Peace Corps How-To: Staying Sane at Site

For all of those [non-existent] devout followers who want to know my every move here, or for those [more likely existent] occasional readers who simply wonder how an average American recent-college-grad deals with long-term cultural isolation in a desert, I’ve started compiling a list of things I do at site that keep me relatively sane. This actually originated in my journal as a list of things to do when I’m bored, but I figured it might be of some interest to people in that vast first world country that I’ve heard exists somewhere. Here goes-

For anyone else who finds themselves sitting in a hut in Africa for two years, here are a few ways of dealing with it, in no particular order:

1) After going to work in the morning, whether it be to the field or to a meeting with the farmers, teachers or communitarial, go back to your hut, shut your door and have a snack that you enjoy. This is the main reason you require so many granola bars in care packages- since apples and other fruit don’t last for weeks in the heat, you can only stock up on fruit for a couple of days at a time.

2) Coffee and occasional baked goods that you cooked in the Kaolack regional house and brought to site in Tupperware can be added to point number 1.

3) In the case of the aforementioned coffee in point number 2, you may occasionally indulge in Starbucks “VIA” coffee packets from the States, shipped over in care packages. [Thanks mom and dad.]

4) Listen to music you like, and lots of it. I, for instance, have playlists put on shuffle for running in the morning, relaxing with breakfast, cleaning around the hut, etc. Exchange music with other volunteers to mix it up a bit and keep things fresh.

5) Make your own music. It’s amazing what a half hour playing guitar and living in your own little world can do for your overall well-being. Singing counts too. Natives find it hilarious, and the advantage is that you can sing whatever you want to in order to get out your frustrations. Curse if you need to, and nobody will understand it. Then you have the satisfaction of bad-mouthing that idiot for proposing to you for the 15^th time and the knowledge that you never actually offended anyone.

6) Make friends with teachers. I’ll leave out a long and drawn-out explanation here since my previous entry should explain this, but if you do use this method, be wary of point number 5. Some teachers understand English.

7) Decorate your room with all things that remind you of home, and if you are from the North, cold places. I now have magazine cut-outs of snowy skiing vistas plastered to my wall (thanks to my parents), along with some cut-out snowflakes (thanks to Tim’s last care package) and a string of pictures of my family and friends between them. Check out my pictures if you’re curious.

8) Sleep. Go to bed early, and take naps if necessary. It can often do a world of good.

9) After that 900^th conversation about whether or not you have a husband and if so, why do you not have kids, it may be rather rewarding to read something intellectual. It will remind you that you are, in fact, a thinking and educated human being and life is not simply about getting married and having babies. Malcolm Gladwell books (author of works such as The Tipping Point and Blink) are extremely popular here- I highly recommend them. Peace Corps is also a great time to catch up on all those books you always told yourself you would read and never actually did.

10) Sometimes, you need to counteract point number 9 with point number 10- reading something trashy. After a long day in the field, at meetings and struggling with grammatical points in Wolof or teaching your counterpart how to amend the soil and why nitrogen is important, curling up with a Cosmo magazine and oogling at pretty dresses and cute shoes can be real therapy.

11) Stay busy. The first few weeks at site are shockingly difficult to a self-defined overachiever who always had a full schedule until now. Get involved, make your own schedule and stick to it. If that means you are forcing yourself to sit and scarify seeds from exactly 3 to 5 PM, so be it.

12) Text people in the outside world. If someone texts you on gmail, you can respond to them cheaply rather than having to write a text to an American phone line and use up all your phone credit.

13) Get exercise, especially if you were one of those athletic-types in the States. It’s hard in the heat, but if you force yourself to wake up before dawn every morning and get out for a short run before it gets hot or do some yoga ever day in your backyard around sunset, your body and mind will appreciate it.

14) If necessary, spend money on phone cards for your internet key and spend an hour online browsing facebook and chatting on skype. If you are so inclined, you may also update your blog and blab about how you stay sane at site to your captive audience.

As a quick, somewhat-related addendum to this list, I will include another how-to: how to keep cool while writing a blog entry.

1) Soak a bandana and wring it out. Wrap it around your head, including your forehead. Fan yourself for a minute with a little plastic Senegalese fan. Continue typing.

Now, if you ever find yourself out in the middle of nowhere with the job of planting a bunch of trees in the African Sahel, I hope that you can do it with ease and grace. Thank you.

~E