It has been four months since Jessica returned from her Peace Corps experience in Niger. If you were to ask her if she has "re-adjusted" yet, I doubt that she would say yes. For a time as intense and transforming as that was, the question of being readjusted probably isn't even the right one to ask. Although it might be better than:
"How was Africa?" (This is a little like asking "You were in Oregon? How did you like North America?")
"Did you like it?" ("You've just spent 24 months sleeping at night under the stars in one of the most remote places on the planet...hey, didya like it?")
"How was your trip?" ("You know, that 24 months you just spent immersed in the lives and deaths of a thousand people in a tiny village without electricity, roads, or much water...wasn't that just a...trip...?")
I have heard people, in their good-hearted ways, ask all of the above. It is after all, a little hard to know what to say. Recently one of J's fellow volunteers made this video, perhaps with the idea of promoting the Peace Corp Niger experience. It just so happens to feature a favorite song of mine, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", playing to scenes from Niger. J appears very briefly twice during the last minute of the video.
Maybe the next time somebody asks "How was Peace Corps" she can just refer them to this video, which gives some good glimpses of the everyday life she led for two years.
Wow, that was powerful. I hadn't realized just how much I have missed Jessica's blog with pictures and stories of her life in that far away place. Thank you for passing that video along, Kerry. Love you all.
ReplyDeletei've watched that about twenty times. i think i'm missing niger too. thanks for sharing that - and re: the song, dan said, oh that is one song i should learn...
ReplyDeleteAn experience like Jessica's is not something that can be integrated quickly. It is transformative, which is one of the reasons it's so good to travel to very different places.
ReplyDeleteI went around the world in 1989 and have never "re-adjusted." It changed me profoundly.
Maybe the only answer to these questions is "Fine." or "It was good." Maybe there's no use trying to convey the depth of her experience. You think?
Hi Merry, I thought the video was powerful too, and wonder if PC will use it.
ReplyDeleteI miss J's blog a lot. It was a real window into that little piece of the world, and I loved posting her letters. But it was so hard to keep my mouth shut that I had to start Ed and Reub.
Hey slim, "hard rain" slays me every time. I wouldn't have thought it would work with images from Niger, but it does.
ReplyDeleteReya, I believe you are right about how to respond to the questions, and it's what I hear her doing. It seems that the questions can never be deep enough to get at the true answers, so the answers must remain as shallow as the questions.
ReplyDeleteBrought tears to my eyes and probably conveys the trip more than any words ever could. Having lived in other countries for several years at a time I realize that it is not something you could explain to someone...it would take a book.
ReplyDeleteI can't see the video...I guess it is You Tube which is blocked on my computer. But I can imagine it. My daughter went to Botswana for 2 weeks...not 2 years, but the photos and stories she brought home were enlightening. That was about 5 years ago and to this day is bothers her when Americans complain about something in their daily lives. She left all her clothes behind with kids in an orphanage before she came home.
ReplyDeleteI guess that asking Jessica about Niger is a little like asking someone about having fought in a war. Even if your intentions are good, it's best to be circumspect so as not to appear too doltish.
ReplyDeleteSnowbrush I felt kind of bad after writing this post: surely it's better to ask a few doltish questions than to ask nothing at all. I should give people credit for that.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you feel bad. I took the post as an effective way to expand people's awareness so that they (I) will maybe take a moment to think before they (I) say something. In other words, I appreciated it. Thank you.
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