'Merica

I recently returned to village from a two week glorious feast of America's finest. I saw my wonderful friends and family, traffic that moves with laws and stops at lights not flocks of goats, and the gluttony of our food warehouses called grocery stores.

Saying goodbye to America was tearful; making the conscience decision to trade in heated, running water for bucket baths and my western throne for the squatter took more than a few deep breaths.

My shower is on the left. My toilet on the right.

I brought back to Senegal ten newly acquired pounds, jars of peanut butter and gifts for the village. Thank you to everyone that gave bags of goodies. My village is over the moon with their shinny new jewelry and toys. Barkedji is also very in support of finding a cure to breast cancer (thanks Donna); the bright pink key chains have become a status good.

Bubbles from the wedding are a HUGE hit with kids and adults alike!

This is my "grandma" wearing her new jewelry and huge smile.

My little sister sporting her new, fun glasses.

While at home a common question was 'what kind of work are you doing?'. A simple question that turns out is incredibly difficult to answer. I usually responded with 'I plant some trees and vaccinate some babies' which is what I do, but it doesn't begin to really explain what we do a Peace Corps volunteers. I recently had my Action Plan actualization meeting. I gathered my potential work partners and respected community members to discuss my long term work plans. Gardens, tree planting, hand washing and girls education are some of the main bullets on my plan. The meeting was helpful for the check list oriented, time frame American in me. It also helped to clear up that my purpose in the village is not to vomit money.

After the meeting looking at my tangible work goals I felt a sense of validation. Some days that I spend laying around on a mat in a pool of my own sweat I wonder if I am actually doing any good here. Having a tangible set of projects, with the community's blessing, went alone way to reassure me. Then my Seneglese mom rocked my perspective.

She told me that while I was in American my little brother came up to her and said, "Mom, today Fama (my local name) has been gone for one week. So, she will come back in one more week, right?" Wow.

I want to change my answer to the 'what have you been working on' question. I have been building a home and making friends worlds away from what I know.

This is my mom with her new grandson.

I am in Love.

Say 'ello to my little friend. Isn't she perfection?

I rescued her from some horrid children who thought it was okay to play football with her. After falling in love with her I introduced her to the family. They, like the majority of Senegalese people, were not so keen on the idea of my new adpotion. In fact, I learned that April, the volunteer before me, kept a dog for a few weeks. Until one day the family took the dog to the field. It never returned...I was bound to protect my new best friend.

I brought the pup to our Regional House in Linguere as a replacement for the dog that had run away. Again, people really dislike dogs here. In order to get a spot on the car I put the dog in my shirt and told the driver it was my baby. Things got a smidge odd when she started barking at the chickens that were also riding along.

I named her Helen Keller, clearly. At first I thought it was because she was both blind and deaf, turns out she's just dumb. If only Annie Sullivan were around to train her, my life smells of dog urine. I'm not sure if that's a step up or down from the usual ode de goat poop.

Rama-Don't get it.

I have reached the half way point in Ramadan, alhamdulillah (Arabic phrase meaning "Praise God" that can and should be used in any and all situations)

I decided at the beginning of Ramadan that I wanted to try and observe the fast for the experience of it and solidarity reasons. I figured Ramadan was just a buffed up version of Lent, of which I have had many years of training, and over a million people around the world are doing it. How hard could it be?

Here's the one unambiguous rule:

No eating or DRINKING while the sun is up.

I ignore the no drinking water. I tried it for a day and vetoed living in the desert with dehydration hallucinations for a month. So, I started by only half observing the fast. Still, food is the cornerstone to my positive, approachable personality. If I am late for a meal I get a little cranky. So, going from sun up to sun down with our eating is intense.

The routine of the day begins with the call of the mosque at around 4:30 am, signaling the women to wake up and start preparing the morning porridge. The next call is around 5:30, telling everyone to wake up and eat the milk and cous-cous porridge. Then the final morning call around sunrise, to make sure you've finished eating for the day. After a short crawl out of bed to sleepily stuff porridge in my face, I go back to bed until a more respectable hour like 8.

The morning is "productive" time. The heat doesn't make you want to weep pure salt tears yet and you have a little energy from your early morning porridge. So, this is when chores are done, laundry by hand, sweeping the sand courtyard, filling the water pots for the children to drink, going to market, and gardening.

My garden is awesome, by the way. I extend a challenge to anyone interested in "La Guerre de Jardin". Your improved variety seeded garden vs my desert miracle. I secretly ate the most delicious, breaking Ramadan, self grown watermelon in my bathroom. If only my spinach and carrots would sprout...

Around noon life stops. It's to hot to do anything and the early morning porridge calories are gone. Now it's time to sprawl around in the shade. Suggested activities include napping, watching leaves, talking about how hot it is, talking about how hungry you are. I have done lots of Ramadan reading. One of main topics of conversation in the village is the difficulty of fasting. I have gotten mad street credit for my fasting.

Around 6 the women start to prepare the break fast and dinner. The mosque calls around 7:30 to signal that we can break the fast. Breaking fast is deliciously patron. I pack my gurggling stomach with cold water, bissap juice, dates, coffee, yogurt and bread with a different daily spread. It is a break fast feast.

Everyone that fasted heads to the mosque, leaving me and the children (kids, nursing mothers, sick and elderly aren't required to fast) to do yoga. The family returns and we eat a giant delicious dinner around 10:30. Immediately after which I pass out, half food coma half sleepies.

It's an odd feast-famine cycle that has made me gorge myself both in the morning and at night, both cases followed by sleep. The time in between is filled my very minimal activity. Very odd existence.

Confessional

Last Thursday I found the one Catholic in my village. I now go to his house everyday for lunch, Hallelujah. RamaDONE.

rAMAZadan!!!

Special thanks go out to the fabulous Eva and Ellen, young girls from the missionary family living in Linguere, for my wonderful mail. It truly brightened my life!!

An American in Senegal cooking Italian food = World Peace

Today marks the first day of RamaDEATH, my spelling might be slightly off, the Muslim month long fast. You wake around 5am for coffee and bread then don't eat or drink anything until 7 when fast is broken. My plan is to try and follow the fast, or at least my version. I'm not going to eat while the sun is out; however, I have no intention of going without water. We'll see how long i make it. It's only be Ramadan for a few hours and I am already hungry...

Before Ramadan I wanted to cook a tobab, Wolof word for white person, meal for my family. I chose spaghetti. A classic, tasty and above all easy meal to prepare over a fire or gas. I went to the market in the morning to wrangle up the supplies. Having never cooked a meal for a family of 15 before I had no idea the quantities of supplies to get. I told my market lady friend that I was making dinner and the next thing I know she was sending children to fetch me cloves of garlic, onions and delicious MSG seasoning cubes. Shopping for kilos of onions and sacks of meat made easy!

When I returned to Barkedji I brought a soccer ball for my brother. I gave it to him with the stipulation that he had to "pay me" for it by helping me cook dinner for the family. My reasoning is because everyday I watch the girls of Senegal cook, clean, study, and try to squeeze in time to be a kid; all while the boys lay around playing caps. By no means do I aim to change the culture, but I do and will continue to do things to show how amazing the females of Senegal are.

Things were going wonderfully. Myself and 5 of my siblings (three of whom are boys) were chopping onions. I was feeling pretty proud of my cross-gender sensitization work. Then my uncle scolded the boys saying "Boys don't chop onions. Go watch the soccer game." Oh...Take two.

The end product was no where near Mike Albright's slow roasted, savory spaghetti, but sitting around the bowl with my family giggling as we awkwardly slop spaghetti around with our hands, made the experience rich delicious.

A burrito bowl is next on the menu.

BTW my camera is broken, so I apologize for the lack of visual aid. I'll do my best to paint pictures with my words.

single emo tear.

I just returned to my region after three weeks of In Service Training. As I have almost been in Senegal for 5 months, I feel I am getting pretty good at the art of Senegalese indirect communication. You be the judge:

As I mentioned I just got "home" after being gone for at least three weeks. This is a photo of our mail cubbyholes. Guess which one is mine.
That is all. I will write another post after I piece together my broken heart with the stickers sent in a letter to my friend.

Filthy.

My friend and fellow volunteer was recently spotlighted as the front page story in her home town newspaper. The article was packed with photos, quotes and witty one liners about Senegalese culture. The only thing missing was a call, email or letter to my friend informing her that this was going on. Apparently, the newspaper stumbled across her blog and found all they needed for the two page “African Adventure” expose.

This got me thinking, suppose the Louisville Times perused my blog? Do I really want the greater 303 area to know that I own a personal poop scrapping stick? I’d rather not. So, I made the conscience decision to write a respectable blog that tells of all my positive development work, cultural exchange and the numerous lives I am touching. Then last night happened…

I am currently out of my village and in the big city, Thies for my In Service Training. I am staying with the family that hosted me during my first 9 weeks in country. My first night back in the home stay was a glorious boost to my Wolof confidence. This family dealt with me when all I could say was “I’m full” and “I go to bed”. Now I return with an arsenal of compound sentences, a Wolof proverb or two, and the ability to actually get food into my mouth when eating with my hand and not just throw rice onto my lap! I tell you this so that you understand my over inflated self confidence and will bare witness to just how far I fell.

Later that same evening.
I walk across the compound to the cement block used as a shower. Naturally it’s dark and the power is out; so, I can’t see anything and am focusing all of my energy on not dropping my pagne. A bucket half full (notice I still have my cheery positive attitude at this point) of water is sitting right next to the water faucet. I assume that someone just bucket bathed and only used half. I proceed to fill the remainder of the bucket.

Now I am standing naked in a dark cement cubicle that smells like the bowels of Death preparing for my refreshing bucket shower. If you were to use a bucket of water and a large mug to shower, where would you dump the first cooling mug? Answer: Look up and dump it all over your face. I did this.

DIRTY WATER DIRTY WATER!! It took me a horrified moment to realize what was wrong. I used the bucket of vegetable peels and fish scales to bathe! Filthy. After dropkicking the food scrap water I stumbled out of the shower, blinded by disgust, wrapped in my pagne and covered in fish scales, only to mutter “I go to bed” to my hysterical family.

It was only after cleaning myself from my filthy shower that the whole situation became amusing. Oh life…

So long as I don’t act a fool, the next post might actually tell you a little sumtin about Senegal. But, no promises, that’s why I added links (down and to the right) to the blogs of individuals much more respectable than myself.