Thanksgiving!

The past few days were the best Thanksgiving a PCV could ask for! It started, like most of my trips to Dakar will, at 5:45am when I got on the bus, now nicknamed "the magic school bus" and started my trip to Dakar. I got in without many issues and negotiated a cab to a bank (see one post earlier) and then to the PC office where I had some stuff to drop off. As a sort of holiday gift, I suppose, I got my mandatory flu shots (yeah, 2) and went to the regional house (aka 6, because that's the neighborhood it's in).

I have photos I'll be posting at some point in the next few days, but the regional house is basically a house PC owns that has 4 rooms of bunk beds (with mosquito nets), a kitchen, some bathrooms (with hot water!), and a living room. I was the first one too the house so I hung around and napped for a little bit while I waited from everyone else. Next Tamar came and I was able to hear about island life, followed shortly by Jackie and Alyssa with their epic ride to the regional house (I'm sure it'll be in one or both of their blogs). We hung out around the house for a bit then headed off to get Chinese food. The address of the restaurant was completely unhelpful so Jackie and Tamar took turns trying to get directions from the place itself before we finally gave up and gave the cell phone of the taximan (what they call cab drivers). He turned off the main road and down some back streets until we were in front of the restaurant, un-named "Chinese restaurant." We were, not surprisingly, the only people inside but we were given menus (in French and Chinese) and tried to order. After a few minutes of gestures and failed pantomiming (they didn't speak French, English, or Wolof) we ordered chow mein, szechuan tofu, rice, cumin calamari, and we learned they didn't have egg rolls (which is REALLY hard to pantomime). The food was AMAZING and I'm pretty sure it tasted like Chinese take out does in the US (I'm not sure if it was good because of what I've been eating, but I think it was good relative to all food).
After dinner we started the search for Yogoglace, a frozen yogurt-y thing that Alyssa gets in Thies and Tamar and I had never had. We tried the gas station (where Alyssa gets them) and left without Yogoglace but with 3 boxes of wine. We went back to the house and two other PCVs where there watching the Great Escape. Despite my nap from earlier in the day I was sleepy and content so I went to bed fairly early.

The next morning, Wednesday, everyone else had errands to do at the office so I went along for the ride. After some time at the office we walked to Casino the big, American-esque grocery store... boy it did not disappoint! It was amazing and just like a regular grocery store. I bought salt and vinegar Pringles to eat by the pool and we bought brie and bread to split. Next stop was a leisurely afternoon at the American Club where Emily, another girl from my stage, met us. After a few hours of lounging, we headed back to the house and found that more people had started to arrive. Around 7:30 we rushed out to try and make a happy hour special downtown (no worries, we made it in time) and met some other ex-pats that some of the year-in kids knew. Happy hour was followed with a BRILLIANT three way sandwich split between Tamar (Mergez), Alyssa (Chwaram), and me (Falafel) and then another bar where there was some live music. After enjoying the American tradition of going out the night before Thanksgiving, we headed back for a night's sleep in preparation for the big day.

Some of the guys left early to play football on Thanksgiving morning, but I hung around the house with the "potato crew" (basically the 4 other people I've mentioned by name) and enjoyed some delicious bean sandwiches and cold water (there's a fridge at 6). The plan for the day was to head over to our boss' house and make mashed potatoes and then leave for the Ambassador's from there. The Ambassador had invited PCVs to her house for Thanksgiving and we were asked to bring something. My friends and I quickly called dibbs on mashed potatoes but we had no idea the quantity (were we supplementing? bringing for all 40 people?). We ended up buying 6 kilos (slightly more than 13 pounds) of potatoes, some onions, garlic, butter, and (finally) found some Yogoglace (which was as amazing as promised). The afternoon was spent making what seemed like a million mashed potatoes and hanging out in our boss' kitchen. It was great to cook a little bit on Thanksgiving considering I grew up helping in the kitchen and last year I cooked one of the sorority's turkeys. Around 4pm we left for the Ambassador's armed with a GIANT pot of mashed potatoes (all mashed by hand).

Dinner at the Ambassador's was amazing and I am so thankful (not to be cheesy) that she invited us over. There were about 25 PCVs, a handful of Marines (each Embassy has Marines guarding it), a few other people. She had delicious, moist turkey, everyone's sides (including our potatoes) were outstanding, and it was great to spend Thanksgiving with a ton of people, especially the people who have sort of formed my make-shift family over the past few months. The Ambassador even had us go around the table and say what we were thankful for which was nice to hear (it ranged from "my family back home" to "that there's cranberry sauce here"... no the second one wasn't me but I seconded it). We all lingered after dinner not wanting to leave the holiday feeling, but eventually set out for the Marine house where we had been invited to watch the football games. The Marine house is nothing like 6: it's really clean, has lots of food, a big tv, books and movies about war and fighting, and generally a different feel. It was still nice to hang out and I enjoyed watching the football game even though it's not something I do in the States. Around the end of the 3rd quarter a cab of us headed back to 6 because we knew we had to get up EARLY this morning.

Tomorrow is one of the biggest holiday's in Senegal and everyone (mostly our Senegalese families) told us we were crazy for trying to travel on the day before Tabaski. No one, myself included, wanted to miss Thanksgiving or Tabaski, so we settled for getting up at 5:30am and trying to get the first cars out. The group going to Thies was very successful and I hear they made it back in about 3 hours (which is almost a normal trip time). I was heading past Thies with one other volunteer and we had some issues being WAY overcharged so we turned the first few cars down. About 3 cars in we settled on a higher but not ridiculous price and started our trip back to site. The garage in Dakar was CRAZY but there was kind of a holiday-ness to the atmosphere (maybe that's just because there were sheep EVERYWHERE... more on that tomorrow). I walked into my compound around 11am - so 5 hours total. It's a little long for Dakar-Bambey, but I made it back and that's all that matters.

Overall the trip was great. I obviously wish I could have spent the holiday with friends and family in the States, but because that wasn't a possibility, I'm glad I have great friends/make shift family and caring people like the Ambassador that I was able to spend it with. I'm exhausted from not getting much sleep but the holiday is just gearing up here... I'm sure I'll have PLENTY to write about tomorrow after celebrating my first Tabaski (which is also my first Muslim holiday because I was living with a Catholic family during Ramadan).

I hope everyone's having an excellent Black Friday and getting lots of great deals! I've already started listening to Christmas music!

KO

I went to America!

Today was my day trip to Dakar and it started at 5:30am. To be fair, I guess it started at 2:30am when I woke up to the sound of a wolf/coyote/hyena attack/dog fight (dog fight is the most likely but I had myself convinced it was something far more dangerous). The real trip started when I got up at 5:30, after a shower, oatmeal, coffee, and a quick call to AS, I was out the door to find "the bus." I'd been told that the best way to get to Dakar is by a bus that only stops before the garage opens and the garage opens around 7am. Luckily as I was nearing where the buses were (having arrived uneaten by wolves/coyotes/hyenas), someone took me to a bus and I got on. I was on my way! The bus ride was pretty pleasant, it's a large coach bus and people pretty much leave you alone - oh and they play really loud Arabic music the entire time, I assume it's kind of like elevator music but for buses. Three hours later I was in Dakar and totally lost. I got in a cab and was overcharged but had no idea the distance I was going so I just bit the bullet. Jackie and Alyssa were in the same sept-place (a station wagon) and Elizabeth was also in Dakar so we were all going to meet at the American Club (a place for expats to hang out that has a pool, tennis courts, a volleyball court, and food). I was the first one there but everyone else arrived quickly. We had time to kill before the softball game (the reason we all came to Dakar) so we ate blts, salads, and cheese fries (it was amazing).
Eventually we headed over to the game. The Dakar Region for the Peace Corps has a softball team that plays games every weekend so we were there to play/eat hotdogs. We all ended up playing a rotating 2nd base. I had a bad play and a good play but we won and it was a really fun time. After the game I went to the concession stand (it was just like a high school/little league game with concessions and everything) to get a hotdog. I started speaking French to the woman but some guy in US Embassy shirt told me that she spoke English. He then told me that the softball field was owned by the Embassy which my friends and I determined meant we were on American soil which is how I went to America today (if you know this to be false, don't ruin the fun)!
After the game we all went back to the American Club for some swimming, beach volleyball, and general lounging. The Dakar Region was having a meeting but Jackie, Alyssa, and I, determined to complete the challenge and stay every night in our own beds until Thanksgiving, left early.
The ride home was mostly uneventful. The garage should be scary but I don't actually think it is. Sure, there's a lot of commotion but people come up to you right away, ask you were you're going, and lead you to the right car. I've gotten pretty good at ignoring people so I followed a guy to the right car, double checked, and got in. I took a sept-place back and was back to Bambey in about 4 hours (just in time for spaghetti and chicken for dinner)!
I had a really great day in Dakar/America! I'm so happy I went but I'm not sad I didn't stay.
I don't have much planned for tomorrow, I'm going to try to focus on Wolof and then Ndem on Monday. Soon enough it's Thanksgiving!

Ba suba,
KO

Happy Halloween (Senegal Style)!

Happy Halloween everyone! Never fear, the holiday is alive and well in Senegal (at least with the PCVs).
The seven volunteers from my stage who all live around Thies (I'm the furthest out) had created a lunch group before we all went to site. We plan on meeting for lunch at least every month and today was the first luncheon. We were going to meet in Thies at 1pm so I left my house at 10:15am. The night before I'd asked my host family for directions on getting to Thies, Kira had told me about how to get to Dakar (you get up before the garage opens and you hail a big bus going from Touba to Dakar, you a pay 1,000 CFA and a few hours later you're in Dakar!). She's also told me that these buses don't stop in town while the garage is open... briefly on garages before I continue. A "garage" is, in it's simplest form, a place where cars and mini-buses going to places wait for people. Garages come in different sizes depending on the city (Bambey's is kind of small, Thies' is HUGE, I hear Dakar's is a madhouse) but garages are generally loud places where people are shouting at you and trying to get you in their car. Back to the story... my host family had given me a range of answers from "get on the bus" to "get in a car" but overall it seemed like I was going to get in a moving vehicle and pay, at most, 1,000CFA.
When I showed up at the garage I immediately attracted attention (not surprising) and had a million people askign "fo dem?" (where are you going). The first mini-bus driver I talked to (for a description and pictures of mini-buses aka Alhams look at the beach entry) told me it would be 800 CFA and to get in his bus, which I saw was empty. The buses don't leave until they're full and you can fit over 30 people in those... I thought I would give him a chance and ask "when are you leave?" (in French) to which I got the response "Monday." and promptly walked away. A bean sandwich vendor must have noticed my despair because I was called over and asked where I was going (I usually don't respond when I get called by people but I'm glad I did this time). She then made her pre-teen son hail the bus for me. I tried to get on but the attendant people (basically guys who ride on the back of the bus, take the money, and tell the driver when to stop by hitting the sides and/or top) weren't giving me a straight answer about whether I could get on that bus or not and the bus drove away. Frustrated with those people I walked away to an Alham, was told it would be 1,000CFA (too expensive but I'm a Toubab and I pay for it literally), got on, and squeezed into a seat. Over the next two hours (to go 50km) we would drive for a little then the guys on the back would signal to stop and someone would either get out or get in and we would continue. About 15km from Thies we stopped, the guys announced something in Wolof to the bus and everyone stood up to leave. I sat there looking HORRIBLY confused until some woman (about my age) turned to me and said I should stay, the people going to Dakar are just getting on another Alham. Then people from the second Alham got on our car... apparently we had a friend Alham out there somewhere and we consolidated (amazing... seriously). I ended up making it to the Thies garage in time to catch a cab to the restaurant and sit down for lunch.

My lunch, in case anyone's wondering was a beer, a salad, a cheese pizza, and some Skittles that Jackie brought. I ate way too much and it was amazing (I didn't eat breakfast to make room!) After lunch I had to buy a voltage regulator (when power cuts it tends to spike a lot and that can fry your electronics - lots of PCVs have lost computers). I, again, paid the Toubab price but whatever, it's worth it if it saves my computer for 2 years.

Afterwards, Jackie, Alyssa, and I went to the bank and a grocery store where I stocked up on ridiculous things (insect repellent for the ants in my bathroom, soap, granola that's so cheap it can be eaten like cereal, popcorn kernels, and CocoPops - Egyptian cereal). I also bought yogurt (made from real milk) and a bottle of cold water. We then continued to the "halloween party" Alyssa had invited us too. All we knew was that there was a Halloween party at one of the high schools and the other PCV in Thies had invited us to. When we showed up he told us that the US Embassy sponsors "American Clubs" in high schools across Senegal (and presumably the world) where they meet after school, speak English, learn about America, and the stop students in the country get to go to the US for a summer. Within three minutes there were desks set up at the front of the room and we were a panel on Halloween. We were told to explain what Halloween experiences we've had and if we'd played any tricks on people who didn't give us treats (that aspect to Halloween was really focused on). After we all told stories about Halloween (mine where that it was often too cold to wear a costume "below zero degrees Celsius!" and that my parents used to buy my Halloween candy from me the day after "for less than 5CFA!" In retrospect they seem like bad stories but it's really hard to explain Halloween to people who have no idea what it is at all... it sounds like a WEIRD holiday.) Then the students were given 5 minutes to write a paragraph on what Halloween is and some of were read aloud. After that I had to head out (it was already 5 and I needed to get back to Bambey) so Jackie and I left for the garage.

I'd never been to the Thies garage before but Jackie explained it to my perfectly, you basically walk through saying (in Wolof) "don't touch me. I'm going to Bambey." Sure enough, I was directed onto an Alham (that was almost full and ready to leave). Still a little nervous (it's not liked anything's marked) I asked the guy next to me and I was told I was going to the right place. I was charged 700CFA (the real price!) and the mini bus with 35 people and 4 riding on the back took off!... then we were stopped by the police who do random road stops to check for ID from the drivers... then we were off!... until people needed to start getting off. About an hour of stopping and starting later we made it to Khumbolt (the mid-point between Thies and Bambey). I was staring out the window because there isn't much else to do when I noticed goats being loaded on top of the car. Yep. Live goats. Between 5-7 of them being passed from someone on the ground to someone on top of the car and (I guess) being strapped down because I only heard them walking when they first got passed up. Then the guy who bought the goats got on and we were off again! Then the guy next to me had to get off and they unloaded his motorbike (a small motorcycle) from the top of the Alham. Then we were off... until we stopped and everyone going to Bambey was told to get off and get on ANOTHER Alham (friend Alham!)and we were off... until we finally got to Bambey and I made it home pretty much just in time for a quick shower and dinner.

Here I am now, eating cereal and downloading the first episode of this season's Gossip Girl... true if I was in the US this would be an epic fail of a Halloween but here in Senegal, I feel like I've had a pretty successful holiday!

I'll be posting pictures of the class soon, and Alyssa took pictures so check her blog. And thanks to my mom for making me take pumpkin hats that I thought were useless but came in handy today.

Happy Halloween! Eat some candy corn for me!
KO