11 Hours and 15 dead cows later...

So after about 11 hours, 15 dead cows sighted on the side of the road, three Disney movie soundtracks (a couple a few times each), Beethoven's 6th symphony, Rossini's Barber of Seville and William Tell overtures, Tchaikovsky's 1812 , a few rounds of Disneyland ride themes, several hours of conversation with Adrienne and Julia (who were dropped off in Tambacounda and Koalak respectively before I continued on to Kolda alone) and some brief cat naps, I arrived in Kolda. Got all my stuff unloaded and finished the book I had begun at my volunteer visit.

One thing I was not expecting was that apparently this is the time of the year that termites are born. They are as thick as flies at an open air fish market, and love to swarm around artificial light like moths. Who can worry about mosquitoes when there are termites flying EVERYWHERE!!! On the drive down, the landscape was full of giant termite mounds, some easily 15 feet tall, and the air was so thick with them the windshield looked like a thousand birds had pooped on it. The driver tried to wash them off with the washing fluid and wipers - about an hour after we got through the worst of it - and all he ended up doing was spreading bug guts across the windshield and made the visibility worse.

Oh well.

Tomorrow we are going out to the bank so I can get money - the Peace Corps just gave me a checkbook because apparently only the bank can give me a debit card - and then go buy lots and lots of stuff. Looking forward to that, though it is extremely hot down here. Muggy too since it has rained a bit the last two days.

A note on the whole 'dead cow' thing: I mentioned it because it is a really big deal. People here do not put their money in banks. It is extremely expensive (bank fees for us are nearly $200 a year, which is more than some people make in a year) and it just isn't feasible when the nearest bank is 75 or maybe 100km away. So their savings - their 'emergency cash fund' - is in livestock. Cows, depending on the type and where you are in the country, can cost anywhere from 100 to 300 dollars. Unlike in the US, the Senegalese don't sell their cows for slaughter as a profit generating business. They only sell and/or butcher their cattle if they are desperate and have completely run out of money. So if their cows get hit by, say, a giant semi truck, they could easily be bankrupted.

So fifteen cows dead on the side of the road. Someone may have lost their entire savings.

I am extremely nervous but also excited to finally get to my village, actually unpack my stuff and make my own little home here in Africa. Will also take this moment to say that even though it will just be a hole in the ground, I am really looking forward to having my own toilet/shower area. The privacy (such as it is living in a fish bowl) will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers to all,
Christine

Off To The Bush....After a hitch or two

Just as my first language test in French when PST began, I came back from my last host family stay in Mbour with a very bad cold that just got progressively worse as the two days passed between returning to Thies and taking the second LPI. At 10 in the morning, my body aching, brain fuzzy, throat burning from a night of coughing so hard I nearly threw up several times and my nose like a snot faucet, I sat in a little room with two language teachers being asked questions in Pulaar while I struggled to think in English.

Sufficed to say, I failed.

I got Intermediate Low as my score.

That alone would not have caused the complete emotional breakdown that proceeded after I had a small chat with the program and language coordinator. The not so hidden suggestion that the reason why I didn't pass was because I didn't really  want to be here so I didn't really try was not lost on me. And I got royally pissed. When I am sick and can barely breath and have only had a few hours of sleep, I sob uncontrollably when I get angry. Because of course I left a perfectly good job, cut my savings in half to pay off a loan and put off grad school and came 7000 miles just for a nine week summer camp in Africa.

No one asked me if I wanted to be here. They just decided I failed because I didn't want to be here.

Let's make something very clear: if I didn't want to be here, I would not have applied let alone done everything else to be here. There were a thousand and one times when I thought about leaving and didn't. Because I bloody well want to be here.


Anywho, long story short (too late, I know) I had to stay another week for more language classes, with another test set for today. As they told us in the beginning of PST, if we didn't pass our language proficiency tests, we couldn't stay. You have to pass.

They should put an astrix on the 'have to' part. Before we even had our test today the language coordinator came and told me and Adrienne (the other girl in my language group who also only received an Intermediate Low score) that we'd be leaving for Kolda tomorrow morning and install on Monday (Adrienne) and Wednesday (me).

Seems to me that it didn't really end up mattering if we formally passed or not.

Oh well, after 10 weeks of stressing on PST and language tests, now I get to worry about actually getting to my village and how the real Peace Corps work will be. It is going to be a whole different kind of hard/challenging/frustrating/rewarding/crazy. But it is what I want to do and why I came here in the first place. So in a wacko sort of way I'm actually looking forward to it.

And really, this last extra week I've had at the center has been extremely beneficial. I'm over my cold, got to have some real sleep, changed malaria medication, found out I've lost 12 pounds since arriving and had some solid language training my my awesome LCF, Jieba, at her house. We even made some EXTREMELY good spaghetti at her house. Also made cheese sauce that, mixed, was really really good. Never would have mixed them in the States, but I have a feeling this is not going to be the first 'would never usually do that in the States' food moments in the next two years.

I'd like to take this moment to thank all of my friends, fellow new volunteers and family for all of their support. Not just for this last week (though, really, THANK YOU for the last week) but for this entire process. From application to departure, from miserable moments in Mbour to the happy play time with the cute little twins at my host family's house. Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times. I'll never truly be able to thank you guys enough.

I'll have internet at the regional house in Kolda until Tuesday, as I install on Wednesday. I'll try to post some pictures of swearing in and perhaps a last little, 'see ya in a few weeks' post. There is what is called the 5 week challenge. Basically it's a challenge to stay in village for 5 weeks without spending a night at the regional house. I'd like to make that goal. So it'll be, probably, that long until I get to post again.

Thank you again.

Cheers!
Christine

Two Months In

Three more days. That is all that is left of training. We've been in country for two months now, learning a new language, living in a totally new culture, trying to adapt to the environment, change in diet and the occasional EXTREME frustration at so many little things that there are too many to list here. Two whole months.

And it comes down to four more days until swearing in.

Oh, and a little language test on Wednesday.

But we're not worried about that, are we?

Nervous. As. Hell.

The required level to move into our permanent site is Intermediate Mid. From what I can understand - as they really don't explain it to us that well - that level indicates that you can carry on a basic conversation, ask some basic questions, don't need to ask people to repeat what they say and explain why you are in Senegal, what the Peace Corps is and what you are going to do in the country. Perhaps it doesn't seem like a lot. Or maybe it does. All I know is that from the point of view of my host family in Mbour, I speak the worst Pulaar out of the three of us in my language group.

I tend to agree with them.

But I suppose I'll find out just how bad I am tomorrow afternoon when they tell us our results. My test is at 9:40 am. I probably won't sleep much tonight either.

I suppose I need to tell myself now - and continue to tell myself afterwards - that what I know already is an accomplishment and I should not compare myself to all the other trainees who are learning their respective languages as well. Way easier said than done, but hey, I'll give it a shot anyway. Peace Corps is supposed to be famous for those personality/life altering things. Maybe I'll be turned into an optimistic while I'm here.

Doubtful, but considering two months ago I got embarrassed when a woman was breastfeeding while sitting next to me and now it's just normal and I don't even seem to notice, I think anything is possible in the next two years.

Speaking of the next two years...

My install day is May 15th (as long as I pass the language test and don't have to spend an extra week at in Thies doing intensive language study in order to get up to the right level). So we swear in on the 11th. Drive to Kolda on the 13th, have ONE day to buy everything I need (the 14th) and then move in the next day. A note on the buying what I need - and this is a rant: the Peace Corps differentiates between new site volunteers and replacement volunteers by adding 20 thousand CFA to our move-in allotment. That is about 40 dollars. 40 bucks. Even in this country, 40 dollars doesn't go far to set up a house you'll live in for 2 years. So, for those of us who need everything from a bed frame, to cooking supplies, sheets, buckets for water storage, cups, a rug for our floor and a mattress, etc, the amount of money they give us is not enough. But for those who get to inherit the bed, buckets, chairs, tables, etc..they have an inordinate amount of cash to spend on the luxuries we - as brand new volunteers in a brand new site without even the basic tools - may never get to have because the Peace Corps also pays us all nearly the same per month, with only few differences between those in super rural areas who will have to travel a lot to get places we are required to go and those who live very close to cities/resources.

It is bull shit - in my very small opinion - and it is completely and totally unfair to those volunteers who have to try and find the very basic necessities to be able to sleep and bathe everyday from day one. Especially when a lot of us who are in new sites are extremely remote and do not have access to the larger towns in order to feasibly purchase and transport those needed items later on in our service if we can afford them.

Okay, I'll end the rant here.

Swearing in is televised here in Senegal and one person from each language group speaks in front of all the assembled important people to say a little in the local language about the training and such. Julia Bowers is speaking for the Pulaars. She is amazing at the language and will totally rock the speech. Look for the video to be posted on Youtube. I'll try to post the link on my facebook page if I get the chance.

My counterparts both told me before they left Thies to study hard and get intermediate mid so I can install on time. I told them 'inchalla' -which means 'God willing'.

We went to Dakar for a quick tour of the Peace Corps office and got the most amazing ice cream ever at this place called N'Ice Cream. They even had an Obama flavored ice cream. They love Obama here. They've got Obama underwear, Obama mattresses, t-shirts and baseball hats. It's hilarious.

We also went to a very popular tourist beach called Popenguine. It was gorgeous, glorious, and all things wonderful. Really didn't want to leave. It was so great to go swimming, wear my swimsuit and work on getting some sun to those parts of my arms and legs that are always covered.

We also made some pretty darn good spaghetti and I snacked on some candy I have fallen in love with here. It was a nice break to have before returning to CBT and then back here to Thies for the last stressful stint to swearing in. My last stay in Mbour was a bit weird and the goodbye was a little hard only because I will miss some of the members of my new little family - though I happily said 'good riddance' to that damn city. We exchanged phone numbers before I left so I hope when they do call me I'll be able to understand them.

Hardest thing was knowing that I won't be there to see the twins, Abby and Hamed, grow up a bit more. I would have loved for them to be an age where they could remember living with a white person and perhaps have them not call other white people 'Toubabs', but that is probably asking too much. They are also really close to being able to crawl. Their eyes would rove the compound, seeing all these places they want to explore and being soooo close to being able to go there. Abby is going to be hard to keep an eye on for sure and I don't even want to think of the things she'll get into once she starts walking.

Perhaps I'll be able to visit further down the line in my service, but neither of them will remember me. That will be hard.

I'll try to post either after my language test or before I move to the land of no internet to give a last update before 'going dark' for who knows how long.

Cheers!

Christine