The Highs and Lows

Friday, June 2, 2006

I don’t feel like I have had too many low points since I have been in Senegal, but for some reason, yesterday and this morning, I felt like I hit a wall. I don’t know if it had to do with all the drugs I’m on with my hand or just one of those days. I think for me, a lot of it stemmed from the surgery and I have just had a lot on my mind. I have tried to joke about breaking my hand (and I am glad I have a sense of humor about it), but it absolutely sucks having full-blown surgery away from family and friends (even other volunteers that I just met a few months ago) in a foreign country, with only partial knowledge about what was going on, and still feeling the importance of needing to learn my job and showing interest in it. Fortunatly, the Peace Corps medical staff has been more than I could ask for.

Overall, it was tough to bear, but there wasn’t and still isn’t much choice than to go forward…lets just hope I don’t hurt myself again. Yall kept my one good hand busy the past week or so with all the emails, but that is something to be thankful about. The owner at the cyber café down the street from my house and I have become pretty good friends…he even moves the mouse to the other side of the keyboard for me…nothing like helping the disabled.

While there are low points, there are also high points. These high points may just be small steps, but they help keep you sane. For me, tonight around 10:45, just after dinner, I was sitting in my little house typing up these posts and listening to some music, and one of my brothers knocked on the door. He wasn’t at dinner but had his plate in hand when he came to the door. I invited him in, cleaned off one of my chairs (haven’t really mastered cleaning up the room one handed) by dumping everything on the floor, and let him eat in my place. For the next hour and a half, we just shot the shit. It was nice to be able to just have a friendly, chill, detailed conversation with someone here. Don’t think we hadn’t talked prior to this, because we talk everyday, just not in this much detail. We talked about everything but mostly about the music I brought with me. I went through my computer playing stuff and it was really cool. Some of the stuff he had heard of and other stuff he was interested in. I will say that the typical Bobby Kerr – JLand Roadtrip playlist was not brought up.

Well, it is now 2 am Saturday morning and I’m sitting by my computer getting bit by mosquitoes. If I were in the States doing this at this moment, I might cry myself to sleep. Here in Senegal, it’s a little different…atleast for the time being. Tomorrow, I plan on going to the garden for just a bit and then I’m supposed to meet up with my host sister’s from Thies at 11:30…inchallah