Painted Toenails

I have had a week and a half of little comforts: showers, a freshly made bed everyday, air conditioning, prepared food, ice cream, going out, and painted toe nails. This all came as part of in service training where I sat through work shops for the designated time period on subjects such as: fundraising, secondary community projects, curriculum implementation, inclusivity in education, life skills training, etc.

It is amazing the simplicity of things which I find awe at now. To be able to stand upright in hot running water and wash my hair everyday not only made me feel very clean but also made me realize how much more shampoo my American persona uses compared to my South African. More about my dual personality:

My American Self:
*Enjoys shaving my legs while standing, showering everyday, and wasting hot water
*Enjoys going out for Italian food and drinking a pitcher of sangria
*Enjoys going to movies (especially when they cost the equivalent of two dollars) and ordering popcorn not because I’m hungry but because I can
*Enjoys window shopping
*Adores Coffee shops
*Can spend hours in the fabric store looking at different yarns and beads
*Likes to put on makeup and spend time getting ready to go out
*Worships ability to be out at night in a bar
*Will give up sleep for a week and a half in order to spend quality time with Americans doing insignificant and shallow things
*Enjoys the guilty pleasure of gossiping about said Americans and their insignificant and shallow things
*Enjoys not having to be culturally sensitive
*Eats a lot of ice cream
*Puts on the air conditioning ridiculously low and has to use a multitude of blankets to compensate just because I can
*Loves to stare at my toe nails now that they are painted scarlet red

My South African Self:
*Worries about how much shampoo I’m wasting by showering everyday.
*Worries about how much money I’m wasting having coffee, pizza, wine, beer, seeing movies, buying yarn, beads, etc
*Feels it’s a bit ridiculous putting on makeup around people who have never seen me with it in the first place
*Thinks said scarlet toe nails aren’t going to look so nice when they are covered in mud in the village
*Is feeling the comings of cold and exhaustion from lack of sleep
*Thinks I’ve probably been drinking more than I normally would just because suddenly I can
*Finds the idea of buying new clothes slightly nauseating when I know I’ll go back to the village wearing nice things while Khutso only eats bread for dinner
*Is starting to think I’m losing sight of things.
*Think the drama amongst Peace Corp Volunteers is verging on ridiculousness

I’ve been trying to make up for my week of indulgence by handing massive amounts of candy out to the children in my village to make me feel better about myself.