Villages--R--Us

Sorry to leave you guys hanging for a few days, but I’ve been busy village shopping, something I thought I would never hear myself saying. It has been a very long and drawn out week down here in Kédougou looking for a five star village, but it happened! In a strange series of events I found myself eating dinner with the village chief of a village about eight kilometers away from the city of Kédougou. The village is large and located alongside one of the main roads in the region. The thatch roof huts are incredibly tall compared to the first village I was supposed to install into, and there is even a random payphone within the village. Just to give you a little perspective, I think that was the first payphone I’ve seen here in Senegal. All that aside, there isn’t running water or electricity, but beggars can’t be choosers, right? The thought of not having to take a two-hour bush taxi into town was enough to persuade me. I visited the village a couple more times with my supervisor to work out living logistics and to set up counterparts for me to work alongside. I’m excited to say that I will now be installing later this week, and at that point, my village life begins!

You know that feeling you get right before you throw up? You’re anxious and dreading what’s about to happen, but you know that once you do it you’ll feel so much better. That’s kind of how I’ve been feeling this past week. The thought of moving into a village in the middle of Senegal is terrifying me and I know the first few nights are going to be the hardest part. But after those first few nights are over everything is going to start falling into place. It’s that first night I’m dreading, and I’m anxious to get that initial shock out of the way. So I say, “Bring it on Senegal, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be!. …And please don’t let there be any mice in my hut!!”

Mama-Oh No You Didn't!!

So much has happened since my last blog post, so I will try to fit in as much as I can in this post without boring you. Last Friday I swore in as an official Peace Corps volunteer at the U.S. Ambassador’s house. My stage and I all dressed in traditional Senegalese outfits, ate lots of yummy food, and we finally got our bankcards for our new Senegalese bank account$! It was a great way to mark the end of nine weeks of Pre-Service Training and actually start the beginning of this insane journey we signed up for.

That evening, a few friends and I spent the night in the capital city of Dakar. Compared to the rest of Senegal, Dakar is this magical city situated on a beautiful peninsula overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It has everything a city boy like me could ask for; a shopping mall, bars, grocery store, ice cream shops, and…wait for it…even Chinese restaurants! My Chinese restaurant experience was one of the most conflicting experiences I’ve had thus far in Senegal. We walked into this family compound located on what felt like a random street in Dakar. The outside of the compound was adorned with a pagoda type awning and once we walked inside a Chinese couple greeted us in what I guess you can call French with a Chinese accent. The feeling of the restaurant was sort of like a hole in the wall type place, and it reminded me a lot of Hing Loon in Seattle’s Chinatown (speaking of I could really go for some congee with Chinese donuts right about now). The menu was in Chinese and French, and the servers were two Senegalese girls who loved the Chinese soap opera playing at the front of the restaurant. In the end, the food was amazing and also a nice break from the usual fish and rice meals we’ve been getting used to. At one point I totally forgot that I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant in Africa because the lo mein was so delicious! 

Looking fine in Senegalese complets with my language group!!

 

Two days ago we took a lovely 11 hour “sept place” ride down to the region of Kédougou with all of our baggage we have for the next two years. The drive was long, and sitting in a car without air conditioning in 100+ degree weather for over 10 hours is not the ideal situation. I dozed in and out of consciousness while listening to my iPod, and just to give you an idea of how hot it was, with my window down it felt like a blow dryer was being aimed towards my face on full blast. I found that having the window half way down was the most tolerable. The day after we arrived, a few of the current volunteers serving in the region went to market with us to buy everything we might need at site. It was overwhelming to think about what we might possibly need, but the volunteers with us were a huge help. My most exciting purchase was either the gas tank I’ll be using to cook with, or the buckets I’ll be using to take bucket baths with. 

Yesterday was the day I was supposed to install. I had been preparing myself all morning for my big move; my bags were strapped onto the land cruiser and my “goodbyes” were all said and done. We took a two hour car ride to my village and pulled up to a deserted compound and unfinished hut. To be honest, I wasn’t that surprised; disappointed—yes, surprised—no. Long story short, the supervisor who was installing me did not feel comfortable with me living in that village, and after he expressed that to me, neither did I. Now I’m sitting back at my regional house waiting to look for a new village (actually I’m sitting at a hotel on the Gambian River sipping on an iced coffee). At first I was really upset. I had been mentally preparing myself to move to village and now I don’t even know what village I’ll be living in. After sleeping on it and talking to current volunteers though, I feel a lot better about my situation. Now I get to have some input on where they will place me next and I will hopefully be able to work with counterparts that are actually motivated. I also feel like I kind of have the upper hand in this situation because Peace Corps pretty much let me down and I can totally use that against them to get the best village ever (insert evil laugh)! We already have a couple villages in mind and I am hoping to check one of them out later today. I will definitely be keeping everyone updated and maybe my next blog post will be about a new and exciting village. Inch’allah!

sipping coffee on the Gambian River

NOTE: My initial village was called Mamakhono hence the title of my blog.

Goodbye Beach--Hello Hut Life

This past weekend my training group, or stage as we like to call it in this Francophone country, took a beach trip to Popenguine. As we were nearing the end of our eighth week of training, this beach weekend was much needed. We rented out two beach houses and spent the next 24 hours soaking in the sun and enjoying our time off.  To save the integrity of my stage I will sum up the trip as being a great bonding experience while at the same time noting that we all made it back in one piece. Now with less than one week left of Pre-Service Training (PST) my mind is beginning to race with an infinite amount of emotions. I’m definitely sad to be leaving my home stay family in M’Bour. The concrete house that once looked uninviting and foreign to me is now one of the places I am most comfortable at. My host sisters who at first laughed at me for not knowing how to speak Jaxanke are now the ones I have dance parties with in the backyard. As sad as it will be saying goodbye to them tomorrow, I know that the door will always be open for me. I could have done without the mice running around my room and waking me up at night, but at the end of the day it was still worth it.

I’m also extremely nervous about moving to site. The lack of electricity, accessibility to water, and remoteness of my village are making my imagination run wild. But I think the thought of being so far from my friends is something that will be the hardest for me. I have spent the past 8 weeks alongside forty something other trainees and have become close with many of them. Next week we are being ripped apart from each other and sprinkled all around the country of Senegal with only our water filters and mosquito nets (and integrity that wasn’t lost in Popenguine). Okay, maybe I’m being a little over dramatic, but that’s how it’s being played out in my head. Luckily though, we all have cell phones with free calling plans to each other. And luckily there is a cell phone tower in my village that will allow me to take full advantage of that free calling plan.

With the nervousness about moving to site, also comes the stress of actually having to move. If you read my last blog entry, you might remember that I have the honor of opening up a new site. That means I will be moving into a brand new hut, a nice brand new empty hut. This translates into me having to buy everything I might possibly need to start out my new life in village, a bed, gas tank, food, cooking supplies, a refrigerator…oh wait, I won’t have electricity…buckets, storage bins, shelves, candles, more buckets. The list is endless, but I’m sure I am being a bit over dramatic as usual. Apparently pessimism is my forte.

So here’s me trying out optimism (see last blog post about the positive thinker text). I’m excited to be finishing Pre-Service Training and to begin my actual projects at site. I appreciated the approach Peace Corps had in easing us into our new environment and hope that I am at least somewhat prepared at being able to integrate. I am also looking forward to getting away from this summer camp feeling, following a schedule, and at times wanting more freedom. Many of my friends at home have asked me what I will actually be doing at site. The first three months will be mostly dedicated to me getting to know the community and work on becoming more fluent in my local language. This means I will be walking around my village and spending an hour or two at all the family compounds. After those first three months are over we will have what’s called In-Service Training. It’ll be another couple weeks of sessions at the training center where we will go into more depth about how to approach certain projects we want to start, write grants, begin a baseline survey, etc. For now though I am only focusing on getting through this last week of PST.

Feeding off my last paragraph and this idea of optimism, I will leave you with pictures from our beach weekend in Popenguine:

BEACH WEEKEND!!

One of the beach houses in Popenguine.

My host sisters and brother: Amina, Adja, Cher, and Fista (from left to right).

The view from the top of my host family's house in M'Bour.