A Month in My VIllage

So I just spent the longest time in 11 years that I havent logged onto the internet. I went about 28 days, and it felt great! It's really nice to know that there is a life out there without technology everywhere.

I spent 25 days in my village with the hopes of doing some last moment immersion before doing back to Theis for some more training on Agroforestry. It is normal to spend a week or two in their village and then leave for a few days to catch up on work, good food and other volunteers. It often seems that when you leave your village, and then return all refreshed, you kind of start over there. Life is a lot different when alone in the village than it is at the regional peace corps house.

My month in the village was great. I dont have a lot of time online to type it all out orderly so, thanks to a suggestion from my bro, Ill space it out into three blogs. 1. Settling in, 2. Culture lessons and 3. Work. I will start with settling in.

Each day this month was different, yet lovely. Once you realize that you are staying there, you really start to live. I went back and forth between daily schedules all month. I stayed busy every day. I think I took maybe 2 naps the whole month. I started the month off with a fitness plan. I was worried about being in one place for a long time because I tend to get bored doing that. So, I rode my bike in the mornings before it got hot. I rode 40 kilometers for a few days then took a day off. I only did this for the first few weeks. I must say I got in great shape. I also got auite daring on the road that I took. Eventually I got daring and rode all the way to Kedougou and back. I did that twice. The second time, a day that I rode 80k, was the last day I rode my bike. That is when I started getting distracted by other things in the mornings.

Daily activities are plentiful in my life in the village. Dalanda, my sister, makes every day fun. There is just one thing about our relationship that makes every day great for the both of us. She likes to help me in any way she can, and I like to help her in any way I can. And, we both need a lot of help! My sis has a tough role in the family. She cooks 3 meals a day most days for 8 or more people. She cleans house, washes laundry and draws water for herself, her husband and her kids. She does all the dishes, and more chores that I cant think of right now. Basically she works her butt off from before sunrise to well after sunset. She is exhausted every day. I love helping her with this stuff. She teaches me everything in turn and we basically just brighten each others day. Dalanda has helped me to realize several things;
at first when I got here I was frustrated at how dirty my backyard and douche seemed. I couldnt comprehend why though. In turn I would wake up every morning and see Dalanda sweeping the common area. I sat there every day wondering why the heck anyone would sweep dirt. There is no floor to sweep, only dirt. It took me a while to realize that some dirt it good and some is bad. Anyway, after starting to see how clean the common area seemed after she swept it, I tried my hand at cleaning my back yard. Low and behold, after several hours and some crazy selective dirt sweeping , I had a spic and span back yard and douche! who knew african village life could be so clean! Its strange how the American eye has a different concept of cleanliness than the African eye. After that breakthrough I started to understand how important it is to be clean. There is a way to clean your hutt every day to keep it clean, even if the floor is made with cow poop mixed with water. There is a way to clean your feet even if they do get filthy 5 minutes later. And yes, there is a proper way to take a bucket bath. I now find a super yet simple pleasure in deep cleaning my feet ans scrubbing my flip flops every day. It just makes me feel so clean!

I am learning how darn hard it is to cook here. The most complicated dish is called Laciri and some day I will make a blog about how to prepare it, complete with photos. It takes two days to make it. There are several other dishes too. They are all hard too. I had no idea you could do so much with corn, really. My main jobs with cooking are the same jobs that kids can do. I unugol a lot, which is pounding. I make peanut butter, I take the corn to the machine, I sift, I stir, I mix. I have tried pretty much everything though. And remember, all food here is made completely from scratch! Every time I cook with my sis I learn new ingrediants. Breakfast is the same every day for example, yet different. Its a porridge called Mbuiri. It always has corn in it, and water. The rest is up to what is available. It can have either all or none of: sugar, tamarin, baobab fruit, sour milk, or salt. Oh and the way the corn is prepared also depends on the day. Its best with everything and a double dose of sugar. Breakfast in my home is great!

I have a home garden. My brother and I made it with some help from some of his friends. We started with a pepeniere but now we have several plots that include, lots of carrots, turnips, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, lettuce, eggplant, zuccini and onions. My main motivation in making this garden was to learn about gardening. And learn I did. It was slow and sketchy making it because I didnt know much of what I was doing. I bought a pick, shovel, rake and watering can. We made a large fenced in area. Dalanda and I went to the fields and found some amazing fertalizer. We gathered it with out bare hands and walked it back home half a mile on our heads, singing the numa numa song and laughing to hard we almost fell over. Ever since the garden was planted my brother, Omar and I have had a deal. He waters every morning and I water every evening.

This brings me to my next settling in experience. Drawing water. This is something you definitely dont have to deal with in the states. Want to water your garden? Do Laundry? Wash dished? Drink? turn on the fauct or the hose! Here? Walk a block to the water pump, wait 30 minutes amongst 20 screaming kids fighting over whos turn it is to fill their basines, and then, when you finally get your turn, carry the water back on your head! I carry Between 100 and 120 liters of water on my head every day for that damn garden. My record is 160 liters in one day. Ive gotten pretty good at checking out people water carrying devices. You think you are good and recognizing brands of clothing or types of cars? I can glance at any bucket or basine and tell you what brand it is and how many liters it is! Beat that! I usually carry 20 liters on my head. I had to work up to that and on my last week in the village I upped my capacity to 30 liters. My sister saw me bring that 30 liter basine home and looked me straight in the eye and told me I was going to die. Sure enough, Three days later I couldnt move my damn neck and my back was killing me. Im back to the 20 liter basine.
Going to the forage is crazy. I cant even explain it. Water fights everywhere. Cows surrounding it begging like starving dogs for a drink. Cows fighting over the best spill-over spots. Dogs getting kicked, dead frogs floating about. Kids surrounding the area washing dishes, corn and younger sibling and themselves. And here I am, a toubab in my khaki pants.

This month I have gotten to know a lot of people. Luckily for me, most meetings have been good. I have gotten to know a lot of Dalandas family finally. The first two months I got to know most of Omars family. It turns out that I already met most of her family and just forgot. She has several sisters and brothers, and the wives of her brothers are out and about too. Ive gotten to know a lot of them. I have fun hanging out at the local doctors office. My brother works there as the doctor's assistant. THe doctor's brother is one of my best friends there. We have made gardens there. That will be in the work section of the blog, as will more stories on getting to know people.

Language! All I can say about it is that Im learning a lot! The problem with it though is I am not getting gvery good explanations on how to say things or what im doing wrong. If people understand me they just nod, whether I say it correctly or not. Im getting tutoring sessions from my bro though; which helps a lot.

Kids! Ive never lived with kids before and now I have a ton. I love havings kids as a part of my daily life. I love getting to know each one good and bad. Ill say more about them later.

I am running out of time. cant correct it. sorry! expect the next blog soon!