Yesterday I went to Thies and had lunch with Alyssa and Jackie. Of course we did the the always delicious greek salad/lasagna split. I ran some other errands while in Thies including getting from Alyssa (grocery stores are closed on Sundays) cake pans to try and make Miriam a cake for her birthday (May 29th). I told everyone if I could make it (using the Alyssa method) I'd make one for everyone's birthday.
Today wasn't too exciting EXCEPT I learned that there are hedgehogs in Africa... more specifically in my compound. We had a hedgehog walk around lost for most of the news tonight. Who knew?
Also, Alyssa gave me two People magazines which I read and passed on the the girls in my family. Today Youssou was flipping through one of them and pointed out every ad for food and asked if I could make the food. Of the three (pizza, meatball sub, Jello's new chocolate mousse) he was disappointed I said maybe to only one (pizza) and no to the other two.
Tomorrow I'm going to start painting my mural (no worries, it's not freehand) at the middle school and write my lesson plan for Wednesday's "accounting class." Oh and don't forget study for the LSAT (tomorrow marks 3 weeks until the test!
KO
Monday, May 17, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The magic of poultry
I like to take advantage of everyone being in school or doing housework in the morning by studying for the LSAT. Today I decided to study outside because it's starting to heat up and we don't get wind in our courtyard. About 10 minutes after sitting down a little boy approached me and greeted me. He then proceeded to sit next to me and watch me take my practice test. Two other little kids joined him so I asked them if they wanted to color. A family friend had sent me crayons so I brought down some paper and the crayons and told them to color. Eventually we attracted 3 more kids and I had about 6 kids coloring houses and people (their choosing). I gave paper to the youngest one (maybe 3? 4?) the other kids said to me, "he can't color, he can't do anything," but this was American-color time so everyone got to color. Eventually, I needed to go upstairs and get some real work done so coloring time was done, but I plan on continuing it.
I didn't do much this afternoon but Thomas came to visit and I went for a run after he left. I'm so glad I have a neighbor who likes riding his bike 50km a few times every week. It's nice to chat with another volunteer even if only for 30 minutes. After Thomas left I went for a run. There's a group of women I pass a lot and today I invited them to join on the run, one of them even pretended to get up... we settled on they would join me tomorrow. It's always nice to joke with Senegalese people (which is so different than the usual being laughed at).
Apparently the stars are aligned tonight because after a month of rice, beans, and dried fish for dinner we had salad, fries, and poultry. I say poultry because my hfdad's been hunting and returning with small birds (having never seen them Jackie's decided they're grouse) so it might have been that... or a chicken - who knows ... it was amazing.
KO
I didn't do much this afternoon but Thomas came to visit and I went for a run after he left. I'm so glad I have a neighbor who likes riding his bike 50km a few times every week. It's nice to chat with another volunteer even if only for 30 minutes. After Thomas left I went for a run. There's a group of women I pass a lot and today I invited them to join on the run, one of them even pretended to get up... we settled on they would join me tomorrow. It's always nice to joke with Senegalese people (which is so different than the usual being laughed at).
Apparently the stars are aligned tonight because after a month of rice, beans, and dried fish for dinner we had salad, fries, and poultry. I say poultry because my hfdad's been hunting and returning with small birds (having never seen them Jackie's decided they're grouse) so it might have been that... or a chicken - who knows ... it was amazing.
KO
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Yangi Nice? (as Chris Williams greets people literally meaning you nice?)
I just finished a fun filled weekend in Dakar but, like always, I'm pretty happy to be back at site. I really like Dakar in small doses but when you're there too long it just gets expensive, loud, and annoying. That being said, I had an amazing weekend.
It started with the SeneGAD board meeting on Saturday, which went long but was productive. I'm the activities chair and this is our first year as a 501(c)(3) so there's a lot of work to be done. I like the GAD president's direction (it might help that she was in a sorority and she's basing the organization of GAD off of her sorority... at least as far as institutional memory and position definition go). Saturday night I didn't really do much because we had the regular GAD meeting early Sunday. Oh, there was, however, a marathon of America's Next Top Model... each regional house seems to have their favorite shows (Kaolack's obsessed with Glee more than any other region) and the Dakar region seems to be attracted to trashy TV shows (ANTM, Jersey Shore, etc.).
Jackie came in early Sunday morning and we had the GAD meeting with the board and all the regional reps. Afterwards everyone called their mom to wish them a happy mother's day. Elizabeth was sticking around the office so to kill time Jackie and I went to the restaurant thing near the office and tried to order iced coffee (we were copying another volunteer). After ordering "coffee... with milk... and ice.... cold coffee," the manager came over to our table and said, "You want coffee... with ice? You want it cold? That's strange," and walked away. Eventually we got our iced coffee and explained that American's really like it when it's hot. For dinner a group of us met up with Chris a COS-ing volunteer for Chinese. Chris speaks Chinese so he just ordered everything for us and it was amazing.
Monday morning Jackie and I had a meeting with Talla to figure out this camp stuff. He made some calls and wrote us an official request letter for the head of university affairs for all of Senegal (based in Dakar) and we delivered it. I'm supposed to call Thursday to find out whether we have approval to use the U of Bambey campus for the camp so we'll see! Afterwards we went to lunch and ran into some people from Wheaton (where we both went to high school) in town for something (a third volunteer went there for college and says they come every year). Finally, the best part of the weekend came around 3pm. Chris (same one who got us an amazing dinner) tried to teach Jackie and I how to surf. He took us out one at a time, dragging the board through the waves, then turning us around, and telling us which wave to try for. Neither of us did very well but it was really fun and something I want to do again. Afterwards we got dinner with Chris and Elizabeth then we all met with a girl from Google West Africa. She's based in Ghana but was in Dakar... she was able to give me some tips for the upcoming Ghana trip. At the end of the night I said goodbye to Chris... which is weird thinking that the next time I see him will probably be in America considering I know him only in the context of Senegal.
I tried to leave Dakar this morning but ended up leaving around noon. There was a Peace Corps car going to Thies which meant a free ride (with air conditioning and actual room for sitting) as well as a free lunch at the training center. As I was trying to leave the driver asked where I was going and told me he could take me back to Bambey. I thought he was just being really nice but it turns out that Peace Corps gets their seeds from the agricultural research center outside of Bambey and he was picking up seeds. No matter, I got a second free (air conditioned) ride and made it back to site by 2pm.
Tonight before dinner my host mom told me that I needed to eat a lot because I was starting to lose my jaayfonde (large rear end) which, of course, to Senegalese women would be a huge concern. I tried to reassure her that, due to genetics etc. it wouldn't be leaving anytime soon but she's still pretty worried.
It started with the SeneGAD board meeting on Saturday, which went long but was productive. I'm the activities chair and this is our first year as a 501(c)(3) so there's a lot of work to be done. I like the GAD president's direction (it might help that she was in a sorority and she's basing the organization of GAD off of her sorority... at least as far as institutional memory and position definition go). Saturday night I didn't really do much because we had the regular GAD meeting early Sunday. Oh, there was, however, a marathon of America's Next Top Model... each regional house seems to have their favorite shows (Kaolack's obsessed with Glee more than any other region) and the Dakar region seems to be attracted to trashy TV shows (ANTM, Jersey Shore, etc.).
Jackie came in early Sunday morning and we had the GAD meeting with the board and all the regional reps. Afterwards everyone called their mom to wish them a happy mother's day. Elizabeth was sticking around the office so to kill time Jackie and I went to the restaurant thing near the office and tried to order iced coffee (we were copying another volunteer). After ordering "coffee... with milk... and ice.... cold coffee," the manager came over to our table and said, "You want coffee... with ice? You want it cold? That's strange," and walked away. Eventually we got our iced coffee and explained that American's really like it when it's hot. For dinner a group of us met up with Chris a COS-ing volunteer for Chinese. Chris speaks Chinese so he just ordered everything for us and it was amazing.
Monday morning Jackie and I had a meeting with Talla to figure out this camp stuff. He made some calls and wrote us an official request letter for the head of university affairs for all of Senegal (based in Dakar) and we delivered it. I'm supposed to call Thursday to find out whether we have approval to use the U of Bambey campus for the camp so we'll see! Afterwards we went to lunch and ran into some people from Wheaton (where we both went to high school) in town for something (a third volunteer went there for college and says they come every year). Finally, the best part of the weekend came around 3pm. Chris (same one who got us an amazing dinner) tried to teach Jackie and I how to surf. He took us out one at a time, dragging the board through the waves, then turning us around, and telling us which wave to try for. Neither of us did very well but it was really fun and something I want to do again. Afterwards we got dinner with Chris and Elizabeth then we all met with a girl from Google West Africa. She's based in Ghana but was in Dakar... she was able to give me some tips for the upcoming Ghana trip. At the end of the night I said goodbye to Chris... which is weird thinking that the next time I see him will probably be in America considering I know him only in the context of Senegal.
I tried to leave Dakar this morning but ended up leaving around noon. There was a Peace Corps car going to Thies which meant a free ride (with air conditioning and actual room for sitting) as well as a free lunch at the training center. As I was trying to leave the driver asked where I was going and told me he could take me back to Bambey. I thought he was just being really nice but it turns out that Peace Corps gets their seeds from the agricultural research center outside of Bambey and he was picking up seeds. No matter, I got a second free (air conditioned) ride and made it back to site by 2pm.
Tonight before dinner my host mom told me that I needed to eat a lot because I was starting to lose my jaayfonde (large rear end) which, of course, to Senegalese women would be a huge concern. I tried to reassure her that, due to genetics etc. it wouldn't be leaving anytime soon but she's still pretty worried.
Friday, May 7, 2010
SeneGAD
I'm heading to Dakar today for the quarterly SeneGAD (Gender and Development) meeting (for more info check out www.senegad.org ). I'm hoping to make it there in time for quiz night (and to see Tamar before she heads back to the Ladj) and there's a possibility a COS-ing volunteer might find time to teach Jackie and I to surf after the meeting.
Before I head out, though, I want to give a shout out to my friend Carly who's about a month away from her own Peace Corps adventure in Honduras! Check out her blog to follow her in Central America!
Have a good weekend everyone! Congrats to those of you graduating!
KO
Before I head out, though, I want to give a shout out to my friend Carly who's about a month away from her own Peace Corps adventure in Honduras! Check out her blog to follow her in Central America!
Have a good weekend everyone! Congrats to those of you graduating!
KO
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Crash Course
I might have mentioned it before but I started teaching a business class at the middle school. It's supposed to be 15 hours (chosen by the school supervisor) over 7 classes (chosen by me)and in French (which is a million times better than Wolof which I would be unable to say anything). We're studying business basics: what makes a good business, budgeting, profit, markets, marketing, accounting, and VERY VERY basic econ (which I'm now thinking we won't have time to get to). The first meeting was last Wednesday but all we did was talk briefly about the topic of the course and very, very abstractly about what makes a good business. Everyone's "thought homework" (I told them I wasn't going to give them real homework, just things to think about) was to think of something that's missing in Bambey.
Today was our second meeting and I had a pretty simple plan: a brief intro and my expectations, what makes a good business, how to find YOUR idea, how to choose/analyze your idea, group work (they're working in groups to apply the daily lessons and "create" a business). In theory the teaching (mostly discussion based) was going to take an hour and a half and the group work 30 minutes.
That didn't happen for several reasons... but let's start at the beginning:
My expectations: I simply explained that, even though Senegalese teachers will tell them exactly what to write down (usually they write it on the board and the students copy it exactly), I was going to teach like an American. Aka, they would have to decide that was important to write down. (We'll come back to how well this worked in a second).
The three "subjects" went alright until I would ask for students' ideas ("what's something missing in Bambey?" "why should your business idea be based on something you like to do?") and it was like pulling teeth. About 15 questions in, they figured out that I wasn't going to make fun of them or yell at them for any answer and that I also wasn't going to move on until I got answers (I started saying "we're not moving on until I have 5 answers,"). We also had problems when I would ask students to summarize or tell me the important parts of what I had taught. After the first try at that (in response to "what makes a good business") they started kind of taking notes and I had a few students be able to volunteer for the next section.
Unfortunately that only took an hour total. I had an hour left to do the group work and I was SURE that they would finish it in 10 minutes (I remember anytime anyone said to me, "you're done and can leave after this" I rushed through everything). The way I set it up was that there would be 5 groups and each group had a notebook I had bought. I was going to create "worksheets" for each lesson so today's they had to write 3 things they each liked to do, 3 things they were each good at, and 3 business ideas (I told them they could be not feasible). Then they would choose 3 for the group and do a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) analysis for each of those 3 and settle on one. Luckily that took them an hour! (So I was right on time).
I collected the notebooks so I could read them and judge what was learned and what needs to be reviewed. I learned that I need to review the concept of not copying another business (no, I'm not letting any of my students open the 100th cyber cafe or the 15 pharmacy in town). And I didn't do a good enough job of explaining that your likes/what you're good at should lead into your business ideas. For instance, one of my students loves dance and is good at dance and wants to open a hair salon.
I know the kids are kind of frustrated with my French but I went from having 15 students the first day to 27 today. I'd love to keep all 27 (including the high schooler who's coming to the middle school for the class) but I'll be happy if I keep 20. But, (sort of) to my credit I think they're all at least interested even if it is only because I'm a foreigner.
Who knows! We don't have class next week because there's a field trip but the next class (in two weeks) is budgeting, profit, and accounting (because I had to combine two classes... I might end up just getting rid of econ and pushing everything back a week once I start lesson planning).
Sorry that was kind of long but I'm excited to be actually doing (or trying to do) business development work!
KO
Today was our second meeting and I had a pretty simple plan: a brief intro and my expectations, what makes a good business, how to find YOUR idea, how to choose/analyze your idea, group work (they're working in groups to apply the daily lessons and "create" a business). In theory the teaching (mostly discussion based) was going to take an hour and a half and the group work 30 minutes.
That didn't happen for several reasons... but let's start at the beginning:
My expectations: I simply explained that, even though Senegalese teachers will tell them exactly what to write down (usually they write it on the board and the students copy it exactly), I was going to teach like an American. Aka, they would have to decide that was important to write down. (We'll come back to how well this worked in a second).
The three "subjects" went alright until I would ask for students' ideas ("what's something missing in Bambey?" "why should your business idea be based on something you like to do?") and it was like pulling teeth. About 15 questions in, they figured out that I wasn't going to make fun of them or yell at them for any answer and that I also wasn't going to move on until I got answers (I started saying "we're not moving on until I have 5 answers,"). We also had problems when I would ask students to summarize or tell me the important parts of what I had taught. After the first try at that (in response to "what makes a good business") they started kind of taking notes and I had a few students be able to volunteer for the next section.
Unfortunately that only took an hour total. I had an hour left to do the group work and I was SURE that they would finish it in 10 minutes (I remember anytime anyone said to me, "you're done and can leave after this" I rushed through everything). The way I set it up was that there would be 5 groups and each group had a notebook I had bought. I was going to create "worksheets" for each lesson so today's they had to write 3 things they each liked to do, 3 things they were each good at, and 3 business ideas (I told them they could be not feasible). Then they would choose 3 for the group and do a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) analysis for each of those 3 and settle on one. Luckily that took them an hour! (So I was right on time).
I collected the notebooks so I could read them and judge what was learned and what needs to be reviewed. I learned that I need to review the concept of not copying another business (no, I'm not letting any of my students open the 100th cyber cafe or the 15 pharmacy in town). And I didn't do a good enough job of explaining that your likes/what you're good at should lead into your business ideas. For instance, one of my students loves dance and is good at dance and wants to open a hair salon.
I know the kids are kind of frustrated with my French but I went from having 15 students the first day to 27 today. I'd love to keep all 27 (including the high schooler who's coming to the middle school for the class) but I'll be happy if I keep 20. But, (sort of) to my credit I think they're all at least interested even if it is only because I'm a foreigner.
Who knows! We don't have class next week because there's a field trip but the next class (in two weeks) is budgeting, profit, and accounting (because I had to combine two classes... I might end up just getting rid of econ and pushing everything back a week once I start lesson planning).
Sorry that was kind of long but I'm excited to be actually doing (or trying to do) business development work!
KO
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Youssou
I really like my host family; I think we're a really good fit for each other. The volunteer I visited this weekend (not Jackie, the other one) has 6 younger host brothers ranging from high school to about 2... I could not do that. I like that everyone in my host family is pretty independent and, though they care about me, don't bother me when I'm working or trying to get something done (the few times that happens). Miriam's birthday is later this month (I have to ask about the other 3 kids) and I plan on making an Alyssa-style double boiled/baked cake for her because she's always really nice to me (not to say that everyone isn't nice). But then there's Youssou... I'm sure I'll write about Youssou a million times while I'm here but he's just so great.
Today he saw me as I was walking back from a meeting and yelled his characteristic, "EHHH! FATOOOOOOUUU!" that I get every time he sees me. Then he waited for me to catch up to him before continuing home. Afterwards I sat out front with Ndiaye, Miss, and my hfmom while Youssou and his friends played a game, the rules of which seem to be:
The person with the tennis ball throws it at someone else
Everyone tries to not get hit/catch the ball
Repeat.
Today's lesson of the day: pre-teen boys are apparently the same everywhere... give them a sharp stick and they'll run with it, give them a tennis ball and they'll throw it at each other.
KO
Today he saw me as I was walking back from a meeting and yelled his characteristic, "EHHH! FATOOOOOOUUU!" that I get every time he sees me. Then he waited for me to catch up to him before continuing home. Afterwards I sat out front with Ndiaye, Miss, and my hfmom while Youssou and his friends played a game, the rules of which seem to be:
The person with the tennis ball throws it at someone else
Everyone tries to not get hit/catch the ball
Repeat.
Today's lesson of the day: pre-teen boys are apparently the same everywhere... give them a sharp stick and they'll run with it, give them a tennis ball and they'll throw it at each other.
KO
Monday, May 3, 2010
Pjangoes!
This last weekend I took a little mini-vacation and finally visited Jackie (she lives about 40 miles away so it doesn't make sense that I haven't been to visit). Pout, her site, is about the same size as Bambey but set up a little differently. Jackie has her own three room house so there was a lot of space for the 4 of us (Jackie, Tamar, Alyssa, and me). Not only is Pout overflowing with mangoes but it's also close to a monastery that sells goat cheese so the trip was full of amazing food. We had goat cheese and crackers, Indian food someone had sent Alyssa, and Pjangoes! Pjangoes are our own creation that involves blending ice, fresh mangoes, vodka, and mango juice concentrate to make a delicious smoothie. Oh, and the name comes from P(out)J(jackie)(m)angoes. The night was full of amazing food and watching the latest season of Project Runway (what more could a volunteer ask for?).
The next day we went to Mboro (about an hour up the coast) to help another volunteer and our Peace Corps Trainer give a training. Mboro is not at all like Bambey, it's tropical and significantly cooler. It actually looks what I think most people think of as Africa (tropical and green) compared to the desert that is Bambey. After the training we started prepping for Oliver's birthday party which was the next day. The 5 of us in Mboro bought a TON of rice, beans, and veggies to make a taco salad kind of thing while everyone was else was getting to Mboro. About half of the party goers got there the normal way (cars) and the other half walked from Oliver's site to the beach (about 20 miles). We had rented a house on the beach and spent the night dancing and eating mexican-ish food. We went to the beach around 10pm to discover bio-florescent bacteria things in the water aka the water was glowing. It was really amazing that any movement in the water created an effect that looked like little fireflys in the water. The next morning we cleaned up and I came back to Bambey. On my way back home I bought some mangoes for my family and I think, to really take advantage of mango season, I'm going to buy mangoes for the family every Sunday.
The rest of this week should be pretty busy... my boss is coming to see Bambey today, I have scholarship stuff to do, some artisan stuff, and I need to prep for the SeneGAD meeting this weekend.. oh and of course studying for the LSAT (which I take in about a month now)!
KO
The next day we went to Mboro (about an hour up the coast) to help another volunteer and our Peace Corps Trainer give a training. Mboro is not at all like Bambey, it's tropical and significantly cooler. It actually looks what I think most people think of as Africa (tropical and green) compared to the desert that is Bambey. After the training we started prepping for Oliver's birthday party which was the next day. The 5 of us in Mboro bought a TON of rice, beans, and veggies to make a taco salad kind of thing while everyone was else was getting to Mboro. About half of the party goers got there the normal way (cars) and the other half walked from Oliver's site to the beach (about 20 miles). We had rented a house on the beach and spent the night dancing and eating mexican-ish food. We went to the beach around 10pm to discover bio-florescent bacteria things in the water aka the water was glowing. It was really amazing that any movement in the water created an effect that looked like little fireflys in the water. The next morning we cleaned up and I came back to Bambey. On my way back home I bought some mangoes for my family and I think, to really take advantage of mango season, I'm going to buy mangoes for the family every Sunday.
The rest of this week should be pretty busy... my boss is coming to see Bambey today, I have scholarship stuff to do, some artisan stuff, and I need to prep for the SeneGAD meeting this weekend.. oh and of course studying for the LSAT (which I take in about a month now)!
KO
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