About time for a post I suppose...

T.I.A.

So I was walking home one day after a big rain storm and the road is of course deep mud. My flip flop breaks and I'm like a few kilometers away from home, and the rocky muddy road sits before me. I say F it and go barefoot. The funny thing as I do, I have my Ipod on shuffle and the song “T.I.A.” by K'Naan. For those of you who don't know, TIA stands for “This Is Africa.” If you've seen the movie Blood Diamond, you may have heard it there. So TIA is how you tend to explain away some of the weird and messed up stuff you see or hear. But there is a certain way you say it. It has certain sympathetic resignation to it. For example, a PCV will tell me some story about how some development project fails because of corruption or how they got screwed on something, all you can do is shrug and say “TIA.” But it conveys a sort of I get it, I feel for you, but that's the way it is, that's life here.

“Getting It”

So a PCV from anywhere in the world will get certain aspects of the PC experience. PCVs from Kenya will get PC in Kenya. PCVs from your region will get PC in that region/tribe. PCVs in your training class will probably get you and your experience more than you will. I can tell stories, show pictures, and explain and explain, but no one will get it like these people. In that vain I would like to encourage you to check out some of my training class buddies' blogs. If you go to http://paigemathew.wordpress.com/ you will find Paige's blog, she's a very good friend and talented writer. Her last post titled “Toothpaste” is particularly good. She also has a list of some other PCV's blogs from our training class up there. You can also check out Peace Corps Journals and look at the Kenya section.