With daily life becoming quite habitual, becoming busy with many
different celebrations during the time of the year, and having lack there of
access to things such as wifi, it is easy to forget about the world outside of
Comoros. With this being said I have lost track of time, and updating on my
life here.
Where to even begin, I want break this post up, firstly, talking
about my recent adventures and escapades on Comoros. Secondly, talking about
the different events that have been occurring here, as well as cultural
discoveries, such as what it is like to celebrate Christmas (a major holiday in
the USA) in a country where their major holiday (Eid) has already come and gone.
Many of things have occurred over the past month, and new discoveries
on both my own island and Anjouan (the 2nd largest island). To begin
I must go back to Thanksgiving week. During that week, my group luckily were
all together, and in celebration some of us went and presented what
Thanksgiving means, not only to us but the idea behind the holiday. During the
presentation, we discussed all sorts of things, from food, football, then and
now, to even Black Friday. Overall the event turned out successful, and
proceeding the event we met up with our fellow volunteers and enjoyed a
Thanksgiving dinner with our Peace Corps family. Upon ending our week in the
capital, and having a training I returned to site and began to prepare for
Final Exams, and reacclimate myself into village life. While waiting for exam
week to come around I completed daily walks around my village, made Cuscuma
(sort of like fried crepe) with some students, experienced a Mawlida (a dinner
thrown to celebrate someone born during the month of the prophet Mohammed), and
enjoying evening visits to different adopted families in my village. On top of
all the daily activities I experienced the first teacher strike, meaning school
was cancelled for a few days, as well as getting a taste of Mango season in my
region (Mango trees are abundant in my region of Grand Comore). After the
completion of exams, a 3-week vacation started. During which time, I had
planned for a trip to visit the 2nd largest island in Comoros,
Anjouan, visit the north part of my island, and I was able to celebrate
Christmas with fellow volunteers.
During my visit to the north of my island I was able to explore a
site called “Dragon’s Back/Spine” which is a set of rocks that form above the
water. It was quite beautiful, and shocking how different the north and the
south are from each other. As in the south there really is only one mountain,
which is the Volcano Karthala, while the north has a serious of mountains
throughout. Upon returning back to site from that adventure I hung around my
village and prepared for another trip I was taking to Moroni, to celebrate
Christmas, and to Anjouan.
Since Christmas is a Christian holiday, most Comorians do not
celebrate it, though they know about the tradition. Even being told Merry
Christmas from some of my close friends and family in village both took me back,
and made me super appreciative of my village. As although they do not celebrate
the holiday in any way shape or form, they still understood the importance the
holiday was to me. After having a morning in my village walking around and
saying “see you later” to everyone I headed into the capital to spend the
afternoon with fellow volunteers, and PC staff and celebrated the holiday
together. The next day I set out early to begin my travels to Anjouan.
Since I am currently living on an island, and taking a boat
between the two islands is super long, I decided it best to fly via a puddle
jumper to the other island. Where I was going to pass a few days, and visit
fellow volunteers. Since the islands are relatively close together the total
airtime (including taking off and landing) was about a 40-minute flight. Once I
arrived I was greeted by another volunteer and we headed off in the rain to see
some of the capital of Anjouan, Mutsamudu. Even with the rain coming down, it
was a great time seeing the difference in the cities, and it was a really
beautiful city (from what little I had seen). As the day progressed, we decided
it best to head off on our 1.5-hour bus ride, up and over the mountains, to the
other side of the island (where I was going to be staying for the week). When
we arrived to my friend’s village, she took me on a tour of both of her
villages she calls home. Even was able to enjoy some Comorian madaba (cassava
leaves), which although served on both islands still taste different. The next
day brought all new sorts of adventures, beginning with me catching a cab to a
village called Koni Djodjo. Koni Djodjo is one of most populated, poorest, and
isolated villages on Anjouan. The trip up to Koni was eye dropping, as it is
situated in the mountains and the entire way up involves winding roads, and
stunning rolling hill scenery. Once at top I was greeted by a massive group and
gave a quick presentation of myself, in my island language (which no one seemed
to understand, since the islands have such different dialects). When the
struggle ended we proceed to walk all around the village, and every 2 steps
that we took we added a kid or two to our hiking group. Finally, after managing
to get through all the interrogations, which occurred every two steps and my
friend kindly translated for me, we made it to the farm land. Where we walked
around trying to get a beautiful view of the landscape. Unfortunately, due to
rain, clouds covered most of it, but what little was seen was quite beautiful
indeed. Upon ending our walk, and taking another walk through the village
(still adding kids to our tour group) it was time to head out to our next stop,
visiting a waterfall. While on our way we decided to stop by an old palace,
which was built in the 1800 (and looks similar to plantation homes in the
south). Following sometime there we made it to our starting point to hike to the
waterfall. Although it was a little cloudy, and rainy looking outside the time
at the waterfall was such a neat experience. It was crazy how so few people visit
the waterfall, and how not even 10 minutes from the waterfall was the ocean. When
we finally finished admiring the waterfall, and basking in the warm water, we
packed up and headed on a trip to the nearby village to get ylang-ylang, and to
visit the beach. On our way we discovered some ruins, from when the island was
big in sugar production. And while we walked to the village we came across,
what seemed like never ending Ylang-Ylang distilleries. It still amazes me how
Comoros is the only exporter of Ylang-Ylang, however many of the people never
see the benefits from the product. Upon reaching the village we bought what
little food we needed and headed to check out the beach, which was a black rock
beach. When we finished our little photo shot, we decided to return to my
friend’s village and just relax for the evening, as the next day had many events
planned as well. On my last full day in Anjouan, I decided to explore the big
village in the area, Domoni. It is a quant village with many different Medinas
and some beautiful Mosques. Although I quickly went through the village, as I was
walking fast, it was well worth the trip and I quite enjoyed getting lost in
the Medina. After having my fill with Domoni it was time to go up the mountain
to visit another friend of mine for a short time. Her village is quite
different than the village I was staying in, as hers is colder and not much
flat land (as it is literally on a mountain). Even with the style of houses, it
seemed to change between the two villages. After we spent some time catching
up, and a quick little walk around it was time to say goodbye and head back to
my other friend’s village for the evening. On my absolute last day on Anjouan,
we decided to tackle some of Mutsamudu. So, after a quick breakfast we climbed
some stairs, which gave us a beautiful overview of the city. Once down from the
stairs we decided to do some more exploring, so we headed to the medina and
market area. When we finally found out way out we climbed some more hills to
locate the citadel. Unfortunately, even though we found the citadel it was
closed for the day, so we accepted defeat and went back to the office for some
time before I headed to catch my taxi and plane back to my island.
Since my return back to island I have been busy with readjusting
to school, Let Girls Learn activities, and dealing with another teacher strike
(meaning questioning whether school was actually in session for the day).
Although school has not quite gotten back to running, I have been able to keep
myself busy, with things like taking my daily walks, visiting different
families in my village, and spending some time with friends as we enjoy mangoes
(as it is peak season). During this past month, I have been able to enjoy in
both my holidays, as well as embrace the holidays that my village/Comoros
celebrate instead. Also during my visit to Anjouan I have learned, that
although there are similarities between the islands, being so far from one
another has caused them to have many differences. Even when it comes to the
language, it seems at times like they are two different languages, not just
dialects. But even with the major differences, on things like houses, language,
and execution of different events, things seem similar and I felt just as
welcomed on Anjouan as I did on Grand Comore. So far, this month has been one of
establishing stronger bonds within my community, and beginning to start/form
ideas for projects/clubs I hope to complete while I serve in Comoros. For now
though it is all rough ideas.
Until Then,
Victoria Tully
