Pearls from Africa: September 2014

Proud to represent Uganda in Washington, D.C.!

Once again, a big thank you to everyone who helped out and voted for my blog last month during the Blog It Home contest. I couldn't have done it without everyone's help, and every vote counted. Peace Corps' Office of the Third Goal flew me to Washington DC for a week of events around the capital. I went to the White House, met with my congressional representatives, spoke French on Voice of America (which was broadcasted to over 170 million people in West Africa), spoke to Girl Scouts and school assemblies, and presented my blog to HQ staff on our last day. It was a fabulous week and I'm so grateful that I was able to go. In between all these meetings and speeches was endless (truly!) sushi platters, draught beers and iced coffees and meeting new friends.

We were nine Volunteers total who were flown to DC for this event: Sara from Guinea, Keith and Heather from China, Anna from Cameroon, Jill from Albania, Erica from Senegal, Bronwen from the Dominican Republic and Christine from Thailand. We quickly all got along since we had so much in common, especially as a group of (almost) all females. Keith was a really good sport :) . One of the things I enjoyed most about the week was hearing not only about all the different countries where Peace Corps Volunteers serve, but hearing from other bloggers about how they use writing as a way of educating Americans about where they live. We all had different styles, different angles and motivations for blogging, but at the end of the day the message was clear: this is the best way to give a glimpse of what my life is like in our respective countries.

Christine, our blogger from Thailand, tries to make a video once a week on different cultural aspects of Thailand. She wants people to know more about Thailand than beaches, riding elephants and full-moon parties. Sara writes about Guinea to offer another glimpse of life in Guina, other than what is being spread on the news about the Ebola outbreak. Keith and Heather had my favorite blog title: Sponge and Slate. When we asked them why they chose this name for their blog, Heather explained that Keith wanted to be like a sponge and soak up everything there is to know about China, while Heather wanted a clean slate and a new adventure. I think it is such a clever name.

DC was fast-paced and it was definitely unsettling at first. I went home one year ago for my cousin's wedding but to be honest, this week in DC felt like the first time back in the US in two years. I was completely out of my element, having come from the village where my water and power went out so I couldn't bathe for three days. All of a sudden, I was staying in the Hilton Garden Inn with endless hot water, room service a phone call away and a door that I couldn't figure out how to open for about ten minutes.

The first night I arrived in DC, I went out to sushi (surprise!) and then walked ten blocks to the Lincoln Memorial at dusk. I hadn't been back there in three years and I've never been there after dark. I was also told that somewhere in one of his speeches is a typo in the engraving, and I was determined to find it. If there's two things I love, it's Abe Lincoln and finding grammatical errors. The Lincoln Memorial was spectacular at night, all lit up and full of people. It was a magical place, I could have stayed there for hours. I bought a pack of Bubbalicious gum and sat on the steps chewing' my bubble gum (never did find that typo tho).

Over the course of the week, we met with people at the White House, our congressional leaders, the Girl Scouts, the ONE campaign, Smithsonian magazine, a Diplomat-in-Residence and spoke at a few school assemblies. It was jam-packed week, but so much fun. I loved meeting new people and making new contacts, as well as talking to the public about what it really means to be a Peace Corps volunteer.

It was a wonderful way to reflect on my service, talking about so many different projects to so many groups of people. I talked about my village in Bukinda and my primary school, I spoke to youth groups about our Camp LION, I spoke to Girl Scouts about RUMPs (reusable menstrual pads) and I spoke to the public about Uganda's beautiful game parks and adventuring. It was a great way to look back at two years and reflect on not only on all the things I've learned, but all the ways I've changed.