My Peace Corps Day

When my friend Anna was in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago as winner of the “Blog it Home” contest, she met a fellow PCV who explained her idea of a “Peace Corps Day”: a day in which things go smoothly, your host country is endearing, and your projects run smoothly. I immediately disregarded it as a myth. How could all of those things possibly happen on a single day? As a disclaimer, many of my fellow stage-mates and I are in the midst of our mid-service crisis windows; we’ve been here a year, and have just over a year remaining to our 27 month commitments. 

But the more I actively think about it, the more often I find myself having days that can potentially pass as these allured PC Days. Some of the best advice we got during stage was to try to laugh off the frustrations that come along with daily life here. Some days this is easier than most, but I think most of my self-described Peace Corps Days have required this. But beyond an easygoing nature, I’ve put some thought into what goes into a given Peace Corps Day. And I think I finally realized it today. Although to be fair, I’ve take a bit of liberty with the definition. 

But first, a little backstory is necessary. Before I came to Cameroon, I was woefully ignorant about the differences between my hair and that of most black women. It actually took me several weeks here to realize that most Cameroonian women don’t show their hair at all-they instead get fake hair woven into their natural hair, and are able to change styles drastically. Believe me when I say that it makes remembering Cameroonian women quite difficult at first. As soon as I began to recognize them, their hairstyle drastically changes. This is all a long way of explaining that the hair maintenance needs of Cameroonian women are quite different from my own needs in this department. As such, I have struggled to identify a Cameroonian stylist able and willing to cut my hair. The motto “Being a PCV is all about being flexible” often comes into play-for the past year I’ve either had untrained (but bold) PCVs cut it, or simply let it do its thing. It’s been a year of exploration on that front.

That all changed today. I finally got around to exploring what looked (from the outside) like a legitimate hair salon. Over a year here has taught me to keep my expectations relatively low, which hopefully explain the amount of time it took me to finally investigate. But as soon as I walked in, I was immediately impressed. There was a waiting room, a row of sinks for washing hair, and even a separate room for massages, complete with a clean set of towels and other supplies. It was like I was back in Westchester. I quickly realized that the time had come for me to get a haircut, and the entire experience went better than I ever could have imagined. I should admit that I felt it necessary to ask the hairstylist if she felt comfortable cutting hair like mine, but to her credit she didn’t seem to be overly offended. She was more than competent, and I left the salon 4,000 CFA ($8) lighter but infinitely more optimistic about the day’s prospects.  

Which brings me to the larger point that I promise I’ve been building to: sometimes that’s all it takes. On the whole, today was a fairly average day, maybe not even so. The one work-related meeting I was hoping to have was rescheduled until tomorrow, and the rest of my day consisted of an impromptu lunch with a friend from stage and my first French lesson with my new teacher (which is a story for another day). But I found a place in Bamenda that makes getting a haircut both possible and pleasant, and they offer massages to boot. That certainly wasn’t included when I pictured my life here in Cameroon, nor was it what I considered an important aspect of development. But I’ve come to think of it as an important, if not essential part of the development process: a business staffed by highly educated, skilled, hard-working Cameroonians. And it’s certainly a business I’m more than happy to support.

Good thing I'm not in America these days:
just taking this one selfie was stressful enough...

So back to this idea of Peace Corps Days and how they come to be. I’ve come to believe that they don’t necessarily require any major work breakthroughs, cultural realizations, or care packages from home (although those are always appreciated!). The components of today’s PC Day: haircut breakthrough, finished my book, and set up two meetings for tomorrow. And for today, those are enough.