So I am new in a village of people and Im trying to learn the language and the culture and to add on to all of that, Im suppose to be starting some sort of work. Well, I am an agroforestry volunteer. During training we learned how to make tree pepenieres, but we also learned how to make gardens. I decided to make a garden in my compound to learn how to a make a garden in Senegal. It turned out that I used everything we learned in training. I made the garden just like I was taught. Before arriving in I had no gardening experience except for the little backyard garden that I made at home before coming here. That turned out to be a blessing here as well. So anyway, I bought a rake, pick, shovel and watering can and biked them out to my village. We got a place fenced off and started the garden. I learned from a little “gardening in senegal”book which plants were transplantable andd which were direct seeded. We did a pepeniere and direct seeded others. Overall the garden was good except something ate the salad and cabbage and the onions sucked. We still had tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, carrots, turnips, greenbeans and zuccini.
Ok so people knew I was making a garden because in village life, people know everything about what is going on. They just do. I wanted to make the garden to learn, but people kept asking to make their own. So, I had this idea. When I was in Dakar I bought a whole bunch of seeds. I went back to my village and anyone who told me they know I had a garden and they wanted one too, I replied by telling them that if they wanted to make a garden, they could make one and I would provide the seeds. I figured, why not? It would give the people an opportunity to have their own vegetables and maybe I would get to know more about how people got things done. I told this to a lot of people. I didn't quite know what this would end up doing because I didn't know much about my people, their customs, their work ethic and I had no idea what they knew or didn't know about gardening.
The first garden we made was at the health center about a week after word started. Two weeks later, the day before leaving my village I did my 15th garden. My small idea turned into me waking up in the morning, walking out of my hut and having women standing outside waiting to discuss gardens. At night I would sit in my sisters hut with her and the whole room would be filled with women wanting to make gardens. People took me seriously! I said to all of them, “get a fenced in place, get some manure and then come get me.” Well, people came.
I did gardens of all shape and sizes. I did several backyard gardens, where people didnt need to get fence. I also had people go all out. The wife of the chief of the village and 4 of her woman friends bought a ton of fence and made the biggest enclosure of everyone. They each have two plots, which makes 10 altogether. One man bought fence and made a lot right next to a well, which is very smart because he doesn't have to carry water. For those two weeks of garden making you could see me on a daily basis walking around the whole village with rake and watering can in hand. I swear every person in the village came to me while I was making my rounds and asking me for a garden. It reminded me kind of a nature show about sharks, when there is meat available. Yes. It was a bit overwhelming but boy did I learn FAST what I can and cant do with people. I got to learn about how much they knew about gardening. Many people who wanted gardens actually knew how to make them and maintain them. I think of all the people I made gardens with, only a small handful had anything beyond basic experience. When I was standing in the plots of people ready to begin working, I would always ask them where they wanted the garden, what they wanted to plant, who would water and stuff like that The answers I got made their mindset clear. Gardens mean you get vegetables. They wanted lots and lots of vegetables. I helped them draw out their plots (they always wanted to make their whole yard one giant garden). I helped with the manure and the watering techniques (I own one of the two watering cans in the village, so there are other methods). I helped dig and plant and left them with instructions. I had a helper for a lot of it. My 15 year old brother came with me for a lot of the gardens and helped translate and work. Alan, another volunteer came and visited me and I put him to work as well. We made lots of gardens. Then I left with 15 other names written down of people who want more gardens. I figured I would come back and survey the gardens I made and continue when I learn more. If a sentence could say a thousand words this one would be a good example. I learned a hell of a lot about the way things work in my village through making these gardens. I look forward to continuing to learn.
Oh and I bet you are asking, "what about trees?" Well tree pepeniere season is coming. I just spent 2 weeks in theis learing about tree stuff. More about that will come soon!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
pictures?
quick note to let you know that i finally posted pics! Here is the link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047653&id=72202129&l=7a28a
Yeah so those are all from like a 2 day period. I really have a lot more really good ones. its just a start.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Month part 2: Learning a new culture
Culture time! There is so much I could say about living in and learning about a new culture.. Its a complicated subject I think. Oh well, here goes nothin.
I've thought about what to write and have decided to touch on the main things about the culture here that are different from American culture. Then I'll kind of say what ive learned by living amongst it, as an American of course.
In ASenegal there is city life and there is village life. The two are very, very different. Many city people have never been to a village and vise versa. I live in a village so I will be talking about village life.
So, some things to talk about.
Lets start with Islam! I am learning about the daily lives of muslims and how they see the world. Low and behold, they are just like normal people! A lot of them pray 5 times a day and many don't. They wear differet clothes. They have different holidays, like Kordite and Tabaski and a strange new year celebration. The way they celebrate their holidays in my village is different because they are poor and dont have electricity and stuff. What they basically do is braid eachothers hair, wear nice clothes and nice jewlery and nice shoes and walk about the village and great people. There is dancing too. African dancing that I know I will never be able to duplicate. I have some African clothes but I dont usually wear them. i like my clothes too much! So, basically living among muslims is great. They are nice. They have different values however and I find some of them to be great and some not so great but that is just my opinion.
I bet you guys are all wondering about polygamy. In the states its only crazy religious cults that have men with multiple wives, right?
Well that isnt so here. Having two wives is normal. Heck, having 3 or 4 is accepted, but more in villages than cities. Honestly though, that part of culture seems to be catching up to western views in cities. But once again, I live in a village. My sister's dad has four wives. Her mom is the first wife. When there are multile wives it is important to know which is the first; second third, etc. It counts and roles change. All my sis's dads' wives have between 5 and 8 kids. So, Dalanda has a ton of siblings, and pretty much all of them live in the village, or in a near by village. Many of the kids are grown and have families of their own. Dalanda's big brother has two wives, both of which are my good friends. Its normal here to have multiple wives, it just is. I pay very close attention to how it works and why it happens because it doesnt exist where I grew up. Here, amonsgt these people, it works. The culture here is different. Men and women have roles that have become rather concrete. The question of love in these marriages is the one that people usually ask about, and its also the most complicated. My answer is, it depends on each person. Cant really explain it here :p
The most important things in these relationships is a sense of traditional family values, and building a community that supports each other. Men have their roles and women have theirs. Oftentimes it is better for both the man and the woman if the man takes a second wife. When there are two wives they share the chores and help with the kids, etc. Men and women often dont spend much time with their spouses. They generally fall into their working roles during the day, and for that it is nice to have help.
Being general, the work roles of men and women are very different. I often see men sitting around doing nothing. I rarely or never see women doing that, except one friend because she has the day off work because her husbands second wife is doing the chores that day. Men do work, some have full time jobs even. But in my village, most have no work to do at all. They gather firewood and do house construction things. They make tea and sit down and chat. Its fun to chat with them.
The women work all the time. American eyes would see them as super athletes, made that way by being housewives the African way. Its hard work, let me tell ya.
Some great things about my village that Americans probably dont take into account. All of the villagers here own their own houses and their property. They made their houses with their bare hands out of sand and mudd and cow poop... Or cement if they can afford it; sometimes nice cinder block brick type things. The majority of the food that the poorest people eat is grown in their own fields. They dont rely on only money to eat. The food they buy makes it taste better, but they cuold eat nonetheless. This is not really a part of the American culture. In America people own houses, sure, but not until struggling for 30 something years of having their house own them. A house is a home no matter how big or small and the houses in my family are enough. Its cool to see that. I tried explaining to my sister how many americans were poor even though they have a house with electricity and running water and she just couldnt understand. The huts here are great. Its just like being in your bedroom. The livingroom and kitchen just happens to be outside which is fine because its warm outside.
Oh, weather. Its not culture but this is how it is. The seasons are basically the same as American seasons; you just add a million degrees. fall and winter are october through february. There is gradually gets "chilly" in the nights. It probably gets as low as 60 degrees. The days are still warm. Its the season of the year where you can be neight hot nor cold. Spring and summer is march through September. Its freaking hot, day and night. I havnet experienced the hottest part yet, which is aparently April. There is hot dry and a hot rainy season. Its painfully hot. People bath three times a day. In the rainy hot season nothing is ever dry, even the air.
So
March-May: Painfuly hot dry season
June-September: Hot rainy season
October-February: Cool dry season (heaven)
The cool dry season is the only time you dont constantly think about how uncomfortable you are, i.e. "man its hot," or "i cant stop sweating," or "if it gets any hotter i think i will die," etc. So, if you want to come here and be mildly comfortable, come in the cool dry season. If you want to come and see the green beautifulness come in the hot rainy season. If you want to feel the heat and see the brown, come in the hot dry.
im feeling finished with this blog. Next up is work.
I've thought about what to write and have decided to touch on the main things about the culture here that are different from American culture. Then I'll kind of say what ive learned by living amongst it, as an American of course.
In ASenegal there is city life and there is village life. The two are very, very different. Many city people have never been to a village and vise versa. I live in a village so I will be talking about village life.
So, some things to talk about.
Lets start with Islam! I am learning about the daily lives of muslims and how they see the world. Low and behold, they are just like normal people! A lot of them pray 5 times a day and many don't. They wear differet clothes. They have different holidays, like Kordite and Tabaski and a strange new year celebration. The way they celebrate their holidays in my village is different because they are poor and dont have electricity and stuff. What they basically do is braid eachothers hair, wear nice clothes and nice jewlery and nice shoes and walk about the village and great people. There is dancing too. African dancing that I know I will never be able to duplicate. I have some African clothes but I dont usually wear them. i like my clothes too much! So, basically living among muslims is great. They are nice. They have different values however and I find some of them to be great and some not so great but that is just my opinion.
I bet you guys are all wondering about polygamy. In the states its only crazy religious cults that have men with multiple wives, right?
Well that isnt so here. Having two wives is normal. Heck, having 3 or 4 is accepted, but more in villages than cities. Honestly though, that part of culture seems to be catching up to western views in cities. But once again, I live in a village. My sister's dad has four wives. Her mom is the first wife. When there are multile wives it is important to know which is the first; second third, etc. It counts and roles change. All my sis's dads' wives have between 5 and 8 kids. So, Dalanda has a ton of siblings, and pretty much all of them live in the village, or in a near by village. Many of the kids are grown and have families of their own. Dalanda's big brother has two wives, both of which are my good friends. Its normal here to have multiple wives, it just is. I pay very close attention to how it works and why it happens because it doesnt exist where I grew up. Here, amonsgt these people, it works. The culture here is different. Men and women have roles that have become rather concrete. The question of love in these marriages is the one that people usually ask about, and its also the most complicated. My answer is, it depends on each person. Cant really explain it here :p
The most important things in these relationships is a sense of traditional family values, and building a community that supports each other. Men have their roles and women have theirs. Oftentimes it is better for both the man and the woman if the man takes a second wife. When there are two wives they share the chores and help with the kids, etc. Men and women often dont spend much time with their spouses. They generally fall into their working roles during the day, and for that it is nice to have help.
Being general, the work roles of men and women are very different. I often see men sitting around doing nothing. I rarely or never see women doing that, except one friend because she has the day off work because her husbands second wife is doing the chores that day. Men do work, some have full time jobs even. But in my village, most have no work to do at all. They gather firewood and do house construction things. They make tea and sit down and chat. Its fun to chat with them.
The women work all the time. American eyes would see them as super athletes, made that way by being housewives the African way. Its hard work, let me tell ya.
Some great things about my village that Americans probably dont take into account. All of the villagers here own their own houses and their property. They made their houses with their bare hands out of sand and mudd and cow poop... Or cement if they can afford it; sometimes nice cinder block brick type things. The majority of the food that the poorest people eat is grown in their own fields. They dont rely on only money to eat. The food they buy makes it taste better, but they cuold eat nonetheless. This is not really a part of the American culture. In America people own houses, sure, but not until struggling for 30 something years of having their house own them. A house is a home no matter how big or small and the houses in my family are enough. Its cool to see that. I tried explaining to my sister how many americans were poor even though they have a house with electricity and running water and she just couldnt understand. The huts here are great. Its just like being in your bedroom. The livingroom and kitchen just happens to be outside which is fine because its warm outside.
Oh, weather. Its not culture but this is how it is. The seasons are basically the same as American seasons; you just add a million degrees. fall and winter are october through february. There is gradually gets "chilly" in the nights. It probably gets as low as 60 degrees. The days are still warm. Its the season of the year where you can be neight hot nor cold. Spring and summer is march through September. Its freaking hot, day and night. I havnet experienced the hottest part yet, which is aparently April. There is hot dry and a hot rainy season. Its painfully hot. People bath three times a day. In the rainy hot season nothing is ever dry, even the air.
So
March-May: Painfuly hot dry season
June-September: Hot rainy season
October-February: Cool dry season (heaven)
The cool dry season is the only time you dont constantly think about how uncomfortable you are, i.e. "man its hot," or "i cant stop sweating," or "if it gets any hotter i think i will die," etc. So, if you want to come here and be mildly comfortable, come in the cool dry season. If you want to come and see the green beautifulness come in the hot rainy season. If you want to feel the heat and see the brown, come in the hot dry.
im feeling finished with this blog. Next up is work.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, January 2, 2009
'Tis the season...
So I haven't done anything that I originally planned on doing for Christmas or New Years. I was hoping to go back to Kedougou a couple of days after Christmas but we got a text message from our security man saying we had to wait another 6 days to go back (jan 3). So there I was eating cake and watching movies in the Tamba house, anxious to return to my village, but now I had to wait 6 more days. I decided to hop on a 7 places, one of the nicest forms of transportation in Africa, and go to Dakar to spend a few days doing stuff. I thought it would be nice to have a change of scenery and that it would be a good opportunity to learn a bit about Dakar on my own terms. Dakar is the Capital of Senegal in case you didnt know. Its kind of a mixture between big American city culture and African culture. It really is a fascinating place. People are dressed in city clothes and have the same city "coldness" yet there are still goats and horse charettes everywhere and people selling toothbrush sticks and sugar cubes and bananas. And people still balance things on their heads. I walked along the beach one day with a fellow volunteer and we explored the down town area. It was lots of fun, especially when we got ice cream. That is one thing I go crazy craving in my town.
On New Years I didnt do anything, I know that sounds poopy but I wasnt feeling very good, so no new years story, sorry! Other than that I just explored the city and hung around the PC regional house in Dakar. Today I took the ride back in the 7 places. It only took 9 hours which is pretty much a record. This might be because they are gradually paving the roads. There are some roads on the way that are really terrible.
Oh, in case you didnt know, a 7place is a old station wagon that sits 7 passangers and the driver. At every city there is some sort of travel station called a garage, or gare. When you walk into the garage someone always comes up to you and asks you where you are going and they will take you to a car that is going there. There are always a lot of 7 places lined up waiting for business. There is a man that finds people to fill the car and takes the money, and as soon as there are 7 people in the 7 places to sit, the driver takes off.
Each driver has his own way of driving. It can take 9 hours or 12 hours to get from Dakar to Tamba, depending on the driver. This one was kind of scary but heck, he got us there alive so i am happy. You just never know with travel in Senegal. Its kind of a dog eat dog world. If you have to pee just tell the driver and he will stpo by the side of the road. If you are hungry tell him to stop anytime you see people selling things by the side of the road and those people will run up to the car and shove bananas, oranges, nuts, hqrdboiles eggs, and water in your face hoping to make a sale. The road trip snacks here are, i must say, a lot healthier than those in America. It's nice to be able to stop your car and buy a banana through the window. Oh the the driver often stops whenever he wants for random reasons. Once he took the long way through a city to drop off lunch for a friend.
So tomorrow I am heading back to Kedougou. I will probably go back to my village the following day in the morning to beat the heat. I have been away from my village for a long time so I just light stay a while. I will write when I get back!
Hope you all had happy holidays!
On New Years I didnt do anything, I know that sounds poopy but I wasnt feeling very good, so no new years story, sorry! Other than that I just explored the city and hung around the PC regional house in Dakar. Today I took the ride back in the 7 places. It only took 9 hours which is pretty much a record. This might be because they are gradually paving the roads. There are some roads on the way that are really terrible.
Oh, in case you didnt know, a 7place is a old station wagon that sits 7 passangers and the driver. At every city there is some sort of travel station called a garage, or gare. When you walk into the garage someone always comes up to you and asks you where you are going and they will take you to a car that is going there. There are always a lot of 7 places lined up waiting for business. There is a man that finds people to fill the car and takes the money, and as soon as there are 7 people in the 7 places to sit, the driver takes off.
Each driver has his own way of driving. It can take 9 hours or 12 hours to get from Dakar to Tamba, depending on the driver. This one was kind of scary but heck, he got us there alive so i am happy. You just never know with travel in Senegal. Its kind of a dog eat dog world. If you have to pee just tell the driver and he will stpo by the side of the road. If you are hungry tell him to stop anytime you see people selling things by the side of the road and those people will run up to the car and shove bananas, oranges, nuts, hqrdboiles eggs, and water in your face hoping to make a sale. The road trip snacks here are, i must say, a lot healthier than those in America. It's nice to be able to stop your car and buy a banana through the window. Oh the the driver often stops whenever he wants for random reasons. Once he took the long way through a city to drop off lunch for a friend.
So tomorrow I am heading back to Kedougou. I will probably go back to my village the following day in the morning to beat the heat. I have been away from my village for a long time so I just light stay a while. I will write when I get back!
Hope you all had happy holidays!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas...
Merry Christmas everybody!
Oh what a wonderful christmas I have been having in Senegal. You know, christmas doesnt exist for muslims so most people here dont know it exists. On Dec 23rd in my regional town, Kedougou, we had a student protest go down. Apparently the teachers went on strike and the students rioted because there is no work for students in Kedougou and its hard for students to make money and live if they dont work. So the students put red bands on their heads and burned down the government buildings of Kedougou. They burned the Governers house, the Prefects house, the tribunal. They also destroyed the police station and most of their vehicules. Then they got really excited and started tearing up the market place and other random buildings in the city center. The post office was injured; but thankfully not burned. Yes so in the morning of the 23rd my friend and I were biking to town to go to the internet but decided to turn around when we saw the crowds of students and a car and a house on fire. We told the others and we put ourselves under house arrest. The military came eventually and several people were injured and a couple died.
Of course all the volunteers were safe bacause our regional house is outside of the city center and we were a good distance from the riots. On the 24th we ventured out to see the situation and we got to see the military, several different branches, swarming the city. We saw groups of students just waiting. We saw the burned down police station, tribunal, prefecture and the post office damage. Things were still pretty on edge so after reporting to the big boss we were told to leave kedougou. SO now we are in the next city over, Tabacounda. Its nice here, we can go to the market here and buy food without worrying about what is burned down.
What happened is a real setback for the government of kedougou. A lot of documents were burned along with the buildings. A lot of our partners have severe damage to their homes. Its unfortunate.
Christmas in Tamba was nice. We watched Love Actually and Christmas Vacation and we had a big dinner cooked by the Tamba volunteers. I dont know when we will get to go back, hopefully soon.
My week in the village was good. I didnt do a whole lot. I dont have time to talk about it now because I only have 5 minutes till time runs out.
So... I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas :)
Oh what a wonderful christmas I have been having in Senegal. You know, christmas doesnt exist for muslims so most people here dont know it exists. On Dec 23rd in my regional town, Kedougou, we had a student protest go down. Apparently the teachers went on strike and the students rioted because there is no work for students in Kedougou and its hard for students to make money and live if they dont work. So the students put red bands on their heads and burned down the government buildings of Kedougou. They burned the Governers house, the Prefects house, the tribunal. They also destroyed the police station and most of their vehicules. Then they got really excited and started tearing up the market place and other random buildings in the city center. The post office was injured; but thankfully not burned. Yes so in the morning of the 23rd my friend and I were biking to town to go to the internet but decided to turn around when we saw the crowds of students and a car and a house on fire. We told the others and we put ourselves under house arrest. The military came eventually and several people were injured and a couple died.
Of course all the volunteers were safe bacause our regional house is outside of the city center and we were a good distance from the riots. On the 24th we ventured out to see the situation and we got to see the military, several different branches, swarming the city. We saw groups of students just waiting. We saw the burned down police station, tribunal, prefecture and the post office damage. Things were still pretty on edge so after reporting to the big boss we were told to leave kedougou. SO now we are in the next city over, Tabacounda. Its nice here, we can go to the market here and buy food without worrying about what is burned down.
What happened is a real setback for the government of kedougou. A lot of documents were burned along with the buildings. A lot of our partners have severe damage to their homes. Its unfortunate.
Christmas in Tamba was nice. We watched Love Actually and Christmas Vacation and we had a big dinner cooked by the Tamba volunteers. I dont know when we will get to go back, hopefully soon.
My week in the village was good. I didnt do a whole lot. I dont have time to talk about it now because I only have 5 minutes till time runs out.
So... I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas :)
Friday, December 12, 2008
A month in.
Well it's been a month since i have moved into my village, and as of now i find life moving along here quite swimingly! I spent 5 days in town for thanksgiving and found myself eager to get bck to my village for a 10 day stay. I hadn't spent more than five days there and wanted to give it a try.
The first thing I learned when going back to my village is that if you 'move out' of your hut for more than a night or two, it is certain that several things will 'move in.' I had returned home after pedaling weakly for over two hours in blistering heat, and arrived home ready to crash but when i opened my door i found my room to be trashed by a mousr that was standing above my wall staring at me right in the face. I screamed at that little devil and grabbed a shoe and chased it full cirlce around my room until he climbed up to the top of my hutt roof and disappeared out the top. He had used my bed as a toilet and a kitchen table, taking peanuts from the opposite side of my room and carrying them all the way to my wonderfully clean bed to crack them open. Poo and pee everywhere! Dallanda, my sis calmed me down and kinda chuckled at me. She felt bad and washed my sheets for me as i went and pulled water to shower with. She also helped me sweep all the poo and dirt and chewed up stuff off the floor. AAHH! That night as i was sleeping i heard squeeking in my ceiling so i turned on my headlamp and there it was. A big fat well fed male mouse scampering after a petit female mouse, trying to mate with her right above my head! All the ruckus was loostening straw and dirt from my ceiling and it was dropping right in my face. My family loved my histerical outbursts. Apparently they are the only ones i vented to because everywhere i go now people ask me if I still have a mouse problem. When wednesday came i went to the market and bought some poison. I was ready to be liberated from my pesky housemates. Long story short, it took a few days but three mice have been found dead. Well, i guess i could say two and a half. Two were found outside of my room and i found the third dead one right besides my bed, only it was half there. There was no head and all its guts were spilling out on the floor. I found out by waiting over it with my flashlight that a shrew had been eating it. Low and behold now i have shrews. Two night later i was waken by squeeking again and this time i turned my light on to see a big plump male shrew chasing a petit female shrew around the floor of my room. It was the squeaking that woke me and i must say it was earpiercing. I got out of bed and chased them out of my room trying to smash them with yet another shoe. ... I have yet to make peace with the rodents in my room.
I am, however, at relative peace with the bugs. Probably cuz they dont poo ans pee everywhere. There are probably thousands of spiders living in my room, some as big as oh i dunno, the round part of a soda can. i find crickets up my pants and in my bra, things fly into my face all the time... I just brush it off. Oh and dont even get me stqrted on the millions of mosquitos breeding in my douche. I refuse to use it at sunrise or sunset because i get insane amounts of mosquito bites in the most unpleasant places.... i need to do solething about that..
Ok, enough about pests. I love my village and have had a wonderful 10 days there. I spent a couple of days picking peanuts in the field with my neene. Its mindless busy work, just her and i sitting inder a tree picking peanuts from their plants and putting them in a bucket. neene and i talk some but because of my limited pular its hard to talk the whole time. I brought mu ipod though and we listened to some amazing american music and she just loved it.
I also spent a lot of time helping my sis do the cooking and cleaning. That gal works her butt off from sunrise to sunset without much of a rest and without a whole lot of acknowledgement. Sometimes i get frustrated with this part of the culture but i dont know what to do about it so i just help my sis as much as i can. It is a great way to learn the culture by learning about everythins that the women to because here they do so many things that, if you didnt see them do it you wouldnt even know it was done. So much effort goes into making one meal it is almost scary. if i were to write down all the steps it took to make lacciri hakko bantera, a common dish, it would amaze anyone. The food in my village is all made completely from scratch. Considerin the lack of variety of ingrediants, the things they come up with are amazing. The ingrediants used in lost everything is peanuts, corn or rice, yucka, and tomatoes. Then there qre several types of leves, like baobab leaves, bantara leaves, squash leaves, and nebadie leaves. To season there is garlic, salt, and some sort of seasoned salt called jumbo. The things they do with all of these ingredients fascinate me. the first time I ate lacciri hakko bantera i thought it was bland and strange. After cooking it for 5 hours step by step from scratch with my sis, now i appreciate every texture and flavor of it and.. well... love it.
Hmmm... what else did I do. I talked to a lot of people. I visited a neighboring village and met a lot of new people. I am working on getting/making my own map of neighboring village and their resources. We are starting a garden at my household, which will be a great start for me in learning local growing techniques. Oh, haha, and i find one of my favorite 'downtime' passtimes to be watching the animals niteract with each other. Mostly the chickens and dogs. There was a whole soap opera going on with our chicken and her 2 lovers and 5 suitors. I got in on the drama and now my chicken comes and hides behind me whenever she is being estered by a rooster she doesnt like because she knows i will chase him away. My favorite rooster, the only one ive never thrown something at, was killed for tabaski. I was sad. I asked my host brother if they were going to eat out chicken (we have only one chicken who is sitting on 6 eggs now) and he said yes, they would eventually. I told him I liked her and wanted her to live without really expecting much of a reply and he said 'ok, we wont kill her.' I was surprised at that, but im happy because she is kinda my buddy.
Hmm. Well i am still kinda new to Africa so i guess it is normal that i still see so many things through American eyes. I still see almost everything as if it were a postcard. I went to a meeting given by my health clinic for women on the health of their babies. It was the during tabaski and everyone was dressed in their best in my tiny village where they usually dress like villagers and not african beauty queens. I sat in the meeting area and all lined up on the outskirts were 20 women in a line, all with beautiful colorful ourfits and gawdy gold jewlery; each one holding an infant to their breast. The image was powerful to me. I think a lot about the role of women in my village but when i do that is makes me sad and often confused so i try to see it more from their view than an American view.
Tree planting. That wont happen for a few months still. Right now I am in my village as a new and naive volunteer who knows nothing of the language and culture. The Peace Corps gives us an adjustment period in which the first few lonths of life in our village is simply to become comfortable with the culture and learn the language. How can you initiate change and help people if you cant collunicate with them and work with them in a way that gives them the confidence they need to continue the work? By that i mean work with them within their own culture. I cant work with people or even talk to them unless i learn myself, and that is indeed what i am doing. I am speaking as much Pular as I can, talking to as many people as i can while also participating in as many things as possible. A day in the fields, a day learning to cook, a day circling the village and greeting everyone, a day making aataya with the men and chatting about why i dont want to marry a senagalese man. I am getting Pular lessons several times a week and am filling several pages a day with new phrases, words and expressions. The people in my village say that they see improvement. This is good i think. Of course I also have days and moments when i find myself craving the comforts of my own culture and friends at home but that eveltually passes. It passes here in my village because i have acquired quite a good support system. My family has experience with volunteers and they seem to recognize when i need to be left alone and when i need to be invited to circle the village with them.
Thats all for now, my hour is almost up.
Oh man, if anyone out there wants to mail me something, im needing to start a collection of quick prep american food for when i visit the city so i dont have to eat the same thing all the time and purchase meals three times a day. So... campiong type food, just add hot water things, instant things of all kinds would be appreciated. And candy! Not that im expecting this.. but if anyone is feeling generous, it would make a huge difference for me here.
Hope all is well with everyone in the states!
The first thing I learned when going back to my village is that if you 'move out' of your hut for more than a night or two, it is certain that several things will 'move in.' I had returned home after pedaling weakly for over two hours in blistering heat, and arrived home ready to crash but when i opened my door i found my room to be trashed by a mousr that was standing above my wall staring at me right in the face. I screamed at that little devil and grabbed a shoe and chased it full cirlce around my room until he climbed up to the top of my hutt roof and disappeared out the top. He had used my bed as a toilet and a kitchen table, taking peanuts from the opposite side of my room and carrying them all the way to my wonderfully clean bed to crack them open. Poo and pee everywhere! Dallanda, my sis calmed me down and kinda chuckled at me. She felt bad and washed my sheets for me as i went and pulled water to shower with. She also helped me sweep all the poo and dirt and chewed up stuff off the floor. AAHH! That night as i was sleeping i heard squeeking in my ceiling so i turned on my headlamp and there it was. A big fat well fed male mouse scampering after a petit female mouse, trying to mate with her right above my head! All the ruckus was loostening straw and dirt from my ceiling and it was dropping right in my face. My family loved my histerical outbursts. Apparently they are the only ones i vented to because everywhere i go now people ask me if I still have a mouse problem. When wednesday came i went to the market and bought some poison. I was ready to be liberated from my pesky housemates. Long story short, it took a few days but three mice have been found dead. Well, i guess i could say two and a half. Two were found outside of my room and i found the third dead one right besides my bed, only it was half there. There was no head and all its guts were spilling out on the floor. I found out by waiting over it with my flashlight that a shrew had been eating it. Low and behold now i have shrews. Two night later i was waken by squeeking again and this time i turned my light on to see a big plump male shrew chasing a petit female shrew around the floor of my room. It was the squeaking that woke me and i must say it was earpiercing. I got out of bed and chased them out of my room trying to smash them with yet another shoe. ... I have yet to make peace with the rodents in my room.
I am, however, at relative peace with the bugs. Probably cuz they dont poo ans pee everywhere. There are probably thousands of spiders living in my room, some as big as oh i dunno, the round part of a soda can. i find crickets up my pants and in my bra, things fly into my face all the time... I just brush it off. Oh and dont even get me stqrted on the millions of mosquitos breeding in my douche. I refuse to use it at sunrise or sunset because i get insane amounts of mosquito bites in the most unpleasant places.... i need to do solething about that..
Ok, enough about pests. I love my village and have had a wonderful 10 days there. I spent a couple of days picking peanuts in the field with my neene. Its mindless busy work, just her and i sitting inder a tree picking peanuts from their plants and putting them in a bucket. neene and i talk some but because of my limited pular its hard to talk the whole time. I brought mu ipod though and we listened to some amazing american music and she just loved it.
I also spent a lot of time helping my sis do the cooking and cleaning. That gal works her butt off from sunrise to sunset without much of a rest and without a whole lot of acknowledgement. Sometimes i get frustrated with this part of the culture but i dont know what to do about it so i just help my sis as much as i can. It is a great way to learn the culture by learning about everythins that the women to because here they do so many things that, if you didnt see them do it you wouldnt even know it was done. So much effort goes into making one meal it is almost scary. if i were to write down all the steps it took to make lacciri hakko bantera, a common dish, it would amaze anyone. The food in my village is all made completely from scratch. Considerin the lack of variety of ingrediants, the things they come up with are amazing. The ingrediants used in lost everything is peanuts, corn or rice, yucka, and tomatoes. Then there qre several types of leves, like baobab leaves, bantara leaves, squash leaves, and nebadie leaves. To season there is garlic, salt, and some sort of seasoned salt called jumbo. The things they do with all of these ingredients fascinate me. the first time I ate lacciri hakko bantera i thought it was bland and strange. After cooking it for 5 hours step by step from scratch with my sis, now i appreciate every texture and flavor of it and.. well... love it.
Hmmm... what else did I do. I talked to a lot of people. I visited a neighboring village and met a lot of new people. I am working on getting/making my own map of neighboring village and their resources. We are starting a garden at my household, which will be a great start for me in learning local growing techniques. Oh, haha, and i find one of my favorite 'downtime' passtimes to be watching the animals niteract with each other. Mostly the chickens and dogs. There was a whole soap opera going on with our chicken and her 2 lovers and 5 suitors. I got in on the drama and now my chicken comes and hides behind me whenever she is being estered by a rooster she doesnt like because she knows i will chase him away. My favorite rooster, the only one ive never thrown something at, was killed for tabaski. I was sad. I asked my host brother if they were going to eat out chicken (we have only one chicken who is sitting on 6 eggs now) and he said yes, they would eventually. I told him I liked her and wanted her to live without really expecting much of a reply and he said 'ok, we wont kill her.' I was surprised at that, but im happy because she is kinda my buddy.
Hmm. Well i am still kinda new to Africa so i guess it is normal that i still see so many things through American eyes. I still see almost everything as if it were a postcard. I went to a meeting given by my health clinic for women on the health of their babies. It was the during tabaski and everyone was dressed in their best in my tiny village where they usually dress like villagers and not african beauty queens. I sat in the meeting area and all lined up on the outskirts were 20 women in a line, all with beautiful colorful ourfits and gawdy gold jewlery; each one holding an infant to their breast. The image was powerful to me. I think a lot about the role of women in my village but when i do that is makes me sad and often confused so i try to see it more from their view than an American view.
Tree planting. That wont happen for a few months still. Right now I am in my village as a new and naive volunteer who knows nothing of the language and culture. The Peace Corps gives us an adjustment period in which the first few lonths of life in our village is simply to become comfortable with the culture and learn the language. How can you initiate change and help people if you cant collunicate with them and work with them in a way that gives them the confidence they need to continue the work? By that i mean work with them within their own culture. I cant work with people or even talk to them unless i learn myself, and that is indeed what i am doing. I am speaking as much Pular as I can, talking to as many people as i can while also participating in as many things as possible. A day in the fields, a day learning to cook, a day circling the village and greeting everyone, a day making aataya with the men and chatting about why i dont want to marry a senagalese man. I am getting Pular lessons several times a week and am filling several pages a day with new phrases, words and expressions. The people in my village say that they see improvement. This is good i think. Of course I also have days and moments when i find myself craving the comforts of my own culture and friends at home but that eveltually passes. It passes here in my village because i have acquired quite a good support system. My family has experience with volunteers and they seem to recognize when i need to be left alone and when i need to be invited to circle the village with them.
Thats all for now, my hour is almost up.
Oh man, if anyone out there wants to mail me something, im needing to start a collection of quick prep american food for when i visit the city so i dont have to eat the same thing all the time and purchase meals three times a day. So... campiong type food, just add hot water things, instant things of all kinds would be appreciated. And candy! Not that im expecting this.. but if anyone is feeling generous, it would make a huge difference for me here.
Hope all is well with everyone in the states!
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