A day in the life of a Peace Corps Trainee

This post has been taken directly from my journal. It's quite lengthy. Sorry bout that... Happy reading!

Homestay day 9. [27/9/2013]

I have so much to say but I'm so exhausted and all I want to do is lose myself in a good book and just escape for a moment. Not that I'm looking to escape...it's just that I'm so tired all the time. French is exhausting.

Each morning I get out of bed at 6:30AM (6:00AM if I am ambitious enough to go for a jog). I begin my day with a few little morning exercises and stretches (trying to create good habits for myself), then I hop into the shower (cold showers only; occasionally bucket baths). I sneak back to my room to prepare for school. (I guess I should call it "training", but it really feels like school.)

I meet my neigbors, Clare and Lianna, to walk to school at 7:20AM. We like to be early to talk to other volunteers and to use the internet, but sometimes I am late for meeting them because I am a wee bit confused by the breakfast situation. I'm supposed to eat breakfast here at home everyday, but sometimes mon pere tells me to go buy bread. For everyone? For myself? Am I supposed to bring it back here or have a sandwich made on the way to school? (A chocolate sandwich, of course!) Sometimes I have an omelet sandwich. Same problems... Am I making the omelet or is Mama? Am I bringing it and putting it inside bread on the way to school, or buying bread to bring back here? Do I really even need bread with it?

It really is a non-issue, but it clearly demonstrates the confusion that is my life... confusion created by a language barrier.

I feel like I'm improving at least a little bit though. Or at least I am understanding more and have a lot more confidence when speaking. My language trainer, Michelle, has been a HUGE help. She laughs at everything, which makes it a really fun/light atmosphere for learning. There are only two of us in the class. We always start class with grammar, but end up going off on huge tangents, such as describing our ideal man, discussing our favorite foods, or playing with the adorable little kittens that hang out by our outdoor classroom (one of which I might purchase to bring to my post in a couple months!). I will definitely be sad when we switch language trainers in a couple weeks.

Rarely do we not have language class. Some days we have it for three of the four sessions, totalling six hours. Those are the worst days. Like I said, I love my language class...but dang! Six hours is a darn looong time! By the end of these days, my brain is so fried that I literally begin saying "blah blah blah" instead of the words I don't know. It's after these days that we usually need to go to the bar before returning to our homestays.

Non-language classes include technical training (during which I am quickly learning that I know absolutely nothing about farming), cross-cultural training, medical stuff (when are these shots ever going to stop?! At least I don't cry anymore...and these Dora the Explorer band-aids are pretty sweet), safety and security, and some other nice / helpful / sometimes intimidating / sometimes scary things.

Most days after school (4:30PM-5:00PM), I return to my homestay immediately. Usually Mama has already begun preparing dinner, so I join her in the kitchen house. If she allows me, which is totally dependant on my ability or lack-there-of, she'll let me chop up or peel some veggies. If not, I just sit by her side and keep her company, asking as many questions as I can to learn more about her life or Cameroon in general. Mama is unbelievably patient with me. She will sit and listen as I struggle to spit out a comprehensive sentence, and then she will ever-so-politely correct my mistakes in grammar or pronounciation before giving me a very thorough answer.

I don't think I could have asked for a better host family. Mama is helping me so much with my french. Papa is always there to make me laugh or to make sure everything is a-okay (or to blast Beatles music to wake me up in the morning, which is AWESOME!). Fifteen year-old Epiphany is quiet but willing to teach me how to do simple things, and she has the most amazing, pure, genuine laugh that always puts a smile on my face. Ten year-old Patricia is always there to remind me that I am never alone (and our jump-rope competitions are a great workout!) Patricia is great company. Our first bonding moment was over goats. It was special.

We usually eat dinner pretty late -- between 7:00PM and 8:00PM. I've heard that this is the time that some other trainees go to bed, or at least retreat to their bedrooms for a break from francais et famille. Dinner is always amazing, and so far it hasn't ever been the same thing twice. Mama is still insisting that all vegetarians eat fish, and thus so must I, but that's alright...I'll deal! She even got me to try shrimp last night. The taste was pretty good, but I'll admit that I couldn't help but think that they looked like itty-bitty magots (or I guess big maggots...either way, ew.) There is always fresh-squeezed juice after dinner -- orange juice, grapefruit juice, or my favorite: wild mango juice. A great dessert and a great way to wash down all that fishy goodness!

After dinner, I help Epiphany wash the dishes. We do have a kitchen sink, but I guess it is more efficient (time-wise, space-wise, and water-wise) to wash the dishes in a big basin outside. Epiphany washes and I rince (I am not yet strong enough or skilled enough to do all that scrubbing myself...but hey! No complaints here!)

We usually finish the dishes around 8:30PM or 9:00PM, at which point I am exhausted. I make the rounds to say "bon nuit", wash up with a quick shower and brush my teeth, and then read until I fall asleep (which usually happens pretty quickly, unless I hear a mouse in my room or on the roof).

In the morning, it all begins again!

Somedays I don't go home right away after school. Instead, a bunch of us will go to a bar for drinks. We have a 7:00PM curfew, but I always try to be home before 6:30PM to beat the sunset. Though we don't have much time at the bar, we sure do get rowdy! It's always such a relief to not have to think in French and to just let loose. It's also an awesome group of people, too. It may be due to our similar interests, or the fact that I just generally love everybody always, but I genuinely enjoy the company of all 54 other trainees in our stage. They truly are amazing. Not only are they a fun-loving bunch, they are all so caring. For example, I left the group at 6:10PM yesterday and arrived home to text messages from four different people checking in to make sure that my ten minute walk was safe.

So I guess to sum it up, I could not possibly be with better people, and I could not possibly be in a better place. Though exhausted at times, I am having an absolutely fabulous time so far in Cameroon. It's only been two weeks, and I know that 27 months is a loooong way to go, and yes, I know that I should expect some lows during my service, but right now I'm riding on a wave of happiness and I'm incredibly excited to see all that is to be discovered here in Cameroon!