1) Home
My new home – nestled against hills
close enough that I can cross a pasture of trickling streams and
climb to vantage points of the town within 5-10 minutes. Though there
are some streetlights in town, my ger is tucked into a corner of the
hashaa, such that the fenceline blocks most of the surrounding light.
I can see the Milky Way from my front door and through my skylight on
nights dry enough to leave it uncovered. My first nap involved lying
in the darkness of the afternoon, listening to the cattle calling
out. Now that the sun is down, the dogs are the ones that call, and I
hope that my hashaa dog doesn't play a starring role as so many of my
friends' canine companions have done.
The ger is a five-wall, so the diameter
is somewhere around 18 feet: More than enough for me and any
visitors. Weathering an electrical storm, however, is much like being
in a basement. When the rain is coming, or if there's a chance of
rain overnight, the chimney is pulled from its post and the roof is
covered entirely. The only natural light comes from the doorway and
is augmented by a fluorescent ceiling fixture. I can hear the storm –
thunder and all – approach, so I charge my laptop to its capacity.
I boil a full load of water, as electric stoves don't perform well in
a blackout. And I wait...as the rumbles get stronger. The downpour
begins, so I close my door, and I'm now sitting in my bunker, phone
in hand (since that's my flashlight), waiting for the lights to drop.
When they do, I'm in space. There is no light and the storm's score
drowns out my music. It's a peaceful darkness. My ger protects me.
2) Perspective
Each day brings accomplishment, even if we don't think about it. I'm here to increase capacity: in youth, in social workers, and – by the very definition of the Peace Corps legislation – in those in the host country that request help from me. These first days on the job have been without students, but already I have helped a counterpart to gain better control of her spoken English and another has started to learn about giving life skills lessons to her students. Every day is an ongoing language lesson for all of us. In this week of planning, we're not only looking at weekly ideas for this school year, but are already discussing how this year's activities will play into the following year.
3) Necessity breeds invention
I just turned a bed of rice into a double boiler. I wanted to make a stuffed bell pepper (unfortunately, without cheese). I only have one pot, so a stacked configuration was out of the question. My hope was to find something I could use as a tray to keep the pepper out of the boiling water, but I had nothing of the sort. I looked at the rice that was already steaming in the pot and – though it was initially destined to be part of the stuffing – I realized that I could add more water to the pot to keep the rice from burning and push the cooked rice towards the middle of the pot to make a platform for the bell pepper. I had to stir the rice a couple times and add more water, but it worked! The rice came out perfectly, the pepper came out nicely, and the stuffing (scallions, garlic, bread crumbs) took on enough steam to be softened and cooked! This isn't just a new dish for my camping repertoire, it's a new technique that I can try with other dishes. Earlier, I mentioned the small victories of which I must take note. This is another one. This is the taste of both accomplishment and something much more flavorful than the mass quantities of bread and butter that I've been consuming. This is victory.
:D!!
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