French yet. That's probably been my greatest concern. So far -- so good!
Of course, I think of you all OFTEN & am so happy to travel with your love & prayers. Merci!