Aug. 15 - At Post

At Post

Finally, I am here in Sokode, for the next two years.  Ok, that thought makes me nuts.  I am here for today and maybe the next three months and then I’ll decide the next step.  I made it through stage (training) and that in and of itself was a huge accomplishment and I am quite proud of myself!  I really appreciated all the hard work that the trainers did to prepare us for our journey.  They are an incredible group of people.

One of my homologues (counterpart – I say one because I think I will be working with more than one) and some of the weavers told me that our Peace Corps swear-in ceremony was televised.  Apparently, one snippet was of little ol’ me, speaking Kotokoli (the local language here)!  They were all so proud to say they knew me and that I was “their volunteer”.  I was mortified, but it was sweet they all wanted to tell me they saw me on the tele.

The First Three Months

My objectives (and PC’s) for these first three months is to continue studying French, to get settled into my new home (buy furniture, start a routine of cooking, laundry, etc.), and to get to know my community.  I can’t say village because Sokode isn’t a village.  It reminds me a lot of Los Angeles.  It’s very spread out and the quartiers are divided into “suburbs”.  I live on the edge of the city – a good 35 to 40 minute walk from the main rue (street).  Good exercise, but in the hot, hot sun, I will splurge and take a moto.

It’s also very noisy.  All the time.  From the main rue to my home, I counted eight mosques (two of them which are HUGE), and that’s not counting the mosques that I can’t see!  Throughout the day (5 times, starting at 5:30 am), men get on these loudspeakers and “talk” to each other.  There are even men who parade around with their own personal megaphone to bellow out their prayers.

My compound is also very busy and I have no privacy.  One neighbor commented to me, “You made popcorn the other night didn’t you?”  Yep.  There are lots of children too.  I have no idea who is who.

Week 1

So my first week is over.  I now have a table and two chairs (albeit, it is “Rebekah-sized”).  I’ll leave that to your imagination.  I also have a real bed and for the first time in my 2.5 months here, I slept on a real mattress.  It was lovely.  It only took one week from the time I ordered it from the local menusier (carpenter) to delivery.  And it was delivered in style – on a “pouse-pouse” – think a big, big wagon that took three young men (boys) to push the stuff to my compound.  I so wanted to take a picture.  The furniture here is all solid wood (teak?) and very, very heavy.  You think you can just pick up the table to move it, but nope, it will win that arm wrestle easily.

The GEE volunteer that is here now (she will be COS-ing soon) has introduced me to her “veggie Lady” at the marche and has helped me on a variety of other things to get me settled.  She is super, super sweet, tells-you-like-it-is, and has a refreshing and honest outlook.  She has done an amazing job in her two years here.  It’s intimidating!