Update

Wow...the month of March just flew by! I spent my days meeting with people to discuss future projects, travelling in country and having some work done at my house. So I actually feel like I have started working (woo-hoo!). These are the projects that I am working on right now:            

• bringing computers to Dahra (on hold at the moment due to the fact that several people are involved);
• trying to figure out a Waste Management solution for Dahran(almost impossible as the Mayor's office wants to "work" with me but are unwilling to produce any sort of financing);
• starting a garden with a women's group;
• teaching English to a small group of gentlemen;
• creating a "green" space at the local middle school;
•  starting a tree nursury at my house
• planning a Girls' Leadership camp for individuals selected by our Michelle Sylvester scholarship (will explain more in a later post)
• painting a mural at a local elementary school

I am also still reading and researching for my Capstone project as well...

Some notable events from the month of March until now:

• Our Country Director came out to visit, so I was able to tag along and see some other volunteer sites :). It was really neat to see what other volunteers are up to in my region. We all talk a lot, but to be able to see first-hand is pretty cool and gives me hope for my future work.

• I had to go to Dakar twice. It turns out that I have been clenching my teeth in my sleep which has in turn caused some issues with my jaw. I now have a mouthguard to wear at night which seems to be helping. I go back to the orthodontist in May for a follow-up visit.
• During my second trip to Dakar, we celebrated our PCVL April's birthday. We had a nice picnic, followed by cocktails and ice cream cake while watching the sunset over the ocean -- Awesome!

 

• All of the volunteers in my region headed out to Barkedji (Ann-Marie's site) to help out with a field day event and AIDS awareness discussion. Overall, a wonderfull event. The kids really seemed to enjoy it and actually participated in the AIDS discussion which was surprising. The next day, Justin and I helped Ann-Marie start a mural of the world map which will be amazing and huge when finished.

• We all gathered again in Linguere to celebrate Ann-Marie's birthday. We had pizza, cake, cocktails and camel rides! We had a slight issue with the gentleman who rented us the camel concerning payment, but the police were in our favor so everything turned out alright and Ann-Marie still considered her birthday a success!

• On a sadder note, my kitten, Punx, passed away. My friend, who is a veteranerian, is pretty sure that she had one of the feline diseases, so once she became ill, as small as she was, there wasn't much we could do to save her.
• On a positive note, I have two new kittens! Their names are Timone and Pumba and I saved them from the streets of Linguere. They are all black and brothers. I would post pictures, however, my camera died. I am now waiting on a new one from the States that Justin's dad is nice enough to bring over.

Well, that's about it for now...Thanks for reading!

WAISTED...2011

     I just returned from my one-week mini vacation away from site…and it was amazing! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my site and most of the people in Dahra (plus I have an adorable little kitten to keep me company). However, it’s always nice to get away, take a breather and just enjoy some wonderful American pastimes :).



     I left site on Wednesday to travel to Thies for a gender and development seminar. It was actually the easiest and quickest trip I have had so far to Thies. Upon my arrival, I went out for pizza and beer (yay!) and then back to the training center to hang out for the night. The next day was full of presentations concerning gender and development work, a conference call with Dr. Joshua Busby, a speacialist on climate change, and a lovely dinner at Massa Massa with a small group of close friends.


     Friday morning started off early as we loaded the buses to head to Dakar for another All-Vol conference. For the morning sessions, each region and sector had a table set up to discuss current work projects in their area. The afternoon session followed the same format, but was with NGOs that are serving in Senegal. It was interesting to see what other volunteers and organizations are doing, but we had a little too much liberty and mainly took the time to catch up with friends. After the conference, I went to Casino (an actual grocery store- yay!) and then headed to the Atlantique Club where the rest of my time in Dakar would be spent :)

     So the main reason why I was in Dakar was for WAIST (West African Invitational Softball Tournament). WAIST happens every year, and I was kind of apprehensive about it, as most of the volunteers refer to it as WASTE (due to the insane amount of drinking that occurs). I will say though, I was pleasantly surprised :) There was a lot of drinking involved, but also just a lot of fun! This is the one time when all the volunteers (plus some volunteers from other neighboring countries) get to come together and enjoy softball, cheap beer, American food and swimming. So for WAIST, I had the pleasure of staying with a wonderful woman (RPCV Niger) who works at the U.S. Embassy, who was gracious enough to host 12 girls! 

Her only rule: make yourself at home! She was awesome, her cook is amazing (I ate soooo well!), her son was fun to play with (like a younger brother), and her dogs were amazing (they even slept with me!). She even went with us to one of the parties, cramming all of us into her Hummer. There was a talent show that Friday night, which was fun to see some of the interesting talent that resides within Peace Corps volunteers.

     The first day of WAIST started with me making some baked goods for our SENEGAD (gender and development group) bake sell. Afterwards, I headed to the club for some American food and swimming before our first softball game. Now if you know me, you know that I am very uncoordinated, thus I decided to remain on the sidelines to cheer my team on. One cool thing about WAIST that I forgot to mention is that the Peace Corps teams dress up each year. This year was the first year our “region” had a separate team and our theme was cows and cowboys (think Wild, Wild West because that is where we are in Senegal…nothing but sand, some livestock and herders).



Team Djolof a.k.a. PC Linguere/Louga


Unfortunately, we didn’t fare to well the first day. We lost both games; one to PC Gambia and the other to a Senegalese team that actually practices (they were very good and not very social). That night was the SENEGAD Date Action at the U.S. Marine House. It was pretty cool to see so many expats hanging out, enjoying themselves. I called it an early night though because the party was held outside and it was actually quite chilly.

     The second day of WAIST, I had to head to the club early to help out with the bake sell and then head over to our games. The first game was against the Kolda region, and we actually played quite well. We even thought that we had won, but it turns out that Kolda still had another inning to bat in which they scored several runs :). For the second game, we were to play PC Gambia again, and we decided to have some fun and just play kickball instead. I can play kickball, so I joined in :). I didn’t score any, but I did make it on base both times that I kicked –yay! Goal for next WAIST: kickball tournament on the side :). After the games, I decided it was time for some more swimming before heading back to my homestay for dinner. After dinner, we all headed over to a club that overlooks the ocean. I think I danced for over 5 hours straight that night! It was so much fun! Needless to say, I was rather sore and slow the next day – haha.

     The third and final day of WAIST involved the semi-finals and finals for each division, which my team did not make. So I spent the day relaxing by the pool and just hanging out with friends. That night was a pool party, but I was quite exhausted and just decided to stay in for the evening with some of the other girls at my homestay. I got to watch “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” which made me extremely happy :). Another bonus to the homestay…hot showers! Woo hoo!


     On Tuesday, I had to head over to the Peace Corps office to drop off some medical paperwork. After that, I made my way to the garage to find a ride back to Dahra. I was hoping to go back with one of the other volunteers in my region, but nobody else was ready to get back to site (I missed Punx). The ride back was pretty quick actually until we were about an hour away from Dahra. Our sept-place driver accidently hit someone. It was truly an accident on both sides. The gentleman didn’t look our way because it was supposed to be a one-way street, but due to construction, had been turned into two-ways. Our driver blew the horn and tried to stop in time, but he was going too fast and his breaks were not the best. Luckily, the man was able to walk to the ambulance when it arrived, so I pray that he is ok. That was my first experience with accidents here and I hope it was the last (doubtful though).


     Upon returning to Dahra, Punx greeted me as I came through the door :) She is so cute and I am so thankful that the missionaries were able to take care of her while I was gone. As much as I enjoyed my stay in Dakar, I am glad to be back “home” and to get some work done :).





6 Months In...

    Today marks 6 months of being in Senegal...and wow, time has flown by! I am still adjusting, and know that will probably continue my entire time in Senegal, but I am okay with that :) I am feeling more comfortable though, with the culture and language. And while I do not understand everything, or agree with everything Senegalese, I have learned to accept and appreciate those that I come in contact on a regular basis.

   I have spent a lot of time at my house this past week due to several factors (waiting on a desk and chair that was promised to me in November that has yet to appear, taking care of a newborn kitten, dealing with some severe allergy issues, ect), which has been rather nice. I have been able to start planning a few projects, thinking about logistics and looking up vocabulary terms. Some projects about to start after my week escape to Dakar (huge softball tournament for expats; more to come in the next blog post): moringa presentation with my host mom's new mothers group; pepinaire to start preparing for tree transplantation in local schools during the rainy season; setting up a computer room to teach IT classes; and building a solar oven and solar dryer. Very random, I know...which suits me perfectly :) Until my return from Dakar...

Me and Punx

Celebrating my Birthday in Dahra

     Yesterday, I celebrated my 28th birthday, and had a wonderful day! First off, I went to the missionaries' house on Tuesday and made a birthday cake (they have an oven). The cake turned out awesome...just melted in your mouth. I had some issues with the icing...turns out softened butter and melted butter will not produce the same results. Thus the icing was more of a glaze, which turned the cake into an gooy mess, but it was delicious!

     So I woke up on my birthday to coffee and cake for breakfast (breakfast of champions!) and then opend up my presents (my parents had sent me a package and the missionaries had gave me one) and cards. I am so thankful to have people care and love me as much as my family does. I am truly blessed.

     For lunch, I headed over to my host family's house, where my host mom had prepared Yassa Genard for me (Chicken, rice, and onion sauce). It was delicious! Afterwards, I got my birthday present...a kitten! It's so tiny, but sooooo cute! I just hope it makes it. It is probably too young to be taken away from it's mom, but seeing how my host family reacted around the cat and kittens, it probably has a better chance of surviving with me.

      I was also able to talk to my parents and Bob last night which always makes me happy. Even though we are so far away from each other, it felt like they were able to celebrate my birthday with me :) Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes...makes me feel loved and special!

Update

So this past month, I have been working on language a lot. After my first two months at site and then IST, I felt as though my Wolof skills were not where they needed to be to start working. So I had a nice meeting with my supervisor and counterpart after IST, telling them that I needed to be more independent and work on Wolof for another month or so. I can tell that this "break" has really helped. I still don't enderstand everything, but I'm able to have more conversations and understand more of what people are saying to me. This coming month, I still plan on focusing a lot on Wolof, but I feel confortable to start work too. I'm not sure how quickly I can start projects in Dahra, but I'm going to try to start planning some things and meeting with a few of the women's groups and associations in town.

Here are a few projects that I hope to start working on within the next two months:

• waste management project (hopefully city-wide with the support of the mayor's office)
• IT training
• help out with the English club at the local high school
• planning for teaching Junior Achievement next school year
• start gardens and/or tree nurseries at local schools.

Some cross-sectoral work projects include:

•  HIV/AIDS tournee
• Moringa tournee
• Girls' Leadership Camp  
• Field Days in nearby villages.

I have also been appoved for my Capstone proposal, so I will begin working on that too. My research question is "How does social capital affect local economic development?" I will be focusing my research on my work in Dahra and throughout Senegal. I plan to graduate with my M.A. in December of 2011.

So that's what's been going on here in Dahra :) The weather has been somewhat cooler (upper 80s and lower 90s throughout the day), but we've had a lot of issues with power and water cuts. I'm still adjusting to everything, but I am enjoying my time here. Thank you to everyone for the prayers, words of encouragement, packages, and cards. I appreciate them all!

Christmas Happiness

As I am writing this, I am listening to Christmas music, compliments of my parents. That’s right, it is now January 6, 2011 and I am still celebrating Christmas. Why, you might ask? Because Christmas just wasn’t the same this year without my family, or when the average daily temperature is 100 degrees; besides, Christmas is really about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, not about presents.  I did celebrate Christmas at its’ appointed time, but decided that I would continue for another month or so, as I knew that I had a few packages on the way and several Christmas cards. Today I received 3 packages, one from my parents and one from each of my grandmothers. I am so blessed to have family that wants to make me feel as home as much as possible in a country so far away. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and who have sent me cards…I appreciate your thoughts more than I can express.

American goodies :)

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…