Home Stay Update

Back in Mbour for the second stay. Two weeks and we are almost done. (Three days to go!) It rained oddly enough a few days ago, which never happens in March. Like, never. But it was a welcome relief from the heat and the sound of the rain on my tin roof reminded me of being home in Washington so it helped me fall asleep. The heat came back quick enough, though I have no idea what the temperature is. Pretty sure it is at least 90 though.

Language is still extremeley tough, and we have our first language assessment on Wednesday the day we get back to Thies. It isn't necessarily a 'graded' test as we are used to but it means we are halfway through training (I know! CRAZY!!!) and we have to be at intermediate-mid level by the time we reach the end. I am by no means anywhere near that level. Mixed up the verb 'to come' with 'to go' when I was leaving to get to the garden this afternoon. I suppose it says something that I even caught myself, but it is still irritating not being able to say the most basic things.

Not being able to communicate is the base line of all frustration here. Some of the kids follow us, muttering things in Wolof that we can't understand but know is not nice. (On a side note one kid called me a bitch in French, at which point in time I was already at the end of my rope that I told him to F-off in English and gave him the glare of doom. He ran away quickly). We've had the opportunity to talk to some actual volunteers and they say that CBT is the only time that these sorts of things really happen. Being in a big city doesn't allow for knowing who the kids are or where they live so you can tell their parents. At site we end up knowing a lot of people so either you know who they are or someone you know knows the parents and things are taken care of swiftly.

I will post pictures of my family once I get back to Thies. In the mean time I am craving a box of sprinkled cake donuts so much I may commit murder to get my hands on some. I did find an awesome place here that has really good pizza and burgers (a soul saver) for a good price and a boutique down the road that has ice cream bars for 300 CFA (about a 70cents) that is wonderful on the hot afternoon we walk back from language class.

Been updating my carepackage wish list and will post if anyone is so inclined to send me some American goodies. I'll put my address on the side though it will change in a few weeks for my permanent site.

It is so weird to think it is only a few weeks away.

Miss America. Miss my friends and family heaps and I hope to hear from everyone at some point.

Cheers!
Christine

PST and Home Stay

So it is kinda of crazy to think that I have been here in country for 2 weeks already. It feels like I have been here for so much longer. My training group is awesome. I am learning Fulakunda, which is a dialect of Pulaar which is spoken in a lot of West African countries. My home stay is in a town called Mbour just outside of Thies where we are training. It has been pretty hot but tonight apparently it is about 70 degrees right now and I am freezing in my sweatshirt and jeans. I hope that means I am acclimating well to the weather.

The first week at my training home stay (called CBT) was a bit tough and extremely overwhelming at first. My new Senagalese name is Aiisata Kande. I am the first volunteer my family has hosted so we are both trying to figure out how to act and what to do. There are a ton of kids and I think my host dad has two wives but I am honestly not sure. The family structure is very hard to figure out because several of the sons live in the same compound with their wives and kids so I am not quite sure who is who. I don't have any pictures of them yet but hopefully I will be able to take some this next time around. We have a two week stint this time and that is going to be hard with just all the constant language and kids screaming "toubab" at me.

So 'toubab' is a term that is used to describe anyone who is not senegalese. Kids and adults all call us that when we are walking down the street and it is how they get our attention. The kids can be very cute but when it is an adult our a person near  my age it is really annoying. I can't stand how they treat animals. It is painful to see them hitting and whipping the horses and kicking at the goats. My host dad threw his shoes at one of the cats in our compound for no reason. I didn't say anything of course but it was horrible to watch.

We will spend a total of about 33 days in our homestay during PST. I'm glad it is broken up into shorter sections. I can't eat the food very well so I know I am losing weight. Fish and rice with a horrible tasting sauce. They cook with so much oil and overcook the vegitables so much that there is little to no nuritional value to the meal. I can suppliment my diet with vitamin pills and peanut butter, but this is what they eat everyday for their whole lives and it totally contributes to their short lifespan (about 60 years). Hopefully I will be able to go to the market and find some fruit or something sine they don't have that either.

I know I probably am sounding like a huge downer on this, but the family itself is very nice and they are doing what they can to learn how to live with an American just as I am  learning to live with and in Senegal. It can't be easy for them either and they are sharing all they have with me, which is relative terms is not very much.

The presidential elections are this sunday so that will be very interesting. I don't have time to  go into much detail here, but let me tell you that a lot of people do not want the current president to be re-elected for a 3rd term. It is against the constitution and he has wasted  a lot of money on pointless things that do not help his country. (27 million dollar statue anyone?)

As soon as I get back to the training center (or if I can find an internet cafe) I'll post my address on the side and write a 'wish list' if anyone is so inclined to send me stuff :-).

Cheers to all!
Christine

T minus 7 hours and counting

I can't believe it is almost time to leave. Our flight leaves at 5:40 this afternoon and we will arrive in Dakar at 6:10am tomorrow their time. Dakar is 8 hours ahead of pst so my body is going to hate me or a few days as I adjust to the time difference along side all the other stuff.  Everyone I have met in my group is awesome and I look forward to getting to know them better.

Signing out until who knows when,

Christine

Last day at home or 'Why a Ken doll will be appearing in my blog'

To start off, here are the before and after photos of my packing yesterday:

We spent all day getting my stuff packed and evenly distributed so that no bag was overweight. I'm extremely proud to say that both of my check on bags are 38lbs, and I got everything I wanted to bring in them. I also wrote down everything I took and which bag things were put in so that if I need more of something or an item goes missing in transit I know what it is and can get it replaced. I'm not anticipating anything to be stolen during flights, (and all of the real valuables are in my carry on) but better safe than sorry.

In one of these bags is a Ken doll named 'Mike'. This is what he looks like:

Okay, so why is there going to be a Ken doll appearing in photographs while I'm in the Peace Corps? And why is his name 'Mike'? It all goes back to a prank my coworkers played on me last summer when I was on a short vacation. It is a well known fact that I have the habit of declaring, 'oh for the love of mike!' on the occasion of being frustrated or messing up, or what have you. I got this from an old Katherine Hepburn movie and it just sort of stuck. Anyway, so when I was gone, a few people in the office completely covered my desk in plastic wrap and taped a lot of stuff down. They also hung goldfish crackers and swedish fish from the bottom of some cabinets that are over my desk. Inside this little fish and plastic wrap den was a Ken doll with a small name tag stating, 'My name is Mike', and a dialogue bubble cut out on paper hanging from the cabinet with the statement, 'Oh for the love of Christine.'

I hid Mike in one of the offenders' desk.

This led to Mike appearing all over the office, a kind of hide a seek game where once he is found that person would hide him somewhere else for someone to find. The last place he turned up was in the gift my coworkers gave me at my 'send off' luncheon and the idea was posed that he go with me to Africa as a sort of 'Flat Stanley'.

So, long story short (too late I know), Mike will be appearing in various ways in pictures that I post here and on facebook as a lasting tribute to my awesome coworkers.

On a last note:

It's strange thinking it is my last day at home for a long time. My room is pretty much empty and everything is packed. I can't believe 191 days have passed. Nor is it any easier to believe that 27 months lie ahead.

Cheers,
Christine