4As

Let me tell you the true love story of stage, of a friendship that is pure and true. Two of my LCFs (Language and Culture Facilitators) have prénoms (first names) that start with A. One is from a regional capital who now works in a small village. She is a shy French teacher used to being alternatively submissive and intimidating. The other works in aforementioned regional capital as a professeur de SVT. She is married with children and always walks around with a smile on her face. They have become inseparable over the last few weeks and are known as les jumelles (“twin girls”). They get their hair done together, laugh at strange things, and relish being in the company of another smart independent woman who left her region natale (home region) to make a life for herself. Each is one of the very few women teaching in secondary education and I’m delighted that they have gotten to know each other so well.

The other 2As of the title refer to the mass I attended on Saturday night. The Old Testament reading told the story of Abraham, of a man who left his homeland on blind faith to make a new life in a distant land. Though I had several years of preparation and experience before joining the Peace Corps, never before has this passage resonated so strongly with me. Enfin, the last A stands for ange (angel). I had arrived only 10 minutes before mass and had to stand underneath a tree. Towards the end of the service, I decided to sit down on a tree root. An adorable little girl came up and offered me the use of her tabouret (stool). I politely declined by saying that I was fine and would be happier if she used it. She scurried back to her mother, a small smile peeking out from behind voluminous folds of fabric.