Week 83: Constant Companion

I now have a constant companion and I am not talking about the ants that always seem to migrate into my house (and inexplicably my water kettle). My sister has arrived and is staying with me for three weeks. I live in a spacious but simple house where all water used needs to be carted in and out and filtered for drinking purposes. My bathroom consists of an assortment of buckets, where mistakes can have grave consequences.  There are very few people I could share this space with and I am quite pleased to say that my sister is one of them. I have been very impressed with her ability to learn the bucket system, with only a few minor misunderstandings that were quickly righted before any action was taken (NO NO! The orange bucket is the clean water bucket and the blue bucket is the pee bucket). She is now a staple at the school both in library lessons and in tea time social hour with the other teachers.

During the application process I encountered many returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) who talked candidly about the loneliness they struggled and dealt with. I always felt badly that people experienced loneliness but scoffed a bit in my head thinking I didn’t need their warnings because I really enjoyed time alone. Ha ha ha, how naive I was, I had no idea what they were talking about. I do still enjoy time alone but I now understand there is such a thing as too much time alone and that the lonliness stems from other aspects of my life here and not just being physically alone. This has been one of the hardest aspects of my service and I am so grateful to have a constant companion for the next three weeks.