2 posts tagged “africa”

This morning, it snowed. It came down in big, fat, fluffy flakes, a sort of melancholy whitewash to remind us that God loves poetry. If there is one. No, mostly, it just reminds me that this is not Mississippi.

The Africans

This afternoon, I stepped into the principals office at Walla Walla High School. The entire building was immaculate. It looked brand-new and sparkling. Nothing like the dingy, decrepit feeling so common in the Mississippi Delta. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and dark already, but the office was still open. The principal and his office staff were still there. (That would never happen in the Delta.) An entirely not-lazy-looking secretary greeted me with a wireless phone piece attached to her ear. Inside, a flat-panel monitor hung above the principals desk, displaying a four-way split between various survailance camera views of the gymnasium and other facilities. It felt a little bit like the contrast described by David Lamb in his seminal (if dated) book, The Africans, regarding the border between Mozambique and South Africa. The border is still a lot like he described, by the way, although they no longer, to my knowledge, add two "whites" cars to the train when they reach the South African border. I mean, they were all so professional, and you could look all around you and see no evidence of neglect anywhere! This is not Mississippi at all.

I was a teacher in Africa. It was terrible. I was terrible. Peace Corps is a large bureaucracy of questionable merit. The best parts about Peace Corps are the free ticket to the other side of the world, the passport and work visa, the measly living allowance, and best of all, the community of other volunteers.

I have become a better teacher in the two years since I returned. Now I am getting the travel itch again. I have considered several options: Teaching in another part of the US. Teaching at an international school for diplomats' children and the like. Even joining the military! Then just the other day, another thought struck me: another tour in Peace Corps? Maybe a different country in Africa. Man, I never thought I would consider Peace Corps again for a long, long time.

As bad as it was, as bad as I was, I can look back now and feel nostalgic about it. I can picture my sandlot front yard, the creaky wooden doors, the stench of raw sewage leaking across the way when the wind shifts, climbing the water tower to get cell phone reception, jogging past the stark desert beauty that surrounded me in all directions, getting off school at 1:00 in the afternoon, the random generosity of someone offering me a beer or a piece of fish, hitchhiking to and fro, and of course the pointless staff meetings every single morning where for some ludicrous reason I never hesitated to speak my mind.  If I had it all to do over, I would feel a lot differently toward my students. I would play soccer with them more, invite them over more often, etc. I would love them, instead of hate them. Some of them might even come to confide in me. I would walk over to the "resettlement camp" at least once a week. It makes me weap to read what I just wrote.

What would it be like if I had a second chance? Anyone hear me on this one? Any RPCV's out there?

Peace Corps Namibia (2003-2005)