There is a line you know, in life, and being only one person, you have to stand on either one side of it or the other. Here in Africa you can be on one side, watching Africa pass you by, as I have been doing these past two months in training, or you can be one of those that stand on the side of the road; watching the other world pass you by. I finally felt like i crossed that line a couple of days ago in my village. I was standing amongst about 20 kids by the water pump, waiting my turn to get water, and turned to watch 6 motorcycles pass us by. They werent the scraggly motos that the locals ride. These were expensive dirt bikes and the riders were pimped up in expensive, colorful gear. I think they were European. Rich, according to my sister, who was standing beside me. All the kids screamed with excitment and waved as the cyclists passed by. The riders waved back. The last one had a video camera and was taking a video of africa going by at 50 miles per hour. I did not wave. Instead i saw a mirror image of myself in these riders. I looked back and remembered my countless rides in Peace Corps cars, riding "in style" from place to place, watching thousands of kids go by, all waving and shouting at us. Is that really Africa, seeing kids wave while flying by? Now that I stand amongst them i realize the answer is no. I now live in a village that any western traveler would just pass by. Actually, I am in a village that westerners probably would never really pass by. I realize how lucky I am to be here and to be a Peace Corps volunteer. I get to experience what most people in my culture could only dream of.
Hehe, how is that for a sappy intro? Its true though, I do feel very lucky to be here and very excited to become a part of my community here in Thiabedji. It still seems, sometimes, that everything i see comes straight from a postcard. In my first two weeks in my village I have had far too mant wonderful experiences to share. Everything is new and everything is a process of adjusting. Overall, it is all going well. I wish I had pics to give but i still dont have a camera. I have one on the way thuogh, thanks Mom and Caitlin!
I'll start with my chair experience. It happened the day after i wrote the last blog, so a while ago, but it is still worth writing about! Anyway, i really wanted a chair for my hut and i heard that there are no furniture makers in my village. Well on my way back to my village i stopped at Bandafasi, a village about 20 kilometers from mine, where another volunteer lives. I inquired there about a chair. I was picturing in my head one of those small stools because i thought it would fit nicely on my bike. Low and behold I was brought to a full sized, hand woven bamboo chair. It was big. I mean huge! i will take a picture eventually. I kinda laughed when i saw it and told them where i lived. He said that it was no problem, that he could put it on my bike without problem. I laughed again. There was no way! I asked, out of curiosity, how much the chair costed. He said it costed 3,000cfa. In case you didnt know, that is the equivalent of 6 american dollars. In a city you can get a banana split for that price, or a cheap shirt made in china. I could not say no to this chair. I told Boubacar, the man who said he could tie it on, that if he could get that chair on my bike, i would buy it. Low and behold, 10 minutes later i was on the road with my bike and a massive chair strapped on the back. I couldnt stop laughing. Really. It was hillarious to me. I guess im still getting used to the culture here, because no one else gave any sort of reaction.
So, 10 days in my village.... what did I do. People say that the pace of life really slows down when you get to your village. I can see this as being true, but also, i think that you can chose how to spend your days. I have had a few slow days but usually i keep myself pretty busy. Maybe its because everything i do is new and exciting still. I have spent a lot of time with my sister learning to cook the local dishes. There are about 4 meals here... and we just switch them off. The main ingredients of everything at my village is corn and peanuts. Man you can do a lot with corn and peanuts! The food is actually very good. I used to think it was rather bland but after seeing what goes into making it, i appreciate the taste a LOT more. We also eat a lot of leaves, crushed to a powder for flavor of boiled in a sauce. Bantara leaves, Nebadie, Baobab leaves, and squash leaves. There is salt, jumbo (a local spice thing.. like bullion), and the only veggies ive seen are tomatoes and ocra and squash and a local eggplant. Yay for food!
There is bread in the village. My familt doesnt eat it, i think its too expensive. I buy it for breakfast sometimes.
I have been getting to know quite a few people. I went to the school and introduced myself to all the students and teachers. I talk to the teachers quite a bit because they speak French. I greet all the kids in the village when I see them, and they greet me as well. They often stop by my house just to sit and stare at me. I try to talk to them and usually fail, but sometimes they understand me. ha! Ive also circled the village several times greeting people, introducing myself and telling them why I am here. I dont know if I have said to you guys what Im here to do. I am an agroforestry volunteer. I will be working with villagers and farmers to plant lots and lots of trees to help with deforestation issues. For farms, also, there is a technique in which you plant fruit yielding trees in your crops so you can get several different types of food out of one field. Yes, anyway, its great that everyone I talk to seems very interested about getting trees. I will be working with people, helping them make and maintain tree nurseries, and also help with the most proper way of planting. I dont know all of the details yet though because the training i went through was more intensive language and less Agroforestry. In my first few months in the village I am simply supposed to work my butt of on the language and meet as many people as I can, basically, set some grassroots here :)
I have made some friends! Yes they are all men so far, except for my sister. And i have established with them that i am not going to marry them nor take them to America. So we just like to sit around after lunch, drink tea and discuss things. They teach me a lot of Pular. One of them is called Saidu and he even took me to some neighboring villages and i introduced myself there. There is one village; Kolon, that is 7 kilometers from my town and has a population of 65. I love this village! there is a teacher there that speaks French and was super excited about getting trees planted.
I have talked to several teachers and they are starting to give me an idea of all the villages that surround mine. There seem to be quite a few in every direction. This is good, hopefully i will have lots and lots of work to do! I hope to be traveling to the, sometime soon.
Hmmmmm what else. I guess I am getting used to no electricity. I am also going through batteries like crazy. AAA and AA... send me some! Oh and im going through lots of candles as well but they arent too expensive here.
I have a little brother named Haruna. He is three and every time i walk by him he runs up to me and hugs me. It melts my heart, really. He likes to come visit me when im sitting by my hutt and just hang out. He doesnt talk a whole lot, but his quietness intrigues me and i am always trying to make him smile by brining something 'American' out to show him. There is a huge medical center in my village and it has solar power. Sometimes i go there with Dallanda and we watch tv in a room crowded with some 30 people. Its fun. last time we watched the last 15 minutes of The Mummy 3.
I had a mouse living in my room. He was huge and leaving poops everywhere. He was noisy and living under my suitcase by my bed. He eats the toads that get into my room under my door to eat the crickets. I dont mind the toads in my room as much as the mouse. I really didnt like it when i found a half eaten toad carcus by my bed covered in ants. Omar, my bro, Dallanda and i had a mouse hut once. He tried to kill it with a stick but it got away. We have chased him out several times but he always comes back. A couple of nights ago at 430 in the morning i heard russtling and got my headlamp and shined it by my suitcase. I saw the tail of th mouse go under it and i lifted my suitcase and slammed it down hard, BOOM! i lifted it an there he was, neck broken, with a huge toad in his mouth; by the head! it was a nasty scene, let me tell ya. But I was so excited, no more mouse poop everywhere! anyway, i wanted to wake dallanda and omar because i knew they would love it but i decided not too. I chucked them both. The toad was still alive and hopped away, ha! So yeah... i killed a mouse with my suitcase.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Yay! we here at the Kedougou house have huge plans! I woke up at 630 this morning to the sound of happy men laughing. I walked over to where our pet turkey, named TASTEY, was taking his last breaths. Yes, my fellow volunteers bought a turkey. He has been with us for quite some time and will now be helping to feed 30 something volunteers for our thanksgiving get together. Here in Kedougou there are 16 volunteers. There are 11 men and only 5 girls. Not so even steven. It turns out that the men in our house are amazing cooks. Ill let you know how it was. Anyway, I think there are several people from another area, Tambacounda, who are coming down. Yay!
Oh, yesterday 12 of us were looking for something fun to do so we floated down the Gambia river for a mile or two and got out of the water by a nice hotel where we ate warthog sandwiches. Africa fun.
I got a letter from a friend of my mom asking a couple of questions (hi Mary, thanks for the letter!) One was about fabric here and cotton. Cotton is gown here, ive seen it. Im not sure what they do with it. All of the fabric i have seen here is foreign made. there are also a lot of western style clothes here. If you want to get some local clothes you just buy some fabric and take it to a tailor. The fabric usually costs more than the tailor, and all together it is not very expensive.
I dont get to work with horses here, unfortunately. If i were in a region with a lot of horses, i would have considered getting one. Unfortunately, where I live thee is a problem with the ti tsi fly; which gives 'sleeping sickness' to the horses, killing them. it doesnt affect donkeys though, there are lots here.
Well thats all for now. Questions and comments welcome!
Ill probably post again in the next few days :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I`ve been installed!
Hey everyone! I have many amazing things to say today! Im in a cyber cafe so please excuse the typos. Im in a rush, and having issues with the keyboard.
Ok, down to the good stuff. i have started my life as a volunteer! I was sworn in at the ambassadors house on Nov 7th and we were on national news, so i heard. I said goodbye to my host family in Pout and set off qcross the country to start my 2 years of service. Yes, this includes 2 years being the only white person in my village, working on making the lives of the locals better. I am oficially a newbie in the area. there are 16 voluteers in my region and we all consollidate in Kedougou, where there is a peace corps center, just for this purpose. I will be going there every week or two to do this and that.
I was installed nito my village, Thiabedji, on November 11th in the evening. It was a humbling experience being dropped off in a village in which u know nobody, and watching the car drive away knowing that you are about to be on your own for two full years. Well, i realized that i am gratefull for the training i received, and the time i spent with my family in pout because in my new village i made myself right at home! i whipped out the crappiest Pula Futa, all that i know and they loved it. I got some 'me time' to unpack all of my belongings. I have a lot of stuff. Almost too much for my tiny hut. oh yes, my hut! It is so cute! it is small and round. the roundness gives me a bit of a fung shuei feeling. i have my own hole in the ground to potty in, and i have a mostlu private fence, kinda falling apart, tiny back yard. its all mine! I wanted to get a puppy and raise it, but (mom will be happy to hear this), they alredy have a dog, named Aggie, who is very friendly and just like an american dog. She was the dog of a former volunteer that left over 2 years ago. the family loves this dog and take great care of her. and the dog likes me, yay! She is just darling.
Ok, a bit about my family. Right away my favorite members are my sister and her husband who live in the hut right next to me. They both speak French which instantly closes a huge communication gap. I have only spent 1 full day in my village and my sister took me in right away, and we spent the whole day together. She taught me loads of Pula Futa. I got to cqrry water on my head. She taught me to cook and let me help a bit. We talk a lot and if Im quiet she asks me what i'm thinking. I was told that she is 20 years old. She has three kids, ages 6, 3, and 1. Her husbqnd is nice too, and very helpful. My sister's name is Dallanda and my brother is Omar. Last name.... Ba
There are a lot more people in the house. Dallanda and i sat for over an hour going over who everyone is. my host mom is named Adema. She is pretty old and her husband has passed away. She has 7 kids. The older daughters are married and living in other places. I think 2 are in Thiabedji. Some of her younger kids qre in other cities going to school. two of her kids are living in my household, Omar and Kadietou, who is 14 years old. there are two other couples living in the household. I think they are the brother of the diseased dad and the other is rzelated so,ehow but i dont remember. anyway. between those couples there are 5 kids. That makes 9 kids all together. There is one 14 yearold. The next oldest is 9. The rest are 6 and below. Several are 3 or under. In other zords I have rugrats coming out my ears! They are great though. I need more time to get to know them. Usuman, Dienabou and Fatu are my favs so far, they are Dallanda's kids.
My village is breathtaking. The car ride to it was breathtaking. There are mountains everywhere and lush forests. The whole aera just has a great vibe. The bike ride is very hilly! this is the only area in all of senegal that isnt flat! in other words, i am going to get in great shape biking back and forth. i biked to town this morning for a meeting. Its 17 miles away. i got up and left at 6am, before the sun rose. Other than almost biffing it when riding rediculously fast down a hill in the dark and running into a trench, the ride was great. I got to watch the sun rise. It was beautiful and exhausting.
So, i am starting a new life. i have tons of people to get to know. I have a new lanuage to learn. Engligh? It will have to beco,e my third language because it will not be in my village! I love that part a lot. Its quite a test of character being the black sheep. i know there will be hard times. I already got teased by some local lazy guys. They were teasing me for being tired because i dont work like the women. I told them to try to spend 8 hours in a classroom learning english and not being able to speak anything else and see how they felt. ha.
There are two baobab trees in my compound.
well im running out of time. ill be back in town for thanksgiving, so ill prolly write more then!
en ontuma!
my new name is Dienabou Diallo. Named after a village elder.
Ok, down to the good stuff. i have started my life as a volunteer! I was sworn in at the ambassadors house on Nov 7th and we were on national news, so i heard. I said goodbye to my host family in Pout and set off qcross the country to start my 2 years of service. Yes, this includes 2 years being the only white person in my village, working on making the lives of the locals better. I am oficially a newbie in the area. there are 16 voluteers in my region and we all consollidate in Kedougou, where there is a peace corps center, just for this purpose. I will be going there every week or two to do this and that.
I was installed nito my village, Thiabedji, on November 11th in the evening. It was a humbling experience being dropped off in a village in which u know nobody, and watching the car drive away knowing that you are about to be on your own for two full years. Well, i realized that i am gratefull for the training i received, and the time i spent with my family in pout because in my new village i made myself right at home! i whipped out the crappiest Pula Futa, all that i know and they loved it. I got some 'me time' to unpack all of my belongings. I have a lot of stuff. Almost too much for my tiny hut. oh yes, my hut! It is so cute! it is small and round. the roundness gives me a bit of a fung shuei feeling. i have my own hole in the ground to potty in, and i have a mostlu private fence, kinda falling apart, tiny back yard. its all mine! I wanted to get a puppy and raise it, but (mom will be happy to hear this), they alredy have a dog, named Aggie, who is very friendly and just like an american dog. She was the dog of a former volunteer that left over 2 years ago. the family loves this dog and take great care of her. and the dog likes me, yay! She is just darling.
Ok, a bit about my family. Right away my favorite members are my sister and her husband who live in the hut right next to me. They both speak French which instantly closes a huge communication gap. I have only spent 1 full day in my village and my sister took me in right away, and we spent the whole day together. She taught me loads of Pula Futa. I got to cqrry water on my head. She taught me to cook and let me help a bit. We talk a lot and if Im quiet she asks me what i'm thinking. I was told that she is 20 years old. She has three kids, ages 6, 3, and 1. Her husbqnd is nice too, and very helpful. My sister's name is Dallanda and my brother is Omar. Last name.... Ba
There are a lot more people in the house. Dallanda and i sat for over an hour going over who everyone is. my host mom is named Adema. She is pretty old and her husband has passed away. She has 7 kids. The older daughters are married and living in other places. I think 2 are in Thiabedji. Some of her younger kids qre in other cities going to school. two of her kids are living in my household, Omar and Kadietou, who is 14 years old. there are two other couples living in the household. I think they are the brother of the diseased dad and the other is rzelated so,ehow but i dont remember. anyway. between those couples there are 5 kids. That makes 9 kids all together. There is one 14 yearold. The next oldest is 9. The rest are 6 and below. Several are 3 or under. In other zords I have rugrats coming out my ears! They are great though. I need more time to get to know them. Usuman, Dienabou and Fatu are my favs so far, they are Dallanda's kids.
My village is breathtaking. The car ride to it was breathtaking. There are mountains everywhere and lush forests. The whole aera just has a great vibe. The bike ride is very hilly! this is the only area in all of senegal that isnt flat! in other words, i am going to get in great shape biking back and forth. i biked to town this morning for a meeting. Its 17 miles away. i got up and left at 6am, before the sun rose. Other than almost biffing it when riding rediculously fast down a hill in the dark and running into a trench, the ride was great. I got to watch the sun rise. It was beautiful and exhausting.
So, i am starting a new life. i have tons of people to get to know. I have a new lanuage to learn. Engligh? It will have to beco,e my third language because it will not be in my village! I love that part a lot. Its quite a test of character being the black sheep. i know there will be hard times. I already got teased by some local lazy guys. They were teasing me for being tired because i dont work like the women. I told them to try to spend 8 hours in a classroom learning english and not being able to speak anything else and see how they felt. ha.
There are two baobab trees in my compound.
well im running out of time. ill be back in town for thanksgiving, so ill prolly write more then!
en ontuma!
my new name is Dienabou Diallo. Named after a village elder.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
My last week in Pout
Hello.
Sorry I haven't written in a while, my schedule hasn't permitted me to be online much these past couple of weeks! Well, not long enough to write a blog.
So, just a quick note to let you all know what I've been up to recently.
I just spent about 9 days in Pout, my language town. It was my last time there and I am now back at the training center for the last couple of days before swear-in. My week in Pout was very interesting. I actually made a list of interesting things that happened in Pout while they were happening, but unfortunately I didn't bring it with me. Oops. I guess I'll just have to wing it.
This week in my host family I lost a member as well as gained one. Miriam Ba, my 16 year old Sister went back to the Kolda area, where she lives with her family. My mom and dad in Pout are her aunt and uncle. The new member is my Pati, and I love her! Pati is grandma in Pula Futa. We bonded pretty quickly as after I got home from school every day she was often the only one home and we just sat together for hours. The first time we sat together it was pretty quiet, we literally just chewed on sticks together and picked our noses. It was quite interesting, actually. My Pati is a really good stick chewer. Her teeth are honestly like a hundred times cleaner than mine. After watching her chew her mango tree stick for a while I went to my room and got mine out and started chewing away. I was struggling. It's not so easy. My Pati laughed at me, took my stick, cu the tip off with a knife and gave it back. It was good after that.
After all the stick chewing and nose picking, we started talking. It turns out my Pati is really good at teaching me Pula Futa. She helped me with my homework every day, letting me ask her questions and answering me slow enough to allow me to learn the new words and write them down. My little sisters often got impatient with me in these situations.
Usually my room is private and I don't really allow people inside. That all changed when I decided I wanted to have my lantern in my room so I could study in it after dark. With the lamp came my twin sisters with their books and school supplies. We all laid on the floor hovering around the lamp and studied. After a few minutes my little brother, Issa came in and started causing a ruckus. He was jumping up and down and dancing and doing everything he could to get us to entertain him. Shortly after, my Pati came into my room and sat there watching us study while keeping Issa from messing us up.
After a while studying all my sisters asked me to play the Numa Numa song on my ipod. They love this song... a LOT. They ask me to play it like 100 times a day and they sing along to it and dance along to it perfectly. Too bad I don't have a camera... what a great video it would make! If you guys don't know what the Numa Numa song is, look it up on youtube!
There was an incident with a kitten this week. it included two more than innocent 4 week old kittens who decided to imprint themselves on us Americans. They ended up in a garbage dump almost being stepped on by a 600lb pig. They tried to follow me home and I was already being followed home by about 20 african kids who thought I was crazy for touching kittens. Don't ask me to explain this, it's complicated. I really wanted the best for the kittens in a world that hates them. I really wanted to adopt one of them but it is not the right time. I don't know if they survived or not the the outcome didn't seem good.
On our last day in Pout I went to a soccer game with my fellow Pula Futa students. It was the biggest game of the season for the people of Pout, and it was very crowded. One scene that was great, were the kids in the baobabs. For kids who couldn't afford to get into the stadium, they found other ways to watch the game. There were two baobabs by the fence and there were probably about 50 kids in each tree watching the game. It was a great site! If you don't know what baobab trees are, look them up! They are amazing trees. The game was fun too. We ate lots of yogurt packs and cheered for our teams. Well, kinda. I was more into watching the vendors than the game. People buying things from the venders literally threw money at them from above (it was too crowded on the stands for venders to climb up to the top). If the money was lost in the crowd someone always found it and gave it to the vender. They were all very honest about it. Then the vendor just tossed the food item to the person. it was great!
Now that I am back at the center we are all very excited about the elections. As I am writing this blog we are all in a rented hotel room watching the election coverage on CNN.
Oh, funny fact. I found out the my Pati is 46 years old, which is fricking hilarious considering that my mom is in her upper 50s. Yes, my granny in Africa is younger than my mom. Here is the real kicker. My mom .. which I found out a couple days later when they asked me to read her birth certificate to her, is only 27 years old! Yes, the mom that feeds me and takes care of me is only two years older than me. How much of a kicker is that!
So, I'm really excited about being installed into my village. I'll tell you about it when the time comes. eh..
Sorry I haven't written in a while, my schedule hasn't permitted me to be online much these past couple of weeks! Well, not long enough to write a blog.
So, just a quick note to let you all know what I've been up to recently.
I just spent about 9 days in Pout, my language town. It was my last time there and I am now back at the training center for the last couple of days before swear-in. My week in Pout was very interesting. I actually made a list of interesting things that happened in Pout while they were happening, but unfortunately I didn't bring it with me. Oops. I guess I'll just have to wing it.
This week in my host family I lost a member as well as gained one. Miriam Ba, my 16 year old Sister went back to the Kolda area, where she lives with her family. My mom and dad in Pout are her aunt and uncle. The new member is my Pati, and I love her! Pati is grandma in Pula Futa. We bonded pretty quickly as after I got home from school every day she was often the only one home and we just sat together for hours. The first time we sat together it was pretty quiet, we literally just chewed on sticks together and picked our noses. It was quite interesting, actually. My Pati is a really good stick chewer. Her teeth are honestly like a hundred times cleaner than mine. After watching her chew her mango tree stick for a while I went to my room and got mine out and started chewing away. I was struggling. It's not so easy. My Pati laughed at me, took my stick, cu the tip off with a knife and gave it back. It was good after that.
After all the stick chewing and nose picking, we started talking. It turns out my Pati is really good at teaching me Pula Futa. She helped me with my homework every day, letting me ask her questions and answering me slow enough to allow me to learn the new words and write them down. My little sisters often got impatient with me in these situations.
Usually my room is private and I don't really allow people inside. That all changed when I decided I wanted to have my lantern in my room so I could study in it after dark. With the lamp came my twin sisters with their books and school supplies. We all laid on the floor hovering around the lamp and studied. After a few minutes my little brother, Issa came in and started causing a ruckus. He was jumping up and down and dancing and doing everything he could to get us to entertain him. Shortly after, my Pati came into my room and sat there watching us study while keeping Issa from messing us up.
After a while studying all my sisters asked me to play the Numa Numa song on my ipod. They love this song... a LOT. They ask me to play it like 100 times a day and they sing along to it and dance along to it perfectly. Too bad I don't have a camera... what a great video it would make! If you guys don't know what the Numa Numa song is, look it up on youtube!
There was an incident with a kitten this week. it included two more than innocent 4 week old kittens who decided to imprint themselves on us Americans. They ended up in a garbage dump almost being stepped on by a 600lb pig. They tried to follow me home and I was already being followed home by about 20 african kids who thought I was crazy for touching kittens. Don't ask me to explain this, it's complicated. I really wanted the best for the kittens in a world that hates them. I really wanted to adopt one of them but it is not the right time. I don't know if they survived or not the the outcome didn't seem good.
On our last day in Pout I went to a soccer game with my fellow Pula Futa students. It was the biggest game of the season for the people of Pout, and it was very crowded. One scene that was great, were the kids in the baobabs. For kids who couldn't afford to get into the stadium, they found other ways to watch the game. There were two baobabs by the fence and there were probably about 50 kids in each tree watching the game. It was a great site! If you don't know what baobab trees are, look them up! They are amazing trees. The game was fun too. We ate lots of yogurt packs and cheered for our teams. Well, kinda. I was more into watching the vendors than the game. People buying things from the venders literally threw money at them from above (it was too crowded on the stands for venders to climb up to the top). If the money was lost in the crowd someone always found it and gave it to the vender. They were all very honest about it. Then the vendor just tossed the food item to the person. it was great!
Now that I am back at the center we are all very excited about the elections. As I am writing this blog we are all in a rented hotel room watching the election coverage on CNN.
Oh, funny fact. I found out the my Pati is 46 years old, which is fricking hilarious considering that my mom is in her upper 50s. Yes, my granny in Africa is younger than my mom. Here is the real kicker. My mom .. which I found out a couple days later when they asked me to read her birth certificate to her, is only 27 years old! Yes, the mom that feeds me and takes care of me is only two years older than me. How much of a kicker is that!
So, I'm really excited about being installed into my village. I'll tell you about it when the time comes. eh..
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Ok then..
So lets have some encouragement here. i know people are reading this because they tell me when i get the rqre chqnce to talk to them. how about some comments? questions? words of encouragement? Adjusting to a new life can be stressful, yaknow. this week I spent in Pout and the honeymoon stage of "sleeping in a sauna is cool" "the lack of privacy makes me feel loved," and "who needs a desk to study, a table to eat off of, and a toilet to sit on," and "yay for cockroaches running out of my clean clothes pile and medicine box" is running out. Im feeling a bit of stress from my life here and the one at home. Sooooooo hit me up!
Ok i still like it here. i am super excited to actually get settled into my own place and my own village and start living. i would love nothing more right now than to unpack my suitcase. Oh, and i would LOVE a chocolate covered strawberry wafflebowl sundae from DQ. i think I mention it once a day. And breakfast at the Blue Sky Cafe... AAHH! i forgot what its like to have a kitchen table, a desk to study on, a toilet to sit on, and oh, clothes that go on a body that is clean; and not so sticky.
i am excited to have my own hole in the ground and my own hut! i have never really had my own place. That is still a few weeks away though.
Hey, anyone want my address in Kedougou? any sort of food thing the doesnt spoil or melt will be amazing. other things would be nice too. i dont have a list on me. hmmm. be creative. anyway my address is
Sheila McAtee PCV
BP 37
Kedougou, Senegal
easy, no?
thats all for now. nothing really new except for.... lots of language and agroforestry learning. Oh and I have an African cookie run here. hydriginated oils have not left my life; they have become my therapy. yay for Biscreme and Tutki! and nescafe and chocolate with powdered milk in the morning. mmmmmmm.
ok, bye bye
if you made it to the end of this that means maybe you want to see some pics. i have a few... they took forever to get here. here is the link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040624&l=456bc&id=72202129
enjoy!
Ok i still like it here. i am super excited to actually get settled into my own place and my own village and start living. i would love nothing more right now than to unpack my suitcase. Oh, and i would LOVE a chocolate covered strawberry wafflebowl sundae from DQ. i think I mention it once a day. And breakfast at the Blue Sky Cafe... AAHH! i forgot what its like to have a kitchen table, a desk to study on, a toilet to sit on, and oh, clothes that go on a body that is clean; and not so sticky.
i am excited to have my own hole in the ground and my own hut! i have never really had my own place. That is still a few weeks away though.
Hey, anyone want my address in Kedougou? any sort of food thing the doesnt spoil or melt will be amazing. other things would be nice too. i dont have a list on me. hmmm. be creative. anyway my address is
Sheila McAtee PCV
BP 37
Kedougou, Senegal
easy, no?
thats all for now. nothing really new except for.... lots of language and agroforestry learning. Oh and I have an African cookie run here. hydriginated oils have not left my life; they have become my therapy. yay for Biscreme and Tutki! and nescafe and chocolate with powdered milk in the morning. mmmmmmm.
ok, bye bye
if you made it to the end of this that means maybe you want to see some pics. i have a few... they took forever to get here. here is the link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040624&l=456bc&id=72202129
enjoy!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Kedougou is my new home and my new favorite place in the world!
hello out there! it's been several days since i'vr written and once again way too much has happened for me to explain it all! oh well, i guess i can stick to the good stuff. first of all, how about some accurate information? i am in the Kedougou area of Senegal. there are several volunteers in this area, either in Kedougou or in surrounding villages. The village that I will be living in is called Thiabedji, pronounced thai (like the food) -bed-jee. this week i spent a week shadowing a volunteer who lives in a village similar to the once i will be in. i got to see how he lives and what life is like as a volunteer, so i finally have a realistic image of how life will be for the next two years. I must say I am more than a bit excited! i absoutely love everything about my area, and the people seem great!
so a bit about what we did. well, it turns out that Kedougou is about 450 miles from the training center in thies, the farthest distqnce from any other sites in the country. we ended up driving 11 hours in an official PC range rover to get there. it was honestly one of the scariest things i have ever done in my life. the roads for the majority of the time were littered with potholes of all different shapes and sizes, not to mention that senegalese drivers have different ideas of speed limits, and no desire to stay in their own lanes. the speed on the horrid highway ranges from 6mph? which would be a trotting horse carraige, to 65mph by the brave drivers. everyone is always passing everyone, and the road is littered with people walking, biking, and seling things. livestock here also roams free and have no fences, so we experienced a lot of cows, horses, donkeys and goats in the road, crossing or just chillin. as we approached Kedougou, however, the animals in the road changed drom live stock to wildlife, like lqrge troops of red baboons and troops of small tqnish minkeys. Once we even saw a warthog crossing the road!
shadowing an actual volunteer was great. i got to learn about daily life. ill write more about that when i am settling in. what i want to talk about was our trip to the 'mst beautiful waterfall in the country,' designated by the current volunteers here. about 10 people took 10 bikes with camping gear about 10km to get to the waterfall. we crossed a huge river with help from locals with canoes. on the rides we rode on thin paths often overgrown with grass 8 ft tall (it is the rainy season right now). we crossed a lot of streams as well and often had to dismount to walk through deep mud. it was an amazng bikeride. i cant even explain how great it was. it would be even harder to explain the awesomeness of the waterfall. picture the most beautiful 80 ft waterfall you can picture in yur head. this one is better. haha... i will post pics eventually. the great thing about the waterfall is that nobody goes there... ever. the senegalese just arent really into nature adventures. so we had it all to ourselves. there were three pools below the falls that were perfect for swiming. the water was greenish blue and crystal clear. the water was the most refreshing thing i have felt since being here; it actually made me feel cleaner and fresher than any shower i have taken here. imagine how nice it was to jump in aftre a long, sweaty, muddy bikeride. it was amazing. several of us found our way to the top of the falls and enjoyed an amazing view. we ate, talked, sat around the fire, and just generally enjoyed our time in this amazing place. then the next day we biked back and i found myself largly exhausted... bleh. i kinda just layed around for the rest of the day.
the ride back the thies was just as scary; but we made it! and now here i am with occasional internet again, momentarily, at least.
still havent gotten sick, knock on wood.
thats all i got for now. ill write again soon
so a bit about what we did. well, it turns out that Kedougou is about 450 miles from the training center in thies, the farthest distqnce from any other sites in the country. we ended up driving 11 hours in an official PC range rover to get there. it was honestly one of the scariest things i have ever done in my life. the roads for the majority of the time were littered with potholes of all different shapes and sizes, not to mention that senegalese drivers have different ideas of speed limits, and no desire to stay in their own lanes. the speed on the horrid highway ranges from 6mph? which would be a trotting horse carraige, to 65mph by the brave drivers. everyone is always passing everyone, and the road is littered with people walking, biking, and seling things. livestock here also roams free and have no fences, so we experienced a lot of cows, horses, donkeys and goats in the road, crossing or just chillin. as we approached Kedougou, however, the animals in the road changed drom live stock to wildlife, like lqrge troops of red baboons and troops of small tqnish minkeys. Once we even saw a warthog crossing the road!
shadowing an actual volunteer was great. i got to learn about daily life. ill write more about that when i am settling in. what i want to talk about was our trip to the 'mst beautiful waterfall in the country,' designated by the current volunteers here. about 10 people took 10 bikes with camping gear about 10km to get to the waterfall. we crossed a huge river with help from locals with canoes. on the rides we rode on thin paths often overgrown with grass 8 ft tall (it is the rainy season right now). we crossed a lot of streams as well and often had to dismount to walk through deep mud. it was an amazng bikeride. i cant even explain how great it was. it would be even harder to explain the awesomeness of the waterfall. picture the most beautiful 80 ft waterfall you can picture in yur head. this one is better. haha... i will post pics eventually. the great thing about the waterfall is that nobody goes there... ever. the senegalese just arent really into nature adventures. so we had it all to ourselves. there were three pools below the falls that were perfect for swiming. the water was greenish blue and crystal clear. the water was the most refreshing thing i have felt since being here; it actually made me feel cleaner and fresher than any shower i have taken here. imagine how nice it was to jump in aftre a long, sweaty, muddy bikeride. it was amazing. several of us found our way to the top of the falls and enjoyed an amazing view. we ate, talked, sat around the fire, and just generally enjoyed our time in this amazing place. then the next day we biked back and i found myself largly exhausted... bleh. i kinda just layed around for the rest of the day.
the ride back the thies was just as scary; but we made it! and now here i am with occasional internet again, momentarily, at least.
still havent gotten sick, knock on wood.
thats all i got for now. ill write again soon
Thursday, October 2, 2008
still learning
So I just got back to the training center after spending 9 days with my host family, and day after day i learned more pula futa. i feel as if the learning process is going slow but if i look at where i was two weeks ago, i have learned a ton! im starting to hear the language better, which is good. yesterday was the fete of Kordite. that is the second biggest holiday in muslim culture. wikipedia it if u dont know what it is. i dont have time to explain. everyone dresses nice for it so now i have a fancy hand tailored african outfit. i would post pics but i kinda need a laptop for that and i am lacking. it sucks having hundreds of pics and not being ablt to do anything with them. sorry about my poor grammar and spelling. i feel rushed in this internet cafe and still dont know the keyboard that well. i got my hair braided for Kordite. you know, small braids all over. the situation in which was braided is funny. my host mom sells watermelons by the side of the main road in my village. there are rows of women with stands full of fruit that sell to passer byers. a car stops and the women run towards it and try to sell their fruit. it is interesting to see from afar; but because my host mom works there i get to be part of it. i went to visit her at lunch a couple days ago and was introduced to all the women. they are amazing and very funny. they adopted me and sat me down and started braiding. when not running up to cars they sit in a circle on buckets and broken chairs and barvard like enthusiastic housewives. they speak wolof so i had no idea what they said about me. a few spoke french. i sat for 2 hours under a tree watching the women run up to cars while getting braided. sometimes the woman braiding me left to chase cars as well. once all the women jumped up at once and someone threw a baby in my lap and ran towards a car. needless to say, i got to bond with a baby for a few mnutes and ive never held a baby before. i got a proper introducton later. i got pooped on by birds about 10 times while getting braided. the tree i was sitting under was inhabited by about 100 birds with nests. eew.
today i found out where i wil be living for two years. too bad i forgot the paper, cuz i forgot the name of the city. it is a small village about 15 miles from internet/electricity. i will have to bike to the city because there is no transportation. the population of my village is 1000. i will live in my own hut. i will be in the far south east of the country; the only place with mountains. i read that it also has the most wildlife. hippos, crocs, lions, panthers, chimps, baboons, birds, etc. cool, huh? im excited about the 15 mile bikeride, it sounds fun and the guy said it was pretty safe. tomorrow we are driving 400 miles to follow a volunteer for 5 days, to get a taste of the area. i will let you now how it is after that. wish me luck! Oh and the city i will be biking to is cqlled Koboudou or something similar if u want to look it up. Kodougol maybe? i am bad with names. ok bye bye
today i found out where i wil be living for two years. too bad i forgot the paper, cuz i forgot the name of the city. it is a small village about 15 miles from internet/electricity. i will have to bike to the city because there is no transportation. the population of my village is 1000. i will live in my own hut. i will be in the far south east of the country; the only place with mountains. i read that it also has the most wildlife. hippos, crocs, lions, panthers, chimps, baboons, birds, etc. cool, huh? im excited about the 15 mile bikeride, it sounds fun and the guy said it was pretty safe. tomorrow we are driving 400 miles to follow a volunteer for 5 days, to get a taste of the area. i will let you now how it is after that. wish me luck! Oh and the city i will be biking to is cqlled Koboudou or something similar if u want to look it up. Kodougol maybe? i am bad with names. ok bye bye
Sunday, September 21, 2008
just some comparisons
so i have this personal philosophy that i am trying to live by to help me acclimate to this new culture. i have this notion that i am going to intentionally not miss anything about american culture so that i dont get sad. so when i see new things and have new experiences and i have any thoughts comparing them to america, i erase those thoughts. I wont do it for this blog though. i know people want to know how it is different. i'll give some of them
i don't have electricity at my homestay. after dark we sit in the yard and just lay around and chat. lots of mosquitos bites. there are flashlights passed back and forth, but they arent always on. my room is dark all the time. all of the rooms in the house are. i am getting used to going in my dark room to get something. i keep my flashlight on the corner of my bed. there is elecrticity in a lot of the houses in my village, but not mine. i always sleep under a mosquito net. i like it.
there is water at my house. a pump in the backyard. i use a filter given to me by the peace corps to sterilize the water i drink.
the toilets here are all those holes in the ground. i won't sit on a toilet for 2 years. i won't have a hot shower for 2 years. good ridence. the cold showers are wonderful in this heat. Well, there are showers at the training center but i have a feeling that is the only place i will be staying with showers. i will soon live on bucket baths. bucket baths are surprisingly refreshing. whoever said that people bathe once a month is silly. my family bathes from 1 to 3 times per day. i will also not get to use a washing machine for 2 years.
I got a bike yesterday. I love it! she is my new best friend, and yes, it is a girl!
food here. i think we eat really well at the training center. breakfast is bread and jam or butter or nutella. Milk and tea to drink. lunch is a big bowl of rice cooked in oil topped with veggies and meat. up to 5 people eat out of the same bowl. that is how it is here. the locals often eat with their hands. so far we eat with spoons. Dinner is always something new. something imitating an american dish.
very very hot every day. no ac whatsoever. I have been pretty good at ignoring the heat but sometimes it is hard and takes a conscious effort. there have been several occasions where i have been literally drenched in sweat while doing nothing with no way to cool off. here you just have to take it... i usually like to sleep in a room and make it as cold as possible. now i sleep in a sauna every night. this is taking some adjusting.
In France you arent supposed to talk to strangers. here we were advised that it is ok to greet anyone, especially if they look at us, and most do. i feel that we greet more people than the locals would, but we are obivious strangers here and it is good to make a good impression. if you greet people, whether they respond or not, it means that you respect them and they now know who you are. so if you are ever in trouble, they might be more willing to help. that is what we learned.
we have learned lots about how to stay heqlthy and how to stay safe. i will have to be conscious of my health here. that will be new for me. when i get home though, after two years, i may be able to combat any bug!
thats all for now
until next time
i don't have electricity at my homestay. after dark we sit in the yard and just lay around and chat. lots of mosquitos bites. there are flashlights passed back and forth, but they arent always on. my room is dark all the time. all of the rooms in the house are. i am getting used to going in my dark room to get something. i keep my flashlight on the corner of my bed. there is elecrticity in a lot of the houses in my village, but not mine. i always sleep under a mosquito net. i like it.
there is water at my house. a pump in the backyard. i use a filter given to me by the peace corps to sterilize the water i drink.
the toilets here are all those holes in the ground. i won't sit on a toilet for 2 years. i won't have a hot shower for 2 years. good ridence. the cold showers are wonderful in this heat. Well, there are showers at the training center but i have a feeling that is the only place i will be staying with showers. i will soon live on bucket baths. bucket baths are surprisingly refreshing. whoever said that people bathe once a month is silly. my family bathes from 1 to 3 times per day. i will also not get to use a washing machine for 2 years.
I got a bike yesterday. I love it! she is my new best friend, and yes, it is a girl!
food here. i think we eat really well at the training center. breakfast is bread and jam or butter or nutella. Milk and tea to drink. lunch is a big bowl of rice cooked in oil topped with veggies and meat. up to 5 people eat out of the same bowl. that is how it is here. the locals often eat with their hands. so far we eat with spoons. Dinner is always something new. something imitating an american dish.
very very hot every day. no ac whatsoever. I have been pretty good at ignoring the heat but sometimes it is hard and takes a conscious effort. there have been several occasions where i have been literally drenched in sweat while doing nothing with no way to cool off. here you just have to take it... i usually like to sleep in a room and make it as cold as possible. now i sleep in a sauna every night. this is taking some adjusting.
In France you arent supposed to talk to strangers. here we were advised that it is ok to greet anyone, especially if they look at us, and most do. i feel that we greet more people than the locals would, but we are obivious strangers here and it is good to make a good impression. if you greet people, whether they respond or not, it means that you respect them and they now know who you are. so if you are ever in trouble, they might be more willing to help. that is what we learned.
we have learned lots about how to stay heqlthy and how to stay safe. i will have to be conscious of my health here. that will be new for me. when i get home though, after two years, i may be able to combat any bug!
thats all for now
until next time
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