Week 4

This has been a long week. First of all, on Sunday evening the man in charge of Security for PC Senegal died in a car accident. So Monday there were no classes and Tuesday after class we went to pay our respects to his family. He was young and had 5 children and was by far the most important male in his family in terms of leadership and financial earning power.

This week had also been assessment week so we had our first language oral. I feel like I did pretty well on my French one. Class is going pretty well. Some of my tech classes are boring simply because I got my degree in Business and what is being covered is very elementary. I am one of the few in the Small Enterprise Development who has taken a lot of business courses so these classes are essential. It still is hard for me to sit through when I’m tired and already know the material.

Daily life for me here is long. Every morning I rise at 6:15 AM to get ready to leave for the training center at 7. I walk or bike with another Trainee who lives in the compound across from mine. I have taken to showering twice a day in order to keep my skin clean and cooler. I shower in the morning when I wake up and before I go to bed. Keeping clean is the best way to prevent most of the infections that you can get here and particularly heat rashes. I douse on the baby powder in the morning like I did when I lived in the Philippines. It really does help keep one drier and cooler in this hot and humid weather.

At the center, which is a 10 minute walk, we have breakfast that consists of a piece of fruit and French bread and tea or coffee. Classes run from 8-10, 10:30-12:30, 2:30-4, 4:30-6. So the morning is usually language with medical, cross cultural and tech sessions in the afternoon. I have gotten a lot of vaccinations while I’ve been here and before I came. Every week we seem to have 2 more. I’ve gotten some of them before but am getting them again just to be safe.