The Tour de Thies begins...

Well, Thanksgiving came and went. Coming from a severely weird family, I am not all that used to making a big deal out of Thanksgiving. Despite this, I took a trip down to Kaolack for the occasion and got to celebrate it with some fellow volunteers down there. Even with our meager resources, we (myself not included in any cooking activities) were able to cook 2 turkeys and even have mashed potatoes and pie! The dinner was, to say the least, awesome. Before dinner, we even managed to get a small football game in, so it was definitely an all-american day for us. I came back on Friday and have been keeping busy ever since. Tomorrow I will be going to Thies to get an outfit made for Tabaski. Seeing as how 90 to 100% of my recent conversations in Wolof have revolved around the upcoming holiday (Tabaski is the Muslim new year), I feel that I need to look appropriate for the occasion. Essentially, this means that I will be dressing like a donkey in the circus come next Tuesday.

Tabaski itself should be quite interesting. Most families buy a sheep and kill it on this special day. Our family, however (being the "patrons" that we are), will most likely buy two, if not three sheep. The men in the family will help the father cut the sheep's throat, and then it will be eaten in a grand feast. There will most likely be a lot of sitting around all dressed up, and discussing how much food there is and how good it is. It's somewhat strange how quickly I've gotten used to the gender roles here. Granted, my family is about as Wolof as you can get, but the culutral differences are still striking. For instances, the three wives spend the majority of their days cooking meals and cleaning/taking care of the children. During meals, there are two bowls served. One bowl is for women and very small children. Usually, this bowl has around 10-12 people around it. The men's bowl, however, only has 5-6 men around it, and we get to use spoons. Furthermore, when the men are done eating, the women are allowed to come over and eat what's left from our bowl. Just writing that last section made me realize how wildly different gender relations are out here.

I've decided to be somewhat adventursome and bike to Thies tomorrow. It's 45km there (about 28-29 miles), so the trip there should take me somewhere around 3 hours. I'll get to Thies, buy fabric, give it to the tailors with my requests (I'm getting a grand bubu made...aka I will look like a picnic table), and then come back to Ngaye Mekhe after lunch. All in all, it should be about 5-6 hours of biking, so I'll probably be fairly exhausted by the end of the day. So I'm off to get my beauty sleep for now, but hope everyone back home is doing well and enjoying the cold (it still gets really really hot here during the middle of the day...). Ba suba ak jamm!

(Picture is of 3 of my brothers here, Ibrahima, Fallou Gallas, and Ahmet with my A's hat on).

Running on Empty through Senegal

In about an hour I'll be going to Kaolack to celebrate Thanksgiving with my fellow volunteers in that area. I'm getting a ride to Thies with the local missionary here in Ngaye who is lucky enough to have a car. I'll be coming back on Friday, so it's somewhat of a short trip. I do feel a bit bad for moving around so much right after my installation (I came back from Dakar on Monday afternoon), but after Thanksgiving I'll be staying put for awhile. Dakar was a great experience. Along with the artisanal exposition (which went extremely well from what I saw), we all had a great time and got to play volleyball, softball, and go swimming. The weekend was almost ruined when I got into a 7 place station wagons that are literally on the verge of falling apart) on Monday. Forced to put my bag in the "trunk" (open to the public), I decided to sit in the absolute back row, despite the fact that I was essentially sitting on a metal bar. This turned out to be a very wise decision as I ended up warding off several theft attempts on my bag. Street vendors and random bystanders would simply stand by the car waiting for me to look the other way for even half a second. It really frustrated me that every time an attempts on my bag failed, the would be thief would run off laughing histerically. Oh well, life goes on.

I'm a bit of a rush, but I wanted to upload pictures of my room up here. The first is of the view from my window and the other two are of my actual room (it's a bit of a mess at the moment...). I'm off to have a quick breakfast along with Cheikh, Mariba, Nadya, Kineye, Aisha, Mari, Ami, Mami, Ndeeaw, Khadim, Cheikh, Kineye, Gallas, and Amadou (those are the names in my family...and the repeats are not a mistake...). A plus tard!

P.S BIG thank you to Maman and Papa for sending me those boxes of stuff! All of it will either be delicious, or come in handy throughout my time here. Merci encore!

Fallou (Gallas) Niang arrives in Mekhe!

Greetings to everyone back home. I have officially been installed as the new volunteer in Ngaye Mekhe. Everywhere I go, people shout out "Tafa! Tafa!" (short for Mustafa, the volunteer I'm replacing here). Thus, each time, I have to stop and say "Tudduma Mustafa, Gallas la tudd!". Despite that, things could really not be going any better. My family here is another experience in itself. They are not only a massive family, but they are intensely Wolof. We seldom speak french, and they are typically loud and aggressive (if you overhead my household having a conversation, you might think domestic abuse was about to occur), but in a friendly manner. They have been extremely helpful with me so far, and seem genuinely excited to have a new white kid in the house. Not only is the family great, but my living arrangements are superd. My room is on the 2nd floor, and in addition to having the internet, it has a great window with a beautiful view of the landscape. The food here has also been a source of jealousy for my fellow newly made volunteer friends. Simply put, we weat extremely well by Senegalese standards. Last night, we ate french fries with pasta and chunks of cow meat with onion sauce. Needless to say, it was a tad bit better than village sand (or millet couscous as they like to call it...I'm pretty sure it's just sand).
I've also been lucky in that I may get to do some work rather early on here. During this initial three month period, the Peace Corps does not expect much from us in terms of work. The pre-IST (Inter-Service Training, held in early February), period is to be used to integrate into the community and the host family. However, yesterday, the volunteer I'm replacing came by with some other americans to help make a film about local artisans. Thus, we spent yesterday afternoon filming a local shoe shop, and all day today filming the women of a basketweaving village. It was a lot of fun and really got me excited to actually work out here. I made it clear to the current volunteer that I'm perfectly willing and able to work if possible, and so I already have a meeting scheduled on Tuesday with another volunteer and the vice president of a village association to prepare the villages for a potential large order of baskets. Also, I'll be going to Dakar for the weekend to take a look at the artisanal exposition held there each year. It will be a great opportunity to see first hand what some of my future work partners do. Also, it doesn't hurt that some of my best friends from training will be there and that there are two softball games on Saturday as well...
Anyways, it's getting late and I should head off to bed, but I'll post updates when I get back from Dakar. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Ba suba ak jamm!
Pictures are of the village we went to today and of the actual interview of the basketweavers.

Swearing In!

Well, I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! Friday might have been the busiest day of my life, but it was a fantastic experience and everything went really well. Apparently, it's one of the only times that an entire stage has made it through training without anyone quitting, so we're all pretty full of ourselves right now. My fellow stage members are fantastic, and it was quite sad to see them all leave this morning. Right now, there's 8 of us left here in Thies, and tomorrow night, we will be down to 2 (me being one of them). As for Friday, here is a breakdown of all that happened:
6:00 am- Get up, dress up in Thies
7:30 am- Get on Bus to Dakar
7:31-10:45- Sweat out 50% of body weight on said bus
11:00-12:30- Swearing in!
12:30-2:00- Lunch at ambassadors residence
2:00-3:30- Pool time at the American Club
3:30-6:00- Travel back to Thies on sweaty bus
7:00-11:00- Enjoy dinner/music/dancing with host families in Training Center
11:30-4:00am- Celebrate and get into trouble with fellow volunteers

As you can all see, it was almost a full 24 hour day. In addition to swearing, the party with the host families was also a great time, as one member of each family got to come to the training center and enjoy a great dinner with some wild dancing. I also forgot to mention about our election party. A local hotel let us use their conference room to watch the election, so almost everybody went to watch. While most people left around 2-3 in the morning, some of us toughed it out and watched the entire thing, leaving the hotel at 6:15 in the morning...and having class at 8. Despite being exhausting, it was an amazing experience to be able to watch everything unfold live from Africa. Everyone around town is ecstatic about Obama's win, and everywhere we go people are chanting his name at us. Well, I'm off to enjoy the company of my friends for one last afternoon, so see you all in Ngaye Mekhe! Ba ci kanaam samay xarit ak sama waa ker!

Pictures are of the SED group in our stage (20 out of 40 of us), the dance party, and my friends here in Senegal...
Sorry for the low quality of pictures, but I wanted to get several in this post despite the slow internet. A Google photo album will be availabe shortly as i will have constant access to the internet.

The end of Tassette...

Well, my time in Tassette and with the Diop family has come to an end. Earlier today, we left Tassette for the last time and came back to Thies. Since we're swearing in on Friday, everyone is scrambling to get ready for our final departure from the training center. Many people got traditional local clothing made for Friday, but myself and a few others are opting to simply wear nice western style clothing. I chose so mostly because traditional bubus are so expensive to have made. Thus, the tucked in collared shirt and tie will have to do. It's somewhat of a bittersweet feeling to be almost done. Everyone, myself included, is very excited to move into our permanent sites. But on the same note, we're not looking forward to all being separated. Swearing in will occur Friday morning in Dakar at the ambassador's residence. After an exquisite lunch (or so we've heard), we'll hop on a bus back to Thies. That evening, we'll have a big party where one member from each host family gets to attend. I believe that my host father, Moussa Diop, will be the one attending. The next morning, I'll be in Thies watching my fellow newly sworn in volunteers leave for their sites. Each volunteer will go to their regional house for a few days to buy the required furniture to move into their new residence. Since my site is so close to Thies, I will simply stay at the training center for the weekend, and leave for Ngaye Mekhe on Tuesday. It's amazing how fast this whole period has gone by, and I imagine the next two years will probably fly in similar fashion. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun!

Our last stay in the village was great, despite being exhausting. I started to get realy frustrated with some of the trickier Wolof pronouns early in the week, but the progress is really starting to show. With our final LPI tomorrow, I hope to reach Intermediate Mid. For my last day in the village, my family really wanted to take me hunting again, so I gladly obliged. Along with 3 of my brothers, my uncle, and Natalie (fellow Wolof trainee), we ventured out into the bush once again. However, after 4 long hours and several near kills, we came back empty handed. Despite the lack of game caught, it was still a great time and everyone enjoyed the outing. As always, the village had its usual moments of sheer craziness. This week's trauma came Thursday night at around 1am. Unable to sleep, I was listening to my iPod when I heard a strange noise in my room. Crickets, beetles, and frogs are commonplace in my room, so I ignored it. But the noise persisted, and then a I felt a thump on my bedpost. Grabbing my flashlight, I inspected the situation from the safety of my mosquito net. What I found was a mouse and a frog engaged in a battle to the death right next to my bed. The mouse would grab the frog's head in its jaws, only to be thrown off when the frog jumped against the wall (or my bedpost...). However, when I went to move some of my dirty clothes (which my little gladiators were coming closer and closer to), the pair panicked and split up, with the frog jumping into my pile of clothes, and the mouse scurrying away to its hole in the wall. Climbing back into bed, all I could do was laugh and shake my head at the sillyness of the whole event. I will definitely come back to visit Tassette at some point in the next two years, as my host family here really made an effort to make me feel welcome. Before leaving, my host mother warned me not to change my name when I get to my new family, and to come back for Tabasci (the Muslim new year celebration in December). Unfortunately, I will probably have to change my name, as well as spend Tabasci with my new family. Either way, my stay in here in Tassette was great and I apreciate the warm welcome my host family gave me.

Also, I guess now is a good time to start listing off things that I miss the most (and consequently, hope some of you will be kind enough to send me...). I realize I am being somewhat of a whiner by asking for food items less than 2 months into my time here, but many of my friends have already gotten packages that make me want to mug them. I am aware that sending things from the U.S is not cheap, so anything I get, even a letter, is greatly appreciated. I will post this list as a sidebar on the blog soon, but I figured I'd make it a little more visible this first time. Here it goes:
- Beef Jerky
- Candy (all kinds)
- Cliff Bars/Protein Bars
- Sunflower Seeds
- Gatorade/Crystal Light/Propel powder
- Dried Fruit (all kinds)
- Grip/Strength ball

Also, in case some of you have not noticed my new address, here it is:

B.P 35,
Ngaye Mekhe,
Senegal
Afrique Ouest

I'm off to relax with my fellow trainees, but I hope everyone is enjoying the craziness of tomorrow's election! I actually gave a 15 minute interview (along with 2 other trainees) a few days ago to a local radio station regarding the U.S election. I should have a copy of the recording at some point so I'll try to get it on this blog. I'll make my first post as a PCV this weekend when things slow down a bit. A plus tard!

Pictures are of the weekly market in Tassette, my family, and my house.

Dakar and CounterPart Workshops

Dakar and CounterPart Workshops

After an insanely hectic and tiring week, we finally get an afternoon off. Despite the fact that we are going right back to Tassette tomorrow morning for a lenghty 9 day stay, we are all enjoying the afternoon off. This week started off with a great visit to Dakar. About 15 of us left Thies on Sunday and met up with some current volunteers at the regional house in Dakar. We all went to the American club, which was both a weird yet relaxing experience. Entering the club was like walking into a different country. I was somewhat bewildered at first as I ate my hamburger by the pool in silence. After a few hours at the club, we ventured off to a bar for a happy hour (Am I really in Africa...?), and then to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. The next day was quite a bit less exciting, with several hours of safety and security lectures, as well as a lenghty orientation of the Peace Corps Headquarters in Dakar. For medical reasons, I am very happy to be close to Dakar, as getting there will not be too hard when that fateful day arrives where I am deathly ill in this country. After our orientation, some of the current volunteers took us around town for some tours and a late lunch. I didn't take any pictures simply because of the rampant pickpocketing Dakar is known for (6 of my fellow trainees also got caught in a soccer riot there last week, so I didn't feel like pushing my luck my first time there). Dakar is a remarkable city that truly feels like another world apart from the rest of Senegal (at least the little that I've seen...). Despite being an expensive visit, I had a fantastic time, and am looking forward to spending more time there over the next two years. I will even have the opportunity to enjoy the best surfing in West Africa!

The rest of this week was spent meeting with our site counterparts and supervisors. These are two members of my future community that came to Thies to learn about my job and get to know me. While it was very good to talk to them and learn more about Mekhe, the week as a whole was boring and exhausting. Most of the lectures were meant for the counterparts to understand their roles and responsibilities, so many rounds of hangman were played in the back of the room. At the end of each day, we quickly packed up and made the 45 minute commute to Tassette to crash in the village. As always, the village likes to give a city boy like me the occasional slap in the face. I heard a noise near my backpack last night, so I picked up my flashlight and went to investigate. When I picked up my backpack, the rat lying under it panicked and essentially lunged at me, running over my foot. Reacting in a very calm manner, I yelped and lost my balance, crashing onto my bed and damaging my mosquito net in the process (which meant yet another episode of "Village Home Improvement: Fixing your mosquito net with dental floss"). Despite this, it was as usual a good week and I'm getting very excited to move into my site in 2 weeks. I also found out that I am getting installed on the 11th of November (at exactly 11:30am...which probably means 4pm by Africa/Peace Corps time). My counterpart also informed me that Mekhe is the exact midpoint between Dakar and St. Louis, since the trains that used to run from each town would meet in Mekhe. Well, I have many errands to run, so I should get going. I'll post an update once we get back from the village, wich will be the day before the election. Samay xarit ak man degg nanu Wolof bu bare! ("My friends and I understand Wolof very well"...a blantant lie despite my Intermediate Low level).

P.S Picture is of me during the field trip at Popenguine. Quite a while ago, but I figure a picture is better than no picture...

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...