I spent the weekend at the training center helping with the PST for the newest group of trainees. It's bizarre to be the one with the answers to questions and to be the "expert" on things that were completely new to me just a year ago. I helped with a few sessions on Senegalese culture and then answered a million questions on everything else. I would spend all day if I could answering questions because I had a ton last year and I remember what it's like to be completely clueless. On Sunday we gave tours of Thies and showed the trainees where to buy fabric and presents for their homestay language families. Afterwards Jackie, Alyssa, and I went to a nice dinner to celebrate our one year in country. Today I answered any last minute questions and wished everyone luck as they left for the village the first time for a week of language training. I'm back at site now and enjoying a quiet evening (without all of the mosquitoes the training center has).
I got back to Bambey around 5pm and found my room in pretty normal shape - no flooding, not too many paint chips on the ground, that sort of thing. I had finished showering when I noticed there were about 5 large ants (about half an inch each) near one of my windows. I stepped on them and kept unpacking. Then I realized that there were a few more ants coming out of the 4 inch crack in my wall so I sprayed some bug spray on the wall and went back to straightening things. A minute or so later I noticed that the ants weren't really dying but stumbling around like they were drunk I decided to attack them with bug spray (which has GOT to be highly toxic and not ok for use in the US). I sprayed the wall a little then started spraying the 4 inch crack.... which opened the flood gates. Ants started POURING out of the crack and I sprayed for probably a minute straight. By the time the ants stopped coming I had killed at least a couple hundred. I swept them up and duct taped the hole but I'll be patching it with cement tomorrow (my walls are cement).
The fumes have aired out of my room and the duct tapes seems to be holding up for now so I feel comfortable going to bed and not waking up with giant ants all over.
Ba suba,
KO
Monday, August 16, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Happy One Year Africaversary!
A year ago today I landed in Senegal! It feels crazy to think that it's been a year - on one hand PST feels like it was 10 years ago but, on the other, I feel like I got to Bambey a month ago. I wish I had more to say about my first year but it seems to have gone by so fast. I can't believe that a year ago I was a complete stranger to everything Senegalese and today I actually helped lead a session on Senegalese culture to the new volunteers. I remember what it was like meeting new volunteers and asking them questions when I first got to country and it's odd to think that I'm now the one with the answers (or at least trying to come up with answers). Maybe at my one year at site (which will come in October) I'll have more thoughts on this first year.
In other news Ramadan started yesterday and the day before that we got 65 new SED and Ag volunteers! For those of you not familiar with Ramadan here's the basic run down (at least how we do it in the Fall household): everyone (but me because I'm not fasting) gets up at 5:45 for morning prayer and then eats a small meal (bread, butter, coffee, maybe water). From sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, no one eats, drinks anything, or smokes (in the Koran it's refereed to as "drinking smoke"). Everyone does the normal household chores in the morning which is the only time of the day anyone is willing to work or even discuss work with me. Around lunch, I sneak up to my room and make lunch for myself as well as chug water (during Ramadan it's REALLY rude to drink or eat in public so I confine my eating and drinking to my room). In the afternoon everyone just lays around and naps. Around 6pm Awa starts cooking dinner (because cooking takes a few hours here) and at 7pm my hostmom and Youssou put out our break fast table. Around 7:20pm Youssou takes off running to the mosque because they have, supposedly, good break fast food there. At 7:30pm everyone prays and we all break fast (eventually Youssou comes back in a breaks fast a second time - which everyone makes fun of him for). We each drink spiced coffee (Youssou and Awa drink mostly milk with a hint of coffee), eat bread with either tuna or butter, and some dates (the Koran says Muhammad ate them when he was fasting). After break fast I've been heading back upstairs and skipping dinner even though my host family can't believe I'm not hungry because I didn't fast. Because Miss is pregnant, thus not fasting, she's not living with us now (she's with her family who, I'm told, lives across town). Ramadan will continue for the next 27 or 28 days - until the new moon is seen. I'm sure I'll get annoyed withe everyone's crankiness and lack of wanting to work but for now it's nice to cook my own lunches and break fast/dinner is pretty delicious too.
KO
In other news Ramadan started yesterday and the day before that we got 65 new SED and Ag volunteers! For those of you not familiar with Ramadan here's the basic run down (at least how we do it in the Fall household): everyone (but me because I'm not fasting) gets up at 5:45 for morning prayer and then eats a small meal (bread, butter, coffee, maybe water). From sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, no one eats, drinks anything, or smokes (in the Koran it's refereed to as "drinking smoke"). Everyone does the normal household chores in the morning which is the only time of the day anyone is willing to work or even discuss work with me. Around lunch, I sneak up to my room and make lunch for myself as well as chug water (during Ramadan it's REALLY rude to drink or eat in public so I confine my eating and drinking to my room). In the afternoon everyone just lays around and naps. Around 6pm Awa starts cooking dinner (because cooking takes a few hours here) and at 7pm my hostmom and Youssou put out our break fast table. Around 7:20pm Youssou takes off running to the mosque because they have, supposedly, good break fast food there. At 7:30pm everyone prays and we all break fast (eventually Youssou comes back in a breaks fast a second time - which everyone makes fun of him for). We each drink spiced coffee (Youssou and Awa drink mostly milk with a hint of coffee), eat bread with either tuna or butter, and some dates (the Koran says Muhammad ate them when he was fasting). After break fast I've been heading back upstairs and skipping dinner even though my host family can't believe I'm not hungry because I didn't fast. Because Miss is pregnant, thus not fasting, she's not living with us now (she's with her family who, I'm told, lives across town). Ramadan will continue for the next 27 or 28 days - until the new moon is seen. I'm sure I'll get annoyed withe everyone's crankiness and lack of wanting to work but for now it's nice to cook my own lunches and break fast/dinner is pretty delicious too.
KO
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Back in Bambey
When I've been gone from site for more than a few days it feels like years. Yesterday I came home to a mostly empty house - all of the girls are gone on vacation and Miss was sick. There was one new addition... a new host brother who just finished his first year of university in Algeria. He's home for the "summer" and we chatted briefly (I'm guessing it's weird for him that in the year he's been gone a toubab moved in).
I was supposed to teach an accounting class this morning at the Mayor's office but it was closed and the guard's phone was turned off so I had no room to teach in... no students showed up anyway so the class was cancelled. I decided to not let the whole day be a waste so I sat outside of my house to work on my personal statement a little. About 10 minutes into outlining a group of neighborhood boys saw me and started sprinting towards me. "Tata Fatou! Tata Fatou! Menanunu dessiner???" My coloring group hadn't seen me for a week and they were eager to color. I brought down my crayons and some paper and made them all say "please" before they got paper. I finished my work while approving of all of their drawings. Eventually Youssou came out and made them all go home so they wouldn't miss lunch.
This afternoon I organized things for the camp and read a little - not much to do during the hot part of the day. This evening Youssou and I watched lutte (Senegalese wrestling). He explained the two wrestlers, who was mean, who was smart, and who he supported. Just as the pre-match fanfare ended my host mom came out and we all cheered on the smart one (who ended up winning). Youssou and I also talked about how he might want to go into the army (which I encouraged because it's a stable, good income and the Senegalese army does mostly peace keeping missions in other countries) or go to Italy to work (which I discouraged).
The rest of this week I am doing more camp work - we're almost a month away! Also Ramadan starts Wednesday or Thursday (depending on when we see the moon).
Ba suba,
KO
I was supposed to teach an accounting class this morning at the Mayor's office but it was closed and the guard's phone was turned off so I had no room to teach in... no students showed up anyway so the class was cancelled. I decided to not let the whole day be a waste so I sat outside of my house to work on my personal statement a little. About 10 minutes into outlining a group of neighborhood boys saw me and started sprinting towards me. "Tata Fatou! Tata Fatou! Menanunu dessiner???" My coloring group hadn't seen me for a week and they were eager to color. I brought down my crayons and some paper and made them all say "please" before they got paper. I finished my work while approving of all of their drawings. Eventually Youssou came out and made them all go home so they wouldn't miss lunch.
This afternoon I organized things for the camp and read a little - not much to do during the hot part of the day. This evening Youssou and I watched lutte (Senegalese wrestling). He explained the two wrestlers, who was mean, who was smart, and who he supported. Just as the pre-match fanfare ended my host mom came out and we all cheered on the smart one (who ended up winning). Youssou and I also talked about how he might want to go into the army (which I encouraged because it's a stable, good income and the Senegalese army does mostly peace keeping missions in other countries) or go to Italy to work (which I discouraged).
The rest of this week I am doing more camp work - we're almost a month away! Also Ramadan starts Wednesday or Thursday (depending on when we see the moon).
Ba suba,
KO
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The English camp was legendary and sweet. I made so many new bffls. Then I took a jankity car back.
I'm back in Bambey after an outstanding week at the ACCESS English camp (and the title of this blog contains all of the "slang" words we taught them). The camp is for high-achieving, low-income students and they were all so amazing. Some of my favorites were (by their English names):
LandonDonovan: who was quiet but very intelligent and an outstanding dancer;
Jym: pronounced like 'Jim,' also quiet but always said very complicated sentences;
Claire: super intense and always ready to participate;
Ana: short and halfway through the week got awesome braids - she also danced well;
Holly: wore a side ponytail, large shirt, and leggings all week - also won the olympics for our team.
This afternoon we had a really successful meeting for our own camp. We were able to take the things we learned from the ACCESS camp and apply it to our girls' camp. The curriculum looks great and I'm really excited.
Now that I'm back at site I'm starting an accounting class tomorrow (if anyone shows up) and I'm a week away from my one year in Africa.
KO
LandonDonovan: who was quiet but very intelligent and an outstanding dancer;
Jym: pronounced like 'Jim,' also quiet but always said very complicated sentences;
Claire: super intense and always ready to participate;
Ana: short and halfway through the week got awesome braids - she also danced well;
Holly: wore a side ponytail, large shirt, and leggings all week - also won the olympics for our team.
This afternoon we had a really successful meeting for our own camp. We were able to take the things we learned from the ACCESS camp and apply it to our girls' camp. The curriculum looks great and I'm really excited.
Now that I'm back at site I'm starting an accounting class tomorrow (if anyone shows up) and I'm a week away from my one year in Africa.
KO
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
English Camp Day 2
The past few days it has stormed every evening for two or three hours. Usually it starts around 4pm and continues until right before dinner. Yesterday I was caught in the rain and had clothes drying on the line so I was unhappy with the storm. Today, it’s a completely different story. We made it back to the training center before the rain came and now, even though I’m trapped in my room, I don’t mind the storm. The training center is designed like most Senegalese compounds with unconnected buildings. My room, for example, is in a building with other bedrooms and 1 bathroom but all of the doors face outward and you walk between the rooms under a little awning. The rest of the buildings are separate with no awnings or coverings. Because the center floods with heavy rain, we’re trapped in our room which, frankly, I don’t mind that much.
After a morning of running around and leading camp games (flashback to my Girls’ State days) I don’t mind having a few hours to read and relax. After the camp we ate lunch (at a restaurant this time), and went to the market to buy food for dinner. From now until the rain lets up or we get hungry enough to brave it and run to the kitchen, I’m in forced, but enjoyed, isolation (with my 3 friends and a little bit of internet).
The English camp continues tomorrow with the main event: ask the Americans! In the meantime I’m going to continue reading and eventually eat dinner.
KO
After a morning of running around and leading camp games (flashback to my Girls’ State days) I don’t mind having a few hours to read and relax. After the camp we ate lunch (at a restaurant this time), and went to the market to buy food for dinner. From now until the rain lets up or we get hungry enough to brave it and run to the kitchen, I’m in forced, but enjoyed, isolation (with my 3 friends and a little bit of internet).
The English camp continues tomorrow with the main event: ask the Americans! In the meantime I’m going to continue reading and eventually eat dinner.
KO
Monday, August 2, 2010
Access English Camp Day 1
Today was the first day of the US Embassy sponsored English camp. We left the center this morning not knowing what to really expect and were met at the high school by about 50 15-17 year olds and a few English teachers. We had of only the lesson plan a few volunteers had created which was, no fault on them, bare bones. The teachers hadn't bought any of the supplies we requested so we had nothing (no paper, pens, markers, etc.). We broke the kids into groups and started playing games.
My group has 17 Senegalese kids, Jackie, Zach (a volunteer from Kedougou), and me. We started off with name games ("my name is Katherine and I like ketchup) but had to explain several times that if your name was Anna you couldn't like "the beach" but something with an "a" (they all chose to pick American names for the week - we have a Landon Donovan). The rest of the day was full of other games and things you can do outside without any supplies. It was fun to speak in English the whole time and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. At one point, the game involved asking each other questions and one girl asked another (who then said "yes"), "would you like to have an American husband?" Zach better watch out!
The camp was 4 hours and we were all pretty tired (with no lesson plan it had been 4 hours of making up games on the fly) and went to the garage to get chicken sandwiches. It sounds gross but I think I've explained it before: the garages (where you get cars to go to Dakar etc.) have food for people to buy and eat while they're traveling. A while ago Jackie, Alyssa, and I made friends with the best chicken sandwich lady (we'd tried a few and decided on the best one). Jackie and I were there earlier in the week and she remembered us and was annoyed that we didn't invite our 3rd friend (Alyssa) to eat lunch with us (we had invited her but she was eating with her host family). Today we came to our friend's stand with other volunteers and pretty much bought all of her chicken sandwiches. In case you were wondering, a chicken sandwich is: 6 inches of baguette, onion sauce, rotisserie type chicken, and fries... they have lettuce when lettuce is in season which is not now... all for 500cfa (about $1).
Post chicken sandwiches we ran some other errands and are now hanging out. The English camp is every morning this week so I'm sure I'll have more updates coming. I hope all's well in the US!
KO
My group has 17 Senegalese kids, Jackie, Zach (a volunteer from Kedougou), and me. We started off with name games ("my name is Katherine and I like ketchup) but had to explain several times that if your name was Anna you couldn't like "the beach" but something with an "a" (they all chose to pick American names for the week - we have a Landon Donovan). The rest of the day was full of other games and things you can do outside without any supplies. It was fun to speak in English the whole time and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. At one point, the game involved asking each other questions and one girl asked another (who then said "yes"), "would you like to have an American husband?" Zach better watch out!
The camp was 4 hours and we were all pretty tired (with no lesson plan it had been 4 hours of making up games on the fly) and went to the garage to get chicken sandwiches. It sounds gross but I think I've explained it before: the garages (where you get cars to go to Dakar etc.) have food for people to buy and eat while they're traveling. A while ago Jackie, Alyssa, and I made friends with the best chicken sandwich lady (we'd tried a few and decided on the best one). Jackie and I were there earlier in the week and she remembered us and was annoyed that we didn't invite our 3rd friend (Alyssa) to eat lunch with us (we had invited her but she was eating with her host family). Today we came to our friend's stand with other volunteers and pretty much bought all of her chicken sandwiches. In case you were wondering, a chicken sandwich is: 6 inches of baguette, onion sauce, rotisserie type chicken, and fries... they have lettuce when lettuce is in season which is not now... all for 500cfa (about $1).
Post chicken sandwiches we ran some other errands and are now hanging out. The English camp is every morning this week so I'm sure I'll have more updates coming. I hope all's well in the US!
KO
Access English Camp Day 1
Today was the first day of the US Embassy sponsored English camp. We left the center this morning not knowing what to really expect and were met at the high school by about 50 15-17 year olds and a few English teachers. We had of only the lesson plan a few volunteers had created which was, no fault on them, bare bones. The teachers hadn't bought any of the supplies we requested so we had nothing (no paper, pens, markers, etc.). We broke the kids into groups and started playing games.
My group has 17 Senegalese kids, Jackie, Zach (a volunteer from Kedougou), and me. We started off with name games ("my name is Katherine and I like ketchup) but had to explain several times that if your name was Anna you couldn't like "the beach" but something with an "a" (they all chose to pick American names for the week - we have a Landon Donovan). The rest of the day was full of other games and things you can do outside without any supplies. It was fun to speak in English the whole time and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. At one point, the game involved asking each other questions and one girl asked another (who then said "yes"), "would you like to have an American husband?" Zach better watch out!
The camp was 4 hours and we were all pretty tired (with no lesson plan it had been 4 hours of making up games on the fly) and went to the garage to get chicken sandwiches. It sounds gross but I think I've explained it before: the garages (where you get cars to go to Dakar etc.) have food for people to buy and eat while they're traveling. A while ago Jackie, Alyssa, and I made friends with the best chicken sandwich lady (we'd tried a few and decided on the best one). Jackie and I were there earlier in the week and she remembered us and was annoyed that we didn't invite our 3rd friend (Alyssa) to eat lunch with us (we had invited her but she was eating with her host family). Today we came to our friend's stand with other volunteers and pretty much bought all of her chicken sandwiches. In case you were wondering, a chicken sandwich is: 6 inches of baguette, onion sauce, rotisserie type chicken, and fries... they have lettuce when lettuce is in season which is not now... all for 500cfa (about $1).
Post chicken sandwiches we ran some other errands and are now hanging out. The English camp is every morning this week so I'm sure I'll have more updates coming. I hope all's well in the US!
KO
My group has 17 Senegalese kids, Jackie, Zach (a volunteer from Kedougou), and me. We started off with name games ("my name is Katherine and I like ketchup) but had to explain several times that if your name was Anna you couldn't like "the beach" but something with an "a" (they all chose to pick American names for the week - we have a Landon Donovan). The rest of the day was full of other games and things you can do outside without any supplies. It was fun to speak in English the whole time and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. At one point, the game involved asking each other questions and one girl asked another (who then said "yes"), "would you like to have an American husband?" Zach better watch out!
The camp was 4 hours and we were all pretty tired (with no lesson plan it had been 4 hours of making up games on the fly) and went to the garage to get chicken sandwiches. It sounds gross but I think I've explained it before: the garages (where you get cars to go to Dakar etc.) have food for people to buy and eat while they're traveling. A while ago Jackie, Alyssa, and I made friends with the best chicken sandwich lady (we'd tried a few and decided on the best one). Jackie and I were there earlier in the week and she remembered us and was annoyed that we didn't invite our 3rd friend (Alyssa) to eat lunch with us (we had invited her but she was eating with her host family). Today we came to our friend's stand with other volunteers and pretty much bought all of her chicken sandwiches. In case you were wondering, a chicken sandwich is: 6 inches of baguette, onion sauce, rotisserie type chicken, and fries... they have lettuce when lettuce is in season which is not now... all for 500cfa (about $1).
Post chicken sandwiches we ran some other errands and are now hanging out. The English camp is every morning this week so I'm sure I'll have more updates coming. I hope all's well in the US!
KO
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