Village, Part 3

Sept 20 2009

Last night there was a huge battle in the ongoing 2 year war: me v. the bugs of Senegal. I feel, for the most part, I have kept my blogging about bugs to a minimum. They really aren’t that integral to my life in Senegal. Yes, there are bugs, yes some of them are bigger than birds, yes ALL bugs here fly (even bugs that look like they don’t, but I’ve gotten used to them. I don’t freak out when there’s a bug on my, I smash bugs between my fingers all the time, bugs and I have practically called a ceasefire… until last night.

The story actually starts with my return to village: I opened the door to find about 150 earwigs had moved into my room. After calmly altering my hfmom (umm il y a beaucoup d’insects.. dans ma chambre), she got a broom and swept them all away! I thought that was the end of it, but boy was I wrong. Later than night bugs of all sorts and sizes (all with the ability to fly) started coming out and the battle really began. More than disgusting, it was frustrating to be CONSTANTLY swatting bugs of and hoping not to be bitten/stung. Eventually, I called it an early night (I couldn’t take them anymore) and retired to my room to discover more bugs! After killing a giant grasshopper, I tried to sneak under my mosquito netting which does a decent job to protecting from mosquitoes but, as I learned, doesn’t really protect against little green flying bugs. Finally around 1am I was able to fall asleep (I kept being almost asleep then waking up to the feeling of bugs on me) and woke up this morning to even more dead bugs on the top of my mosquito net. I was told last night than the bugs mean it’s almost the end of the rainy season which means the cold season (yay!!!!) is coming soon. I think the harvest is next week, but everything is already starting to come in (I spent about an hour helping shuck beans today). No school tomorrow because it’s Korite (aka Eid al fitra (sorry about the spelling) aka the end of Ramadan) but because we’re in a Catholic village we won’t get to celebrate… oh well! There’s always next year (as well as Tabaski (sp) which is the other big Senegalese Muslim holiday). Also, my hf in this village invited me to come here for Christmas which I have no real interest in doing but I might spend Easter here! I’ve heard from many volunteers it’s a really good idea to spend holidays that are important to you (Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc) with other volunteers… especially if you think you’re going to be homesick. I’m not really one to be homesick but I can’t imagine not missing everyone terribly on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Looks like the lunch cheb is ready!

A prochain,

KO

September 22, 2009

Regarding Bucket Baths:

While it might seem a little ridiculous, there is a lot to say apropos bucket baths (a really quick, nerdy French note “apropos de” is how you say “about”). So, bucket baths! Briefly, for those of you not familiar with “bucket baths”, here in Senegal it basically involves a big-ish bucket (maybe a few gallons) and a smaller quart sized bucket for pouring. You pour water on yourself, add soup, and pour more water to rinse off. It’s not a difficult task to do but it’s difficult to do well (don’t believe me, try washing shampoo out of your hair this method).

I really see there being 2 purposes for a bucket bath: to clean you, to cool you off. Starting with the first, I find this type of bucket baths to be the less pleasant of the two. For me, I take this type of bucket bath around 7am when there isn’t much motivation to jump out of bed and dump cold water all over myself. These are the bucket baths that I hurry through and they’re the ones that I really notice the smell of the bathroom.

The second type of bucket bath… that’s a WHOLE different ball game. These usually come around 6pm, maybe a little later but right before the sun sets because then it’s starting to cool off and you know that if you take a shower you’ll stay relatively clean until bed. Unlike its morning friend, this bucket of icy cold water is welcomed and the smell of the bathroom seems to fade into the background. It’s a great feeling to leave the bathroom knowing you’re not immediately stepping into the hot sun and going to be sweaty in 5 minutes. I, clearly, prefer cooling-off bucket baths to cleaning up baths.

Enough on bucket baths! Overall village days are going fine (clearly nothing too exciting going on as I have enough time to really debate bucket baths) and they’re moving kind of quickly which is nice. Oh, and there are some chicks in my compound so I took the initiative to name them (I figure we’re not going to eat them while I’m here because there are much larger chickens if we were ever going to eat one… which I’m sure we’re not). There are 6 chickens, 3 yellow ones and 3 black ones. The yellow ones are: Boris (the largest, pushiest one of them all – even though the only Boris I know isn’t pushy), Chip (it has markings like a chipmunk) and Swarly (an inside joke). The black ones are Maddy (it has black and yellow fuzz and is quite a mess) and then there are two that look identical thus earning the names Orangejello and Lemonjello (another inside joke, this time aimed at my roommates from Soph. year).

I swear my days are filled with more than bucket baths and naming chickens, it just isn’t that exciting to write about sitting in French class or talking about the heat. I hope everyone’s having a great week!

A Prochain!
KO

September 23

Today I had a moment with my host mom, and I really don’t know any other way to describe it (though I wish I did). First, a little bit of needed background: my hfmom and I have never not gotten along, but we’ve never really gotten along either. I’m not sure if she speaks just a little French or just can’t understand me, but we don’t talk, ever (she also only speaks to the other people in the family in local languages). I also would totally understand if she doesn’t like me, she and my hfdad were married August 9^th of this year… 2 weeks before I came. The best I can gather about Senegalese marriages is that there are 2 parts, the legitimate part and the party (which can happen YEARS… YEARS later). What, I think, happened, is that my hfparents were married (legit part) about 6 years ago but they just had the party with the church ceremony 1.5 months ago. Anyway, my interaction with my hfmom is limited to me thanking her for breakfast or other meals when she cooks. Other than that, we mind our own business.

So back to today! I didn’t tell my hfmom what time class was starting (kind of assuming she would know it started at 8am) but that’s not the Senegalese way. So when I woke up this morning no one was up. I proceeded with my bucket bath and, as I left for class, still, the compound was empty. I wasn’t too worried about the lack of breakfast because I’d skipped breakfast and my hfmom came and got me(the idea of interruptions doesn’t not exist). I went to class knowing that I would, eventually, be gotten for breakfast. I explained this to my teacher and my classmates and we started class. Sure enough, about 45 minutes later, my hfmom comes into the compound that we have class. We made eye contact and both just started laughing. I have no idea what was funny but there was some understanding between the two of us. So there I was, sitting under a mango tree, in Africa, laughing with a Senegalese woman because we both seemed to understand each other in that moment. I’m sorry I this didn’t really translate well being retold, but that was my morning!

Other than that, I learned how to make sugar peanuts, which are exactly what they seem to be: peanuts with sugar cooked on them. They’re sold in little packets for 25 cfa (about $0.07US). Only 4 more days until the beach!

A bientot!
KO

September 25, 2009

So it rained this morning, which really makes me change my thoughts on rain. Rain in the afternoon/evening is great because it gives me time alone, but rain in the morning is not my friend. Getting out bed knowing you have to walk through the rain to take a cold bucket bath isn’t really encouraging for the day. Aside from the far from excellent start to the day, it actually continued quite well. Class went by pretty quickly and we were off for the rest of the day. Today’s Cheb was really good (I honestly think I’ve become adjusted to the taste and my family has learned I just don’t eat fish). During the afternoon I visited Murial (the girl who makes sugared peanuts). There was a semi-final game for the summer soccer league so I walked with her the 1km to the soccer field then returned home. I’ve started taking a real pleasure in doing things that I know make the Senegalese shake their heads in confusion such as walking somewhere by yourself (even though it was 3pm, everyone walks with someone else) or even walking somewhere for fun not because I have to. After that I hung around the compound and got an early evening shower because it was Friday night and we were hitting the town! Of course by hitting the town I mean going to the boutique and drinking Fanta and eating a packet of 4 cookies but Fridays are always good days! After a few hours of good conversation with my fellow trainees I got home just in time for Marina, the Brazilian (I think) that’s on Senegalese TV every night. I’m not really sure of the plot, but it’s still fun to watch a soap opera. After that we had a fiesta for dinner! At least the closest thing to a fiesta that I’ll get in 2 years. I was rice with beans and fish (as usual I avoided the fish). When I put lime on the rice (my hffamily really likes lime on their rice) and closed my eyes it was almost as if I was eating at a really bad Mexican restaurant, and it was amazing. I ate a ton and one of my cousins even noticed that I was eating the beans and gave me more.

Unfortunately there are a lot of bugs tonight (due to the rain) but I’m hoping my mosquito net is tucked in well enough. Language exam tomorrow then a game for the “younger” team (the “cadets” are in middle school so 13-17ish and the “seniors” are in high school so 18-26ish). My hfcousin is playing in the game so hopefully I’ll be able to go.

A prochain,

KO

September 27, 2009

In my attempts to be a good peace corps volunteer appropriately integrating, or at least trying my hardest, into Senegalese culture, I went to the soccer game yesterday. Keep in mind, what seems like an easy task, going to a soccer game, is far from it. The field is 1km away and it was HOT yesterday. Of course the game started at 3:15, because when better to play soccer in an un-covered field than at the hottest part of the day? It is impossible to describe the heat but I’ll work on it and get back to you. I found out that my hfcousin is actually the captain of the team so that was cool. For the most part the game was 1-0 (my hfcousin’s team leading) until the other team scored with less than one minute left! The game went into penalty kicks but the goalie for my hfcousin’s team had been red carded in the last minute and my hfcousin had to step in to play goalie for the penalty kicks. My hfcousin finally blocked the 7^th penalty kick and his team won. It was really exciting but I got out of there are soon as I could because there was a lot of running and screaming and I didn’t want to be caught up in the middle of it (I try to avoid large crowds as much as possible). I’m really glad I went and I was even invited to stand with the girls that were cheering the team on (yay for having kind of friends!).

A quick thing I’ve noticed about my life: I spend a lot of time talking to things/people that I know cannot respond to me. I spend probably a total of an hour or so a day talking to bugs and animals in English. Most of my one-sided conversations are along the lines of “no, that’s my room, you don’t live there” or “don’t think about getting in my mosquito net!” or the worst “how did you get in my mosquito net!” When not speaking to insects, I also spend a lot of time talking to the kids in English. I’m saving describing my interactions with the kids until I think I can do it without ranting angrily without a point. But I’ll leave it at usually when the kids are annoying to me I start speaking to them in English: “Yes, I am reading, no I don’t want to talk to you,” “yep… still ignoring you, maybe you should go away now,” “yeah, I still have no idea what you’re saying because I don’t speak that language and I never will.” You get the idea. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the kids don’t drive me crazy but these kids would drive anyone crazy (yes S.Low… even you).

I go back to Thies tomorrow to go to straight to the beach and I’m so excited! Hopefully I’ll get this posted before we go to the beach because our next few days after that are all over the place. Our counterparts are coming in so they’re staying in the center and we’re commuting in from our villages for a few days. I’ll for sure be back to the center Saturday.

Man, this is going to be a looooong blog post! Sorry, but 9 days in the village… and I had a lot to say about bucket baths.

A toute a l’heure (my most used departure phrase – “another time”),

KO

PS, congrats on making it through this 4.5 page blog… sorry… only one more giant blog from village time left then training is over and I’ll hopefully have internet in my room!

PPS- Here are some things I forgot to mention. My hfdad’s soccer team lost in the semi-final today. It also went into penalty kicks but the other team won (I have some pictures from the game just added). Also, I should have mentioned this in the food post but couscous here is not similar to the couscous most people in the US come across at home or in their travels. It is not what they call here “Moroccan CousCous” which is the kind that’s sort of like rice in little balls. It’s pounded millet that’s been sifted, dried in the sun, and then rehydrated just before eating. It honestly has the same physical characteristics of wet sand.