Rougie

One of the foremost strengths of Peace Corps work is that volunteers live in the community they are working with. Unlike other development agencies or almost anyone else devoted to public service of disadvantaged peoples, Peace Corps volunteers can see the problems of their village with greater detail and nuance because they experience it firsthand. 

Peace Corps volunteers also have the opportunity to live with host families, an experience I have treasured and one that brings you even closer to the community. I have come to think of my mothers as my own for the constant care, attention and love they give me. I respect and admire my father. I joke with my sister and delight in her happiness and achievements. I love the babies as if they were my own siblings. 

When I arrived at my site the youngest child was 4 months old, a baby girl named Rougie. I have four younger siblings in America and I have been around many babies in the states, but I have never met one like Rougie. She was the happiest and most joyful baby, smiling and just laughing for the thrill of it every couple minutes with that adorable hiccuping belly laugh that babies have. She was healthy and beautiful and loving. You can see why I fell in love. In the first three months of service volunteers are supposed to hold off on projects to become more integrated into their communities and improve their language, so I spent a lot of my free time with Rougie, enjoying her smile and letting her brighten my day. 

As you may have read in a previous blog post, being sick in Senegal and the ensuing fasting of Ramadan hit me hard. It ended up taking me weeks to feel normal again, and my normal here is significantly weaker and lower energy than my normal in America. I have been totally blown away by the drastic effect nutrition has had on my body. The nutrition at my house actually got worse after that. Before the harvest came in we had a period typically known as starving season. We had our usual plain bread in the morning, and then for lunch we would have a medium to small bowl of rice and half a potato for six people and a baby. Sometimes we got dinner, but for a while it was every other day or every two days. I wish I were exaggerating this. Simply put, I was starving.

But this story isn’t about me. As much as it hurt me and made me unhappy to have so little food, I am a grown woman with years of consuming bountiful healthy food supporting me so my body can handle periods of little food. But for children who are still in development and at vulnerable stages of their lives, it is infinitely more difficult and dangerous. At first I didn’t notice a difference in them. No one ever complained and no one ever said that they were hungry. They played and went to school just as they usually did. But you could tell in little things. They ate frantically when food did come. They cried more often. They slept more. The worst hit by this was of course the littlest, baby Rougie. The first two years of a child’s life are when they are most vulnerable to just about everything, including malnutrition and sickness. Rougie started crying more, a lot more. She didn’t smile or laugh anymore. Her mother, very hungry herself, couldn’t console Rougie and everyone became irritable. Looking back, I didn’t realize why Rougie was crying so much, why she had changed so much from the happy baby I used to know. I thought her mother just wasn’t paying enough attention to her or that she was going through and colicky stage. Towards the end of October her increasingly frail system got sick and she had diarrhea for ten days. Ten days of completely emptying your body when your body is less than 20lbs can be a death sentence. Diarrhea is the number one killer of children under two in this area, and it can happen incredibly fast. I am actually surprised Rougie didn’t get worse faster than she did. It took its toll though. After several days of worriedly watching her and trying desperately to get her to drink ORS, her sickness reached a peak. She started throwing up and couldn’t keep much of anything down. She became listless and couldn’t even hold herself up into a sitting position. I was terrified. I thought we were going to lose Rougie, this tiny beautiful soul that everyone loved so dearly. Her mom and I went to the doctor 4km (2.5 miles) away and he gave Rougie medicine. The next day, she could sit up. She recovered, but she still wasn’t back to her old self. She still cried almost constantly and she didn’t try to crawl or stand up like she had before. She had lost weight over the past month. When I picked her up I could feel her ribs. She had lost a lot of her protective baby fat and you could see it on her tiny frame.

The village health staff and I do baby weighings for children under two years of age in our village once every month. For the month of October we had record numbers of babies whose weight for age put them “in the yellow.” Other children were suffering just like Rougie. 

On the first of November, my work counterparts and I decided to do what is known as a hearth project. My counterpart had heard about it from the Senegalese government organization PRN and I had heard about it from my Peace Corps training, but it was essentially the same thing and is used in many areas where malnutrition is prevalent. Typically you gather a group of 10 to 15 women and their babies and every day one woman cooks while you all talk about proper nutrition and feeding techniques. The children get good food for the duration of the project and the mothers learn how to continue the recipes and practices. For our project we included all the yellow babies who could eat normal food (my counterparts and I strongly advocate for exclusive breastfeeding for the baby’s first six months) in our hearth group and had them come to my counterpart Penda’s house in the evening for 15 days. On the first day we weighed them all to establish baseline weights. We made porridges and rice dishes that were hearty without being too expensive and stressed supervised feeding to the mothers. 

There are two main times a child under two is especially likely to dangerously lose weight. The first is after 6 months when breast milk is no longer enough to sustain the baby and they need to be introduced to other foods. Mothers here feed the babies rice, which has far less nutritional value than breastmilk, or foods that are too adult for their stomachs to handle- things with a lot of hot spices or too much oil. They are also now in danger of getting sick from unclean drinking water or being fed from unclean hands. The second time starts at about a year and a half, when the baby can walk. Mothers and women in general here are extremely busy- just getting water for the day from the well can take 3 hours depending on your family size, not to mention cooking over a fire for as many as 20 people and doing the dishes afterwards, bathing all the children, sweeping the house and yard, doing laundry for everyone, the list goes on. Once a child can walk they are a child of the village and wander and play wherever they please with their friends. How much a toddler is eating or if they are eating at all can get overlooked when they can feed themselves and walk away after Mom gives them bread. They are still at a vulnerable stage of development and can’t quite take care of themselves, but they don’t require the constant attention from their mothers that they used to. The hearth project works on two things to help each of these periods. The first is nutritional, which helps babies of any age, but we specifically teach about foods that are appropriate for young babies to transition to normal solid food. The second focus is the supervised feeding, talking to mothers about overseeing their child’s feeding time and having them practice it for the 15 days. 

I was excited about the project and loved having all the mothers and babies come over in the evenings to eat and hang out. I knew that this kind of project was something I was supposed to be doing as a Peace Corps volunteer and I was happy my village was following through with it. I liked that my counterpart was doing most everything. She was being a leader in the community and I was supporting her, just the role I was supposed to take. I was doing my job, following the book. What I didn’t expect was the drastic change it would have on baby Rougie and how thankful I would be for that. Rougie ate the food ravenously and her mother, initially unenthusiastic about the project, started to watch her more closely and feed her more at lunchtime as well. Before the 15 days were even over I saw a change in Rougie. She stopped crying as much. She started smiling more. She crawled more and started laughing again. She would crawl over to something she had never seen before and just laugh at the joy of discovery. She gained weight and her baby rolls started to come back. In the weeks after, she continued to improve. She was just happier. She would respond to my smile and her mother’s singing. She crawls like a pro now and is starting to climb and stand. She got her first two teeth recently and not even teething has put her out of her naturally sunny disposition. I’m so worried that I am going to miss her first steps. I didn’t fully realize before how much she had changed for the worse when she was sick and hungry. I thought her happiness as a baby just hadn’t lasted through to her toddlerhood. It turned out to be much more than that, but all it took to help her was some knowledge and a little community organization.

The change that I have witnessed in Rougie because of the hearth project is astounding and it gives meaning to all of the work my village does. I know I haven’t written anything in a while and I’m sorry for that, but I hope this post gives some insight to what I have been up to. Sometimes, things are really tough here. Sometimes they end up with an inspiring happy ending. Most times I don’t know what I’m doing. No matter what happens, I am learning a lot and I am surrounded by love.

On Adustment

Every now and then I stop and look around me and have to remind myself aloud that I live in a village in West Africa. 

After seven months, no matter how many times I say it to myself, it never really feels real. The Africa I live in is a bit different than the stereotypical picture- no giraffes or elephants unfortunately- but its not that different. I live in a remote village surrounded by desert brush and scraggly desert thorn trees, my mothers wear brightly colored clothing and carry babies on their backs and water on their heads. At night children dance around drums and in the morning we cook breakfast over an open fire. Its a village in Africa and its actually pretty exotic. 

So why doesn't it feel different to me? Why do I have to stop to look around and realize that its foreign?

My travel experience before Peace Corps was relatively limited. I've never lived in a different country before, never studied abroad, never spent more than three weeks out of the US and I had probably never gone more than a months without seeing my family. So I've never done readjustment before. It should be shocking to me, all the changes and differences. But I guess what I have learned most so far is the resiliency of a human to change and how similar we all really are. Your first week somewhere new, you notice differences- "hey, we don't say that" or "this doesn't look the same as it does in America." But by the second week, all you see is similarities. A market is a place to buy things, public transportation sucks, you have a taste for certain foods and not others, little boys never want to take showers, and if you're tired enough a bed is a bed anywhere. Sooner than you think, all you see is similarity. Before you know it, all you see is normal. Maybe you've changed somehow, accepting a new sense of normalcy, adapting to you surroundings. Or maybe nothing you find in the world is really all that different.

How to Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days: The Peace Corps Senegal Diet

Four months into my service and I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. 

Even more than my formal Swearing-In ceremony two months ago, the events of the past two weeks solidify, to me, my membership in the Peace Corps Community. Volunteers past and present share more than a willingness to serve their country and abandon everything familiar in hopes of a more peaceful world. What really marks a member of the PCV community is an almost gleeful willingness to share poop stories, true first-hand knowledge that integration is often a painful experience, and an appreciation of good food that approaches fanaticism.

My transition starts, of course, with a rather intense stomach illness, the likes of which almost all volunteers are familiar with. After almost four months without any problems despite drinking unfiltered water from my town's well, I foolishly thought that I was above getting sick, that I had somehow acquired a stronger stomach than everyone else. Not so, it turns out. After returning from a wonderful weekend in Kedougou for the 4th of July, my stomach decided to turn on me. I'll keep the description of this brief, so suffice it to say that I learned how to contain simultaneous diarrhea and vomiting into one toilet basin and that pooping blood is just as painful as it sounds. Luckily, a round of ciprofloxacin cured me quickly enough that I was back to my village in just a few days…

…Where I started to fast for Ramadan. In retrospect, fasting after just being ill wasn't the smartest decision. I blame my choices on the fact that I am an eager Peace Corps Volunteer passionately trying to be accepted by my village and also a competitive person. When villagers shook their heads and told me I couldn't do it- alaa, a wawa hoorde Aissata- and when they were pleased that I was indeed fasting, it drove me to keep going. For two days I fasted without food or water, breaking fast with a meal of dates, juice and bread at sundown, followed by a meal of rice and fish between 9:30 and 11:00 pm. Many families observing Ramadan also have a morning meal before the 5 am prayer, but my family chose not to eat in the morning, whether because of preference or lack of finances I don't know. After two days of doing the true fast, I started to drink water, greatly easing the pain of Ramadan and allowing me to be a functional, though still hungry, person. 

Before Ramadan began, I had severely underestimated it. I knew that it would be painful to not eat all day, and I was right, but the pain was not unfamiliar or too overwhelming. After a couple days you almost get used to the feeling. What I underestimated was the joy that a meal can bring. On my first night of breaking fast, I had never tasted anything so wonderful as that date or anything as refreshing as the bucket of water I chugged. It goes beyond how the food tasted though. The weakness you feel in your body from fasting, especially after several days of it, is something that penetrates your muscles and your bones. It makes you lose your balance and puts you to sleep. It confuses you and magnifies your problems. To feel the weakness be replaced by a rush of sugar is like a heady drug circulating your system, and if I ever find a drug that makes you feel that way I will highly recommend it. The pure elation I felt as I ate and looked out at the brilliant pink and orange sunset lighting up the desert sky with a cool breeze on my face was more intense than my writing can express. The aftershocks of it felt like freshness was filling me to the fingertips and at the same time easing me into a comfortable, sleepy happiness. During the day, I hate Ramadan and I have never had hours pass so painfully slowly. In the evening though, it is magical. If you ever find yourself in a Muslim African village during Ramadan I really recommend you try it. 

After my sickness and 11 days of eating less than 1,000 calories, I could tell that I was losing weight. The title to my post may or may not be an exaggeration as I didn't have a way to weigh myself before or now, but I can see my ribs and breastbone much clearer now than before. The feeling of weakness and the vivid persistence of my food dreams were starting to wear on me, so I came into the city today to break my fast and indulge in Spencer's surprise birthday celebration. I don't recommend living in a bush village as a form of weight loss, but I certainly recommend it for the experience.

(To my parents and all my parents friends who are worriers, I'm really okay, I swear. I'm only getting just what I signed up for.) 

Dust Storms

I witnessed my first dust storm today. It was quite windy and therefore dusty all day today, but after lunch we saw the wall of dust coming in from the East and everyone started running to their houses to shut everything inside. We all huddled inside as the storm rolled through and the kids got loopy and excited like we used to when a big thunderstorm or snowstorm came in America. You could see through the cracks in the doors and windows the most intense orange light, it was otherworldly. After about 20 minutes the storm stopped and everyone emerged to sweep out their homes, scrubbed their faces of dirt and enjoyed the slightly cooler temperatures the storm had brought. 

Village Life

I love my new life in Katote. Im not sure how to describe it except to say that it is beautiful. 

Every morning I wake up at day break and run through the desert. 
I come back and pull water from a well surrounded by happily chatting women, dressed in brilliantly colorful clothes, babies strapped to their backs. 
I carry my water on my head back to my room and take a bucket shower outside under the mid morning sunshine. 
I enjoy my morning coffee and bread outside while I listen to music. 
The heat of the day is sometimes oppressive but I get to spend it rocking the happiest, sweetest four month old baby to sleep so that her mother can rest. 
Every day I get to meet new people and learn a million new things. 
There is even something beautiful about not knowing the language people are speaking around you. 
You learn a lot about a person by looking at their actions and not their words. 
You learn a lot about yourself when you have to depend on the kindness of others for every simple thing. 
Every night I take a shower while watching the sun set and I sleep under the brightest stars I have ever seen. 

Peace Only

There are so many things to adjust to when you live in a foreign country and I can say honestly that I have adjusted quite easily (maybe even gracefully) to the majority of them. Learning Pulaar? I love it. Polygamy? Never gave it a second thought. Getting all my water from a well and carrying it on my head back to my room? No problem. Cooking over a tank of gas? Done. Eating rice and fish with my hands? Hope no one minds if I bring this one back to the states. It did take me a couple of weeks to figure out how to tie a panne skirt (the trick is washing the fabric until it is soft and can hug your body. Having ruffles on the bottom so that your ankles are free to move helps too) but now I have fully embraced conservative Senegalese clothing. 

There is, however, one aspect of Senegalese culture that I continually struggle with. Greeting people is the very first thing you learn in the language and it is the most important cultural exchange you can master. The typical greeting goes like this:

(lets say its morning)

me: jam waali 

other person: mbaal e jam, jam waali

me: mbaal e jam, a fini?

op: mawdum, a fini?

me: jam tan, no mbad-daa?

op: jam tan, jam tan. no mbad-daa?

me: jam tan. Ada selli?

op: mawdum, ada selli?

me: mawdum. A daaniima?

op: mawdum, mi daaniiima no moyyi, no mbadu-daa e tempere?

me: mawdum, no mbadu-daa e tempere? no mbadu-daa e nguleeki?

op: jam tan, mawdum. No mbadu-daa e nguleeki?

me: mawdum, naange in a wooli! 

op: wooli de! No mbadu-daa e heendu?

me: mawdum. No galle ma waadi?

op: ebey e jam

me: alhamdulillah

which translates to:

me: Good morning! (literally, peace morning)

other person: Peace in the morning, peace morning

me: Peace in the morning

op: Good, did you wake up?

me: Peace only, how are you doing?

op: Peace only, peace only. How are you doing?

me: Peace only. Are you healthy?

op: Good. Are you healthy?

me: Good. Did you sleep?

op: Good, I slept very well. How are you doing with the tiredness?

me: Good, how are you doing with the tiredness? How are you doing with the heat?

op: Peace only, good. How are you doing with the heat?

me: Good, the sun is hot! 

op: So hot! How are you doing with the wind?

me: Good. How is your household?

op: They are in peace

me: Praise to God

Maybe I can blame it on being from Boston, but this kind of exchange does not come naturally to me. No matter how much Pulaar I can speak or how integrated I become I always have to make a conscious effort to greet people. Its not that I don't love the people here or I don't want to see them, I am just used to walking through streets without even making eye contact. I am also unsatisfied by the answers in the exchange. Even if the person you are talking to were having the worst day of their life and everyone in their family was sick, they would still say peace only or good to everything you ask. I also rationalize some of my difficulties based on the fact that as a new person and a white foreigner I am a sensation in town, so I have to greet every single person I see and enthusiasm is a must. It can be exhausting. Sometimes to help me be infinitely friendly I like to imagine I am Belle in Beauty and the Beast:

Except that I'm far dirtier. 

Leaving Again

As usual, I am terrified to leave for the next step in my Peace Corps journey. At this point, I am aware the the terror I am feeling is part of a pattern and that everything always works out even better than I could imagine. Trying to remember that as I pack my bags and say goodbye to my friends for who knows how long to live in a remote and foreign village. 

Tomorrow I leave in a sept place (post about transportation coming soon) with the other volunteers from my region and all of our belongings. I will stay for a day at the Peace Corps regional house in Ourossogui and buy all of the items I will need in my new home, and then the next day I will be dropped off in my village. I can't believe this is happening so fast, but I guess I'm ready. 

Once I am in village I can come and go as I please, though volunteers are encouraged to stay in our sites for five weeks ("the five week challenge") to work on acclimation. The regional house (an apartment for volunteers in the area to sleep, socialize, and work) has internet, so hopefully I will come into the city for the luxuries of electricity, running water and internet every now and then. (I will not be participating in the five week challenge because I will be visiting my volunteer friend Lindsay for her birthday in three weeks.) 

For the first three months in our permanent sites we are supposed to just work on getting to know the community and getting better at speaking our language. In August, we go back to Thies for a two week technical training, a more in-depth look at solutions for the problems we have now identified in our sites. 

After that, Im pretty much on my own. I will by then have a list of projects and I will go about doing those projects for the next year and nine months, punctuated only by various holidays and volunteer social events. Wish me luck!

Swearing In

Today I swore in as an official Peace Corps volunteer at the ambassador's house in Dakar, Senegal!

Radio Star

As I have mentioned, my sister Fatimata has a Pulaar radio show every Sunday, and this week we were invited on to speak! The segment is about learning and teaching Pulaar and talks a little about Peace Corps mission and my process as a volunteer. I am posting it so that you can hear what Pulaar sounds like. Listen for my voice and the voice of my volunteer friend Katie (we speak from minutes 6 to about 8)

A Day in the Life

When people ask me in emails how and what I am doing, its somewhat difficult for me to explain. My life here is so incredibly different and foreign that with every activity I talk about I have to also explain the somewhat bizarre context in which it occurs. For example, a highlight of my last week was doing a fantastic job on my laundry. When I say that I have to also give the background that I wash my clothes by hand and that trying to emulate the Senegalese way of washing clothes is near to impossible. It involves a series of at least four buckets, all of which usually contain soap, and you have to make this squeaking noise otherwise they will say your clothes aren't clean. The squeaking noise is something you have to be born here to make, I swear, and the rest of the washing process only slightly easier to duplicate. So when I was able to get stains out of my clothes and they smelled good and dried well it was a big victory. 

Anyways, to help provide a little more context to my life here I wanted to give a typical daily schedule from my life in my homestay in Nguekhokh. 

7:30am Wake up, get dressed in appropriate knee-covering clothes

Wash my face and brush my teeth, then say good morning to the family members who are around. In Senegalese culture, it is imperative that you greet everyone in the morning and ask questions like "did you wake up?" but you can't do it until you wash your face.

7:45 Go for a run out to the outskirts of town, sometimes with my fellow volunteer and neighbor Meredith

8:20 Come back, shower, get dressed and sit down on the mat while my sister Fatimata makes coffee

Time in Senegal means almost nothing. When I first got here this was really tough to adjust to- I would tell my sister that I had class at nine and she would only start breakfast at nine and insist that I stay and sit to eat it. Im pretty used to it now and chilling at breakfast with Fati and my neene is one of my favorite parts of my day

9:30/9:45 Head to class with Meredith to study Pulaar with my teacher Yoro and the two other Pulaar speaking girls in Nguekhokh

12:00/12:30 Finish class and head home with Mer

12:30 Greet my family as I come back and try to find a cool place to chill and talk with them. Sometimes I also help/watch the cooking, but most times its too hot to be near a fire and I study instead.

2:00 Lunch, followed by rest time when I take refuge from the flies under my bug net and either nap or read or study and listen to music

4:00/4:30 Head out for the second half of class

7:00 Come back home before it gets dark

Sometimes I use this time to just talk with my family, sometimes I go over to Meredith's house to talk with hers. There is a lot of sitting and talking and drinking of tea in Senegal. Sometimes I help cook too. We also watch tv in this time before dinner because my family has electricity. We usually watch music videos or soap opera type shows. My friends and I are now obsessed with and Indian soap opera that was originally in English and is now dubbed in French called "Swarg." We can't understand most of what happens and we miss episodes whenever we are back at the training center so a good portion of the bus ride from Nguekhokh to Thies is occupied by discussing the recent developments of Swarg. 

9:00/9:30 Dinner

Senegalese eat dinner quite late and go to bed late too. There have definitely been nights where I fall asleep on the mat in front of the tv before dinner is served. After dinner my family stays up for a while but I can't usually stay awake and I go right to bed. I will know Im truly adjusted and integrated when I adopt Senegalese sleeping styles but it hasn't happened yet.

Food

So, finally, I have gotten around to posting a bit about Senegalese food (sorry it took so long mom!)
These pictures are from a couple days at my homestay site in Nguekhokh. My sisters take turns cooking and they are amazing cooks. This is some of the best traditional food you will get in Senegal. 

First of all, my family is wonderful about hygiene and everyone washes their hands with soap before eating, as shown in the picture (remember there are no sinks here). 

Breakfast: 
Fati makes coffee with three times as much sugar as nescafe instant powder, then adds powered milk. We have bread delivered to the house in the most adorable vintage bread truck.

Lunch:

I am very very lucky to have a lot of variety in my lunches. The most typical Senegalese dish is fish and rice (marro e liddi) and most people have it every day. It is good, especially if the cook is good, but can get old if you have it every day. 

My family also cooks rice with a peanut butter-y sauce or a tomato-y sauce, with fish and potatoes, called maafe. This is one of my favorite dishes- 

onion sauce with fish balls (maafe soble e boulettes liddi)

Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and typically the only chance to get vegetables. 

Dinner:

Dinner in my house is different than other Senegalese households because as Pulaars, we are herders who drink many milk products. I love milk (another reason Senegal is perfect for me) and dinner is my favorite meal with my family. 

 This is an amazing soupy dinner food made from a sour type of yogurt-milk, sugar, and flour balls. Its my favorite food in Senegal.

There is also a dish called lacciri and cosum, not pictured, which is a sandy grain like tiny grape nuts served with milk and sugar (how could you have a meal without sugar, really)

This is actually one of the non-milk dinners we have. Its a sticky rice made with beans and it has a puddle of oil for dipping in the middle. This can also be a lunch dish.

I also had to good fortune to be present for some very special meals here:

My teacher Yoro's host mom made us this amazing couscous dish

 Fati made this beautiful dinner for friends visiting from the north

 This was my going away meal (rice with cow meat is a typical celebration dish, served at events like weddings and naming ceremonies)

Hope you enjoyed! I am learning to cook Senegalese-style soon, so if you cant try these dishes in Senegal I'll make some for you at home

Fly on the Wall

One of my favorite things about my Peace Corps service so far has been learning a new language. I have studied French (briefly), but the thrill you get when something that previously sounded like gibberish actually makes sense to you is pretty incredible. Sometimes when I am speaking Pulaar I just stop in disbelief that there are such odd sounds coming out of my mouth and that I actually understand them.

I have learned so much by speaking this new language, but I have learned even more from not being able to speak it. There is something incredibly unique and special about watching a culture and a family without knowing what they are saying or being able to say anything yourself. Every night my family congregates in the main (only) room of the house and I get to watch them interact like a fly on the wall. I see how stubborn and brave three year old Habi is, the only child I know who doesn't scream when her hair is braided. I love how she holds her own and plays so fearlessly with the other children. I love how Omar (5), Iy (8) and Alsan (9) always let her play with them but are secretly very careful and protective of her- no kid hits Habi, ever. When the bombs hit Boston a couple weeks ago and they could tell I was sad, Omar and Habi broke into hilarious antics- trying to pick each other up and falling over and giggling- until I was smiling again. I love how I can tell Yero is just coming into being the man of the house. He is kind and thoughtful and is going to be a wonderful head of household. You can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he is torn between being a reserved grown up and playing soccer with the little kids in the street. I get to see how Kadyeta lovingly takes care of everyone and how genuinely joyful she is when playing with the younger children. She knows she is beautiful, but she is determined to put school before anything else. I can already see Yari as a mother, the way she takes her cooking so seriously and how she has mastered a deep-voiced powerful yell to corral the children into behaving. I will always be in awe of her work ethic, constantly taking care of the family and studying in all her spare time by flashlight on the concrete floor. Fati is the oldest and is truly incredible. She never went to school, but she taught herself enough French to be conversational and she has embraced everything the Pulaar culture can offer. She hosts a successful Pulaar radio show in Mbour every Sunday and she sought out classes through local NGOs for herself on everything from reproduction to hand washing. She is the force in the family, the one who keeps everyone organized and moving along. She is stern at times, but truly enjoys her family and her life to the fullest.

I am a lucky volunteer to see the personalities of this great family unfold before my eyes. I know how Fati flips her hand when she asks a question or how carefully Yero takes care of the animals we have. It truly solidifies for me the notion that people the world over are pretty much the same, in the most wonderful way possible.

N-Gay-Hoe

I just wanted to take a moment to express my love for my homestay family and site.

Nguekhokh, pronounced n-gay-hoe, is a relatively large town and although there aren't too many distinguishing features I know I will really miss it when I leave. The most important thing about Nguekhokh as a town that you must know is that it has the best fatiyah in all of Senegal. I have tried many other fatiyahs in various cities and nothing even comes close. The fatiyah here has a fresh dough that is the perfect thickness and lightness- a beautiful balance between calzone crust and a croissant. It is stuffed with a fried egg, french fries*, some meat pieces, cheese, ketchup and mayo. It is devine. It also costs an American dollar. In case you ever find yourself in Senegal and wanting fatiyah, the esteemed chef is named Cherif. He speaks Pulaar and he is great, he told me that I could speak Pulaar well and he only asked me to marry him once.

On a more serious note, I really am so sad to leave Nguekhokh this week. I have been so happy and loved here by my family, extended family and neighbors. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by and I can't wait to go back to visit.





*in Senegal the fries come *in* the food, not next to it. I don't know if other countries do this or how this came to be but I heard from an older volunteer that you can not have your fries on the side. No matter how many times you ask or where, the fries will be inside whatever you have ordered.

Let me count the ways...

Senegal is awesome. Not only is it awesome in its own right, but sometimes it seems like it is perfectly tailored to me. Here are 5 (main) reasons why Senegal is ideal for me:

(in no particular order)

-Heat

Its hot here. Really hot.  America is cold. Really cold. Even though sweating through multiple sets of clothes in a day can get old, I still love that I never have to worry about shivering or bracing for a freezing wind or blow drying my hair so that it doesn't turn into an icicle. Going back to Boston winters may not be an option after this. Or Boston summers for that matter. 

-Tons of sugar

I mentioned this before, but the Senegalese LOVE sugar. I was criticized in America for getting Dunkin Donuts iced coffee extra extra, but here my love of sugar is tame in comparison. There is even a chance that its too much sugar. Maybe. 

-Mangoes

Mangoes are one of my absolute favorite foods and they are everywhere here. They actually have problems with growing too many mangoes. I wish America had this problem. My family has a mango tree in our yard and I just reach up to take the ripe ones whenever I want. 

-Family dinners

In America I am constantly trying to force my busy family to sit down and eat a family dinner with me. In Senegal, every meal is a family meal by default because if you don't eat at the communal bowl when everyone else is eating you don't get food. I love it. 

-Big spoonfuls

To my surprise, my Senegalese family is always telling me to take huge bites (or handfuls, as the case may be) of food. While in America taking huge bites is one of my less attractive traits, Im doing quite well here. 

Matam: The Best Region Ever

We got our site announcements today! I am beyond happy with my placement, I can't wait for everything that follows this moment.

My village is in the region of Matam, in the northeast part of Senegal.

My village is called Katote, and it is a small village of about 600. I am very happy that it is small but also lucky that it is only 30 minutes or so from the city of Ourossogui.

This is what my village looks like on google earth:

(it doesn't exist on google earth)


I am about to leave for a 5 day stay with a volunteer in my area so that I can see where I will be living for the next two years. This is real life guys, my next two years start here.






I also have a new address:

PCV Emily Mepham
BP 181
Ourossogui, Matam
Senegal, West Africa

The Night Before Christmas...

Tonight we got back to the center after our longest home stay (ten days) and while I love my Senegalese family and enjoy my days in village, I was so happy to see my friends again. Site announcements are scheduled for this week, so this time tomorrow I will know where I will spend my next two years…

Part of me is excited  but I also don't feel quite ready for this next step. I like the training schedule and I like being with my friends. My permanent site is a whole different world that I'm not sure I'm ready to be dropped into... We'll see how it goes!

Run

I went for my first run in Africa today.

Last night I had an intense Mefloquine dream that was set in the states. It was so vivid that I woke up in a funk and by mid-day I was still really missing home and feeling out of sorts. I just wanted so badly to make a smoothie with Sarah and sit down at a table with a chair, something that was impossibly far out of reach as I sat sweating on a concrete floor in my hut in Africa. 

I decided to snap myself out of it with a run. It was the best decision I've made in a long time. My family thought I was crazy when I put on my sports clothes in the middle of the heat of the day, but I at least somewhat convinced them in broken Pulaar that I wouldn't die and set off. 

I honestly don't know my neighborhood that well. I can get to my friend's houses and to the health post, church and fruit market, but directions have never been my strong suit. So I just turned out of my house and ran straight as far as I could. It was hot and dusty and my throat burned but it felt so good to do something that was me for once. My country is foreign, my food is foreign, the roads are foreign, the language is foreign, everything in my life right now is foreign. But when I run, its like nothing has changed. My body slips so naturally into the rhythmic coordination of running it is like this is my most true state, the time when I am most myself. I felt my mood instantly lift. Some little kids trailed behind me, intrigued by the strangeness of a white girl running through the streets for recreation. Soon I was outside the town and the children were replaced by herds of cattle and the busy houses turned into empty half-built ones. Suddenly I was in a grove of huge baobab trees and all was silent for the first time in weeks. I stopped and looked around, taking in the incredible beauty of being me in the middle of an African country. 

Peace Corps Training Progression

After a couple weeks at our homestay site, my friend Meredith and I have decided to document the progress we have made through training:

Week 1- Get to site. It takes all of your concentration just to avoid the trash, pee spots and poop on the street* 

Week 2- Successfully avoid all pee and poop spots!

Week 3- Greet neighbors in the local language while simultaneously avoiding pee and poop

I'm thinking that weeks 4 and 5 might involve doing all of these things while also carrying a bucket on my head. (Turns out thats really a thing, not just a stereotype about Africa). 

*read: dirt/sand path

Bumps in the Night

I used to think this video was funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlYlNF30bVg

After spending a month in Africa, I can tell you that unfortunately this is no longer entertainment for me, its just a fact of life. Sheep, goats and donkeys all have distinct screaming sounds, but they are all equally capable of keeping me up at all hours of the night.

MJ B-DAY

March 22, 2013

So today is my birthday! I turn 23 today, which isn't a terribly special number except that it is my MJ b-day. It is, however, a significant birthday because it is my first one in Africa!

Yesterday, I have to be honest, I was pretty down. I missed my family, I missed my friends in America, I missed celebrating my birthday in a country where people actually celebrate birthdays (or even know when they are for that matter).

I am so happy to say that this has been the best birthday! And I have absolutely amazing friends to thank for it. I was just totally blown away by how great this birthday was.

There were multiple stages (by design. I know, my friends the best):

Stage 1 began when we finished sessions for the day and my friends took me to the bar (at 6pm- fantastic start). We ordered the usual, but then they broke out a bottle of champagne! Now, alcohol in a Muslim country isn't impossible to find, but its not terribly easy and it usually costs a lot, especially when you are living on a Peace Corps volunteer stipend. The champagne was a big treat and I was so happy to begin my night with a real toast with great friends. Then they broke out homemade birthday cards! I have no idea when they were able to do these without me noticing, but they were awesome cards.

Stage 2 was a huge surprise. We got back from the bar and two of my other friends had decorated my room with a real English/American birthday set! I have no idea how they found this, but it was fantastic. We had colored balloons, party hats, noise makers, a happy birthday banner and even a pin the tail on the donkey game! So we all donned hats and played the game and blew noise makers like little kids.

Stage 3 commenced after dinner when we went out on the town for the first time! Typically we frequent a little bar near the Peace Corps Training Center, but tonight we actually left the area and went to downtown Thies. So special! About 12 of us went to a chill outdoor bar with live music and some cool drinks.

Stage 4 was food! My friends snuck across the street without me noticing to Croissant Magique (truly a magical place, as the name implies) and bought every type of cake they had for us all to share at the bar. Ending the night with cakes and pastries? Doesn't get much better than that.

Oh wait, yes it does! Stage 5 was when we got back to the center and cuddled up with blankets and pillows and talked and laughed while looking up at the incredibly bright stars in the African sky.

No, this is not a dream, this was really my birthday. Yep, I've got some pretty fantastic friends. I can't wait to spend the next two years and beyond with these guys.

Logistics

March 20, 2013

So I suppose I should explain to my friends and family what I am actually doing these days. The basics of my schedule are that I have 9 weeks of training which are split between the Peace Corps training center and my home stay site. We spend more than half of the time at our home stay in order to learn our languages as quickly as possible. Halfway through the training we learn where our permanent site will be and after the nine weeks are over we are sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers and sent to our site for the next two years.

On the morning of Saturday the 9th we learned what language we would be learning! I was so happy to be assigned to Pulaar, which is a minority language in Senegal (Wolof is the majority language and French is the official language) but various forms of Pulaar are spoken throughout West Africa. It also means that I will most likely be stationed in the north of Senegal. After an hour of survival language instruction that morning, we left to meet our new families. Pretty much all I knew how to say was "mi naanani Pulaar" - I don't speak Pulaar. It was a somewhat overwhelming three days, but I learned so much and I was really happy doing it. Since then I have been back to the training center once for two days, then back out to my home stay for five days, and now I am back at the center again. My family is amazing. I'm going to have to save my description of their awesomeness for another post because I could go on and on forever.

Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Toubab

March 16, 2013

Explaining everything I have felt and experienced this last week is near to impossible. Every second is an entirely new experience, from the way my new sisters hug me by touching their cheeks to mine to eating with my hands to waking up and brushing the dead bugs off my mosquito net.

I am now starting my second home stay and I already feel so much more comfortable here. Yesterday I was actually able to joke with my family in their native language of Pulaar. Usually I barely make it through basic needs- I need to shower: mbido sokli lootade- but I had a breakthrough yesterday. My oldest sister (also my hero- I'll write more about her later) was teasing me because I was walking around the compound barefoot like a little kid and my feet were getting dirty. (Side note: my feet are always dirty here.) I was able to tease back "kono ina bati!" referring to the fact that the distance between the house and the mat I was sitting on was just a short distance (bati). It sounds like a tiny thing and maybe you had to be there, but my sister understood the significance of me participating in a conversation on the fly and teasing her back. We were both so pleased that we laughed together much harder than my small joke called for.

Learning a new language and being dropped in the middle of a very foreign culture certainly has its challenges. Sometimes I just speak English back to my host sisters with a vain hope that they will understand me. But little moments like this where I connect with people and make small steps forward make everything totally worth it.

Juice!

Another great day! I decided that I will do my best to write a post whenever I have internet. I realized yesterday that the internet and electricity I have here at the training center is the best it is going to be for the next two years... which by American standards is not so great. So I'll take it when I can get it.

Highlights of the day:

• A cultural presentation given by the center staff where they taught us about eating, drinking, greeting and dressing correctly in Senegal. 

Turns out I won't have to kick my sugar habit while I'm here! They put tons of sugar in their tea, have sugary juices, and have amazing fruits that taste like warheads. Senegal is the bomb.

I also CAN'T WAIT to go dress shopping. The fabrics here are incredible and the tailors can make just about anything. I am so excited. If you want me to have a dress made for you, leave a comment or email me! You can either send me a picture of something you want or I will pick out the style for you.

• We had 'interviews' with staff today to go over how much French we knew, what we wanted to do in the country, and to go over our medical concerns. 

I don't know a ton of French but I think I got by okay. There is a big range in the proficiency here and I think I am somewhere in the bottom middle. I'm not entirely sure what it means if I can or can't speak French because I will be learning a local language as well and as far as I know mostly using the local language... we'll see.

I got a shot in med for typhoid and started the precursor to mefloquine, which begins with a 'deoxy' and will protect me until the mefloquine kicks in. I don't know if I will have mefloquine dreams right away. I am a little nervous.

In my tech interview I said that I liked everything. They asked a little bit about my background and what I wanted to do in Senegal, whether I wanted to bike or not (yes!!), and what other projects I was interested in doing on the side. I am pretty psyched about having a community or school garden at my post, something they said would be quite possible. Maybe I'll even get to have chickens! There are agricultural volunteers here at the center helping out and one of them was very generous today and took a group around to teach us about what he was doing. I now know how to make a level out of just sticks, string and a rock and I know how to make a berm, which protects plants from the intense rains of the rainy season. It was great.

• The slackline I brought was a hit! Some of the center staff even joined in!

I feel like sending this to Gibbon as some kind of testimonial advertisement.

Day One

So this was a pretty incredible 24 hours. I am kind of in disbelief that this isn't a dream.

We left Washington DC at 5:40 yesterday, which is sort of a miracle because it was a pretty big snowstorm.

Our plane covered in snow

It was actually a lovely flight! Even though it was a red eye I had a great experience- my complements to South African Air. The flight was half empty so I had two seats to spread out on, I had a good dinner with more than enough food including TWO desserts, a Coke, some wine, and some pretty great movies. I was a happy woman.

The best was yet to come though! We got into Dakar at 6:25 am (1:25 am US time- 5 hour difference) went through customs and were met by wonderfully enthusiastic volunteers who loaded us onto buses. The bus ride to Thies was quick and relatively uneventful and soon we were at the training facility. It is BEAUTIFUL! There are lush trees, birds chirping, bright flowers and the buildings are all painted a nice happy yellow. We had some time to rest, had breakfast, met the training center staff and got a tour of the facility.

Thies training center

But it gets even better! At 4:30 people came and started playing drums in the center of the compound and we were invited to our first dance party. It was incredible. First some of the guys drumming taught us a couple dance moves and the house staff joined in. I have to say that we did a pretty good job considering the beat changed almost constantly. At the very least we were enthusiastic. The party really got started when some of the kids from the school next door heard our music and joined in. I can't even tell you how awesome and adorable they were. Part of me was having a great time joining in, but at the same time I absolutely loved watching everyone. I have some great videos I will have to upload at a later date.

Just a few of the adorable children who came to dance with us

After the kids had to go home and the dance party was winding down, some of us volunteers had a much needed yoga session in the disco ball room. Perfection? I think so. I realize that not every day is going to be this awesome, but I couldn't have asked for a better first day.

I can't wait to wake up tomorrow in Senegal!

One Week Left

So as surreal as it may seem to me right now, in one week I will be leaving for DC and from there I will be off to Senegal. I am gathering together the last of my things and later this week I'll do my best to pack everything up.

This weekend was the Ivy League Track and Field Championships (hepstrack.com) at Harvard, and I was lucky to have that chance to say goodbye to my friends and teammates before I left. It was also probably good for me to cement in my head the fact that I am not still in college, something I think I may not have really grasped yet. It was pretty wonderful to look back at what used to be my entire life just as I start a new chapter. It is certainly a world I will miss.

I was able to achieve one of my food objectives on Sunday (I'm trying to consume all the things I will miss while abroad) which was a nutella late. Yum! Still left on the list are McDonald's breakfast, a good milkshake and burger, sushi, Annie's mac and cheese with some broccoli, and a couple Chipotle burritos, among other things.* If you have any more food suggestions for me let me know!

To cap off my list of random topics for this entry, I wanted to give everyone my mailing address for the first two months in Senegal.

PCT Emily Mepham
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 299
Thies, Senegal
West Africa

                                                                                        photo courtesy of hepstrack.com


* If I have time to go down to Providence this week I'll definitely need an iced chai from Blue State, egg and cheese on wheat from BGO, a chicken ceasar wrap from East Side Pockets, Gate pizza with peppery parm on the side, slices from both Antonio's and Nice Slice (I can't take sides), and definitely short ribs from Mama Kim's. 

One Month Left!

So, in one month I will be on a plane to DC and then to Senegal. Wow. Its pretty overwhelming.

I decided (as many other PCVs have done) to post a timeline of my application so that anyone else applying can have faith that although it is an incredibly long and slow process, you will eventually get there. I'll also include for family and friends the other things I have been doing recently.


Nov 2011- Start thinking the Peace Corps might be a good thing to try out. Take a look at the online application. Decide it is way too long and that I'll come back to it later.

Dec 2011- More certain that I want to do the Peace Corps, so after I finish exams I start writing the essays and filling out the application for real.

Jan 6 2012- Submit my online application.

Jan 25- Receive an email from the Peace Corps requesting some more forms and get a legal kit in the mail (background check, etc). I send everything back within a day or two.

Feb 27- Receive an email telling me that apparently my recommendations have not been submitted (unbeknownst to me) and that my application will be inactivated if they are not submitted in 10 days. I remind some people of some things, and my application is finally actually complete soon after.

March 7- I am told in an email that I am ready to interview and that I have been assigned a recruiter.

March 12- I am contacted for an interview in New York on April 6th. I was offered a phone interview, but opted for an in person interview instead.

April 5- I go to New York for the interview. I am not offered an official nomination at the interview, but my recruiter says that I will most likely get a position in a French speaking country in Africa because of the need there and because I (somewhat) speak French.

April 20- I get an email for my nomination!

Assignment Area: Health Extension

Region: Sub-Saharan Africa

Tentative Date of Departure: March 2013

Program Info: French speaking post. Post prefers experience in HIV/AIDS Education, nutrition or hygiene education/outreach. 

May 17- Medical kit is mailed to me, with a deadline of July 9th

May 25- I graduate from college!! Woohoo!

July 9- I miss the deadline. Whoops. A combination of graduating, moving and not having any real primary care doctor. Also, sometime between my interview and now my recruiter has gone on maternity leave and I am at least somewhat in the care of a new recruiter.

July 31- I submit a new health history form and start the new online health review process.

Aug 10- Take the cumulative final for my intensive summer organic chemistry class (which is what I had been doing since I graduated, in case you were wondering). Done with all of my pre-medical requirements! Move out of my summer sublet in Somerville and back home to Sudbury.

Oct 10- After waiting for forever, I hear from the medical office and receive a medical pre-clearance, whatever that means. Apparently switching to the new system is backing everything up, so I am told to be patient.

Oct 25- I email the health placement office and update them on my activities in an effort to get my application moving. I am totally in limbo and can't commit to many jobs because of my limited timeline. I am working as a long term substitute at my local elementary school with an autistic student and doing some light volunteering. Starting to get nervous that I haven't heard anything yet.

Nov 5- I begin a six week French language class that meets after school in Boston to remember all that stuff I've forgotten since I last took French in high school. Keep waiting for the invitation I hope is coming.

Dec 3- Just when I least expect it, I check my email and there is my invitation!

"Dear Emily,

Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that we invite you to begin training in Senegal for Peace Corps service. You will be joining thousands of Americans who are building stronger communities around the world..."

I am (tentatively) scheduled to leave March 5th

I stay up all night reading everything I can about my assignment and country. So excited!

Dec 21- My last day of work at the elementary school. I will miss my student and the rest of the class so much but I am excited to have time to organize my life for leaving.

Dec 28- I begin my period of intensive study for the MCAT. I want to take it on the last date before I leave, which is Jan 24th. I had trouble focusing on my studying when I was working, so I schedule most of my studying for this four week period. With only a few exceptions, I study from 8am to 8pm and I get up from my seat only to go to the bathroom or make food. Every week or so I start to go crazy and need a trip to the gym.

Jan 6- I sacrifice some study hours to finish my medical clearance for the Peace Corps and I am medically cleared Jan 6th. This is the last set of clearances I need before I leave! I'm on my way!

Jan 24- I take the MCAT. I feel like I am going to throw up the entire time, but I finish it and feel sort of okay.

Feb 6- I realize how much I still have to do to prepare for leaving-
learning Wolof, learning more French, buying tons of random things that I would never need here, trying to find skirts that cover my knees and won't suffocate me in 100 degree weather, getting life insurance and trip insurance, organizing my bank account, saying goodbye to all my friends, packing up my life...
... so instead of tackling any of those things I write a blog post

All in all, it has been a little over a year from when I submitted my online application to when I will leave. I would say that I encountered a few more delays than the typical process, but waiting a year is fairly standard. Its been a lot of waiting and a lot of time spent in career limbo, but now that I am on my way I can say that it was totally worth it.

About this Blog

Hello Everyone! I am writing this blog to chronicle my adventures as Peace Corps Health Education Volunteer in Senegal, Africa. I can't promise that this will always be the most well written or entertaining of blogs, but I wanted to have a simple platform for communicating my experience in Africa with my friends and family at home. I will do my best to not overuse exclamation points.

The title of this blog does not relate to the Peace Corps or reference the fact that I am in Senegal at all, I know. I opted for a title that meant a little something to me and one that speaks to how I am feeling as I set out for Africa. Writing things I imagine to be deep tends to come out sounding absurd when posted on a blog, so bear with me through this one. The phrase is originally from a song that some of you will recognize. It is a song that is very nostalgic for me, and it is a powerful reminder of the love and community I have at home. Looking at this title while I write connects me with the memories I have with my friends and family and reminds me what I have waiting for me at home. I have also become attached to the symbolism of a drop in the ocean in light of my upcoming trip. I feel the exquisite smallness of myself when I consider the world that is opening up to me, like one little drop in the face of infinite places and possibilities. It is awe-inspiring and grounding to consider myself in this way, and I believe I should remind myself of it as much as I can. So, this title represents to me both the loving community I am leaving behind and the humbling beginning of what I can hope will be many adventures.

I hope you enjoy it!