On my way to the computers this morning (its 6:45 am), I was nearly ran over by a giant rat on its way up the stairs and over the Peace Corps compound wall.  Fortunately I dived to the side of the staircase in a manly fashion and avoided its dump truck-sized tires.  Err, feet.

In other news, G17 (that’s my group of volunteers) had a good night last night, and I was pretty social.  We talked a lot about relationships we had back in the states and it was good to share some of that and to know that I’m not the only one dealing with those kinds of issues.

Yesterday we were oriented to the language and culture training, and we have seen presentations from the U.S. State Deparment (very interesting), the Regional Security Officer from the U.S. Embassy, and from USAID.  Very interesting stuff.  We also talked a lot about female genital mutilation, which was heartbreakingly sad. 

I’ve been using the concept of a thin layer of happiness covering geysers of sadness to describe my emotional state.  Not that the happiness is superficial, because it isn’t and I love it here so far.  But I also feel close to the edge of tears and small thing can push me over the edge, so the underneath stuff is like an oft-erupting geyser.  Female genital mutilation put me right on that edge for a while after we were done.

We also went to an African restuarant last night, but it was kind of a joke, because they closed down the whole restaurant for us and we all went in official Peace Corps vehicles, driving by crowds of people whose situations seem very difficult.  Then they locked the doors while we were there.  But I understand the need to keep us separated because we still haven’t had all our shots.

I’m starting to get an idea of what I might be doing and what side projects I can take on, and it seems like there are a ton of opportunities.  Today we have our survival language training and some other things (hopefully shots), and then tomorrow is a holiday.

Bonjour! cé va? Bien.  Thats about all the French I’ve managed to speak, except that I also asked where the water was, and got confused when the guy responded with “Du l’eau et fni.”  The water is finished?  But the water had gone out and we only had a little more, is what he was trying to say.  The staff here is awesome.  I also really like the Country Director (Dan …, can’t remember his last name).

Okay, on to more work.  I’m glad we have a day off tomorrow.