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!