Jun
18
Weekend reflection
Posted by: Natasha Chiang | June 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment
A couple days ago we bumped into an American Peace Corp volunteer shopping at the local supermarket that regularly visit. (Supermarkets in the towns are really just tiny convenience stores stocked up with basic things like sauce, water, school notebooks, and cheap candy. ) We learned that her name was Audrey, and she is staying at a town around the same distance to Busolwe as we are. It was such a nice treat to chat in English with someone else from North America. She is on a 27 month assignment, and she’s only been here for about 2.5 months, a month more than we have. We invited her to visit us at the library sometime, and she mentioned that she was on her own, so she definitely will.
Later, Steph, Anna, and I talked about how much harder this experience would be if any of us were on our own. I owe a lot to my housemates, and to UBC for fixing up our arrangements. It’s been really comforting to have that Vancouver connection with my housemates. Plus, we are all similar in our goals and aspirations, but are different personalities so life is always interesting.
We seem to take turns getting sick. It is currently my term, apparently. I hope it’s not malaria, and that’s all I wish for. Being sick here is five times harder than it is back home. It makes me cranky and irritated and more on guard than usual, but also allows me to be more bold in my bartering and confrontational skills with boda drivers and the like.
I’m so incoherent this weekend. Tired. Sick. Update better tomorrow, or next weekend. We only have access to internet on the weekends when we are at our hotels.
I hope everyone is doing well back home.
It surprises me how different NGO volunteers approach their assignments. I wonder if some of the other foreigners staying here at this hotel went through classes on ethics. I wonder if we are doing our projects in the most sustainable and ethical way possible. We will probably look back on our time here and see where we could’ve done better.