Thursday, January 27, 2011

Learning to comment parler du français

So it is roughly one month till takeoff. I'm scrambling to think of things I should purchase. Already my list includes: the Diva cup, camera, Midol, GPS tracker, chopsticks, good reading list (for all of the lonely days without English to come), hiking bag and shoes, water purifier tablets, travel book, etc.














Aside from the obvious laundry list of items that I need to get in order before leaving, there are also the not so concrete things. I've been auditing a French class with an old teacher from high school as preparation. I figured that I should brush up on the language since I'll be in a Francophone country, even if the locals in the site I'll be placed in speaks primarily Malagasy.

Not much has changed from when I took the class four years ago. Monsieur T. still has a witty sense of humor and thought provoking commentary about the world, we still "rap" to French hip-hop songs from Diam, and the students are relatively motivated since its a high level course conducted all in French. However something has changed, and that's me. Four years having been away at university, having studied abroad in Beijing, and having lived in Chicago has transformed me. It makes me wonder how much two years living in Madagascar will alter me from my current self. I remember when I was 18 I felt I was so knowledgeable about the world around me as I sat in that classroom, now I am much less confident of this fact. I hope to be more humble, wise, and tolerant after two years of service in Africa. But these are just hopes and aspirations. I'm really trying to be open to how my experience will impact my worldview.

As far as my emotional preparation goes, I'm not really sure where I should start. I suppose I really won't know until my airplane lands in Antanarivo. Something I've been trying to do is feel comfortable with being lonely. Many PCV tell me that I will have lots and lots of alone time. This is especially hard for someone who has grown up listening to the clattering of noisy relatives coming in and out of her home freely. I cherish and feel comforted having multiple family members surrounding me at any given moment. Connecting with love ones at home may be difficult or infrequent however from what I hear. I must be able to cope with this somehow. Any suggestions?

It's strange that I'll be gone in a month for more than two years. Right now I'm just focusing on preparing myself mentally, emotionally, and physically for what may come. I've been advised from other RPCV's (returned peace Corps volunteers) that my experience will be entirely unique, as every PCV is, from volunteers before me. I don't know where my site will be after my three month training in the capital Tana. This makes preparing for my journey somewhat hard but I'm doing the best I can right now.