“In the mountains, travelers were reduced to the speed of men on foot. Here, the ancient English sense of journey, 'a day's travel' (French journee), meant the same as the Old Persian word farsang, 'the distance a man could travel on foot in a day,' and the territory was in effect ungovernable.
”
― Rory Stewart, The Places in Between
How far do you think you could get in "A day's travel" or "the distance a man could travel on foot in a day"? Do you take this literally or figuratively? Clearly the second definition is more specific and you can take it literally. Here in Senegal I don't do a lot of walking in one day but there are people that do, the pulaars. They are in general more nomadic than wolofs and so are traveling with their cattle. I've never asked how far they get but I'm sure they don't get as far as they could because they move at the pace of their cattle. It's pretty interesting to watch them though. Now the first definition could be taken literally or figuratively. Literally, same as the second but maybe you could expand it to be how far can you get not necessarily on foot. Figuratively though, a day's travel can be my everyday here. A day's travel through the crazy wolof/senegalese world that I live in. Some days it can be really calm and lazy. But other days you don't know what just happened all day. It's a day's travel through the lives of the women in my life. A day's travel through the lives of my coworkers. A day's travel through this new and exciting culture I live in.
The places in between, that's where I've lived my life for the past two years. This is also the point where we, my stage-mates and I, are at right now. This awkward place of living here and going home. It's a time when even though you are terrified of going back to the US and you really just want to live in the moment with your friends and family, you have to start thinking about leaving. What are you going to do when you get back, where are you going to live, where are you going to get a job, how are you going to readjust, all are difficult conversations to have. These are especially hard to have now when we still have three months left. Three months can feel like forever in the US but here when your time is winding down, it's nothing. And so you are stuck between enjoying your time with your family and making sure everything is done and ready for you to make the transition.
The chameleon changes color to match the earth, the earth doesn't change color to match the chameleon.
100 days. We are approaching 100 days left until I am back on US soil. 100 days. I feel like that's always a big land mark in life. 100 days left of school, 100 days left until graduation, 100 days in office, they are always big exciting things that people are excited about. Here it is a different feeling, a feeling with much more emotion, much more internal butterfly's and knots in your stomach. You're so scared you wont know your family and friends anymore because
their lives have also happened during the past two years. They didn't
just freeze in time waiting for you to come back. And you fear you will
not fit in anymore because they all have been together and I am the one
that hasn't been there. However, like the wolof proverb above says the chameleon changes to match the earth not the other way around. Although, the chameleon is never perfect. I was told once by a very smart man that americans are squares and senegalese are circles. We are all squares when we leave the US but as we spend time away we start to adapt some senegalese aspects and start to morph into a triangle. We will never be a circle because we were born and raised as squares but we can change part of ourselves to become a triangle. Even when we go back to the US we will remain triangles forever or at least a long time after getting back. Part of the scary thing about becoming a triangle is that you are living with circles and squares not fully either one. but as the chameleon changes to match the earth we also will change to match our culture.
What you give to others bears fruit for yourself.
The end of this time is coming quickly and this wolof proverb gives the feeling and lesson of our time here. Almost every Peace Corps volunteer that I have talked to says that they are positive that they got more from this experience than any of the people they helped or lived with. So in our time here we give so much to others but we also gain just as much as we give and that is why it is so hard to leave when the time comes. We have become triangles we may not be circles but we were squares when we came and now it is time to go back to a square world. It's hard, very hard, but it is doable. But for the time being we are stuck, happily, in the places in between.
”
― Rory Stewart, The Places in Between
How far do you think you could get in "A day's travel" or "the distance a man could travel on foot in a day"? Do you take this literally or figuratively? Clearly the second definition is more specific and you can take it literally. Here in Senegal I don't do a lot of walking in one day but there are people that do, the pulaars. They are in general more nomadic than wolofs and so are traveling with their cattle. I've never asked how far they get but I'm sure they don't get as far as they could because they move at the pace of their cattle. It's pretty interesting to watch them though. Now the first definition could be taken literally or figuratively. Literally, same as the second but maybe you could expand it to be how far can you get not necessarily on foot. Figuratively though, a day's travel can be my everyday here. A day's travel through the crazy wolof/senegalese world that I live in. Some days it can be really calm and lazy. But other days you don't know what just happened all day. It's a day's travel through the lives of the women in my life. A day's travel through the lives of my coworkers. A day's travel through this new and exciting culture I live in.
The places in between, that's where I've lived my life for the past two years. This is also the point where we, my stage-mates and I, are at right now. This awkward place of living here and going home. It's a time when even though you are terrified of going back to the US and you really just want to live in the moment with your friends and family, you have to start thinking about leaving. What are you going to do when you get back, where are you going to live, where are you going to get a job, how are you going to readjust, all are difficult conversations to have. These are especially hard to have now when we still have three months left. Three months can feel like forever in the US but here when your time is winding down, it's nothing. And so you are stuck between enjoying your time with your family and making sure everything is done and ready for you to make the transition.
The chameleon changes color to match the earth, the earth doesn't change color to match the chameleon.
What you give to others bears fruit for yourself.
The end of this time is coming quickly and this wolof proverb gives the feeling and lesson of our time here. Almost every Peace Corps volunteer that I have talked to says that they are positive that they got more from this experience than any of the people they helped or lived with. So in our time here we give so much to others but we also gain just as much as we give and that is why it is so hard to leave when the time comes. We have become triangles we may not be circles but we were squares when we came and now it is time to go back to a square world. It's hard, very hard, but it is doable. But for the time being we are stuck, happily, in the places in between.
