Integration... what is that exactly?

Peace Corps has slated our first three months at our site as being a time solely for integration. And over the past few days I have been wondering how one goes about actually doing that. How do you integrate into a city of 50,000+ ? I have accepted that in a city of this size I am never truly going to become a part of the city, but what does integration mean for me?

Well after a week of walking around aimlessly, stopping at cafes and blindly saying “hi” to people on the street, today I felt one huge jump in my comfort level in this town. My “perfect day” began with breakfast with my host mom and sisters and then I invited them all to do yoga with me. As we rolled around on the floor, I realized that I’m comfortable here. Not sure exactly when that moment happened, but it did and there is no going back. Visa versa I have told the girls (my new host sisters, Khowla 9 and Chaima10 years old) to correct my Arabic and today we reached a point where they are pulling apart my every sentence, baby steps but good progress for just under 2 weeks.

After an afternoon of card games and silliness with the girls, I took off downtown, hit the internet for a few minutes and then took the long way home. As I passed my future apartment I waved to my doorman (yes, I have one, can you believe it?) Then salaamed my way down the road smiling and responding to each of the “bonjours” with an Arabic greeting of my own. On my way up a scenic road that gives one a panoramic view of the mountain valley I now call home; I bumped into a small girl I had stopped to talk with on a previous walk. After greeting her and her timid younger sister who stared at my blond hair and blue eyes all the way down the road, I continued on my way toward my cozy host apartment for teatime.

Even though I live in a city and will never get the sense of community a lot of PCVs get in their smaller towns, I can sense that I am beginning to form my own community here. Each day I run into someone I know on the road and almost everyday I meet and talk with someone new. I am at a point where the screaming little boys make me laugh, the double takes give me a second chance to smile at nearly everyone I pass and each “salam” is an opening for a new friendship.

“Little by little” (my personal motto here) everything is coming together. My first week here: I found a tutor, got all my residence/working papers together, found an amazing downtown apartment, and started working with my counterpart on a SIDA (AIDS) project. Sounds like a lot, but in reality I spend most of my days trying to figure out how to waste the rest of my week while looking productive. Just counting down the days until the first of the year when I get my own house, a real schedule and real work to do!