Ci yonnu u Bongo!

We have just returned from yet another stay in Tassette, and will be going to Dakar tomorrow until Monday evening. Arriving on Tuesday night, we spent Wednesday through Saturday afternoon learning some additional Wolof. Even though we are all still struggling, progress has been steady, and I feel fairly comfortable holding simplistic conversations nowadays. I can even joke around a bit if need be. It is somewhat helpful that many times conversations in Wolof seem to be very simplistic. For instance, coming back from class, I will always be asked "Gallas! Wacc nga?" (pronounced "wacthey inga"), which roughly translates to "You have returned from class?". Other typical "questions" include "Gallas! You are sitting/reading/eating/tired/hungry?" Sometimes I will be asked these questions three or four times over the course of a meal, which is great practice since I'm always repeating the appropriate answer. Combined with the incessant greetings people seem to be fond of (Nanga Def? Ca va? Yangi Noos?...), I can actually fool an innocent bystander into thinking I can hold a 15 minute conversation in Wolof. We have another Wolof LPI (oral interview used to judge your level) on Tuesday morning so I will need to practice some when we get back from Dakar. I tested at Novice High on my last LPI, and the next step is Intermediate Low (which is the minimum required to swear in). Our final LPI will be a few days before we swear in, so reaching Int. Low on Tuesday would be nice, since I can (hopefully) only go up from there.

The highlight of our most recent stay in Tassette came on Wednesday afternoon. A pigeon that had decided to make its nest in the classroom was innocently trying to find its way out of the room. Unfortunately, when 3 children (two of them being my host brothers) came into the room to help move furniture, they immediately spotted the pigeon. While the bird had been somewhatat of a distraction, it had not truly bothered any of us. Yet for these 3 Senegalese youngsters, this intrusion meant war. With loud yelps of excitement, they scurried off and found brooms. Armed and dangerous, they went about chasing the pigeon across the classroom, flailing their plastic death sticks with great vigor. Being adults, my classmates and I essentially huddled up to a different corner of the room in fear of getting hit by the brooms, yet also laughing histerically at the same time. After maybe a full 5 minutes of this Charlie Chaplin-esque pigeon hunt, one of the children was done messing around, and took matters into his own hands. Holding his broom by the end of the handle, he took a quick aim, and launched it through the air (much like a tomahawk should be thrown...except this is a plastic broom...) at the flying bird. To everyone's surprise, he was dead on with his aim, and the bird fell limp on the floor. With all of us laughing even harder than we had previously been, the child ran up to his nemesis and finished the job (by ripping the head off the body, of course...). Soon thereafter, the hunters left and we sweeped up the floor of the room (there had been a huge explosion of feathers upon initial contact with the broom). Needless to say, it took the majority of the afternoon for us to regain our focus after such drama.

Next week we will also be working with our site counterparts. Our counterparts are members of the local community in which we will be working that have volunteered to help us out when we first arrive at site. These counterparts will be a great resource for all of us, as they can show us around town, help us meet important work contacts, and answer the myriad of questions we will most likely have upon arrival. Thursday and Friday will be spent in Thies working with these counterparts. The only downside to this activity is that since the counterparts will be staying in the training center, we will have to commute back and forth from Tassette, each night coming back from the training center, and leaving excruciatingly early the next morning. Other than that, I am excited to be able to hear about the intricacies of Ngaye Mekhe from an actual member of the community. I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday, but I'll check in sometime next week. A plus tard!

P.S Pictures are of my room in Tassette and of our nice Turkish toilet there. Yes, that is where I shower...