Sunday

The Insane Asylum

I spent my second night away from home and stayed with Tracy and Sojourner. Both are "development instructors" at a primary school teacher training center about 5 kilometers outside of town. They are both at different stages of their 6 month service in Mozambique and then off to another country after that.

They greeted me with a "Welcome Akisha" sign. We played taboo--handmade by the girls. And we also played a hard gam of UNO. The competitors came out for that one.

Their house is really cute but it is plagued with hardships. They have no kitchen and must depend on a woman (who often doesn't show up) to prepare ALL their food. They have an outhouse that is shared with the whole family that lives next door and owns the house they live in. Come to find out, though, the family next door has an indoor bathroom that stayed locked and the girls are not allowed to use it! The family also thinks it is ok to come into their house as they please and use the fridge.

I slept in what should have been their kitchen. When they opened the door it looked just like an insane asylum complete with white tile all over! As you can see from the photos above, I was a bit freaked out.

I don't know what to make of this, but the whole situation shows me how well Peace Corps prepares its volunteers once they hit the ground in a foreign country. It really takes all those small things you need to know and many people assume you know and makes they easily accessible. I guess this is why many peace corps volunteers are able to "integrate" easier than others.

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