Updates
I am now finished with my travels around the country. Since I have made it known that I will be leaving next Sunday they are finding a replacement now so I can teach them how to do the job. However I forgot that everything is slower here, so when they say "we'll find a replacement right away" they mean they will find one next week. So now all I do is watch youtube when my boss leaves the office and sit around on facebook. Not a bad gig actually. I am pretty spent emotionally. I was talking to one of my body guards yesterday and I asked him if he had seen V for Vendetta. It so happened he had and I began to explain to him that I feel the same way Evie felt in the film after V made her go through prison and torture. She said she couldn't feel anything. She had no more emotion left. That's exactly how I feel. It's like the truth about the whole world came rushing at me all at once and all I could do was stand there and let it come. I've experienced things here no one should ever have to. I've had to tell a dying mother that her children both tested positive for HIV and have about 2 months to live. I've witnessed a female circumcision. I've had to tell children their mom has died from HIV and they now have to live with someone else. I've had my heart ripped out and stomped on repeatedly. I read the blogs of some other AIESECers who are going all over, hanging at the beach, being crazy having a good time and I'm like, what the hell? They get to go have fun and I have to hold a dying child in my arms and say, "Its going to be alright" over and over when I know full well it won't be alright?
And at the same time I'm glad this all happened. I'm glad I got to give children new homes, with people who genuinely care about them. I get to play with a bunch of 2 year olds and discover over and over their delightful curiosity. Children are the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen. The world is magical, every person they meet taken right from a fairy tale. The princess from a far away land called America who came on her winged horse and saved the children. I have countless children ask me if I am a princess. I usually say yes, both to fuel their imagination and my ego. And then I sit down and tell them stories of my travels. I always knew I embellished stories and that I shouldn't do that, but here embellishment is the only way to go. I tell about my father, Prince of Iran who had to flee the country and come to America. And my mom, the princess of America, bored with her life and wanting adventure when she met the prince and they fell in love. They had a daughter named Meena, who was later stolen from their castle by an evil sorceress and the prince had to fight to win his daughter back. And now 19 years later the princess comes to Africa to help children. That story is a big hit among the kids. They usually ask for more so I have to quick think of stuff on the spot. I love it though. When you are with children you get to live in their world. You get to be dramatic and view everything around you as one big fantasy land.
In this same conversation with my body guard, he really had some interesting things to tell me. He told me I should be thankful I have seen what I have, because I've woken up. The world is no longer this far away place I'll never see. It's all real: all the problems, all the suffering. He said I don't know it yet but I've aged 10 years in the month and a half I've been here. He told me to run with it. He said I was destined for great things and he would be personally offended if he didn't see me on the cover of a newspaper one day doing good for the world.
I'm learning now that nothing happens quickly. So many people want to change the world, but the fact of the matter is that is nearly impossible to do in even 50 years. And to be quite honest, the world can't be completely peaceful. It just can't. Human nature won't allow that. I'm still trying to figure out what actions would need to take place to really try and save the world. And actually I think about it a lot. But I'll have to get back to you on that.
I realize I don't really say what I'm doing, I mostly just ramble on about my thoughts, so I'm going to give you some updates about what I've been up to:
- I now have full apparel from my NGO. This includes 2 t-shirts, a vest with 10 million different pockets, and a hat. We all wear these when we go to the village so we look uniform and official. Although sometimes I feel so official that I want to run in there, blast some James Bond music and walk slow-motion with shades on while my hair blows in the wind. Unfortunately, this does not happen.
- I have seen every brother in my house naked now because apparently I have been here long enough to not count as the opposite sex, therefore giving them privilege to walk around naked as they please. Needless to say I hide in my room when it approaches bathing time.
- Me and one of my body guards Gbaguidi are super tight now. Reasons why he is really entertaining include: he tells me Africa proverbs from his village, he knows Morse code, he tells me about his mistresses and updates on how he needs to hide them from his wife (this apparently is a popular act and sort of accepted), he sings high pitched to Alicia Keys songs, he tells me what he's going to do to anyone who tries to hurt me...which usually include bashing assaulter in the face with his machine gun and then doing crazy kungfu on him before he shoots him in the face. I reeeeally hope no one tries to assault me, for their sake.
- If I compliment my boss he tells me for at least an hour after how intelligent I am
- I taught FRENCH a week ago. Not English, French. The people in the village only spoke their native tongue and didn't know English so I taught them so words so they could communicate. It was freaking awesome.
- I've become the English teacher of Cote d'Ivoire. I have a sheet of paper with common words/phrases in English and French and distribute them daily because people always ask me if I have another for their friend/brother/sister/grandmother
- Someone dies regularly in Tantie Liza's family. She has been to 4 funerals since I've been here and she's going to one this Saturday. That has really nothing to do with me but I just think it's crazy how people are dropping like flies
- I'm doing operation "Don't eat everything in sight". I realized I am an oompa loompa and I need to settle down. I started last week but I have been cheating everyday and yesterday was the first day I was successful in containing myself.
- When I go eat with people who don't know me very well, they all assume I'm going to like spaghetti so they order that. Then I tell them I don't like spaghetti, thinking then they will order Ivorian food for me. Nope, they order fries. So from now on I only eat with people who know I like Ivorian food, haha.
- I read Perez on the daily now that I don't have any work to do. It is highly entertaining I have to admit.
And at the same time I'm glad this all happened. I'm glad I got to give children new homes, with people who genuinely care about them. I get to play with a bunch of 2 year olds and discover over and over their delightful curiosity. Children are the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen. The world is magical, every person they meet taken right from a fairy tale. The princess from a far away land called America who came on her winged horse and saved the children. I have countless children ask me if I am a princess. I usually say yes, both to fuel their imagination and my ego. And then I sit down and tell them stories of my travels. I always knew I embellished stories and that I shouldn't do that, but here embellishment is the only way to go. I tell about my father, Prince of Iran who had to flee the country and come to America. And my mom, the princess of America, bored with her life and wanting adventure when she met the prince and they fell in love. They had a daughter named Meena, who was later stolen from their castle by an evil sorceress and the prince had to fight to win his daughter back. And now 19 years later the princess comes to Africa to help children. That story is a big hit among the kids. They usually ask for more so I have to quick think of stuff on the spot. I love it though. When you are with children you get to live in their world. You get to be dramatic and view everything around you as one big fantasy land.
In this same conversation with my body guard, he really had some interesting things to tell me. He told me I should be thankful I have seen what I have, because I've woken up. The world is no longer this far away place I'll never see. It's all real: all the problems, all the suffering. He said I don't know it yet but I've aged 10 years in the month and a half I've been here. He told me to run with it. He said I was destined for great things and he would be personally offended if he didn't see me on the cover of a newspaper one day doing good for the world.
I'm learning now that nothing happens quickly. So many people want to change the world, but the fact of the matter is that is nearly impossible to do in even 50 years. And to be quite honest, the world can't be completely peaceful. It just can't. Human nature won't allow that. I'm still trying to figure out what actions would need to take place to really try and save the world. And actually I think about it a lot. But I'll have to get back to you on that.
I realize I don't really say what I'm doing, I mostly just ramble on about my thoughts, so I'm going to give you some updates about what I've been up to:
- I now have full apparel from my NGO. This includes 2 t-shirts, a vest with 10 million different pockets, and a hat. We all wear these when we go to the village so we look uniform and official. Although sometimes I feel so official that I want to run in there, blast some James Bond music and walk slow-motion with shades on while my hair blows in the wind. Unfortunately, this does not happen.
- I have seen every brother in my house naked now because apparently I have been here long enough to not count as the opposite sex, therefore giving them privilege to walk around naked as they please. Needless to say I hide in my room when it approaches bathing time.
- Me and one of my body guards Gbaguidi are super tight now. Reasons why he is really entertaining include: he tells me Africa proverbs from his village, he knows Morse code, he tells me about his mistresses and updates on how he needs to hide them from his wife (this apparently is a popular act and sort of accepted), he sings high pitched to Alicia Keys songs, he tells me what he's going to do to anyone who tries to hurt me...which usually include bashing assaulter in the face with his machine gun and then doing crazy kungfu on him before he shoots him in the face. I reeeeally hope no one tries to assault me, for their sake.
- If I compliment my boss he tells me for at least an hour after how intelligent I am
- I taught FRENCH a week ago. Not English, French. The people in the village only spoke their native tongue and didn't know English so I taught them so words so they could communicate. It was freaking awesome.
- I've become the English teacher of Cote d'Ivoire. I have a sheet of paper with common words/phrases in English and French and distribute them daily because people always ask me if I have another for their friend/brother/sister/grandmother
- Someone dies regularly in Tantie Liza's family. She has been to 4 funerals since I've been here and she's going to one this Saturday. That has really nothing to do with me but I just think it's crazy how people are dropping like flies
- I'm doing operation "Don't eat everything in sight". I realized I am an oompa loompa and I need to settle down. I started last week but I have been cheating everyday and yesterday was the first day I was successful in containing myself.
- When I go eat with people who don't know me very well, they all assume I'm going to like spaghetti so they order that. Then I tell them I don't like spaghetti, thinking then they will order Ivorian food for me. Nope, they order fries. So from now on I only eat with people who know I like Ivorian food, haha.
- I read Perez on the daily now that I don't have any work to do. It is highly entertaining I have to admit.
posted by Meena Zia @ 1:58 AM
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