6/9/11

A "Real" Volunteer and at Site!

   My training class was sworn in two days ago, and yesterday I moved to my site! I'm excited to be a PCV, but I do not feel like a "real" volunteer yet. Right now I'm staying at the nurses compound in my village until I can move into my house next week, and I still feel like I'm going back to Kanye to rejoin my training class in a few days. Today I woke up ready to do something, and got to the social work office I'm based at to hear that there was absolutely nothing to do there and was laughed at for wanting to do something. I knew this was a likely scenario, but I was already feeling kind of unsettled and homesick (this time for Kanye and the company of my training classmates) so it hit me a little harder than it normally would. I accepted defeat at the social work office and ended up going over to the clinic  where I met the lay counselor who had been out on maternity leave when I was here for site visit. She was very welcoming, more so than the other staff I had interacted with today, and gave me some helpful info about the clinic. She is responsible for HIV testing/ counseling, and I was interested in hearing what that is like here in Botswana. I also tried to help her figure out something on her phone that she was having trouble with and we just chatted about life. She showed me pictures of her newborn baby, and I talked a little about my life here so far. It was nice to have someone to talk to..After she left I read some statistics about orphans and ARVs from the computer, and then it was lunch time so I went back to my room and cried a little and ate some chocolate.I looked at some pictures from home, worked a little on an art project to hang up in my house once I move in, and then I picked myself up and went for a walk around my village. I ended up running into a couple of teachers I had met up with while walking around during site visit, and they were enthusiastic that I was back and told me they hoped the junior secondary school would open up again soon so I could meet more teachers from there, which was sweet of them. It was another good reminder that there are nice people here.
   I don't want anyone to think that it is all bad because it isn't. I'm happy to be here, but it is just a big adjustment right now. I also think I will feel more settled once I can move into my house and unpack completely. A definite bonus of being here is that I was able to get some non-perishable foods and even fruit since it is cold enough inside right now that fruit will not spoil! It is very nice to have more control over what I am eating! I also get to use free Internet after hours at the clinic!

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