Before I left from the
States, I made sure that I had two important bags. One being a yellow JansSport
backpack that originally was my Mom’s and, the other, a colorful side -- bright
and fun. Between the two of them I figured I could go anywhere and take
everything with me. It’s been well over a year since my Grandma sewed in a
zipper to my colorful bag and I headed off on this adventure. 15.5 months since
it was beautiful and good to go. Months to collect chalk and dust on the inside
and outside. The colors were muted by dirt. So, today I decided to wash it.
Before letting it soak, I
had to empty it out. While taking out random odds and ends I realized that my
life could be summed up in the contents of my bag:
4 used phone cards: Disconnecting from unlimited text and call
contracts I’ve adapted to the system of phone cards. These green strips of
cereal box cardstock range from 5-100 birr though I usually buy 25 ones. I’ve
learned that each text is 35 cents, Facebook is much cheaper (especially after
9pm) and a call to the States is about 9 birr per minute. Buying these are a perfect
way to break 100 birr notes that banks hand out.
I’m a people person. I love being connected
with people. Texts, calls and messages are important to me. While some people
budget, I don’t when it comes to communications. Sure, I only call home when
someone has a birthday or I can call with wifi instead, but I try to connect
often.
Assorted sizes of chalk: While I don’t intentionally put chalk into my bags,
somehow it always finds a way to get in. It falls out when I bring my lab coat
home to wash. After a year of teaching the bottom is pretty much caked in
chalk.
I
am a teacher and it infiltrates every part of my life. Chalk lines on my hands
have kids bringing me water after class to wash with. It’s a hard job, but I
love it. I love trying to figure out new ways to use a chalkboard to be clear
and concise without being overwhelming. While use of chalk and chalkboard space
may not be a great job skill to post from Peace Corps, it does remind me to be
thankful for all the resources that I do come across.
Hand sanitizer: Peace Corps Volunteers joke that our immune systems
are going to be made of steel by the time we finish service, and it’s only a
slight exaggeration. We shake hands with everyone multiple times. Everything is
done with the hands. It’s important that they stay clean and we stay healthy.
I
don’t go anywhere without hand santizer. I have small bottles of it in every
bag and it’s on the water filter right inside my door. However, I am in no way
a germ-o-phobe. Instead I embrace the dirt and grim. I shake hands with kids,
push donkeys aside at market, and brush off a kid’s tears when he falls
running. I live life unafraid of the mess, but am prepared to take care of it
afterwards.
Plastic container of
band-aids and meds: I’m a klutz. I cut my fingers weekly. I
trip on small rocks. I get bruised against a blackboard. While usually these
don’t end in blood or pain, I’m one who thinks ahead. I bring band-aids for
myself and others in case something happens. I have ibuprophen when the
headaches come.
Assorted pens: Part of having to wash hands often is the fact that
I often use my skin as scratch paper. While my parents tried to derail this
habit when I was a kid, it’s stuck. English, Tigrigna, and random numbers are
often littered over my left hand in mine or others’ handwriting. I’m a visual
learner. I don’t learn unless I see it or at least write it down. Unlike many
the Ethiopian culture where many assume that if you heard it once you have it
memorized, I have to constantly practice and work at language and absorbing new
material. Writing it down helps. (There were also random pieces of paper in the
bag too that are marked with things I don’t even know when I wrote down.)
Toilet Paper: In the states you could pop into a store without
actually buying anything and find bathrooms stocked with toilet paper. Here Western
toilets are rare and toilet paper holders even rarer. One learns pretty quickly
to always have toilet paper wherever you go.
Some things are always in
my bag that I would take with me even in the states. Money, water bottle, keys
and phone are always checked before leaving a place. Unlike the States I don’t
have to have a driver’s license as there isn’t any enforcement looking for
it. Occasionally they’ll be a
book, binder or lesson plan, but that’s with a purpose.
But my purpose at this
moment . . . wash this bag.
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