Christmas Time in Dahra

Merry Christmas from Dahra! So I decided to spend Christmas in my site this year instead of going to Dakar, St. Louis, or Popinguine with some other volunteers. I am really glad that I decided to stay in Dahra. While Christmas wasn’t the same as in the States, I had a wonderful experience :) . On Christmas Eve day, I went to the missionaries’ house here in Dahra for a delicious turkey dinner, complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, and pies :) . Afterwards, we all hung out and played some cards. They even gave me a Christmas present – a decorated container with some candy inside :) . I am so grateful for having other Christian believers nearby. They were also kind enough to loan some Christmas decorations for my house:

Afterwards, I went to a Senegalese wrestling match (very “Christmas-y” right?). As in true Senegalese fashion, the match started about 3 hours late, which meant the sun was already setting. Of course, just as the match started, the power went out…lol. I used this as my time to escape to my host family’s house to eat dinner with them. The Senegalese people celebrate the 24th for some reason with a big meal of chicken…I don’t even think they know why they celebrate from what I gathered. *Sidenote: There was also a Gamou going on near my family’s house that I was invited to; a Gamou is similar to an Islamic revival, so needless to say, I did not want to participate. Luckily with the power outage, I was able to avoid that and not offend anyone. So my family wanted me to come have dinner with them; they were so awesome….they prepared half a chicken just for me and gave me my own bowl with that, French fries, onion sauce, lettuce, and bread…it was delicious! I hung out with them a little bit until the power came back on and then headed back home. Once home, I was able to Skype my parents who were at my grandmother’s house with the rest of my mom’s side of the family. I was able to talk and see everyone for a few minutes, so that was incredible. I am so thankful for technology…it has made this whole experience so much easier!


On Christmas, I spent most of the day at my house just reading and watching Christmas movies. Late that afternoon, I was able to Skype mom and dad over at my other grandmother’s house so as to talk to all the family over there :) Afterwards, I went out to a local Christian-ran clinic where they were showing the “Jesus film” in Pulaar (and no I do not understand Pulaar, but I know the story :) ) There was a good gathering, so that was encouraging to see. After the film, they served dinner and some sort of fruity drink (which I am pretty sure is the cause of my violent illness later that night…better now though). Afterwards, I made a short appearance at an AIDS awareness event and then went home to call it a night. Overall, a wonderful experience that I am very thankful for; definitely not your typical American Christmas, but I am in Senegal…

All-Vol and IST

Hello! My apologies again for such a long delay between postings; I’m new at this whole blog thing. So I spent the last 3 weeks in Thies for our West African All-Volunteer Conference (All-Vol) and In-Service Training (IST). All-Vol is when all the PC volunteers in Senegal and some from neighboring countries gather together to share best practices in the field. The conference was for 2 ½ days filled with presentations from all sectors; all of the presentations that I went to were really interesting. I’m not sure how much they relate to possible work that I will be doing here in Dahra, but it was still really cool to see success stories from other volunteers. One of the best parts about the conference was actually the night before All-Vol started when we had a conference call with Steve Radelet, author of Emerging Africa. I am taking part in a development theory seminar that our Country Director is facilitating, and Emerging Africa was one of the books that we had read. Steve Radelet is very knowledgeable in the subject area of development, and is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, so he was very helpful in discussing PCV’s role in development.



After All-Vol, I had two weeks of IST with all of the other volunteers in my stage. IST is when we are supposed to gain more technical knowledge that will help us better execute our projects. Overall, I enjoyed IST. I feel as though I did learn a lot and it helped me to focus on what I really want to accomplish over the next two years. However, it was a lot of time stuck inside watching PowerPoint presentations. It would have been nice to have some more hands-on activities or some more cross-sector classes. In the middle of IST, we were able to go to Dakar to visit the Artisans Expo. This is when PCVs that are working with artisans bring them to Dakar to showcase and sell their items to ex-pats that may be returning home for the holidays. I bought several things :) My favorite purchase is my new chair; it may not look that comfortable, but it is…also, the engraving is really cool!

Wish List

Hello!
   So with Christmas approching quickly and my birthday soon to follow, I thought I would provide you all with a wish list of some sort, in case anyone would like to send me packages :)  Please see the list below my mailing address. These are items that I would like throughout my service, so feel free to send them at anytime :) Of course, I will be happy with anything that is sent to me and I would love to receive cards as much as anything else. Thank you in advance!

Greetings from Dahra!

             My apologies for not posting any sooner, I have been having some internet issues but I do believe that they have been resolved. So I have been in Dahra since October 20, 2010, and I feel like I am going non-stop. My counterpart is very excited and committed to working with Peace Corps, so he has introduced me everyone in town that he feels like I should know in order to be successful. It has been crazy. It’s so hard to remember everyone’s name here because they sound so different than American names. It’s also difficult because they all remember mine since I’m the new toubob in town (“toubob” is the wonderful Senegalese word for “foreigner”…and they love to call you that…especially the children).

          Overall though, I am really enjoying Dahra. It’s really freaking hot, and I’m pretty sure I’m dehydrated everyday no matter how much water I drink. Supposedly the cool season is approaching…I will believe it when I feel it :) Everyone that I have met so far seems really nice and excited to have a volunteer. I do feel overwhelmed at times though, because they want me to fix all these problems, like lack of water or electricity in every home or build them a new school (which are very important actually), but I do not have the skills nor is it my responsibility. Also trying to explain that I am here to help the community via training, facilitating workshops or help find finance option, not just giving them money, has been a little difficult. Luckily my counterpart understands that, so he’s able to help re-enforce that. He’s also doing a great job in screening people and not giving anyone my phone number.

            So my living situation here is pretty sweet. I actually have my own house! I have a host family which lives about 15 minutes away by foot (in sand), but there are a lot of people in that household – 20+ -- so my counterpart and PC supervisor thought that the house would be best. It’s in a rather quiet neighborhood, so not much noise going on. I have a main room, bedroom, office, bathroom, and kitchen. I have a fence, but there are several holes throughout and there is no gate which invites all the local livestock to come hang out. Sheep, goats, chickens, cats and dogs all like to hang out in my front yard. Still needs a little sprucing up, but I’m really happy. I’m able to head home each night, relax and cook my own dinner  :)
       Here are some pictures of my life in Dahra...I promise to add more later :)



yes, those are Obama pens



A Tribute to Star

So some of you may know this, but probably not: I love baby goats! They are so adorable and I just enjoying watching them play. Well, my counterpart’s family invited me over for lunch one day and they had 8 baby goats at their house. I was so excited! I couldn’t help staring at them. My counterpart’s mom noticed and decided to give me one as a gift. I tried to refuse, but she insisted. So I picked one out (the runt of the litter) but said that she needed to stay there with it’s family. Well, I named her Star and visited as much as I could without the family thinking I was cuckoo. However, she passed away a week ago; she had been the smallest and not able to feed as much as she needed to in order to stay healthy and grow.  Here’s a picture of me holding her J

Vacation in St. Louis!

Last week I went to St. Louis for a few days for a Wolof language seminar. While I was there for training, it felt like a vacation! St. Louis is very nice and much cooler than Dahra since it is on the coast. We had class in the morning, but then had the evenings off so we could explore. The seminar  was great for me because it reminded that I really needed to work on Wolof more (haven’t had to really because I can communicate with my counterpart in French and my level of Wolof was nowhere near being able to communicate with people, so I kind of just shut down).  Our language teacher did a wonderful job and I hope that I can continue to improve. Below are some pictures from St. Louis:

yes, that is a baby hammerhead shark

SHEEP!!!

So this Wednesday is a major Muslim holiday here in Senegal, called Tabaski. This is one holiday I can understand and have no issues celebrating because it celebrates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac when God asked him to, and then God provided a ram in Isaac’s place. To celebrate, each family buys a sheep (more than one if they have multiple families or have the money to do so) which they slaughter the morning of Tabaski and then eat later on in the day. Because of this, there are a ton of sheep everywhere! Dahra already had a lot of sheep, but due to Tabaski, the number has increased dramatically.



Well, on our (one of the volunteers in Linguere, a neighboring city, went to the language seminar with me) way to St. Louis, we took a bus. This bus had, I kid you not, at least 30 sheep inside the bus on the floor under the seats. Then there were about 25-30 people inside the bus. Also,there were probably close to another 20 sheep on top of the bus. We had to ride 6 hours to St. Louis with our feet up or risk being jabbed by a horn (a good Tabaski sheep is white and has massive horns). Needless to say, it was a rather interesting experience. Below is a picture, but it doesn’t do the experience justice.

Moving to Dahra

I am on my way to Dahra, with a two-day stop in Louga. I'll try to post my new address as soon as I know it. Until then, thanks for all the prayers and encouragement!

Swearing-In Ceremony

As of October 15th, I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer :) Woo Hoo!

We left for Dakar early Friday morning to go to our swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Ambassador's residence. We were all decked out in traditional African wear (see the pics below). The ceremony took about two hours, with speeches from our country director, the ambassador, and our training director. Afterwards, we went outside to a nice spread of snacks and Senegalese cocktails (i.e. no alcohol). Then we headed to the Peace Corps office to finish up some paperwork. Lastly, we ended up at the Atlantique Club for an afternoon of relaxation :) Overall, a wonderful day, a little emotional, but really good. I am glad that I am now official :)



61 new volunteers!



celebrating at the Atlantique club

Thank you to everyone for all the support and prayers! These past two months have been harder than I expected, and I am so thankful for everyone back home supporting me!

I am being installed in Dahra on Wednesday, so wish me luck! I'll post more after I get to my new "home".

Host Family Reception

      On Thursday, we had a reception for our host families. It was really nice to see my host mom again and all the other family heads from Bayakh. It started with everyone arriving around noon, followed by lunch. After lunch, there was a group of Pulaar singers and then a short ceremony thanking all the families for taking us in, caring and teaching us for two months. It was just really cool to hear how happy everyone was to have us here in Senegal, trying to help the people here.

The Bayakh group





Bayakh volunteers and families

 

last week in Bayakh

        Well my last week in Bayakh went very quickly. We only had a few days of class, which was good and bad at the same time. It was a nice change from the excessive amount of class we had the week before, yet I don't feel like it was enough to progress any in Wolof. I did end up moving up a level of Wolof though, which was quite uunexpected. I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with it as I move into my new site; right now, it's still just all mushed up in my head.

        Over the weekend, Julia's mom taught us how to make beignets and then cooked duck for dinner. Both were amazing! I definitely plan on making beignets when I get back to the States...yum!        



Julia mixing the ingredients



       

 



before

after



Me and my host sister, Soda

So saying goodbye to my family was kind of sad. They are very sweet and welcomed me into their home for two months. I don't feel like we really communicated or connected that much, but they definitely have a place in my heart. I plan on  visiting them in December when I come back to Thies for IST. Before leaving, my mom gave me a new dress and then cooked lamb for lunch. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of lamb, but I was able to eat the rice and sauce that she prepared as well. It was very sweet of her...now she knows that I do not like lamb though... Overall, I had a wonderful time in Bayakh and will miss everyone there. Definitely a wonderful learning experience :)

me and my host mom :)









Update

My apologies for not posting anything in a couple of weeks...I have been a little under the weather and have spent all of my free time resting. I am still not at 100 %, but thought I would try to update everyone on my last couple of weeks here in Senegal.

So I started learning Wolof when I returned back to Bayakh, and wow.... It seems like it will be a fun language once I get the hang of it, but right now, my head is just spinning. It is completely different than french or english, both in grammatical structure and pronunciation. We were having class for 6 hours a day, so by the end of the day, all I wanted to do was go home and veg out...no time to process anything really. The only reason we were having so much class is because we technically only have 14 days to learn Wolof, so our LCF was trying to provide us with as much vocabulary and information as possible. That was very kind of him, however, my brain did not appreciate it. This week we kind of have a break from language which is nice, and I think when we go back to Bayakh, classes will run more smoothly.

Life in Bayakh hasn't been too eventful. As I mentioned earlier, I have been sick so I haven't spent that much time outside of class doing anything other than resting. However, there was a baptism one day that we were invited to. Baptism here are really baby-naming ceremonies. It's kind of an odd event, from my perspective at least. The baptism takes place one week after the baby is born. At some point in the morning, the Iman(Islamic religious leader) comes over and whispers the name (of the parents' choosing) of the baby into the baby's ear. After that, the mom goes and gets all dressed up (we're talking celebrity fabulous) and everyone else just hangs out at the house socializing. Up in the afternoon, the mom returns, and then everyone eats lunch. After that, the mom may go and change again for the evening party; I left before that happened. Most of the ceremonies here appear to be a good excuse for people to dress up and socialize; much like in the States, yet just seems really different since the cultures are so different.



Jamie and the new mom



One evening, our LCFs surprised us with a quick trip to the beach :) There is a small fishing community about 20 minutes away from Bayakh called Kayar. Absolutely gorgeous beach! I could hardly beleive that I was in Senegal. The trip was unexpected; the beach was gorgeous; and was a perfect ending to a rather heavy week of classes.

We also had our counterpart workshop this past weekend. This is a two-day workshop where the supervisors and counterparts for each new volunteer visit Thies to go over logistics and expectations of/for volunteers. We also put on an American Cultural Fair to show our counterparts differents aspects of American Culture that are important to us and might help to explain our "odd" behavior at times :) The 6 areas discussed were: American history and politics; the role of women; daily life and leisure activites; diversity; food and clothing; and pop culture vs. real culture. Our group presented on diversity; I think it went really well. Everyone was attentive and had some really good questions. The training coordinator even asked us to make a copy of everything for her so that she can use it when training new Senegalese staff.

Well, that's about it for now. I have two more weeks of training and then I will officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer :) The next couple of weeks will be rather busy, but I will try to post whenever I can. Until then, thank you for all the prayers and support :) I greatly appreciate them!

Site Visit :)

So I am currently in Linguere on my volunteer visit. The purpose of the volunteer visit is to see what a volunteer in your region/sector does on a daily basis. My situation is a little different because there is not a current SED volunteer in my region, nor a volunteer in my site since it is a new site. I am staying in the regional house with the PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leader) who is basically in charge of the administrative stuff in this area. The house here is really nice, couple of rooms, wifi, and dogs :) Linguere seems to be pretty chill too...pretty calm compared to Bayakh. Being at the regional house, I've been able to meet several of the other volunteers in the region; everyone seems pretty cool, so I am looking forward to living and working in this region :) The PCVL has cooked some awesome American food for us while here, so I am very happy.

Yesterday, we headed to Dahra to see the town and meet my new family. My new "dad" is the deputy mayor of the town, so pretty well connected. My new "family" is rather large (19 people!) but seem really nice. I also got to meet my counterpart whom I'll be working with a lot while in Dahra; his name is Balla and seems very nice as well. We spent most of the afternoon just hanging out with my new family. We also went to a soccer match that my "dad"'s organization sponsors, so we were treated as VIPs :)

Dahra seems like a nice town; a little bigger than expected -- about 40,000 people. Because it is such a large town though,  I believe that I will have a lot of options when it comes to volunteer projects. I''ll just have to figure out which projects will be the most feasible and most beneficial to the community.

Korite

Friday was the Muslim holiday Korite, which represents the end of Ramadam. I headed back to Bayakh to celebrate with my family, as did the other volunteers. We were told that Korite was a pretty big holiday, but I guess it depends on the family. I had a good time eating and socializing with my family and the other volunteers, but it wasn't that much different than any other day (except for the eating part!) I did get to have some amazing fried potatoes and lots of yogurt though :) Below are some pictures of my African family (extended) and the other volunteers in my village.

YUMMY!



While in Thies, I made it into town with a few other volunteers. I was able to share a chicken sawarma (sp?/ chicken, onions, sauce and fries in a wrap) with my friend Daisy, have a beer, and an ice-cream treat!!! Sooo good!!! I have been living off of fish, rice, and bread for the last two weeks, so it was nice to change things up a little:)

Site Placement!

Site Placement!


So today we headed back to the training center in Thies for some more medical sessions and then to receive our permanent site placements. This will be where we will be working at in Senegal for the next two years. The way in which they reveal our sites to us was really cool  There is a basketball court at the center that has a map of Senegal painted on it. All of the volunteers were blindfolded and a staff member or current volunteer led each trainee to their respective spot on the map and handed them an envelope. Once everyone was placed, we were told to take off the blindfolds, look around to see who would be near us, and to look at our folder (see pictures below). It turns out that I will be serving in Darha in the Louga region. By what I can tell, this is a new SED site (and possible new Peace Corps site). The town has a population of 15,000 to 20,000; the town also has a busy market area. Other than that, there was not that much information in my folder, so I guess I will have to wait until my volunteer visit next week to find out more  At least I know where “home” will be for the next two years. I promise to post more information as I get it 

I returned to Bayakh on Wednesday, August, 25. I had mixed feelings about returning, but my host family was so welcoming that I felt completely relieved. It’s hard to integrate into a family, especially when you do not speak their native language. My family is very nice though, and helps me out as much as possible. Here are some pictures of my Senegalese family breaking fast one evening (my family is Muslim and fasting during the day since it is Ramadan).

coffee and bread -- typical "breaking fast" meal

In terms of classes, I am on my own a lot. My LCF recognized that my level of French is higher than the other volunteers (as it should be, since I’ve studied it for years and lived in France as well), so I am studying separately than the other volunteers. I’ve been going out into the community and speaking with a few business owners in French. It’s rather difficult to find people here to speak French to you; Wolof is the local language and people’s French levels vary tremendously. I like going out into the community though and greeting people :) I laugh a lot and they laugh at me, so it’s all good.

In terms of cultural experiences, I truly enjoy watching my family do everyday chores. My “sisters” wash clothes by hand, and my mom roasts her own coffee and dyes clothes. My brother takes care of the livestock (we have 2 goats and a sheep); watching him give the sheep a bath is hilarious! I think the sheep knows that it will be dinner one day soon, so it tries to be as annoying as possible – I think it’s hilarious :) I have also been able to watch a new brick wall be constructed and actual bricks be made

Overall, I am having a great time in Bayakh. There are times that I question “why am I here?” but I know that I am here in Senegal for a reason. I just pray that I make use of any and all opportunities that I am given. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and checking in on me – I greatly appreciate it!

week one in Bayakh = wonderful learning experience

So I spent the last week in my PST CBT site (pre-service training community-based training), Bayakh. Bayakh is a town of about 5,000 people. Everyone that I have met so far has been really nice. My host family is very welcoming; I have one set of parents, two brothers, and three sisters. My family is Wolof and speaks that language for most of the time. I have one brother and one sister who speak French, but no one else in the family does, which makes it rather difficult to communicate to the rest of my family. Hopefully I can test out of French in a few weeks and start learning Wolof, that way I can actually communicate with my family 



Language classes are good. As most of you know, I already know French, but I did not interview well which is why I am still studying French at the moment. This week has been a nice refresher course though. The two LCFs (language cross-culture facilitator) have noticed my level of French though and have recommended that I start doing some other activities within my community to improve my French at a quicker pace. Then, maybe in a few weeks, I may be able to test out and start learning Wolof.


In terms of culture, I am just taking it all in right now…there are a lot of things to observe. Once I get a good grasp on everything, I will post more  Some of the biggest adjustments have to do with food and lack of privacy. The food here is really good…lots of rice, which I truly enjoy. It’s just really hot, so I haven’t been very hungry. Also, when eating, everyone sits around one bowl and eats together. I get to eat with a spoon while everyone else eats with their hands. Kind of interesting for me if any of you know my strange food habits. Plus, I know how my stomach is, so I have been trying to watch what I eat so that I don’t get too sick.


In terms of privacy, my family is always hanging out, so it’s kind of rude to go lock myself in my room. My only alone times are breakfast and lunch (because it’s Ramadan, my family is fasting so I eat alone in my room), and right before bed.


Right now, I am back in Thies at the training center. I head back to Bayakh on Wednesday and will be there for two weeks next time. There is an internet café there, so I should be able to update some more and post pictures in a few weeks. A huge thank you to all who are keeping up with me! A bientot!

Leaving for homestay :)

Hello all! So the last couple of days here have been full of learning :) We had a culture fair where the staff went through and explained some really important aspects of Senegalse culture; my favorite sessions were on clothes and food (of course!). We also learned our hoemstay sites for the next two and a half months; I will be living in Bayack (see map) and continue to study French. We will be living in our homestay sites off and on for the next couple of months to help us better understand the culture and languages of the Senegalese people; and then travel back to Thies for debriefings. I am really looking forward to this, but definitely a little nervous. I will be living with a Senegalese family, so it will be interesting to see how I adapt. We also got to get out and explore Thies a little bit last night; I was able to have a nice beverage and buy a few things at the market. That's all for now; I'll try to update more after my first week in Bayakh :)

Arrival in Senegal

I made it! Our plane landed around 5am local time; cleared customs just fine. We had a nice bus ride to Thies; got to see the sunrise :) The training facility at Thies is really nice and the staff here is awesome! They had breakfast ready for us and then let us take a nap until lunch. After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon going over the logistics of our pre-service training (PST) and ended the evening with some dancing to African drums!
Today, we actually broke into our groups ( I am an SED - small enterprise development -- agent) and then had a session on some medical issues. The rest of the afternoon is filled with individual interviews, so I thought that I would go ahead and update my blog.
I would like to thank everyone for the warm farewell and prayers. I am having a great time so far and adjusting well. I did get a cell phone yesterday as well, so if you want it, contact me via facebook or e-mail and I will send it to you (free for me if you call). Until next time....

Countdown to Departure

Well this is my first attempt at a blog, so please be gentle!   I leave next Monday for Senegal to begin the next 2 years of my life. I am both excited and sad; I know that this is going to be an amazing experience, but I know that it will be difficult to be away from friends and family for such a long period of time.
       Actually, I fly out early Monday morning for orientation in Arlington,VA; and will then head out to Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday evening and should land early Wednesday morning.

       After arriving in Dakar, our group( appr. 65 volunteers) will take a bus to the Peace Corps training center in Thies. We will spend the next couple of days in numerous language and skill interviews, and in culture and health workshops. After that (maybe next Monday), we will be placed with a host family in a nearby city to complete the rest of our 9-week training.
    Well, that is all for now! I probably will not update again until after my arrival in Senegal. Wish me luck! Prayers are welcomed :)