October 14, 2014
I’m more or less at the half-way point in my training (only
one month and 5 days until I officially become a PCV!). That means this past
week I completed one of the milestones of PST, site visits. Site visits are
when trainees visit current volunteers as we practice navigating public
transportation and get to experience what daily life is like. I left with 10
other trainees Tuesday afternoon as we took a train from Yaounde to Ngaoundere,
Adamawa. The train left Yaounde at 7:15 pm (scheduled to leave at 6:30) and was
supposed to arrive in Ngaoundere late Wednesday morning. In reality we arrived
almost 23 hours after leaving Yaounde because of mechanical issues with the
train. The train provided us with bread, water, and sardines for lunch on
Wednesday and it was a chance to spend time with the other trainees, watch
movies, and nap.
My first moto ride (wearing the PC mandated helmet of
course) was also an experience because the moto driver took myself and another
PCT to the wrong hotel (the PC center is right next to a hotel so that is used
as a landmark). He brought us to a similarly named hotel farther away. But one
of the current volunteers retrieved us and our luggage and we finally made it
to the right place. Although moto helmets are a pain to deal with, especially
with glasses, I must admit they are kinda fun.
My site visit was in Nyambaka, a village about an hourish
away from Ngaoundere. We did a malnutrition screen with our host by measuring
children’s arms (not the most efficient way to do a screen but when you are in
the field it is more practical than carrying a scale and measure large enough
to gauge children’s heights). We also observed a presentation on malaria,
although it was difficult to understand because it was in Fulfulde. Saturday
morning we went to the market and stopped at a soy restaurant on the way back
to Ngaoundere. It is run by women in the community and was facilitated by a
current volunteer. The tofu and soy milk were both incredible! I absolutely
loved my site visit and have started visualizing myself as a volunteer for the
next two years.
The next time I post I will be telling you about what my
site will be. We find out Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to
post that on Facebook before leaving the center but if not you will find out in
my next blog post. For now though I need to sleep as I’m fighting a cold and
had my first episode since Brussels airport.
Three thoughts:
1.
I am already wondering what I’m going to do
being separated from my stagemates in a month and a half. I’m know I’m going to
miss them like crazy!
2.
Internet detox is going well so far, although I
absolutely shamelessly take advantage of it when I do have it.
3.
Emergen-C or Airborne are an absolute must! I
took some last night and am pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it through today
without it.
No comments:
Post a Comment