The Holidays!

Happy 2010 everyone! I hope everyone had great holidays and their plans didn't get too ruined by bad weather. My holidays were really great and, even though I missed everyone, other volunteers and I were able to put together a pretty great celebration. I'll try to tell all of the interesting parts but I apologize in advance for it being long-winded.

I went to Dakar right before Christmas because I had chipped 2 teeth during PST and needed to get them fixed. For the most part my time in Dakar was generally uneventful, I watched some Degrassi (thanks Mom) and spent a lot of time at the Dentist. He was closed, however, and he needed to see me immediately after the holidays but luckily I was joined by friends and we did Christmas right (albeit a few days late but when it's 80 degrees what does it matter). Tamar and I made cinnamon rolls one day, we all helped make a feast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Alyssa's mom (thank you!) had sent things for tacos so we had that, we had Chinese food, green bean casserole (thanks to Elizabeth's mom), lasagna and a ton of other food. Overall it was an amazing few days of eating (pictures are up). We also too the time to actually get to know Dakar. While I'd been around the city a few times, none of us had the time to see the sites so that's what we did! One day, I had my dentist appointment in the morning and they met me afterwards, we went to Goree Island. Goree's the last point slaves were brought before being shipped off. The island is beautiful and full of French architecture (look at the pictures). After walking around Goree for a little bit (and getting a discount because we're recognized as residents) we decided to get back on the boat and kill some time before dinner (fried chicken). The first stop was a dockside bar that several volunteers had recommended. It was pretty fun and the beers were cheap so after a drink each (look for the two pictures of happy volunteers with cheap beers) we left to go to another bar for happy hour and then on to fried chicken. The fried chicken was AMAZING and we sat around a table at the regional house eating it family style just to make it even more like America.

Another trip in Dakar was to the top of the hill where the lighthouse is which provided another set of beautiful ocean pictures. Even though I don't get to see the ocean in Bambey, I LOVE being in a Peace Corps country that isn't landlocked. Yay Senegal! We also went to the French cultural center for my birthday, I had an amazing steak and everyone else got burgers with Brie or Gruyère (maybe the best meal I've had yet).

The final two big things I can think of are that one day we got ice cream (again look for the pictures) and one of my flavors was "Obama Cookie" which is chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies crumbled in. The other is that after about 8 appointments my teeth are back to normal!

We decided to meet a large group of people up in St. Louis to celebrate the new year. On the ride up we saw camels! So after getting there we spent most of the first day hanging out and went to the actual island of St. Louis (the city is an island in the river and the land around it with part of it - where we were staying - on the ocean). On the island we stumbled into a city gathering of sorts and, from what we could tell, it was this "fake lion" thing Jackie had seen in Pout. The short verson is a guy dresses up like a lion and if you don't have a ticket (which you could have bought before hand) they find you in the crowd, take you into the center, and pretend to attack you (Jackie had a ticket and still got sand put in her hair in Pout). After realizing that's what it might be we decided to leave before the festivities started (we didn't have tickets).

The next morning we saw the island to check it off the list. Overall I would say it was nice but nothing super special as far as history goes (we were too cheap to buy tickets to the museums though). Afterwards we hung out on the beach (even though it was cold) and started preparing for new years. A beautiful feast was made (I'll have pictures as soon as Tamar posts them and I can steal them) including beef, shrimp, fish, cheese and bread, and roasted pineapple. Once we'd all finished eating (the feast was cooked over real charcoal on the hotel's grill and Ethan used palm fronds as utensils because, aside from pocket knives, we didn't have anything). After eating a few of us decided to head to the island to spend midnight and it as an amazing decision. This midnight was spend with friends, dancing in the streets of St. Louis (with everyone else) to drums all singing "Happy New Year Africa" (in French of course). It was one of those ridiculous, "wow I am in the Peace Corps," moments and it was something we all relished because who knows the next time we'll have a New Year like that (maybe we'll be visiting home next year like most 2nd years)! The rest of the night was danced away (not on the streets though), and we got back around the time for morning prayer call (enough time for it to be 2010 on the East Coast).

This morning we woke up and started the epic journey home. For me, I had to go to Thies and then get in an alham to Bambey, then be moved to a bus finally getting home around 6pm (no real complaints, though, I'm close compared to most of the other people).

Even though it wasn't at home, which was sad, I feel like I had an amazing holiday. Not only was I distracted enough to not be sad about missing everyone but I also was ready to get back to site by the end of it. I think that'll help carry me into IST which will be, most likely, my next overnight trip out of Bambey.

Happy 2010 everyone!
KO

Artisan Expo

I am happily back from Dakar! This weekend was the artisan expo and a series of dentist appointments to deal with 2 chipped teeth (my training family was NOT good at getting rid of the rocks in their rice). I went to Dakar Thursday for my Friday morning appointment and found the house PACKED with people. There are a million people who have been here longer going home for Christmas as well as people going to a party up north. Because of that, there were no beds and I slept on a mattress outside (I had a mosquito net and when it was quiet it wasn't bad at all). Thursday night a 3rd year volunteer was having a party for someone who was COS (close of service)ing.
Friday morning I went to the dentist right on time to find out that the power was off and he didn't have a generator (which seems REALLY WEIRD AND SCARY) but would come back on at noon. I wandered around the big grocery store down there and bought shredded cheese (more on that later) and a sandwich. During my second trip to the dentist (after brushing my teeth from lunch) he told me I would have to come back at 4pm because he had questions for the PC med office. Back at 4, the appointment went fine but he needed to see me Monday again. I decided to take the bus back from downtown to the regional house and aside from the fact it took a while, it was relatively easy and I would absolutely do it again. Friday night Alyssa joined me in Dakar and we dug into the gnocci she had been sent.
Saturday was the Artisan Expo which was mostly sitting around with Matar and the other volunteers. By the end of the first day he had sold all of the hoodies (pictures on my blog) and a few bags. Saturday night was, however, the much awaited pizza dinner. Alyssa's mom (thank you!) had sent her pre-cooked pizza crusts, pizza sauce, canned mushrooms, and pepperoni so with the shredded cheese we made amazing pizzas and had a quiet night watching movies with a few other volunteers. Unfortunately no one else had a quiet night and sleeping outside was pretty difficult because people were all over the place and staying up really late.
Sunday morning started with training on costing for the artisans which I think they all really enjoyed. For lunch Oliver, Alyssa, and I went and got (much awaited) fried chicken and it was AMAZING! It was like real fried chicken. Alyssa left after the expo and I hung around the house with a few more people from my stage. Eventually everyone went to happy hour and then back to the house where I (finally) got a real bed and slept happily! This morning I had the dentist appointment, which went well, and was in the car back to Bambey by 1pm.
It was a tiring weekend and I'm really happy to be back in Bambey. This week I have some tutoring and I'm going to try to catch up with the women's training center as well as continue the search for a women's group to work with. It's slowly cooling off and my hfsisters usually bundle up at night when we sit and watch tv (I'm still in a tank top and capris). Hopefully I'll be able to stay in Bambey until Christmas (minus Thies for lunch this Friday - someone's birthday). Oh and I think I'm going to make pancakes for my hfamily maybe tomorrow. I'm choosing pancakes because they're pretty easy to make with ingredients here and I've heard other volunteers say their families have really liked them.

KO