I've just spent a week in Dakar and its been a fantastic, sleepless and busy week.
Lets see... I was here originally for the West Africa Invitational Softball Tournament (W.A.I.S.T.). My region, Kaolack, had a team. I didn't play because there are so many people in my region who want to play and frankly, I haven't played softball since freshman year of high school so I would have been very bad at it. Plus I don't like hard projectiles coming at me. There were plenty of people walking around with black eyes and other injuries by the end of the long weekend!
All the Peace Corps participants stayed in a homestay. I was with two girls from PC Benin. We had a lot of fun together. I spent a lot of time with them. I reasoned that I can see and talk to PC Senegal people all the time and far less frequently do I get the opportunity to talk to PCVs from other areas. The family we stayed with were lovely and had a very nice house right near the Peace Corps office and by many good restaurants. Days were spent by the pool or watching games and evenings were spent at good restaurants and bars. It was such a difference from everywhere else in Senegal. Even Thies is completely different. Dakar is much more metropolitan. I really, really had a good time. Lol, oh yes. There was a date auction one of the nights too to raise money for scholarships to help keep girls in school (literacy amongst women in Senegal is only around 30%). I bid (and won). It was a lot of fun. I bid on someone that I was told to and didn't know but it ended up working out well.
The day after WAIST we had an all PCV conference and talked about Malaria prevention and funding options. Malaria kills more people in Africa than any other disease. It really is a problem. In my area in particular because of the delta. There is a lot of standing water. Kaolack is also really bad because of the excessive number of open sewers.
Tomorrow I'm heading back to Sokone, I'll have been gone for four weeks exactly. I'm definately ready to get back to my kitten and my bed! Until next time...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
reporting in from thies!
Reporting in from Thiès again. I am almost done with my second week of my second round of training here. I arrived the 27th of Jan and will be here until the 15th of Feb. It has been nice being back here with the people from my stage. This round of training has been focused for me on Wolof and tech class for Small Business Development and Ecotourism. I actually am going to be working in both areas. The girl I replaced was actually an ecotourism volunteer so I will be working on some of the projects that she was working on as well as hopefully get involved in other small business areas. There are a couple new campements/little hotels opening up in Sokone so maybe I’ll be able to work with them. It would cover both areas.
I am enjoying being in Thiès in general. Don’t get me wrong, Sokone is a lovely little town but it is also the smallest place I ever remember living in (the only place smaller was only until I turned 1). I’ve grown used to living in the suburbs of big cities and I miss the energy that they have. Thiès is by no means an energetic place compared to most cities around the world but it certainly is compared to Sokone. Actually, I remember my first impression of Thiès was that it was a pretty sleepy city for having a million inhabitants but then it was also the beginning of Ramadan so that might also have had something to do with it.
It has been chilly here in the mornings. I get up at 6:10AM and then do about half an hour of Pilates before getting dressed and bags ready for the day. I leave the house at about 7:10 to walk with my next door neighbor Lauren to the center. Breky is then at the center and then classes start at 8. I definitely feel like I have more energy this time around then I did when I was here for the first eight weeks. That’s is likely do to the fact that it is no longer peaky humidity season as well as that my body has adjusted better to food and water. I have lost about 5 pounds since I left here in November. I figure I’m probably closest to the healthiest I’ve ever been. Between the fact that I do Pilates regularly as well as eat a pretty balance diet (need a bit more dairy but I get more then most volunteers in Senegal so I’m fortunate in that) as well as get a good amount of sleep and a good regular does of Vitamin D and my daily Centrum all leave me feeling great. When I do come into Thies and eat things like pastries at the Magic Croissant I don’t feel bad about it at all. I know that I probably actually need the sugar… I just have to remember to brush my teeth well!!
I actually went to the beach again last weekend with the other people in my stage. It was so nice to be back on a real beach. The Sokone mangroves are wonderfully refreshing to swim in though, particularly on a hot afternoon. I love looking out though from the beach here and thinking that the next thing really out there (other then maybe the Cape Verde Islands) is the Americas.
I am enjoying being in Thiès in general. Don’t get me wrong, Sokone is a lovely little town but it is also the smallest place I ever remember living in (the only place smaller was only until I turned 1). I’ve grown used to living in the suburbs of big cities and I miss the energy that they have. Thiès is by no means an energetic place compared to most cities around the world but it certainly is compared to Sokone. Actually, I remember my first impression of Thiès was that it was a pretty sleepy city for having a million inhabitants but then it was also the beginning of Ramadan so that might also have had something to do with it.
It has been chilly here in the mornings. I get up at 6:10AM and then do about half an hour of Pilates before getting dressed and bags ready for the day. I leave the house at about 7:10 to walk with my next door neighbor Lauren to the center. Breky is then at the center and then classes start at 8. I definitely feel like I have more energy this time around then I did when I was here for the first eight weeks. That’s is likely do to the fact that it is no longer peaky humidity season as well as that my body has adjusted better to food and water. I have lost about 5 pounds since I left here in November. I figure I’m probably closest to the healthiest I’ve ever been. Between the fact that I do Pilates regularly as well as eat a pretty balance diet (need a bit more dairy but I get more then most volunteers in Senegal so I’m fortunate in that) as well as get a good amount of sleep and a good regular does of Vitamin D and my daily Centrum all leave me feeling great. When I do come into Thies and eat things like pastries at the Magic Croissant I don’t feel bad about it at all. I know that I probably actually need the sugar… I just have to remember to brush my teeth well!!
I actually went to the beach again last weekend with the other people in my stage. It was so nice to be back on a real beach. The Sokone mangroves are wonderfully refreshing to swim in though, particularly on a hot afternoon. I love looking out though from the beach here and thinking that the next thing really out there (other then maybe the Cape Verde Islands) is the Americas.
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