Touki-Bouki

It's less than a week before my departure date and I find myself somewhere between being ready to start my service, wishing desperately for just one more week to get things together, and paralysis at the daunting reality of what I'm getting myself into.  I've spent time abroad before, but this is markedly different and it feels markedly different.  When you study abroad, there's a plan.  You have teachers with syllabi and a hosting institution which can support you.  Most of what makes Peace Corps different isn't the duration, it's the uncertainty.  I don't know where I will be, who I'll be working with, or even if I'll have electricity and running water in two months.  Even if I knew all of that, if I learned anything from my time in France and Morocco, you can't know what life is like in a certain area until you live there.  Books, pictures, and personal accounts can only transmit so much information.  Also, it's quite a daunting proposition.  How am I supposed to help in Community and Economic Development?  I'm not even completely sure what that means, but now I'm being asked to go teach and mentor individuals who will likely be several years older than me.  What do I have to offer?  Why me?  All of those typical questions come to mind.  All you can do is be willing to make mistakes and learn from them.  Peace Corps is such a unique experience for all of those reasons.  There's so much I can't plan for and so much asked of me, but I'm going to get through it anyway and come out a stronger, smarter person. 


On the home front, the good-byes are already starting.  You can pretty much prepare for everything else, but you can't really practice saying good bye to your current life.  There never seems to be enough time to tie up every loose end.  I have a CVS receipt sized to-do list and a packing list that attempts to not only pack my entire life into two suitcases, but also provide me with tools to be prepared with a variety of situations that I might see during my service.  I'll eventually post and critique my packing list here for the benefit of myself and for any other PCVs who find their way here.  I'm trying not to focus too much on all of those things, though.  I won't be gone that long, but I still want to savor my last few days in America for a while.

The title of this post is "Touki-Bouki" which is Wolof for "the journey of the hyena".  It's the title of a movie from D.D. Mambety who was a Senegalese film maker and poet.  The title and the film itself resonate with me a little right now and I also like the idea of having movies as my post titles, so look for more of those in the future.  Thanks for paying attention so far!  I hope this blog will be useful or interesting to more than just me at some point soon.

Good night and joy be with you all.