Follow the Eucalyptus trees...

This is a story from when we first arrived a month ago, but amusing nonetheless. Those of you who know me are well aware that I have zero sense of direction. People always find that difficult to believe because I lived in NYC for seven years. However, New York is on a grid with numbers that tell you if you are going north or south, east or west. It is also true that I have managed to find my way around other cities in this world, a couple of them with different character alphabets (Japanese and Arabic). At least these places had streets! Not so much in Loitoktok. There is a "main street" that passes through town but there aren't any signs to let you know you are on it. So, imagine my fear: me, the girl who still gets lost in my hometown of Cincinnati, when the first day of class we had to find our way home. My mama had walked me to class in the morning and it was our second day in town so I didn't know which other trainees lived on my same "road". Coming home, we left from a different place than we started so I set off just waiting ot get lost. I started walking along the road I thought went to my house and ran into another PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee's) baba.

Me: Do you know where the K... house is?
Him: Oh yes. Don't take this road. Take that one. And then follow the road to the eucalyptus trees.
Me: Ummm... which ones are the eucalyptus trees?
Him: Those-there!
Me: Oooh ok. And then what?
Him: Cross the river and keep straight.

Now at this point I feel I may never get home because I know for certain that I didn't pass any water this morning.
Me: Is there water in the river?
Him: No, no. It is dry. Just cross it and walk to the eucalyptus trees and you will be there!

Funny thing is, I followed his directions and pretty much made it home :-) And, that is largely how directions are given here. We had to draw a map for PC of how one would get from town to our homestays (in case of medical emergency) and I just drew a big tree next to my house because that is the only way to identify it. If you ask someone in town how to get to the hospital, they might tell you to walk to the petrol station, climb the cliff, turn left at the yellow house, etc etc. We only have a couple more weeks in Loitoktok so don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty more tales of me getting lost when I go to site!