~Exploration 2~

The days that I was suppose to go and observe return Peace Corps volunteers kept getting cancelled so instead my observation is on my interview with Carolee Eslinger-Demar. She is my friend’s aunt so she just decided to come over to my house for the interview. It was a very relaxed atmosphere because her husband came with her and my two roommates decided to listen as well. It was slightly strange because as soon as we sat down on the couch she grabbed my list of questions and read then and handed them back and said, “Alright, Let’s begin!” First I started off by asking her where she went because I think that everywhere that someone goes to serve they are going to have a completely different experience from someone else.

She went to Pakistan during the Gulf War. While there she was hit with quite a few challenges that she had to overcome. She was told that three weeks into it her sister and niece had died. When talking about this I was very concerned about her because she looked as if she was going to cry. Another major thing that she had to endure was the fact that she was sent by the American Government so even though she only completed a year and a half she was in India for Christmas vacation when her team was abruptly pulled back to Washington because of the war and they were not allowed to go back and say goodbye or even finish their volunteer work. This was a big thing for her because she was not ready to come back to the United States. She was planning on dedicating two years of her life to the service and now she did not know what to do. It was very hard to hear things on the news about bombing and shootings in the place that she had grown to love.

One of the things that she told me that made me laugh was how she went over there at the age of thirty and was not married. Everyone kept telling her that the “golden years” for marriage were ages 15 to 21 and she was way past the mark. While she was over in Pakistan she was proposed to five times. She laughed and told me that she may have said no but she kept the gifts. This made me wonder if the marriage age was that way in a lot of the countries, and if so why is that?

A host family was something that she really enjoyed having while she lived in Pakistan. They showed her around the place and whenever she went out in public one of her “little brothers” would walk with her because it is their custom to never let a women walk around without accompaniment. When she first arrived she said how funny it was that she would go out in public and because she was so tall and white little children would crowd around her as she walked and poke her to make sure she was human. This is a very good point because she is the minority in this culture and I then began to wonder how well she was able to adapt to this place that she was thrown into.

She told me that the three months training really helped her learn more about the culture so she was not going into it complete blind. She learned how to dress, eat, talk and certain rituals. One ritual was praying seven times a day and even though she did not participate she was still very respectful. If the people in Pakistan are this open to religion I wonder how many other countries would be just as understanding.

Male Dominant?

I went and observed the Mormon Church on Sunday. I seen a lot of different things that I didn't really expect. I'm also baffeled that they sit through three hours of church every Sunday. On this particular Sunday the Bishop didn't speak instead he allowed the people of the Flock too. The flock are the members of the Mormon Church. Some of the people would come to the front of the church and give their testimonies. This is where they talk about something that they learned or when they felt God had answered their prayers. Some of the stories were really touching, while others I wasn't really able to understand. Most of the women who got up there ended up crying, or getting teary eyed. I also sat through something much like Sunday school. There were five students and a leader, who taught the lesson. The boys were really annoying and didn't pay attention to a word he was saying. While the girls tended to pay close attention. I was also given the opprotunity to sit through what they call Young Womens. This is a group of teenage girls between 12-19. They come together and talk about different, and sometimes are told to make cookies and what not.

I wondered for the most of the day if this is a male dominant religion. Why did a boy come into the room and tell the girls to make them cookies for Wednesday? Was this just a one time deal or do the Young Womens always make cookies? Why was the bishop a male and not female? Why was the organ player a female, and not a male? These were the questions that I had. I wonder why none of the fathers seemed to tend to the children but rather the busy mothers did. Could this be a male dominant religion, and if so why? When will it be the womens turn to rule?

~Exploration 1~

I went and observed the International Student Committee, on campus. I realize that they are not a direct link to the Peace Corps, but I figured that while being a volunteer you become the minority within a community. So, I wanted to see just what being the minority felt like. As I was sitting in the room waiting for people to start showing up I got a big rush of nerves. I am not sure exactly why this happened but it made me slightly uneasy. The first man walked around the corner and in through the door. Our eyes met for a split second and then the questions began racing through my head. What should I say? Should I smile? Is he going to take the first step? Crap what do I do? Think fast Jenna… say something. “Hi my name is Jenna! What is yours?” Oh I did it: That was not too bad, I do not know why I was so nervous. After we were talking for a while another man showed up and both of the boys, the first from Pakistan and the second from India, started talking in a common language. I was so confused on what was going on. Unsure about what exactly they were saying I look for clues in their body language. The first guy kept making gestures towards be and the other would look in my direction, so I figured that he was explain to him exactly why I was there. After this went on for awhile more and more people started showing up, but since all of the others did not communicate through that same language they switched the conversation back to English, which was very beneficial to me. So, the meeting got started.

As the room filled with ten bodies I noticed a split between genders: Guys on one side girls on the other. Is this how they do it in their cultures or was it just a coincidence? The females were very talkative when it came to taking care of household business. They were all about the organization and running of the things behind the scene: while the males were more talkative about what would be going on in the public aspect of things. Do all women in different cultures leave the public stuff up to the men because that is their role in life; to run things from behind the curtain? I noticed that whenever one of the men was speaking all of the women were completely silent and their full, undivided attention was on them. That was not the case when other women were talking; they were constantly interrupting each other getting louder, trying to get their point across. Why was this occurring? Are men revered as superior and women speak over other women in order to show their superiority?

As the meeting came to a close I had lost all sense of being uncomfortable. I know that they are similar to me and my culture in so many ways and the differences that are present show no signs of a culture being superior or inferior. I really enjoyed being able to see how unique and different it is to be the one who is “strange” in a certain setting. I was very pleased at the end to join in with this group and share a delicious home maid Korean dish. Yum!

Knitting Refugees

For my first observation, I went into the International Rescue Committee office and met the volunteer coordinator, Joanie. She was with whom I had primarily been emailing to set up the observation and we started with a brief discussion of what exactly I would be doing and what sorts of things I hoped to observe. When I went in, there was not too much going on, but she did alert me to some upcoming events which would be of interest for me to attend. She did, however, take me to see their new space the IRC had set up for the women refugees interested in knitting. Working with a couple of proficient knitters as leaders, the women work on knitting projects which are then sold around the valley. This is a way for them to make money, and they get to keep all profits made from selling these items. I thought this was really cool and something I could possibly get involved in helping with because I enjoy knitting and have been doing it for awhile.

Primarily, the knitting group consists of women from Bhutan and there were three women when I went in. They seemed to be shy and kept quiet for the most part but were friendly and welcomed me with smiles. The group calls themselves "Bhutan Bunnu," bunnu being Bhutanese for knitting. All of the women had been held in Nepalese refugee camps for 17 years! For my next observation I hope to get a chance to talk more to the women about what it was like for them to be trapped for 17 years and then have freedom. It seems like that would be such an extreme shift and would be very difficult to to adjust. I was shown around their new workspace, which they have been in the process of putting together and are nearing completion. There is an actually an open house this Saturday I believe, so I will definitely be there to support the group and maybe make a couple purchases. I was talking to Joanie and she told me they get donations of yarn from all over the country and last winter when selling their product, nearly 100 people from the valley bought items the women had knitted. All of that money went to the individual knitter.

After talking to Joanie, it appears as though the IRC provides all sorts of activities for women, men, and children. I am curious as to how the ideas process works for the volunteers, and what other sorts of things they do to help the refugees make their own way in Boise. I know they help with job preparation and all of that, but I wonder for what types of jobs. And if the refugees do not have jobs, what other alternatives do they have? Since I haven't been able to really talk to the refugees I still want to know how difficult it was for them to assimilate. Also, did they have to leave any family behind, and can they still contact them if so? What is it like for them to do basic tasks, such as grocery shopping, especially since they probably cannot find their native foods in Boise grocery stores? Are there specialty stores in Boise to cater to the burgeoning refugee community? How well do the refugees get along with each other? I am going to go in tomorrow for a volunteer meeting so I can see more of that side of the operation.