I said I would write more at Christmas but alas we lost our internet connection at the house and therefore could not write. Christmas wasn't like Christmas in America but it was pretty darn good. We had some serious whizzes in the kitchen who whipped up duck, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole (which actually caught on fire in the stove but we ate it anyways and it was still good!), pumpkin pie, and scalloped potatoes with sausage! And the night before we had stew with rolls made from scratch! It tasted exactly like it does in the US! We devoured it to say the least. Between 12 people we devoured two stew pots. Oh and did I mention someone donated a can of spinach they got from Dakar and made spinach dip. Cloud nine does not begin to describe the extravagenza of tasty delights.
Packages did not come on Christmas nor the day after or the day after that. I was going to wait till monday and then spend the New Year in village (I felt a little guilty since I was away for six days) but then I was told there were going to be a few people in for the holiday. I figured what the heck. The packages probably wouldn't be until after the New Year (or at least not till after I left Kolda) knowing Senegal postal service and I was going stir crazy in the house. Who knew being bombarded by pulaar was so important to my mental health!
So I went to village. It was awesome! Maybe I just needed to be away to recuperate, to refocus and be ready to start again. What was crazy was on my way to the gare routier I ran into two of my villagers, one who was riding the Alhum back to village!! They were like "Adama, we have not seen you, were you in Kolda for the fete?"
So I got back and seeing my family was so wonderful! When I think of how scared and distrustful I was in the beginning, I am that much more thankful that my family was patient with me and didn't press me when I embraced my inner toubaub and retreated into my hut for several hours when I got frustrated. Sure I still have rough moments but I know my family isn't going to give up on me (well most of the time cuz sometimes I deserve what I get.)
Anyways I was busy, busy for three days I was in village! I went to the World Vision and I have decided that is where I am going to go every Monday just to talk with people and get a feel for projects in the area. And some of the people there speak a little english. When I get there they were going over Christmas cards for local kids from sponsors written in English. We talked for a bit, mentioned I needed teacher, and so they said they would help me! Its only once a week for a few hours but it is something! And since they had christmas cards in english, they passed them to me and told me to read in them Pulaar. I could! At little and they helped me with the structure but it was something and when I got back to village some of the kids had them and so I translated what I could. I felt useful! Yay!! Not to mention I have been trying to greet like crazy and the kids don't have school, they are everywhere, so inevitably before I get to ever house there is a rousing game of chase Adama to her room. And I trimmed back my tomatoes (more like gave it a buzz cut) because over half the plant was infected by a virus and I wanted to save what I could. So it kind of looks skeletal but hopefully this will save what is left. I found what was eating the Jaxatu too (curse catipillars!!) One of the villagers is also working on a fish project in the farrow, but since it will be dry by the end of dry season, we'll see what can be done.
One thing that I have noticed is my standard for food hygeine has dropped significantly. You can get frozen bissap juice in bags, and at first I was afraid but now I'm like "its frozen! And tasty!" Of course I'll have three please! Fatayas being sold from a bucket in the market, delicious. Who cares if it had flies on it? Lord if it has beans, the only way I probably won't eat it is if I see something moving in it. Fruit that has fallen on the ground? Don't worry it still has intact skin, but yes I'll eat it.
We had guests over and so we got fish with the rice and leaf sauce (!!!!) and After we were done the men were like "Adama you didn't eat a lot eat more!" All I wanted to say was "Dude I made sure to have a fish ball in each scoopful and I think I consumed more than half of the fish balls in the bowl. I think I am in protein overload and now MUST go lay down."
Don't worry, this type of attitude does have repercussions. And after each one I am little more wary of food but I give into temptation again. and again.
Ohh and now for the wonderful news. Came into Kolda today and after I greeted the post man I became the proud owner of SEVEN packages!! I brought my bike in because I am going to another volunteers village tomorrow and so I had to send them with Jess in a taxi to the regional house! Talk about feeling like a rockstar! Thank you everyone!! Grandma, your cookies were still good and I will get a picture of me in the clothes as soon as I bring my camera in (left it in village-stupid me!). I feel so loved and it makes me want to work that much harder because I have such a marvelous support group in America!! I miss you all very much! Have a happy new year!
My resolutions this year:
1) Run more
2) Be more fearless
3) Learn pulaar
4) Wash clothes at the well-oh wait conquered this one. :) Washed my clothes successfully at the well (with help from my sisters) and now I have CLEAN clothes!! Only had a few gawkers!
Love to all!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Have yourself a merry little christmas...
Thats one of my favorite Christmas songs and it is playing on the cd player right now. I am in Kolda for holidays and we are eating duck for Christmas dinner (Jess and Nathan dispatched Daisy and Donald earlier this morning) and from what it seems a massive dinner. Tonight I think we are going small to prepare ourselves for the holiday itself but we may get a pig. Some of you know of the vivid dreams of bacon I have but due to the lack of meat regulation I am not supposed to eat pork. But I miss Bacon.
No I have not received packages yet but the post office said maybe today!! Before the end of January for sure (Si Allah Jaabi). Thank you everyone for letters, cards and packages. I cannot express enough how much they help me when I am having a rough day and I can just go into my hut pull out a letter, read it, and remind myself that someone loves me and believes in me and the dammit I can learn Pulaar because I CAN.
I have two people looking for pulaar tutors for me. Iasked around the village but the teachers in village are very busy and no one else has m,uch time available. So I have asked a school administrator in the road town to talk to some people and the world vision repabout 7K away is also looking too.
I am picking up vocab and I use flashcards but I just have the grammar of a child which is frustrating.
Ohh but big news-I got my bed AND the new Peace Corps issued Mosquito net! the bed is not that comfortable but I am off the floor and it actually looks like a bed. The mosquito net actually covers the entire bed (which means I stretch out and when I wake from malaria dreams I'm not tangled in the net-less panic) and it has a flap for easy exit. I feel like I am big pimpin. I also got two more buckets from the market.
My goal for the new year is to get over my fear of the well women and do my laundry next to well where I can easy get fresh water to rinse clothes completely.
I also found the Senegal Natural Resources has some projects going in my community already (like BEES!!) which should help me get experience more projects and what resources are available to me.
I will try and write a more thorough post later but now I get to clean the ducks. Love to all, and most of all Merry Christmas!! Sing some carols for me and call the people you love!
No I have not received packages yet but the post office said maybe today!! Before the end of January for sure (Si Allah Jaabi). Thank you everyone for letters, cards and packages. I cannot express enough how much they help me when I am having a rough day and I can just go into my hut pull out a letter, read it, and remind myself that someone loves me and believes in me and the dammit I can learn Pulaar because I CAN.
I have two people looking for pulaar tutors for me. Iasked around the village but the teachers in village are very busy and no one else has m,uch time available. So I have asked a school administrator in the road town to talk to some people and the world vision repabout 7K away is also looking too.
I am picking up vocab and I use flashcards but I just have the grammar of a child which is frustrating.
Ohh but big news-I got my bed AND the new Peace Corps issued Mosquito net! the bed is not that comfortable but I am off the floor and it actually looks like a bed. The mosquito net actually covers the entire bed (which means I stretch out and when I wake from malaria dreams I'm not tangled in the net-less panic) and it has a flap for easy exit. I feel like I am big pimpin. I also got two more buckets from the market.
My goal for the new year is to get over my fear of the well women and do my laundry next to well where I can easy get fresh water to rinse clothes completely.
I also found the Senegal Natural Resources has some projects going in my community already (like BEES!!) which should help me get experience more projects and what resources are available to me.
I will try and write a more thorough post later but now I get to clean the ducks. Love to all, and most of all Merry Christmas!! Sing some carols for me and call the people you love!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Its a wild world out there and it is time to eat
Haven't been on the computer in a while, so sorry for the lack of updating, but I have lots of new stories. I'll try to type as many as a I can.
First I am getting better at names in the village. I can successfully idenitify and correctly name at least 60 percent of the village. Mostly adults but I know so some of the kids! It sounds small but if everyone knows my name its only reasonable that I know the names of everyone in my village-only about 160-170 people, no problem right? I make sure to go around to the village and greet everyone at least once a day and then hang out with a few families for longer. I was being more guarded around the villagers but now I am relaxing. Other volunteers have had poor experiences in village because they were robbed (which I am mostly confident and hopeful that that won't happen to me) or because a few people would harass them for money or medicine. I have gotten really good at saying no. There is always the polite person in me who says I should be more considerate and that I could be perceived as ungenerous but a good number just want to push my buttons and when I say no I get a little respect (Yay!)
I was sick for the first time in village. I am 90% certain that it was food related because I ate out of another family's bowl. It was a kind of scary experience. It started with me feeling woozy and getting really hot after lunch. Then I just layed on my floor and I could not move. Everything hurt and I was hot and then cold. I took my temperature and it was 104 degrees. I was miserable. The only thing I was thinking was I haven't discussed with my family what to do if there is an emergency or if I am very sick, how to get me to Kolda, to Dakar, or who to call. Dinner came and went and I could not eat anything. I had the raging fever the entire night and the next morning it still wasn't down so I made the decision to go to Kolda in case I continued to get worse and for comfort purposes. Being sick in a hut is not fun. Getting to the road was a challenge because I could not walk straight, let alone bike, and I almost left my glasses behind, and so my host father put me on the back of his bike and carried me to the road where we hitch hiked in. It took three days but my fever went away and left only some headaches. I felt like a wimp for not being sick in village but as other volunteers put it, volunteers sometimes feel like they have to rough it or punish themselvesand be sick in village, but it does no one any good and you'll probably get better faster in a quieter, nutritionally diverse environment.
On the topic of good news I hitch hiked in all by myself for the first time!! yay! I only got overcharged by 100 CFA and I found my way from the garage to the regional house! Could I be gaining a sense of direction?
I also decided to stop fighting parents and accept their children when offered. I have named all the boys under 12 my husband. Their parents get a hoot out of it. One poor boy who was my first husband he sees me and he runs away! Who would have thought cooties are all on continents? Also when I left village to come in this time I also felt like I really had people to say good bye to, you know like people who I feel like I am developing friendships with. it was an odd feeling but a good one too.
I also met my host grandmother. She is clearly the matriarch of the family but she is one cool lady who likes to joke with me that she is mad because I have no gift for her and that she will leave and always be mad at me. We had Tabaski (reason for the second half of the post title) and the result was we went to the mosque, we prayed, went back and killed sheep. Everyone knows I have no particularly affection for sheep. In fact my brothers thought it was funny that when I walked past one of the sheep that I kept telling him I was going to eat him on Tabaski. I have pictures of the sheep killing. It was merciful and quick and the skinning and meat preparing was fascinating. We ate meat, like it was going out of style. It was delicious. I went into a food coma. the downside of it was I SAW what went into the "going to eat" pile and I couldn't really identify it after it was cooked. So I ate it and if it was too chewy then I ate less of that. Not going to pass up the opportunity for protein.
Speaking of Protein I will post my wish list for now. I would also like to thank everyone for sending me letters and packages. When the day is rough it is nice to know I can have a hot chocolate or oatmeal or kool aid or peanut butter and pretend I am in America.
So Wish List!
Jerky
Children's Vitamins (flintstones to be given as "candy" when the kids ask for it)
Koolaid
Tuna or chicken breast packets-you know they come in the aluminum like packages, not refrigerated, come in flavors like garlic herb, lemon zest.
Cranberries!
Trail mix
any magazines you may have lying around from fluff to news (Cosmo to Wire to News Paper articles you think I might like!)
Macaroni
pecans
M and Ms! The big bags so I can make cookies!! please. thank you. I also really love the dark chocolate kind but if you can't find it then regular and peanut will be fine. I will eat whatever you send me
Hair condition-Africa doesn't not like my hair
razors
books that you think I will like
Candy
know that anything you send is greatly appreciated and enjoyed!!
Love to all! Enjoy the holiday season!
First I am getting better at names in the village. I can successfully idenitify and correctly name at least 60 percent of the village. Mostly adults but I know so some of the kids! It sounds small but if everyone knows my name its only reasonable that I know the names of everyone in my village-only about 160-170 people, no problem right? I make sure to go around to the village and greet everyone at least once a day and then hang out with a few families for longer. I was being more guarded around the villagers but now I am relaxing. Other volunteers have had poor experiences in village because they were robbed (which I am mostly confident and hopeful that that won't happen to me) or because a few people would harass them for money or medicine. I have gotten really good at saying no. There is always the polite person in me who says I should be more considerate and that I could be perceived as ungenerous but a good number just want to push my buttons and when I say no I get a little respect (Yay!)
I was sick for the first time in village. I am 90% certain that it was food related because I ate out of another family's bowl. It was a kind of scary experience. It started with me feeling woozy and getting really hot after lunch. Then I just layed on my floor and I could not move. Everything hurt and I was hot and then cold. I took my temperature and it was 104 degrees. I was miserable. The only thing I was thinking was I haven't discussed with my family what to do if there is an emergency or if I am very sick, how to get me to Kolda, to Dakar, or who to call. Dinner came and went and I could not eat anything. I had the raging fever the entire night and the next morning it still wasn't down so I made the decision to go to Kolda in case I continued to get worse and for comfort purposes. Being sick in a hut is not fun. Getting to the road was a challenge because I could not walk straight, let alone bike, and I almost left my glasses behind, and so my host father put me on the back of his bike and carried me to the road where we hitch hiked in. It took three days but my fever went away and left only some headaches. I felt like a wimp for not being sick in village but as other volunteers put it, volunteers sometimes feel like they have to rough it or punish themselvesand be sick in village, but it does no one any good and you'll probably get better faster in a quieter, nutritionally diverse environment.
On the topic of good news I hitch hiked in all by myself for the first time!! yay! I only got overcharged by 100 CFA and I found my way from the garage to the regional house! Could I be gaining a sense of direction?
I also decided to stop fighting parents and accept their children when offered. I have named all the boys under 12 my husband. Their parents get a hoot out of it. One poor boy who was my first husband he sees me and he runs away! Who would have thought cooties are all on continents? Also when I left village to come in this time I also felt like I really had people to say good bye to, you know like people who I feel like I am developing friendships with. it was an odd feeling but a good one too.
I also met my host grandmother. She is clearly the matriarch of the family but she is one cool lady who likes to joke with me that she is mad because I have no gift for her and that she will leave and always be mad at me. We had Tabaski (reason for the second half of the post title) and the result was we went to the mosque, we prayed, went back and killed sheep. Everyone knows I have no particularly affection for sheep. In fact my brothers thought it was funny that when I walked past one of the sheep that I kept telling him I was going to eat him on Tabaski. I have pictures of the sheep killing. It was merciful and quick and the skinning and meat preparing was fascinating. We ate meat, like it was going out of style. It was delicious. I went into a food coma. the downside of it was I SAW what went into the "going to eat" pile and I couldn't really identify it after it was cooked. So I ate it and if it was too chewy then I ate less of that. Not going to pass up the opportunity for protein.
Speaking of Protein I will post my wish list for now. I would also like to thank everyone for sending me letters and packages. When the day is rough it is nice to know I can have a hot chocolate or oatmeal or kool aid or peanut butter and pretend I am in America.
So Wish List!
Jerky
Children's Vitamins (flintstones to be given as "candy" when the kids ask for it)
Koolaid
Tuna or chicken breast packets-you know they come in the aluminum like packages, not refrigerated, come in flavors like garlic herb, lemon zest.
Cranberries!
Trail mix
any magazines you may have lying around from fluff to news (Cosmo to Wire to News Paper articles you think I might like!)
Macaroni
pecans
M and Ms! The big bags so I can make cookies!! please. thank you. I also really love the dark chocolate kind but if you can't find it then regular and peanut will be fine. I will eat whatever you send me
Hair condition-Africa doesn't not like my hair
razors
books that you think I will like
Candy
know that anything you send is greatly appreciated and enjoyed!!
Love to all! Enjoy the holiday season!
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