#pcvproblems

[thenank]

When on an island #pcvproblems #caribbeancrew what better way to celebrate #1000posts #tbt (at Calala Island)

[welcometopeacecorps-blog]

When a HCN says something really racist and you try not to react...

[welcometopeacecorps-blog]

When you build that special bond with the stray animals at your site

[welcometopeacecorps-blog]

When you realize your VRF didn’t save...

VRF is the monstrous Volunteer Reporting Form that PCVs have to complete each year. 

[kmbrentano]

10 Signs you're in your Second Year of Service

1. You snot-rocket when you get off your brousse (country appropriate form of public transit) 1.a. You know what snot-rocketing is and had to think about what was wrong with it. 2. You have licked a plate clean bc you cooked with cheese and you are NOT about to let that go to waste! 3. You can kill a cockroach on your wall in the dark without flinching and without questioning your aim. 4. Peeing in public? Is that weird? 4.a. When you say O.D. You mean open-defection. 5. Sleeping in means sleeping an hour past the roosters. 6. After an hour you don't know what to do with the Internet besides load "howapcvputsitgently" gifs. 7. The concept of working 40 hours a week terrifies you because working 15 is exhausting. 8. You no longer wonder if the pile of poop you just stepped over is human or animal, you've already identified it. 9. You are still not fluent in your local language, but you're not fluent in English either. 10. Candlelit dinners aren't romantic dinners, they're just dinner. And one bonus 11. Instead of counting up the months you've been in country you've started counting down the months until you're home!

[timeintogo]

Troupeau de Boeux

It's roughly 9 pm. I'm lying in bed, just about to set down my book and try to get some sleep. (Don't judge - village bedtime.) More importantly, I'm not in village but in Pagala for the week for a Peace Corps training. I'm enjoying a little break from village, free from my usual worries and cares.

Until...

My phone buzzes. A text message! To be fair, most of my friends in country are here in Pagala and it is unlikely that they'd be texting me from across the hall. Who could it be?

I open the message. It's from Msr. Yovo, one of the teachers who helps me with the environmental club. My inbox labels the text "Incomplet," meaning that the characters in the message exceed the limit and the text will come in two parts, if at all. Togolese cell service - not the most reliable. But I open up the message to read at least the first part.

"BONSOIR ABLA." Yes, my Togolese homologues text in all capitals. Don't ask me why. "COMMENT VAS-TU? LES PIEDS SONT BIEN ARRIVES ET ON LES ARROSE." My director had dropped off some small seedlings for the kids to water while I'm gone in Pagala - we're going to plant them at the school in a couple weeks when the global PC director visits.

"LE JARDIN SE PORTE BIEN, JUSQU'A CE SOIR QUAND UN TROUPEAU DE BOEUX A FAILLI DE SACCAGER..." And there the message cuts off. So the garden was doing well, until this afternoon when a troop of cows - and then I have no idea how to translate the French. But saccager really doesn't sound so good, and the grammatical construction is hinting that what happened was in opposition to the garden doing well. So something bad happened. And the global Peace Corps director is coming to visit the garden in two weeks to see a PCV project.

WHAT??!!!???

Thankfully, I only have a couple minutes to start hyperventilating before the rest of the message arrives. "...UN TROUPEAU DE BOEUX A FAILLI DE SACCAGER LA CLOTURE MAIS ILS ONT ETE VITE MAITRISE. IL Y A EU PLUS DE PEUR QUE DE MAL. BON SEJOUR A PAGALA. YOVO."

The troop of cows did whatever they did to the fence but they were quickly rounded up, and apparently there was more concern/fear than actual damage.

Uh, am I supposed to be comforted by that?

Thankfully, I am exhausted enough (notice how that seems to play a big role in the daily life of a PCV) from GI issues and subsequent lack of sleep the night before that I don't really process the text until the next day. And in the afternoon my homologue calls to saluer me, and as I anxiously demand more information he assures me that there was some slight damage, but no real harm done.

Well, um, OK. It's not like I can do anything from here in Pagala. I have to congratulate myself for not completely losing it, although I know I'll be a bit anxious until I return to post and see the situation for myself.

So much for a restful week away from village...

[gauxgauxpowerrangers]

Every time someone tells me I'm overreacting to a social difference:

[sheenabeenaghana-blog]

When there is a toilet...

Forgetting that toilet paper doesn't go down and toilets don't flush, oops! haha #thisisGhana