Jedi

Alas, the Padawan has become a Jedi…yet this is only the beginning of her saga.

A long, long time ago…in a galaxy (or in this case, continent) far away, there was a young Padawan [Peace Corps Trainee] by the name of Belle.  She had never ventured to the land called Africa and was very nervous to travel to a new place.  She was extremely excited to go, but was not trained in the arts of Teaching.  After having experienced traveling in some strange, bewitched vehicle (known as a daladala) with the ability to fit more people than it looked to hold, she arrived at the training grounds in Morogoro.  The nine short weeks consisted of rigorous training in skill sets ranging from the tongue of Tanzania (Kiswahili) to voiding oneself in a choo (squatting toilet), from the methods of using hands for eating and washing garments to averting personal marital status questions, and from evading the common illnesses and ailments of the new environment to the technical components of teaching.

Hereby following the gathering of knowledge, Padawan Belle was sent to her assigned site for a trial run.  She fell in love with her location and was disappointed to have to go back to the training grounds for her final test – the dreaded LPI.  She was drained from the training, but she knew she was in the last stretch and was reaching the end of her days as a Padawan.  What she did not know was that the last week of training was her true test as to whether or not she would be a Jedi…that is, a Jedi of patience and servitude.

The day finally came when she would be initiated [sworn in] as a true Jedi.  She had already taken her LPI and passed with flying light saber colors and was ready for her shining day at the Ambassador’s home.  After she said her oath and pledged herself to represent her homeland of America while serving in this new land, the celebration commenced and she traveled the very next day to her site – her new home.

Just because she is now officially a Jedi [Peace Corps Volunteer], she still has much to learn until she becomes a Jedi Master.  Though for now, these are a few reasons as to what qualifies her as a Jedi, apart from her official rank:

• riding on a bus with tiny seats without A/C for over 15 hours (to get from Dar es Salaam to Tukuyu town)
• seeing the sun both rise and set while in the same bus mentioned previously, in the same day
• having a successful chimba dawa behind a tree stump (a two minute stop for people to go to the bathroom…usually on the side of the road)
• having a child throw up beside her on the floor and some on her foot while on a bus
• buying chapatti and various snacks through the window of a bus
• knowing when someone is ripping her off
• bargaining (the price) in Kiswahili
• becoming an expert in storing every possible necessary item in her bra – So long, pockets and wallets!
• understanding conversations in Kiswahili (on the daladala), especially when someone is talking about her
• successfully not getting pickpocketed, at least for now
• being able to have a disagreement in Kiswahili followed by an agreement with a hostel receptionist about price and payment
• being able to laugh at Tanzanian jokes
• learning how to cook Tanzanian food via a charcoal jiko [stove] – rice, vegetables, ugali, and most importantly, chapatti
• killing mosquitoes with one hand in midair
• hiking up a crater in Croc flats
• being interviewed on Tanzanian TV/news in Kiswahili

And there is more that this Jedi will learn as her saga continues…

For now, she will be in Mbeya town this week for the Peace Corps Super Regional Conference for the regions of Mbeya, Njombe, and Ruvuma!  May the Force be with her!