Boys with Toys

I have been promising this mini-adventure for over two months. The combination of too windy days, cold, and a busy schedule have meant that every time my youngest brother knocks and asks if today is the day, I answer with a maybe or a no.

This morning I wanted to continue the trend. After three weeks with no down time, I really just want to hide in my house. I do not want to go out and play when I finish working today.

But, my host brother’s earnest face as he tells me it is not too windy and my own guilt spur me into action. I assure him that we will go fly the kite after I get home.

When I was traveling in the Caribbean, I was always impressed by the ingenuity of children. Many boys used plastic bags and sticks to create colorful kites. Although the children here are equally creative, kites have not been included among the many wonderful toys I have seen created over the last two years. As a result, my brother is enthralled with this small colorful kite my friend Jen sent me.

He has no idea what we will do with it; just that it is shiny, flutters on its hook when we open my door, and that I keep saying it cannot be too windy when we play with it.

He eagerly skips ahead of me as we head out to an open space not far from our home. The next oldest brother is planning to join us, but I know that Abuti Polau is excited to be the first to play with the kite.

Although the wind is intermittent, we are able to get the little frog (less than four square inches) flying after only a few attempts. The kite’s long blue tails dance in the wind as my brother learns to feed it string and take the string in when the wind speed dips. As Abuti Polau becomes an expert, our sixteen-year-old brother joins us. Not surprisingly, he also figures out how to work the kite in no time at all.

Purchased toys are rarely seen in my village. Most children are able to get creative. I have seen wires turned into cars, a homemade guitar, and pieces of cardboard turned into sleds on the grass. I am always impressed by how little the kids around me need fancy plastic toys shipped from China. Their creativity in turning things into games and toys always impresses me, especially when compared with all the toys we grow up with in America. 

That does not, however, diminish the fun in sharing a new toy with my brothers! 

Medical Clearance and Shopping Dilemmas

I have referenced working on my Final Medical Clearance multiple times now. I finally got all of my paperwork (almost 100 pages of forms and documentation) uploaded to the Peace Corps Medical Applicant Portal on March 31st, five days before the deadline for my group.

Over the next few hours, I felt my blood pressure rising, as I maniacally began checking my email for clearance. Some of my peers had received their clearance in under 24 hours, but a few days later, I was having to coach myself that no news meant nothing at all. Despite knowing that once they review everything I would have instant news, I could not help but fear that after more than two years of this process, something would happen to wake me up from this dream.

As the one week mark came and went, I began wondering what I would do if I was not going to Lesotho after all. Every decision I have made in the last four months has been with my departure in mind. No, I will not be able to return to the wonderful Three Mile Island as the educator this summer...Sorry Oliverian, I cannot return to teach here next year...Yes, I will buy these travel items that have no use in my life if I am not traveling in Africa...and so on. If, for some reason, I was not going to Lesotho in less than 60 days, I would literally have no plans for my life, in less than 60 days!

It was a somewhat terrifying acknowledgement despite three different doctors telling me I was medically fit in the last two months, despite my awareness that nothing had changed medically since my pre-clearance last year, despite the knowledge that I am mentally and physically ready for this adventure.

So, yesterday, I was teaching my final Senior Humanities block of the day and mentioned during a break my complete obsession with checking my email to one of my students. Not twenty minutes later, as they were working on group work, I glanced at my computer and there it was: Congratulations Elizabeth, you have received Final Medical Clearance. I couldn't help it, I did a happy dance in the corner of my classroom, which only one student understood until after class. I glowed like the woman who just got engaged. I felt my blood pressure drop and pure joy fill my body to the point that the Punky Brewster style happy dance was the only way to keep me from exploding.

And then I realized...I am leaving for Africa in 55 days! I have one free weekend between now and then. I have a going away BBQ to plan with the most supportive sister in the world. I have to focus and keep teaching for the next 53 days. I have to figure out what I need for 27 months in Africa. More importantly, I have to figure out what I don't need in Africa!

It is a surprisingly difficult in my head. On one hand, I keep thinking this is no issue because I have packed for multiple months of boat life and I have been reassured most things are available in the capital of Lesotho or at least in South Africa. On the other hand, then I think...yeah, but I'm picking about footwear being really supportive and I have wide feet. I should not plan to buy shoes over there...so I stock up on new Chacos (which I would honestly wear every day if it were not for winter...I did in Charleston!). Or, I think, I'm going to bring my laptop. It was really cheap and is already a few years old...but it turns itself off a lot and might not last two years...maybe I should get a tablet as a backup computer. Thus far this thought gets countered every time I start shopping online, it is overwhelming! 

I am a chronic overpacker, but I also don't want to walk into this experience with a bunch of shiny new gear. I am looking forward to the simplicity of reduced toys and materialism. It is ridiculous to be thinking about spending money buying luxury items to go live in a developing nation. And yet, it keeps popping into my head that I need these things because I might not be able to get them later...ahhh advertisers, you have trained us well...

If you had around 50 days left in the states, what would be your top priorities? Remember, I am working a lot, so road trips are not an option!