Dakar and Softball...

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...

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.

the cross dressing holiday is today!!

Hello from Thies this time!

I am here for two nights on a whirl wind trip. I left Sokone yesterday morning at 5AM on the horaire which is basically a Senegalese bus. It went directly from Sokone to Dakar and took a bit over 5 hours. Then I did a bunch of errands in Dakar and then in the evening traveled down here to Thies. I'm staying with one of the guys in my Stage named Christopher. Tomorrow morning I'll go to Kaolack for a regional meeting for PCVs in the area and then down to Sokone in the evening.

Today is also Tamharite which celebrates the end of the Muslim year. In Senegal, in the evenings the children will cross-dress.... the girls in boys clothes with painted mustaches and the boys in girls' dresses. They then go around banging pots and pans and what ever else they can find to make as much noise as possible. Its quite a racket outside right now!

I only have one week left in Sokone before I come back here to Thies for another three weeks of training and then about 5 days in Dakar for the West African Invitational Softball Tournament and a conference. No, I'm not playing softball but I am going to cheer. It is basically the social event of the year for PCVs because we come from all over the country to it. It is over President's Day Weekend every February.

The past two weeks have been good for the most part. I did get sick on this past Monday but it was nothing too bad and has only been the third time I've really been sick here (I don't count colds). I think I was sick because of something I ate, not sure what it was exactly because I had eaten a wide variety of foods that day. I have been enjoying getting to know the Japanese volunteers in my town. There are currently four located in Sokone. Three of them speak English so we get a long just fine in our mix of french, wolof and english. I hope that I'll be able to work with them on something because I think it would be a really good experience.

My kitten is doing well. I left him for the first time overnight lastnight and tonight. I'm sure he'll do just fine. He likes to complain though. He's getting a little spoilt. He is a rascal though and loves to play with anything that moves or looks fun to climb/swat at. Raja really is good company and makes me laugh with his antics which is always a good mood boster.

kittens and the mystery machine

The Mystery Machine drove by me today. Yes, the one from Scuby-Doo. An exact replica. And there were foreigners in it. It was a very surreal experience. I was walking toward the main road that goes through Sokone from Kaolack to Banjul, The Gambia, and then I saw it drive by. A bunch of other cars came after it, also painted but nothing I recognized. I got up close enough to the road to see the last car go by. It said “Plymouth to Banjul Challenge” on the side. I’ll have to look it up.

I also got a kitten today. My host brother came by this morning and asked me if I wanted a kitten because there was one right outside the gate. I went out and there was this tiny little thing meowing and looking very bedraggled. I picked him up and figured he is possibly a male. It’s been about 11 years since I had a cat so I think I checked correctly!!! I’ve named him Raja which is king in Hindi/Nepali. Cats that belong to PCVs tend to be in much better condition than most in Senegal so the name should suit him. He is able to lap up milk by himself and will go to the bathroom in the sandbox I made him so hopefully he is old enough to survive without his mother. He is grayish-white and black with grayish-green eyes. He keeps swatting at my fingers as I try to type. He definitely livened up after the milk and a good long nap. Ah, he finally settled down to clean himself instead of playing with my fingers which will make the writing of this post much easier!!

I also bought some plants yesterday to beautify the outside of my house. I bought two hibiscus plants and a frangipani tree. Well the frangipani is only about 10 inches tall so it has a very long way to grow but I was told there will be flowers on it within a year. I’m sure it will grow a lot during the rainy season. The hibiscuses are about 2-3 feet but they have a long way to maturity too. I carried them all about a kilometer yesterday. My arms were so incredibly tired by the end that I could barely do anything. I didn’t even want to cook so had bananas and pretzels for dinner. Yes, I can buy pretzels in Senegal! Not terribly cheap. They are from Germany.

New Years came and went, not terribly eventful. I was with two other PCVs when the year changed. We had this really good hot mint flavored milk. It was so good. Better than egg nogg in my opinion. Only three more weeks until I’m back in Thiès. Time had really gone fast. I left the US four months ago next Saturday, Jan. 12th.

quick hello!!!

only have a few minutes left of internet but i thought i'd use it for this!!!

these past 12 days have been a bit slow. i got my house painted. wonderful bright colors. pink in the kitchen... it was supposed to be mustard but the painter had a bit of a probably figuring out what colors he needed to mix to get mustard... oh africa!!! and then my living room is light yellow and my bathroom and my bed room aqua. i really do love it.

this next week is Tabaski which is the muslim new year... i think. they change the names in senegal for the muslim holidays so i get confused!!! it involves slaughtering a goat. ours has been tied up in the compound for a couple weeks now. not sure if i'll watch them kill it... maybe i will... cultural experience.....

my ancienne... the girl i replaced, visited this past week and picked up her cat that i'd been taking care of. it was good to talk to her to find out about different things i'd had questions about. i'm sure i'll come up with dozens more over the next few weeks.

well i need to go!!! will write a long update over the next week and post on sunday.

three weeks in!!!

tomorrow will be three weeks at site. i'm definately settling in now. i have my hammock up so in the afternoons after lunch I sit and read and listen to the reggae that seems to always be in the air. life is slow here which is taking a lot of time to get used to. i'm so used the hustle and bustle of college life.

language is sorta of stagnent. I can get by with my little bit of french and wolof is hard to do by myself. i should start tutoring next week hopefully. but so far everything that i've scheduled happens several days or a week later then orginally planned.

one thing that i have been getting into is doing an hour of pilaties every morning. its really something i've always wanted the time to do regularly and now time is definately not hard to find. the bit of exercise is so good for me. i need to start going out and walking more but its really tough to walk in the sand. you really sink in pretty well. its too sandy to use my bike too. I haven't been sleeping too well and wake up easily which is something i've never really had problems with before. I think i need to get busier to become more tired so i have more incentive to sleep.

i've been feeling definate ups and downs. one thing that you don't really think about before you come is how absolutely alone you can feel at times. other times i'm just on top of the world. i had one of those moments this morning on the way to kaolack when i was squashed in a sept-place with 7 senegalese men bouncing along over the sandy roads. it was just such a unique experience and all i could think was "wow, i really am in africa, and this is so incredibly amazing".

First 9 days at Site

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well I’ve completed 1 week at site and now I have 99 to go. Lol, that sounds very depressing and long when you put it that simply. In reality I have 99 weeks or so until I am completely done with my service in Senegal. Those 99 weeks will contain 7 weeks of vacation time, another 13 weeks at barest minimum away from site to go to the regional house, do admin stuff at the office in Dakar, etc. Plus I am convinced I live in paradise so the other 70 something weeks I spend in Sokone aren’t exactly going to be a hardship.

Yes, Sokone is amazing. I live a 3 minute walk from the delta and the mangroves. I could swim at the closest point but I would be gawked at by everyone because it’s right near the market. I’ve been told that there is a better place up a bit further that has deeper water so the Senegalese don’t go there because they can’t swim. The water is salt and very nice to stick your feet into. The streets are mainly all sand except for a couple that are paved but they too are being threatened to be covered by the sand. There are massive trees all over the place that dwarf all buildings and provide wonderful shade. Sokone spreads out on either side of the road from Kaolack to Banjul, The Gambia. The western side of the town curves around the inlets of the delta. Sokone used to be one of the loading places for the peanut harvests but the delta has silted up too much so the ships can’t come in but the old warehouses are still there, some which have been converted to homes and others which have been left to decay and have long since lost their roofs. They are quite picturesque. One little thing that I’ve noticed that thrills me about this town is that wherever you would find gravel or small stones used in the U.S. or any other part of the world, i.e. for driveways, in cement foundations etc., they use shells here. It looks really cool. Can you imagine the drive way of the police station in a town in the U.S. filled with white shells?

My house, yes I have my own house, has three nicely sized rooms and a bathroom. A kitchen, living room and a bedroom, I decided to measure the square footage of the house because I was curious so I got out my ruler and my calculator. It’s about 515 sq. ft. And there is my porch. It runs the length of my house. I think it’s about 40 by 6 ft long. And it has a hammock. Well I’ve had to replace the one that was here but it’s is going to be the most marvelous thing to have. I’ve had to spend a lot of time cleaning everything over the past week too. No one lived here for more than a month so everything accumulates so much dirt and dust. I’ve also scheduled to have the entire inside painted. That is supposed to happen Dec. 6th. After that I’ve plans to do all sorts of little things to make it homier. My home is sort of like a second regional house. There are 8 other volunteers who use my post office and Sokone is also just a nice place to come take a vacation in-country. Particularly because you can swim here and I do have the room. I figure if someone wants to sleep in the hammock, I can put up 6 people in total besides myself without too much trouble. I mainly need to get a hold of some more bedding.

It’s definitely hotter here in Sokone that it was up in Thiès but it is farther south and breezier. It’s been very cool in the mornings though and I’ve had to put a light blanket on my bed.

I will admit I’ve mainly taken these first days to recover from the intensity of training. I can get by with the little French I learnt in training so learning Wolof isn’t quite immediate necessity I thought it was going to be. My conversations at the moment tend to be about what my name is, that I don’t know Pulaar or Wolof and that I’m working for the Corps de la Paix. Pulaar is one of the other main languages of Senegal that is mainly spoken in the southern regions. My Senegalese name is Pulaar though so the Pulaar people in Sokone want me to know Pulaar too. There aren’t many of them even though I know my host mother is one. Pulaar is one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa.

Oh, a couple of the PCVs in my stage came by to visit on Monday and pick up mail and while we were hanging out at my house we heard a helicopter. All of a sudden it got really close and we looked outside and it was literally above my house, not by more then 40 meters. It wobbled around and then finally landed in a small empty lot about 100 meters from my house. It was very strange. All these Senegalese kids came running out. After a bit we went over and talked to the people standing by it and they said they worked for a helicopter charter company and they were flying around some politician around the country. It certainly isn’t a cheap way to travel but it only takes them 12 minutes to cover 40km/ 25 miles so it’s certainly more convenient!

I’ll be heading up to Kaolack for Thanksgiving with the other people from my region as well as a few from other regions who wanted to spend it our house. The day after is my 23rd birthday. I remember as a kid wondering where I was going to spend my golden birthday (23 on the 23rd) and I know I would never have guessed Senegal. I’ve had such great birthdays the past two years that this one isn’t going to rate very well comparatively. I’ll do something next year. Maybe have a party here in Sokone. This year’s is just so awkwardly timed being the day after Thanksgiving and only two weeks after leaving Thiès. I really don’t have the energy.

Well I’ll leave the rest until next time. There is so much to say and this will just be too long of a posting if I continue. I should be getting back to Kaolack around the first couple days of December. Ciao.