The title of this post is from a favorite film: Everything is Illuminated. Last week someone obviously performed a very rigid search and located an ideal venue for a summer gala. And thus we had a pool party . . . at the International School in Ouagoudou. Perhaps it's one of those schools for children of the diplomatic corps . . . or something like that. But school is out for summer now, and we had the huge facility to ourselves. Gianormous pool. Pool games, soccer, basketball courts, swings and playground equipment. You can clearly see that PC trainees have a rough life. And that’s what Peace Corps is all about . . . sometimes living under conditions of hardship. We dined on burgers, potato salad, and Fourth of July cake . . .all compliments of our Country Director, my SED Director, and the always-there-for-us PC Volunteer Facilitators (PCVFs). Indeed, it is a rough life, but trainees are always up for a challenge.

The pool party was a week ago. Since then we’ve had little access to internet, and even less time to do anything but study. Despite the party-party weekend, pre-service training (PST) is actually hard work. I’m talking loads of homework and no downtime. No me time.

But the good news is that my French is improving. I’m learning to bargain in French, and I purchased the makings for guacamole this week. Yummy . . . and delightful to add something/anything green to the all-carb diet.

Thus begins Week 3 in PST, and with it a new tradition: Cocktail of the Week, brought to you by a few resourceful SED volunteers. Yes, I’m in that group. We’ll probably begin with Mojitas. So, you ask yourself: How can this be? From whence cometh this little slice of America? Refreshing swimming pool? Cocktails? Guacamole? And a Fourth of July party with the icy cold beer? Is all this another example of PC elves? We can only speculate.