JOX MA XAALIS!

Not too much to report, other than the fact that tomorrow morning, all 40 members of my stage will no longer be the newest volunteers in country! Tomorrow morning the newest stage is arriving, making my group the "sophomores" of the Peace Corps community here. The past week has been relatively quiet. I've been helping my leather workers learn how to use Excel, which has been enjoyable. Every time they come across a new feature in the program, they are absolutely stunned, so it's been fairly entertaining. I've also taken pictures of some of their products so that I can add more photos to their website (www.pcsenegal.org/artisan). Currently, we're also working on getting a set of sample baskets and leather bracelets sent to our U.S wholesaler so that a full order can be made in the near future. It's been nice to finally get down and do something concrete, as opposed to whimsically discussing work opportunities.

A briefcase made by my work partners

I've also started riding my bike quite a bit. Essentially, I need to leave my community (too much sand) to be able to ride anywhere, but I've found some dirt trails that lead into the bush that are a blast to ride down. I particularly enjoy the scenery when I get far enough away from the national road. With nobody around, and no trash in sight, this landscape can truly show off its natural beauty. Those moments are short lasted, however, as often someone will walk down the road and attempt a typical conversation with me, usually going something like this:

Me: Nanga def? (How are you)
Random Senegalese: May ma sa velo! (Offer me your bike!)
Me: Menuma def loolu, amuma beneen velo (I can't do that, I don't have another bike)
Random Senegalese: May ma sa montre! (Offer me your watch!)
Me: Yalla Yalla, bay sa tool (Go farm your own fields, essentially telling him/her to stop begging)
Random Senegalese (As I ride off on my bike): JOX MA XAALIS! (Give me money!)

The next Lance Armstrong? (My little brother and namesake, Fallou Gallas)

As you can imagine, those types of requests can get frustrating. Even today, 2 adolescents, each wielding a machete, ran after me yelling for money. I'm sure they were harmless, but if there are 2 people (regardless of age) running after me with machetes, I usually don't stick around for too long. Other than that, things are going great here and I'm still loving it. I'm eagerly anticipating the baseball season as spring training is in full swing! Hope everyone back home is doing well. Ba ci kanaam!