Today was my first day back in village and it was about 10 million times better than last time. Seeing my hffamily wasn’t that awkward and they all were speaking French to me. Other than returning, the day wasn’t that exciting (except for receiving a SWEET cell phone that would retail for about 10$ in the US but I love it and I don’t care). I had to ask several times how to check the amount of credits I had on my phone (in Senegal you don’t buy a plan you buy credits and enter them, texting and calling costs different things at different times during the day). I also truly appreciated, for the first time, how amazing a buttered popcorn jelly bean really is. I used to think they were gross… but when you haven’t had butter for a while, they taste amazing.
Tonight, after dinner, some of the high schoolers started to show up and sit around the compound. After asking my hfcousins, I was informed that there was to be a party at my house before my hfcousin’s team had won a game (similar to a park district summer league). About thirty minutes later, there were about 50 high school guys and girls sitting around when.. all of the sudden… a huge speaker was brought out and the music, and the party, started. Senegalese music and dancing is so different than American music and dancing so it was really fun to watch… until about 12am when I tried to go to bed (I have school at 8am tomorrow) but my compound had been turned into Club Fandene. Now, I’m laying in bed trying to sleep to the pounding sounds of the base and of wolof. A Bientot!
August 27, 2009
I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen a National Geographic video of a flash flood, but I just lived through one. With barely a cloud in the sky, I went to go watch the local soccer game and less than 20 minutes later the skies had happened up. Within minutes, a river had formed where the field once was, and we all stood, waiting, a little tin-roofed hut that serves as the market during the day. Finally, once it looked like it was letting up a little I ran for home. Although I’m soaking wet, I can say definitively: huge storms are my favorite type of weather here. There are several amazing reasons for loving storms, but the two main ones are what won me over: breaking the heat and time alone! Even though it’ll get humid in a few minutes, for now, it’s cool… not actually cold or anything anyone would need anything more than a tank top and skirt for, but it’s not stiflingly hot. The other reason (and the main reason) is because this is the first time since I got here, that I’ve been allowed to be by myself without anyone thinking it was odd or wondering what I was doing. Senegalese culture is VERY community based and if you’re not sitting out under the tree with everyone, something must be going on. Also, because of the community aspect, if you have something, it also belongs to the entire community. This lack of belief in “ownership” has prevented me from using pretty much everything. Don’t take this the wrong way, my hffamily is a group of wonderful people, but I don’t want to risk things being broken while I’m just starting my service. I’m sure eventually I’ll have to go sit under one of the covered areas… or if the storm is broken… back outside, but any time alone is amazing.
One more quick note, thank you so much to everyone who helped give me movies… I’m currently laying in bed watching Ever After (thank you so much!). Also, today was an important day… I performed my first non-doctor preset medical thing… to keep things simple and not too gross there are these things called “blister beetles”, you can kind of assume what they are. So when a blister appears on you (mysteriously) you have to pop it but be sure to drain it somehow so it won’t touch your skin (the poison from the beetle will cause another blister. I’m not sure exactly if that’s what I had so I’ll find out more tomorrow when I take off the bandaid but I was able to do everything by the rules!
August 28, 2009
While at NYU, I used to joke you could judge the validity of an NYU event or student by their Rent knowledge. Something about NYU, or maybe just the entire city, draws students towards the musical. No event kicks off without a Rent song… I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure they played a song at graduation. So, like any good NYU student, here I am, sitting in my bed, under my mosquito netting, watching Rent on my computer. It’s pretty much like being in a residence hall or something… you know… minus the sounds of horns outside replaced with my rooster and tonight’s storm.
I don’t want you to think, though, that I’m doing nothing but watching movies (2 days in a row!), so no worries, I also had 8 hours of class (even though everything’s class when you’re speaking French the whole time). I also went to the tailor with my hfaunt. I’m having my pants and my skirt made and I requested them all to be “tres Senegalais” so I’m excited to see how they turn out! Also, a quick update, I can’t wait for the free-texting/calling within PC to kick in… I really want to text my friends but just don’t feel like paying for it. I’m thinking Sept. 1st the miracle will happen. Oh well! Back to Rent for me now!
A Demain (see you tomorrow)!
KO
August 31, 2009
Holy Biskrem Batman! I found my favorite new snack! Yes, that’s right “Biskrem” it’s like a Nilla Wafer with Nutella in the middle and it sells for only 100cfa (about 25 cents) for a packet of 4. The only thing that’s currently giving Biskrem’s a run for their money is the AMAZING sandwich I eat each morning from the boutique. Before I explain the sandwich, however, let me explain a little more about village/boutique life:
Because we’re just a few KMs outside of Thies, this village doesn’t seem to have much going on in terms of commerce. It has 3 boutiques (within a 1 minute walk of each other) that all sell almost the same thing. Boutique #1, aka my boutique (because I’m working with them on a homework assignment) has the largest selection (and the smallest space) in town. They sell everything boutiques sell (snacks, soap, bleach, sugar, tea, etc) as well as additional things like flashlights, umbrellas, and lengths of cording. My purchases at this boutique are limited to a onetime sack of peanut butter (which I bought to supplement my protein intake… it tastes like unsweetened peanut butter), also daily I buy 2 bags of sugar coated roasted peanuts (total of 50 cfa). The second boutique in town, aka the onion boutique, is the smallest and gets its name from the pile of onions (and flies) on the floor. We used to go there a lot until we discovered… the third boutique! The third boutique is by far the cleanest, biggest, and newest. They sell the typical boutique goods as well as selling cold(ish) beer (350cfa for a small bottle of Flag) and they make breakfast! The breakfast they make is a bean dish that you make a sandwich out of but for about 250cfa they make me a fried egg that gets put between French bread that has some laughing cow cheese spread on it. Every day during our 15 minute break the 3 of us PCTs head over to the third boutique usually to buy 2 sandwiches and 1 soda (the 3rd PCT gets eggs at home so it isn’t such a big deal for him).
In other news, we’ve had heavy rain on a off for the past few days and right now (before I go to bed) my room is so amazingly cool. It’s probably 75 degrees, but I almost wish I had brought a top sheet. Today I definitely had one of those “wow” moments as I was sitting on the porch being taught (in French, of course) how to weave baskets out of palm fronds while torrential rains lashed against the tin roof and pretty much flooded the compound. WAS started work today and I think everyone back at school is getting ready for the year to start. It is impossible to not play the “what would I be doing if I wasn’t here” game but, no matter what it is that I decide I would be doing had I not joined the Peace Corps, I almost always end up thinking “but I’m in AFRICA! Wow.” It sounds so simple, but that’s really all I can do to sum up everything going on around me. Every time I see a Baobab tree (the kind Rafiki lived in in the movie The Lion King) or hear a rooster, I can’t believe that, here I am, sitting in a compound of total strangers, in a totally strange place, learning a mostly strange language. There are times I’d rather be other places, that’s for sure, but I’m still excited for what’s to come… I can’t wait to get to work!
September 6, 2009
Today will forever be known as the day I danced. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first, some background. My village had a huge party today because one of the girls had become a nun. The two interesting cultural things about the party are that they celebrated it like a real marriage (for those non-Catholics out there sometime’s being a nun is referred to as being “married to Christ”) and everyone that was her age, “generation 1985”, celebrated with her. Everyone born in 1985 got the same cloth and all made their own outfits (take a look at my photos… it’s the people in orange) and they also all had their own party, separate from the bigger party.
The day kicked off, like all Sundays, with Mass and the announcement of this woman’s accomplishment. Then we went to her parents compound (sidenote: her dad is Muslim, her mom is Catholic) and listened to speeches (very similar to how weddings are done in Senegal). During the speeches we got our appetizers (a plate of fried sweet and spicy dough – amazing, as well as a little ante pasta toothpick – spam and cheese) as well as a swallow of wine to toast. After the speeches finished, we formed little circles and the women of the village dropped off bowls (in Senegalese culture they all eat out of the same large bowl). The bowls were rice and beef (I saw the slaughtered cow yesterday) as well as some onions for a sauce. After lunch, I went back to take a nap because the heat was getting to me. By the time I was hydrated and back in party mode, the real fêtes had started. Everyone had split from the large party into smaller parties depending on families as well as the 1985 kids left to have their own. I ended up partying with them (one of my cousins was born that year) and that is where I danced. There is no way I could do justice to the hugeness of me actually dancing, but I’ll try my best. As my friends know, I’m not really the first on the dance floor… it’s actually rare that I’m on a dance floor at all… and that’s American dancing. Senegalese dancing is a lot of foot stomping, knee shaking, butt waging, and even some kicking… there’s no real way to explain it to paint the right picture but I’ll try to over the next 2 years. While the Senegalese LOVE recorded music, today’s dancing (and most fêtes) have drums (tom-toms). So imagine a whole bunch of people dancing to the FAST beat of drums and the dance being mostly focused on feet/leg movement. I started this dancing session with my normal approach “oh no, I’m not going to dance right now, I’m just watching… I need to learn how to dance, I’m just watching,” but somehow the atmosphere was truly contagious and everyone dancing and having an amazing time made me want to join in. When I was asked to dance by my cousin’s friend (another girl) I decided there was no time like the present that try to dance Senegalese and I dove right in. I’m sure I made a fool of myself but the wonderful thing about Senegalese culture is that they laugh at EVERYTHING but it’s never mean. Yes they laughed while I danced but I was laughing too, also, if I didn’t want to dance, I could just laugh at the person dancing and it’s actually more culturally acceptable than saying “no.”
So today I had my first REAL Senegalese party and it was a blast, but also very tiring. Oh- I learned a new goodbye saying I like…
A Prochain (aka until next time),
KO
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