Back to the village...

Its pretty evident now that my posts on here will be random and sporadic. I've had internet for 3 days now but our days are so filled with meetings, debriefings, tech sessions, logistical crap, etc. They gave us so much info on this trip to the compound, that I'm actually a little excited to be in the village for a solid 13 days just so I can thoroughly read and comprehend everything. Plus I haven't studied my language once since I've been back at the compound. This trip to the compound has mostly focused on gardening,  the Senegalese government structure, health structure and NGO structure. They try to tell us everything, but I think they know that we won't really get it until we are involved first hand. I won't, anyway.

So I'll be in the village for 13 days which means no internet. Feel free to call my cell phone. PLEASE call my cell phone. Its so nice to talk to Americans when I'm in the village. I think my phone number is on the second or third post. I think this will be the longest I'll ever have to be in the village at one time. That's good to know, but kinda makes me dread the stint. Found out that the next town where other trainees are is only 3 or so miles. Rumor has it there's a bar there. Mission accepted. After we get back from this stint we find out where we'll be living after training!!! Super exciting! There is a huge map of Senegal painted on the basketball court of the compound, and I'm told that  they blindfold us all and walk us to the spot on the map where we'll be living. Then we can see who we'll be living closest to. I can't wait! I already know though that I'll be in the southeast, the furthest from the coast because that's where my language is spoken. Its the jungle though with lots of waterfalls, so I'm ok with that.

What else? What else? I always just think of random things I want to write on here. And then I cant remember what they are or what I've already written on previous posts. We had another session on more potential, probable diseases we are susceptible to. Its pretty scary. Worms and flies that literally get under your skin and you cant kill them until they mature because they release too much toxins when they're young. Seeds that we are required to plant that release toxic vapor that will give you a poison ivy-like rash no matter what precautionary measures you take. I got over my paranoia of staph from shaving and started shaving again. Well, once. Perhaps I wont do it as often as at home. Im sure if I ever actually get staph it will put an abrupt end to shaving. Malaria is pretty scary too. You get cold/flu like symptoms for a day or so, then you get better for a day or so and then it sets in really quickly and you could potentially be unconscious in a short amount of time. Don't worry though, Im now well educated on the matter and have emergency blood malaria test kits. Its still scary though, of course.

I should start writing things down when I'm not around internet because now I can't think of anything to write. I can't wait to move to my permanent site. We're constantly packing and unpacking between the village and the compound. I want to completely unpack, buy furniture, decorate, etc. I want to cook my own food too. Senegalese food would be amazing if I were eating it once a month or so. Its so monotonous. (I think that's how its spelled.) I would kill to have my bamboo steamer here.  

So someone responded to the mass email I sent before I left and I re-read what I had written. Definitely wrote "right" instead of "write." Wouldn't be that embarrassed except I sent it to a couple of my former professors. If you're reading this, I promise you didn't waste your time teaching me things above an elementary reading level! =)

Another person went back home the other day. Everyone talks about it when that happens. Its sad. The first girl to leave was pretty upset and I think it was probably an easy decision for her. This girl seemed to be fine from what I could tell so I imagine that it was a very difficult decision for her. I'm so glad I don't have that internal battle going on. I still love it here, even though they are overloading us with knowledge right now. It helps that my host family is so great. My host mom and sister have called or text me everyday since I came back to the compound. I think me being there makes the house a little more exciting, so they miss me. I'm definitely comical to them because I butcher the language. Sometimes when they tell me stuff to say, I'm convinced its just so they can laugh when I say it. Its a good time though.

Dad and Graham have started planning their visit over in December. I can't wait! I know by then I'll know all the cool stuff to show them and hopefully have a badass garden and some community projects going on. I know they'll really like Senegal too. The people are so hospitable and have great sense of humor!

Ok, I have to go pack and make some calls. Hope everyone is doing well! xoxo

Day: Who's counting anymore...

So I just got back from my "village" after a week of being there. I wouldn't consider it a village, I'd say town. Let me preface this post by saying that in my town there is no alcohol; all 50 of the Peace Corps' trainees' towns or villages didn't have alcohol. So the second we all got back here, to the kushy Peace Corps compound, we dropped our bags and ran to the bar for a celebratory beer.... or 4. Anyway, my host family in Darou, my town, is AMAZING! With my host family experience in France and now in Africa, I seem to luck out with the host families. My family here gave me the African name, "Salimatou Barry." They are supposed to give us African names so that we can integrate into the community easier. My family consist of my host mother, whom at first I would compare to Whitney Houston because of her diva ways, but is actually very down to earth and hospitable. I have a host father, and his second wife (super common here, not even thought twice about it). Between the 3 of them, there are 14 children in my compound. It is a well oiled machine in that place. They are so hospitable and won't let me do anything to help out. Its pretty nice, I won't lie.
So there it's me and 2 other PCT (Peace Corps Trainees) in this town of Darou and we're the first trainees that the PC has placed in Darou. All the adults are super cool and greet us, ask questions, welcome us, etc. The children however, treat us like celebrities because we're probably the first white people they've seen live and in person. Of course for the first few days its comical to be yelled, "Bonjour" and "Toubab" at all the time. (Toubab means Westerner) After a while its a bit much but I figure its better than them running away from white people, screaming in fear.
There's too many details to give so I'll try give the highlights. Ummm.... I've been using a turkish toilet the whole time and still don't like it. I hate bucket baths. When the roosters wake me up at 4am I have visions of slaughtering them, even though I've never had a desire to kill even a bug in my life. And every hour after 4 am that they wake me up I want to kill them. These Malaria drugs give me the craziest dreams about people I haven't thought about in years. On two different occasions I found mice in my suitcase. My room at my host's family's house is kind of like a prison cell with just a bed. I plan to buy a bedside table while in Thies these few days. I'm trying to devise a plan to convince my host family that I can't eat anymore white rice, white bread or tea with a full cup of sugar in it. Holy cow, I don't know how everyone in this country doesn't have diabetes.
Ok so I just typed a super long blog and lost all of it except for the parts before this, which I was able to recover. Since its almost 1am I'm going to go, but I'll write more during my stint of internet at the compound.
Hope everyone is doing well on that side of the pond. Don't worry, I absolutely love it here! Its still so much better than I ever could have imagined!

Day 4

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is so great! Its like all the advantages of the military without ANY of the disadvantages! Ha, well, so far anyway. I mean with the camaraderie, acronyms, etc. Its like a special society. Sounds silly, whatever.

Today we did tons of hippy stuff. Learning how to cultivate gardens. Its required that we have a personal garden at our site (that's what the place is called where we'll live for 2 years- "at site." Before that, the host family we live with for the duration of training is called IST, In Service Training). Apparently we have a lot of time on our hands after we move out of the compound this Monday so gardening is a huge time killer and super beneficial to our village. So we were taught today how to "double-dig" the earth and lay "amendments" such as ash, manure, charcoal dust, neem leaves for pesticide, etc. We were also taught how to transplant seedlings and how to fill "tree sacks" with manure and sand. Man, we worked with so much manure today. We have to sift it through this 4ft by 2 ft screen and with the crazy wind here its pretty impossible to avoid being downwind from it at all times. Yikes! Apparently cow, goat and sheep manure are the best, in that order, but horse manure is not good; hence the term, "horse shit!" Learning all kinds of fun facts here. Anyway, seems like gardening is going to be a huge part of our lives here regardless of our jobs, which is completely fine with me. I'm confident that if I can make things grow in Africa I can make them grow anywhere! They said that its a good idea to have seeds sent from the States since they don't have everything we could grow readily available here. So feel free to send seeds! And other fun things, like enchiladas and bottles of Gran Marnier!

After a morning and afternoon of gardening we were taught how to fix our not-yet-issued bikes. Two things about this... They brought in a bike expert to teach us (his heavily Ghanianly-accented English) everything he knows about bikes and how to fix them, in an hour's time. All I kept thinking is, "I'll just call you when my bike breaks." Such an American way of thinking. There's no way I retained more than a tenth of what he said. The second thought about this is that they are issuing us Trek 3700s or 3800s. Those are anywhere from $300 - $600. I'm pretty confident that sometime in my service something will happen to that bike whether its a stolen seat, wheel or the entire frame. They said that if its "negligence" we will have to pay for it. Interesting. I'm sure it will be fine since 200k+ other people have dealt with the same bike in third world countries. I was just shocked that they are giving us such nice bikes.

After bike time we went to the center of Thies to the market. Our compound is so nice that I had completely negated any thought of real Senegal and all its "different" smells. The funny part is that since its not hot at all right now the smells are at a minimum and they are still harsh. I've been here during the hot season and know how bad it gets so I feel bad for those who were complaining so much about it today. Their nasal cavities have a rude awakening in a few months. The markets are so eclectic and busy, as with most other markets around the world. Then there are the children who beg for money. It sucks  to be lacking the proper terminology in their language (Wolof) to tell them I'm sorry and to go away. Although its so nice to have French to fall back on with all the adults that I need to converse with along the way.

After market time, we went to the bar that's about a block from the compound. Cold beer was nice! Turns out the bar isn't a bar at all. We walked up to a double iron door and knocked on it. A man, "Micheal" (pronounced Michelle) let us in to his house's courtyard which he operates as a bar. It was legit though. Apparently the Peace Corps compound keeps him in business. Nice courtyard, good people, cold beer. All I needed. Some other volunteers (people out of training are called "volunteers" we are known as "trainees," there's definitely a line there) were with us which is always fun to bombard them with questions of what its really like once we're out of the nest. So far, so good.

Well, that's it for today, I guess. Tomorrow is more language and culture classes. We find out what language we'll be learning which will give us a slight hint as to where we'll be placed after training. They, of course, don't let us know the actual place until "swear in." Hope everyone is doing great. Miss you guys. xoxo
PS- I'm blaming the entire thing on this whacky Malaria medication but my spelling is completely out of control lately. Lots of "wear" instead of "where," "there" in place of "their." So excuse this and don't judge me!

'Round here...

We had a Woloof lesson this morning. Learning a language that doesn’t have a dictionary is going to be difficult. It’s hard to pronounce, like most languages when they’re new to you. Lots of “naan,” “noo,” “gaa,” “waa,” etc smooshed together and said really quickly. I’m glad that we don’t have to concentrate on learning to read and write. We learned a lot about the Muslim religion today. Senegalese Muslims aren’t Suni or Shiite, they’re Sufi so rules are a little different. Interesting stuff. After lunch we had a “cultural fair” with 6 different stations, each teaching us something about life in Senegal. One was more stuff on Muslim life. The next was how to pull water out of a well, carry it on your head, how to bathe out of a bucket, how to poop over a hole and how to “wipe” without toilet paper. For some reason I didn’t think I’d ever have to actually do that last part. Some volunteers say that its possible to buy and use toilet paper the whole time but it becomes a pain because you basically have to burn it afterwards because you can’t flush it and there aren’t proper trash receptacles at the host families’ houses. I’m not opposed to having a small daily fire. It was fun to carry water on my head though. There was a station about how to eat properly with a family around the communal bowl, a station with random objects that are popular here that aren’t in the States i.e. teeth cleaning sticks, plastic netting that they use as loofahs, animal horns for good luck, etc. There was a station teaching us about the leaves they use for medicinal purposes, cooking and to make juices. We got to sample the juices. Most were good. Bissap was my favorite. Most have a lot of sugar. The last station was about the different fabrics they use to make formal Senegalese attire and what they all mean. Also, how to greet people based on gender, age and religious background. It was too much info to retain in one day but I’m sure we’ll pick it up on the way. The chick that talked to us about bathing said that she had Staph five times until she stopped shaving. Ay yi yi! All these things that aren’t big enough to discourage me from being here but just big enough to be really annoying. If you’re coming to visit me, let me know and I’ll make sure to shave the pits.

Oh, so right before the cultural fair I cut all my hair off! It’s not even hot here yet and it was already far too high maintenance. It’s the shortest I’ve been thus far in life and I think I might even go a little shorter once it starts to warm up. I may or may not post a picture.

I think that’s all the stuff that happened today that you would care to hear about…. Probably a little you didn’t care to hear about. Opps. Tomorrow we take the “official” tour of Thies. Then tomorrow we’re allowed to leave the compound on our own! Well, of course not on our own, but in groups without it being a supervisor led expedition… which means beer. There’s a bar less than a block from the compound and plenty others in town. Yes, we are allowed to drink.

Well, that’s all I have. Hope everyone is great, enjoying hot showers and gobs of Mexican food. xoxo   

Man, I suck at the technical aspect of blogging. So you only get 3 photos. The first is the "disco hut." Apparently it used to have a disco ball in the middle. It no longer does. The second is our impromptu dance party yesterday. The third is one of the few gardens at the training camp.

Day 2

So I thought that I would be living here at the training camp for the 9ish weeks of Pre-service training (PST, I'm having to learn the acronyms and now you are too) but apparently we move to our training sites this Monday. Works for me. Makes more sense to train with the real deal instead of in this "kushy" camp. And by kushy I mean it has running water and toilets with seats. They said we're in training for 56 days and we'll only be at the camp for 15 of those days. The training site where we live with a host family will be anywhere from 5 to 60 kilometers from the training camp. They'll come pick us up when we need to come back to the camp for meetings and such. They said that we're quarantined here for the first 3 days but they took us on a few block radius tour today basically to show us where not to go. There's a large market 10-15 minutes walk from here that I look forward to exploring once the quarantine is lifted. I don't know why we're quarantined but I don't mind. I field punted an rather large, immobile rock today and split a chunk of my big toe off. I've since stubbed it on two other rocks bringing it to quite a gnarly state. So I'm content on sitting around studying today. I guess I should have taken the advice to buy the clunky, multi-strap, hideously ugly sandals but I opted for cute flip-flops. Vanity's a bitch.

What else? What else? The weather is great so sleeping wasn't a problem. I seriously dread the super hot season here. Hopefully it rolls in slowly giving me time to acclimate gradually. Wishful thinking. This morning we had "bean sandwiches" for breakfast. I thought they were kidding yesterday when they told me to look forward to them. Its basically spicy bean chili that is spread on a crusty baguette. Its pretty good but they rave about it like its a Denver omelet from the Ritz. Ain't no omelet. Peanut Nutella is an option too. Oh, Oh! We got our cell phones today! Its free for me to receive calls and texts from the States. Right now its not set up for me to make calls or send texts to the States and I won't be able to do so until I get to the "Orange" store and buy an international SIM card and even then it will be expensive. I'll probably just use Skype for outgoing calls and texts. Bottom line: You can call or text my cell; I will only call or text from Skype. It probably wouldn't be expensive (maybe 50¢) for you to text me from your cell but I would recommend using Skype to call if you're concerned about the pricing from your cell. My number is (221) 776720361. Keep in mind I'm 5 hours ahead of you but realistically I'll be excited to hear from you even if its the middle of the night.

We had our "tech interviews" today. They basically ask you what you're good at, what you think you're weaknesses are, and where you would like to live. I told them that I'm good at logistics, burning asparagus, problem solving and that I'm resourceful. I told them I'm bad at snow skiing, learning languages and I'm whiney when I'm sick. I asked if there are opportunities to do admin work and they said there is and asked if I would like to do correspondence work between the Peace Corps and NGOs. Couldn't have designed a better job myself. Won't know what I'll be doing until the end of training. If I do get an admin job I'm pretty sure that means I'll live in a big city. Keeping my fingers crossed. We also had medical interviews with 2 more shots and our malaria medication, and our language interview in French. I rocked the French.

So I'm trying to write a lot now because once I move to site on Monday I probably won't have internet very often unless I'm in the center of Thies. I'm hoping for once or twice a week if I am in a rural area. Actually I'll make sure once a week happens. So, Mom, don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while. You can ring my celly. =) Alright, I guess that's it for now. Hope everyone is doing well on your side of the pond. xoxo

I'm here!

With the exception of being a bit ill in DC, the commute to Senegal was painless. Flying direct is the way to go. My first step off the plane into the Senegalese air brought back all the memories of why I fell in love with this place back in 07. Its the smell of construction, sea water and a hint of burning rubber. Most would think its gross but it reminds me of Senegal. The training camp in Thies is a lot like the Peace Corps headquarters I visited in Dakar in 07 but larger and prettier. Lots of trees and blooming flowers. I guess it could be described as what you would imagine a typical summer camp to look like, but with an African twist on it. When we pulled into the compound we were greeted with a Senegalese chant to the beat of drums. Super cool. The weather is perfect. It was actually pretty chilly when we landed at 6 am. Its the end of the dry season so I'm told it won't get much hotter than 80 for the next few weeks. Then we enter the rainy season. We had a typical breakfast of baguette, butter, jam and hot tea and now we have down time until the first of many meetings at noon. Everyone in my group (there are 49 of us) is really down to earth and friendly. I thought I might be the oldest but there are actually 4 or 5 other 27 year olds and one 32 year old. We're dabbling with the idea of starting a "senior citizens" club.

Well I don't know too much yet about the logistics of how things will work around here. I know that the next 9 weeks will be pretty intense, crammed with Woloof lessons. I'll let you know more when I find out. I was pretty emotionless about coming here until I finally got here. Now I'm really excited. I feel honored to be apart of such a big movement and to be in the company of truly amazing people. I know there will be highs and lows these next 27 months but I'm confident the good will highly outweigh the bad. Hope everyone is doing well. xoxo