just some comparisons

so i have this personal philosophy that i am trying to live by to help me acclimate to this new culture. i have this notion that i am going to intentionally not miss anything about american culture so that i dont get sad. so when i see new things and have new experiences and i have any thoughts comparing them to america, i erase those thoughts. I wont do it for this blog though. i know people want to know how it is different. i'll give some of them

i don't have electricity at my homestay. after dark we sit in the yard and just lay around and chat. lots of mosquitos bites. there are flashlights passed back and forth, but they arent always on. my room is dark all the time. all of the rooms in the house are. i am getting used to going in my dark room to get something. i keep my flashlight on the corner of my bed. there is elecrticity in a lot of the houses in my village, but not mine. i always sleep under a mosquito net. i like it.

there is water at my house. a pump in the backyard. i use a filter given to me by the peace corps to sterilize the water i drink.

the toilets here are all those holes in the ground. i won't sit on a toilet for 2 years. i won't have a hot shower for 2 years. good ridence. the cold showers are wonderful in this heat. Well, there are showers at the training center but i have a feeling that is the only place i will be staying with showers. i will soon live on bucket baths. bucket baths are surprisingly refreshing. whoever said that people bathe once a month is silly. my family bathes from 1 to 3 times per day. i will also not get to use a washing machine for 2 years.

I got a bike yesterday. I love it! she is my new best friend, and yes, it is a girl!

food here. i think we eat really well at the training center. breakfast is bread and jam or butter or nutella. Milk and tea to drink. lunch is a big bowl of rice cooked in oil topped with veggies and meat. up to 5 people eat out of the same bowl. that is how it is here. the locals often eat with their hands. so far we eat with spoons. Dinner is always something new. something imitating an american dish.

very very hot every day. no ac whatsoever. I have been pretty good at ignoring the heat but sometimes it is hard and takes a conscious effort. there have been several occasions where i have been literally drenched in sweat while doing nothing with no way to cool off. here you just have to take it... i usually like to sleep in a room and make it as cold as possible. now i sleep in a sauna every night. this is taking some adjusting.

In France you arent supposed to talk to strangers. here we were advised that it is ok to greet anyone, especially if they look at us, and most do. i feel that we greet more people than the locals would, but we are obivious strangers here and it is good to make a good impression. if you greet people, whether they respond or not, it means that you respect them and they now know who you are. so if you are ever in trouble, they might be more willing to help. that is what we learned.

we have learned lots about how to stay heqlthy and how to stay safe. i will have to be conscious of my health here. that will be new for me. when i get home though, after two years, i may be able to combat any bug!

thats all for now

until next time