Popenguine Weekend

We've just returned from our highly anticipated beach outing to the beautiful Popenguine region. After scrambling around for a few days, we managed rent a large house for fairy cheap. The house was fantastic, as it was on the beach and provided us with some rare toubab amenities, such as a fridge, working showers, etc... Since we got to Popenguine at around 4pm, we were able to go to the local general store and buy beverages appropriate for a massive group (40) of recent college graduates, which included some disconcertingly cheaply priced alcohols (a $3 large bottle of whiskey...?). Once stocked up for the night, we paraded out to the beach and had a blast, enjoying warm Gazelles, frisbee games, and even chicken fights (I was 1-0) in the warm ocean water. For dinner a few of my fellow trainees cooked up massive heapings of spaghetti, and then the party began. Dancing, flip-cup, and other festive activities continued into the wee hours of the morning. Waking up on the tile floor at 8 in the morning, I went out for a swim, and spent the majority of the day between swimming and lying on the beach until we had to pack up. After a hectic cleanup, we were off to Thies, very tired and even more sunburnt. Everyone seems to have had a great time, and some people even got the chances to make fools of themselves, which always makes for good comedy.
Tomorrow, we'll have another full day of classes, and then on Tuesday afternoon we'll head back to our homestay villages for a short stay. After a few more days of Wolof Total Immersion (sounds somewhat intense doesn't it?), we'll once again come back to Thies. A trip to Dakar will follow, and well as more days in Thies. As you can all obviously tell, I'm still living out of my duffel bag/backpack, with some of my clothing resting in a dusty room in the village, some here in Thies, and some in a state of total filth. Thus far, this experience has been even better than I could have imagined, and I can't wait to see what the next two years have in store for me. The only negative on finishing training is that I will be seperated from some good friends here at the center, as many of them are going to remote village in the south of the country, making it difficult to see them a lot. Despite that, I'm still very excited to get to my site and get going with the "real deal", if you will. I'm off to the center to enjoy a somewhat quiet evening after last nights craziness, and get ready for the week ahead (which will include the "Olivers largest laundry load of all time" challenge starting tomorrow). I will also update my permanent address on here in a week or two, so all of you adoring fans dying to send me packages (insert sarcasm) will know where to send them soon enough. A wish list for a few useful items and foods will accompany the address. Hope everything is all well back home, and that Texas is enjoying having defeated Oklahoma yesterday (sorry James...). Mangiy Noos bu bare! (I'm having tons of fun).

P.S Internet is being retarded slow again, thus no pictures this time...

Tivaouane

Greetings from Tivaouane!
Along with another trainee from my group (Thomas Wheat), I am staying in Tivaouane with a current volunteer named Daniel. We've been staying with his host family, who has been very friendly to us, and has also fed us incredibly well. Tivaouane is only about 20-25 km away from my future site (Ngaye Mekhe) and is the departmental capital of the region. As I indicated in my earlier post, Ngaye Mekhe (or Mekhe for short) is a town very focused on artisanal products. The leather sandals made there are fairly well known, and there are also several other types of artisans that use the town as a base. Our host volunteer, Daniel, has been working alongside the Mekhe volunteer (whom I will replace after training) in helping the surrounding villages in this region export their hand woven baskets. Much of their work involves going to the villages and assessing the capabilities each village has in terms basket production. They have already received some orders from the U.S and hope to increase production. This type of work is very interesting to me, and I am excited at the potential opportunity to jump into it. For now, I need to focus on improving my Wolof and finishing training. We spent our first 3 days here walking around town and checking out the local businesses and institutions. People are generally very friendly and seem to be quite well educated in this part of the country (I obviously speak from my experience of 3 weeks in country so please don't take what I say as fact). We went to a youth soccer game on Saturday evening, which was pretty fun (soccer on sand looks quite difficult/tiring...)

On Monday we went and visited my site and its current volunteer (Pete). It was great to see my town, even if it resembles most other towns I've seen here. Pete, whom I will replace in Mekhe, had a lot of good things to say about the site and my host family. The four of us spent most of the afternoon sitting in a small restaurant and discussing the site, their work, and the trouble Dakar region volunteers get themselves into. Needless to say, I'm very excited to be part of this region and spend the next two years hanging out with this crowd. Tuesday we traveled once again, this time to the villages surrounding the area. The first village was called Diama Thiendou, and was about a 1 kilometer walk off the national highway (which would be a country road in the U.S). The main supervisor of the basket weaving operations (funny how I graduated from college and will soon be working in the Senegalese basket weaving industry...) was ill and had gone to Thies, so we sat around for awhile until lunch arrived. After a typically Senegalese lunch (and the obligatory post-lunchtime nap on mats under the big tree), we ventured out to another similar village where some of the women were actually weaving baskets. It was a little bit overwhelming, as my Wolof is still not advanced enough to discuss work opportunities with the women in the village. Nonetheless, it was a good time and I enjoyed to chance to get to meet some of my future work partners (who were quick to inform me that I have big shoes to fill in replacing Pete).

Tomorrow the three of us are going into Thies to meet up with some other Dakar region volunteers and have a small cookout, which should be awesome. Thursday will have us back in Thies for the weekend, and then back to the villages for more language classes. This weekend promises to be entertaining as it is our beach trip. While in the village today, I called in and reserved a large house on the beach in Popenguine (the beach site we visited last week). The schedule suggests that Saturday, once classes are finished, all 40 of us will load up into an Alhum (Massive minivans that can fit an unholy amount of souls onboard) and drive off to the beach to spend the night there. It sounds as though only 12-15 people will have some sort of bedding, so there will most likely be a lot of people crashing on stairwells, hallways, or even the beach itself. We still have to finish the preparations, but everyone is very excited to go, myself included. Well, I'm off for now, but the three of us will be staying up to watch the Presidential debate on TV (Daniel, the PCV here, has internet in his room). Hope everyone is doing well back home in spite of the floundering economy. Ba beneen yoon!

P.S A funnny side note ==> I have to be careful when saying "I am going to Mekhe (my town)" in Wolof because that exact sentence also means that I am in the process of having sex... thus I will more often than not say "I am going to Ngaye".

Ngaye Mekhe!

Hello to everyone back home! Today was a very important day for us, as we discovered where everyone will be working for the next two years. My site is called Ngaye Mekhe. It is about 45 kilometers north of Thies, meaning I will not be going very far from my current location. Mekhe is a city of about 25,000 people, speaking primarily Wolof, but a lot of French as well. The town is widely known through Senegal for the leather sandals that are made there (apparently they are even sold in Europe and in the U.S). I am very pleased with this site, as I will be relatively close to a lot of my friends and can easily get to Dakar and Thies. I don't know much else about the site at the moment, but I'm sure I will learn much more about it starting tomorrow. As for tomorrow itself, myself and another trainee will be going to Tivaouane to visit another current volunteer and see what kind of work they are up to. We'll be there for about 6 days, and then will come back to Thies for a few days.

Our time in Tassette was filled with experiences I won't soon forget. While the 8 hours a day classes in Wolof got tiring, the time spent with my fellow volunteers and our host families was priceless. This past Sunday, I was lucky enough to go lizard hunting with my host father. Having previously lived in the 3rd world, I have seen my share of lizards. But it was not until I was face to face with one of these monsters that I realized it wasn't really lizards we were hunting. These animals resemble small komodo dragons more than anything, and the "small one" we caught must have weighed about 5-6 pounds. The hunt was incredibly fun, as my host father and I ventured deep into the bush, and even walked through some streams/swamp areas. Oviously, hunting these animals means we later consumed them. The following day, my host mother served me a big bowl of macaroni and lizard meat. To be honest, it was actually quite good, with the lizard reminding me of chicken wings. I'm sure there will be more food adventures to come, but the lizard was definitely an interesting experience (the attached pictures is of me discussing the details of the kill to my host mother). I have come to realize that bugs are simply bigger and more intimidating here. Every night as I prepare to sleep, crickets large enough to be sold as puppies in Asia, as well as beetles that sound like Luftwaffe fighter planes fill the damp air in my room. There are also blister beetles, which my fellow town mate Daniel has had the privilege of being bitten by (As the name suggests, they leave a big nasty blister that spreads if you pop it). I have been lucky so far in terms of all kinds of bug bites, but I feel that my time is coming.

This past Wednesday was also the Korite celebration, signaling the end of Rammadan. On the morning of Korite, the men get up, have breakfast, and then go to the mosque and pray. Being male, I was "strongly encouraged" (yelled at until i submitted) to go to the mosque and pray with the men. So off I went with my two little brothers to the mosque (my host father didn't go because he had a burn on his leg from the family motorcycle...). A few minutes later, there I was, standing in a crowd of 300 or so Senegalese men (a few women were present as well), praying towards Mecca. I felt very awkward about the experience while it was going on, since I am obviously not of the same faith, and have never even attempted a true prayer. But once prayer was finished, tons of people came up and thanked me for coming and seemed to love the fact that the local toobab (white person) had made such an effort to integrate. Once we returned, I chatted with my family for a few hours until a massive lunch was served that was comprised of green beans, potatoes, and meat. It was by far one of the best meals I've had while in Tassete, and I ate until I was about to burst. Once full, we enjoyed tea (very tasty) and some soda. Later in the evening, we all took some pictures with my fellow volunteers and our respective families (see pictures). Finally, at around 11pm, we left to go to "la soiree de dance", which was a party for the young people. This event was widely the most anticipated by many of the villagers, and everyone was excited that we would be attending. The dance was on the whole extremely fun, and we all crashed at around 2am... only to be woken up by the Peace Corps van at 6:45am (nobody had told us when we would be going back to Thies, so this morning was quite a scramble). For now, I'm off to go enjoy the local bar with all the other volunteers (as well as normal food...hence a large pizza to myself). I may or may not be in contact when in Tivaouane, but I will update everyone on my progress at the next opportunity. Ba ci kanam!

Popenguine and back to Tassette

Hey all,

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm enjoying the luxury of the internet before we got out of contact for 9-10 days. Most of us have spent the weekend drinking Gazelles/Flags at local bars and telling stories of our home stay families and villages. Tomorrow morning the SED volunteers in our group (myself included) will take a field trip to Popenguine beach to see what Eco-Tourism is like here in Senegal. The area is supposed to be quite beautiful so I will be sure to take some pictures. Upon returning to Thies in the early afternoon, we'll load up and drive off to our home stays again. Once in Tassette, we'll be going full speed with the Wolof and cultural integration. Thus, I will clearly not have internet for the next 10 days so contact me by phone if you want to hear from me. I'll post pictures of my family and village when I get back, but here is a picture of Thies for you all. Pictures take a REALLY long time to upload here so I may notbe able to add more than one or two images at a time for a while. A plus tard!

Gallas Diop!

First off, I wanted to let everyone back home know that the language I will learn in PST (Pre-Service Training for you normal people) will be Wolof. Wolof is the most widely spoken of all the regional languages, and just about everyone can understand it, which is nice. Unlike other languages that are very regionally specific (such as Mandinka and Pulaar du Nord), Wolof is used throughout the country so I still have no clue as to where I will be placed. We were informed of our languages on Monday, and then quickly transported to communities around Thies that are committed to that language. Thus, at around 5 p.m Monday afternoon, I was dropped off at a compound in the village of Tassette (South-Southwest of Thies I believe). Immediately, I was informed that my new Senegalese name would be Gallas Diop. Obviously, this entails that my time in Tassette will be spent within the Diop household. Moussa Diop, whom is my host father, is a local mason who is very friendly. My host mother seems to be the most educated woman in town as she is the head of a women's group and routinely gives lectures of hygiene and child education. As for siblings, there are currently two boys in the house (I have been informed that there are other brothers and sisters but that they are on vacation). The two boys are Alassa (around 14-15 years old by my assumptions), and Gallas (a 10 year old whom I was named after). While Gallas has been somewhat shy thus far, Alassa is extremely excited to have me around and plans on showing me everything in town.

While in Tassette, we spend our days learning Wolof in a small building that is normally used as an elementary school. Our teacher Assaitou gives us lessons from 9-1, and then from 3-6. In just two days, I have learned enough Wolof to essentially construct just about any type of question. Luckily for us, Wolof is a very simply structured language where one can discuss the past, present, and future by simply chaning one letter in an entire sentence. When not in class, we spend time with our families, trying to continually improve our language skills. The only problem I have run into is that my entire host family is very well educated, and therefore speaks perfect french. It's extremely difficult to try to force myself to converse in a foreign language when I can so easily revert back to French and have no trouble at all. When we all return to Tassete, I will try my best to avoid French and focus on learning Wolof.

Living in the village, even for 2 days, was a remarkable experience. Granted, taking bucket baths in the same real estate as the Turkish toilet will take some getting used to, but I loved my initial "real" introduction to African life. My group and I (there are 5 of us placed in Tassete) quickly noticed how friendly the people in the village are. In Thies, some people will say hello, while others ignore you and go on about their day. In the village, however, EVERYONE wants to talk to you. When we first arrived, anyone who noticed the awkward toubab (white person) sitting in the yard (a.k.a sand) would rush in and greet them. Just about everyone makes an effort to say something to me in Wolof and have me learn the meaning of it. The villagers seem to have a deep respect of the Peace Corps and are all very excited to have us around. It is customary in Senegalese culture to give a guest everything possible to make him/her comfortable. Thus, whenever I walk into a room, I am immediately offered a plastic chair (one of 3 in my household...a prized commodity). My family always serves me first and insists I keep eating, even when full. In the evenings, up to 30 neighbors will come and watch the TV my family owns. Despite essentially being a complete stranger, I routinely get a a front row seat to the action (either UEFA soccer games or Brazilian soap operas translated into French...). While I sometimes feel a bit awkward around them (Peace Corps requires us to lock our room door, which often means I have to ask several people to move out of the way so the white kid can lock his door), their genuine desire to please me is very endearing.

At dinner time, my family of 5 will gather around the bowl and eat Ceebu jen (the traditional Senegalese meal of Rice and Fish) or another variant of rice. While I actually find the food quite good, they continually insist I eat more, no matter how much I've already consumed. This leads to my constant defense of "Suur na! Suur na!" (meaning "I am full!). In my two days, I have found that the coffee and ginger juice are exceedingly tasty, and I look forward to more servings of both (even if both contain untreated Senegalese water, which has not harmed me... yet). I also look forward to improving my Wolof, as everyone speaks too fast to yet understand clearly. On Monday I will return to Tassette, and will be there for around 8 days, which means I will not be in contact during that period. I'll be sure to post a picture or two of Thies before I head out again. Hope everyone is doing well and I'll be in touch!

P.S We got our phones a few days ago. My new number is (221) 77-187-8791. Calling is expensive but sending text messages costs about the same as the U.S so send me some updates from back home!

First Days in Senegal!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Well, we’ve been in country for 4 days now and things are fantastic, if not unbelievably hectic. Wednesday morning (aka my last day in the U.S), we woke up early and received yellow fever shots, as well as our first malaria pills. We then drove to New York and departed for Senegal right at 5:20pm. Some people slept on the flight, but I just watched movies on the awesome South African Airways TV system. Upon arrival (around 5 a.m local time), we were greeted in Dakar by some staff members and immediately driven to Thies, where we were given some breakfast and a few hours to sleep and relax. From that moment on, we have had about 8 hours of classes a day in addition to language and technical interviews to assess our skills in those areas. Thus far, the topics covered have ranged from Senegalese culture to diarrhea prevention/treatment/horror stories (an entire 3 hour session was devoted to the latter…).

Since we have not been allowed to leave the training center, we have spent most evenings as a group relaxing and playing children’s games in the biggest hut available (known as the “disco hut”). Ironically, we have spent the last two evenings playing a game called “Mafia”, which is a kid’s game that I played this summer at the tennis camps I taught. Our whole group is very cohesive and I really like everyone here. Unfortunately, a lot of us will lose touch as we get assigned to different parts of the country that may be very distant from each other. Today (Saturday), the training staff took us on a walk around the training center, and showed us how to get to different places in Thies. Our center is right next to a “red zone”, which we are never allowed to travel. Thus, after a brief lecture tomorrow, we will have the opportunity to go into Thies and buy necessities and maybe even use the internet.

On Monday I will find out what language I will learn, which will not only give me a strong hint as to where I will be posted (languages are very regional here), but also determine the language my host family will speak. I’m about 99% sure I’ll be learning one of the local language (instead of French like many SED volunteers will be doing), but we’ll have to see which one. The food here has been amazing so far. Lunches have been a large community bowl filled with rice, vegetables, and some type of meat. To eat, you take your shoes off, sit on the floor, grab a big spoon, and chow down as a group. It’s definitely an interesting (yet somewhat uncomfortable) way to eat. I’ve eaten more fish in my 4 days here than I have in my whole life and I’m actually very pleased. All the fish I’ve had has been very mild and goes very well with the rest of the food. Dinners have been even more impressive. We’ve had spaghetti, meat with French fries, and other fantastic meals. However, all of the current volunteers that stop by are quick to remind us that this is by far the best food we will have for the next two years, and that things will get MUCH worse very soon. By very soon, I mean Tuesday, when I move in with my host family for the next two months. So I’m definitely enjoying the luxuries we have here while I can. Despite that, I cannot wait to move into my family and start learning the new culture and language. All of the current volunteers seem to love this place and have great stories to tell. I have to head out, but this may be the only entry for a week or so as my host family will definitely not have internet (I may have to pull my water from a well starting Tuesday, so I feel pretty safe in making the assumption that their house lacks Wi-fi capabilities). We do get to come back to Thies here and there (mostly on the weekends) and so I will post then. Just wanted to say hi to everyone back home, and hope you are all doing well in the midst of hurricane season. A plus tard!

PS Sorry for the low quality of the picture, but that is right outside my room at the training center...

The day before I left for Africa.

Well, it is late Tuesday afternoon and we are essentially finished with staging. Tomorrow morning we will check out at 7:30am and get our yellow fever shots, along with our malaria medicine (lariam, for those who care, is somewhat well known in that users sometimes experiences psychotic nightmares). From there we will be getting on a bus and driving to JFK International Airport. Finally, at 5:20pm, our group of 40 or so Peace Corps Trainees will leave for Senegal!

Staging did a very good job of getting us excited and ready for the trip ahead, yet also eased the fears of many. We did a lot of ice breakers and small group projects in order to get to know everyone a little better. My main worry coming in was what kind of people were going to be in my group. So far, everyone has been great and I'm looking forward to have these people be my co-workers and friends for the next two years. I've also never been so thankful for my experiences in the French Lycee systems. Obviously I don't know what's going to happen, but the fact that I have so much experience in French reassures me quite a bit since I will have a much easier time communicating with people when I get there. Packed and ready to go, I'm off to enjoy my last night on American soil before the adventure begins. Obviously, the next entry will be from across the world, so see you in Senegal!