Red, orange, and golden leaves of change

This past weekend author of Found the River was once again sick with a stomach virus. We took the opportunity to spend some time at his bedside for a candid and somewhat drug induced interview. Of life past college and adjusting to Peace Corps were the topics of the day and might serve as a guide for anyone who finds themselves in a similar position. Here are excerpts from that interview.

Almost one year ago you were attending your graduation ceremony at Indiana University. At the time how did you feel about your future in the Peace Corps?

At the time I was coming off of the complete high of finishing school and wasn’t realizing the weight of Peace Corps life. It was a wonderful senior year at IU, and I was honestly looking forward to rewarding myself to a small summer vacation. However, as time wore on and friends started to leave for their own jobs and new lives I could feel the longing to move on myself. I felt ready to get out and go, I felt as if I had taken myself as far as I could in Bloomington and the time was right to try something completely new. Of course I was sad to leave my family, a feeling that has grown exponentially since then.

Missing your family would obviously be a big challenge to life abroad. Can you describe some other adjustments you have made?

I would say the biggest shift is moving from a lifestyle where there was an even match between work and play to a lifestyle where work takes priority. When I was in school I worked hard on my school work, but being a kid in college also means that you are going to go out and have some fun as well. I could feel a draw to both sides of the coin and made the balance work. Here my social life is really limited, and in a lot of ways it revolves solely around my host family. They are my best friends and the people I go to for personal problems and general release. Having said that I do spend more time mentally concentrating on my work and the people I am working with. This is due in part to time commitment. Everyone in my family, myself included, works incredibly hard, and the few hours of the evening we are all at home together won’t match the hours [chatting, being, and working with others] that we commit to our jobs. I know this isn’t the same for all PCVs in The Gambia, but it’s how my life has shaped up here.

But a lot of Peace Corps is supposed to be about cultural exchange, do you feel like you are accomplishing that in the work setting?

Of course, working with people you get to see another side of their habits and commitment that you can’t see sitting in a family compound. Some of the most solid cross cultural moments I have had have been in the workplace.

Care to describe one of them?

Sure, I remember a time earlier this year when there was a passing period or free time for a lot of teachers. We found ourselves sitting under a patio when our school librarian brought out a new second-hand cell phone he had just bought. As people admired all its snazzy features a few people called him so that they could hear the ring tones, and we got into a big discussion about which network carrier each person had. The nation has two major carriers and the staff was split about 50/50 between the two, and our discussion quickly turned into a heated debate as to which carrier was better. Voices started jumping in support of one or the other, advertising slogans were used, jingles sung, prices compared, services judged, and everyone was laughing and smiling and yelling over an otherwise mundane aspect of daily life.

It was the kind of cross cultural experience that you wouldn’t read about in National Geographic or on a brochure for Peace Corps, but is rooted in daily life activities and finding joy in the company of others.

That brings up an important aspect of your service, technology. Working as a communications technology volunteer what resources do you find most valuable to have?

Before we came we were not told much of what we should bring. We were told that as volunteers we would have to improvise and that much of the IT situation here was undetermined and new. While this certainly holds true, I think a lot of us would have been happier having a few resources available.

A lot of IT volunteers here live and die by their Flash drives. It’s the only reliable way to get things around country since floppy disk drives have a lifespan of about 2 minutes and CDs seem to last anywhere from a couple of months to a year. In addition to that a lot of us did not bring software. We don’t have reliable access to the internet, and a collection of software would be wonderful. All those technical programs that you might use back home (Read: Virus scanners and definition updates, registry cleaners, back up creators, utilities, diagnostics, etc.) are invaluable to have here ready to go. The internet is getting better here, but is no where near US levels, so having a bunch of programs ready to go before you begin puts you a foot above the rest.

In addition to that is software that benefits the students. About half of us are working at upper level institutions teaching higher level computing where simple software packages don’t work. However, for myself and others, we are working with beginners to the computer. Many of our students have never seen a mouse before and are afraid to touch the keyboard. It helps to have simple games, programs, and other methods of breaking them into computer usage. Time and time again I have loaded up old games like Lemmings or Number Munchers, simplifying the computer to a few buttons and it works wonderfully as demystifying the machine. My biggest goal in the computer classroom has been to erase the image of the computer as a magic box, and part of that is giving them the feeling of control over the computer. I can’t describe in words my frustration when a student is working in Windows and suddenly an error message pops up out of nowhere, it leaves them directionless and feeling like the computer is guiding them, not the other way around.

It sounds like there are a lot of stressors there. How are you coping with all that?

As it commonly goes, there are good days and there are bad days. It helps to remember that everything was not peachy back home either. It is often easy to glorify your life back home and forget that life in any place is not going to be a cakewalk 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Probably some of the most stressful moments are being sick because you have to sit and suffer with no idea of when it will all end. Worse yet is when some awful doppelganger is interviewing yourself for an internet journal.
Having said that, it is difficult, and my stress levels here are high. I try and visit with other volunteers when there is time; sometimes just talking to another American helps. Other than that working out often helps, I’ll ride my bike out to the beach and try and shut out what is frustrating me that day. Of course I also read much more than I ever did before, it offers temporary escape when you are lacking the internet, tv, radio, newspapers, etc.

So honestly, do you miss TV and radio?

I miss some of the shows that would make me laugh. The Simpsons, Aqua Teen, Daily Show they made me smile, something I don’t do as much here.

You’ve been in country for almost 10 months. Any thoughts on how best to maximize your remaining 26?

I keep reminding myself to stay positive. So many things can take longer than you expect them to, that it’s hard to take a step back and look at the overall picture. I think when I take that giant step back I see that I am doing best when targeting a few people. I want to try and focus more on those people that I am able to reach either in the classroom, or with my work at the YMCA. It might sound unmotivated or unsuccessful to someone outside of the situation, but trying to reach everyone here is draining and ultimately leaves the PCV weak. I have to put my energies where they are able to function at their maximum. It’s like I’d rather give a steady flow of support to a few people that will show enthusiasm, thereby restoring my water, rather than a steady trickle from thousands of holes that will never come back.

Tour de France and Rugby World Cup are both coming up. Seeing how both these sports mattered a lot to you, any early picks and predictions?

No idea with the cycling, I haven’t read enough background online or otherwise (Perhaps someone at home will send a magazine or two…) Rugby World Cup? Obvious choice is New Zealand, they have two starting XVs that could probably win it all. World Cup Final: New Zealand A Side vs. New Zealand B Side? I would love to see Ireland put together some consistency and get to the finals, but their 6 Nations run didn’t give me much confidence.

Anyone who has further questions are invited to post on the comments section of the Blog, and the author can retrieve and answer them when he has recovered. Till then thanks for chattin. Any final words?

Yes, tell Steevo sorry for the phone reception being horrible this weekend, hey it’s Africa. Also let him know he’s a true n3rd and his pain will be legendary when I return home.

Thanks for the interview.