About 8 weeks in Africa

     Is that all?  It feels longer, time is surreal for me here. Recently, I spent 2 of those weeks in Mboro with my host family working on learning more Wolof, integration into the culture, taking long exploratory walks with my site mates, learning about Islam and learning to cook sweet fried dough and fattaya.  Fattaya is a deep fried, savory, rolled dough stuffed with meat or fish and spices.  It’s amazing!

     The days before I headed back to the Thies training center I was actually conversing, albeit minimally, with my host family.  It felt great. Well, except when my host mom told me I paid way too much for some fabric.  I came home and was so proud to show her my purchase of 5 meters of beautiful fabric to make into an outfit.  I handed it to her and then she asked: “How much did you pay for this?” I told her how much, feeling confident in my purchase and bartering skills.  She replied that I paid way too much, although the pattern is lovely, the material wasn’t great quality.  I over paid by about $2 US, not much to us, but it’s a lot here.   So, she sketched out the best outfit to be made for the type of material and when I return, I’ll go to the tailor and have it made. 

     August 19^th will be a huge day as I will be swearing in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer with my group.  We will be at the Ambassador’s house for swearing in and afterwards we will go somewhere for a glorious feast! 

     I got a beautiful outfit made for this occasion.  It’s called a complet; it’s a skirt, top and head wrap.  I picked out the fabric with the consult of my host mom and site mate and bought 6 meters.  My host mom then took me to one of her tailors and helped me pick out a style from the latest catalog.  The tailor and I negotiated a price and I agreed to come back in a few days to pick it up.  He made it perfectly with only a few measurements of my frame.  I can’t wait to get more outfits tailor made.  (This happened before the story above.)

     We got our site announcements a few weeks ago.  Now we all know where we are going to spend our 24 months.  We were all gathered around a big painted map of Senegal on the concrete, blind folded, spun around and then placed on our town.  When all of us were placed we were told to remove our blindfolds.  I will be in Tivaouane.

     Tivaouane is a big city, almost 40,000 pop, has electricity almost all the time and a good vibe to it. It’s about 2ish hours from Dakar and 30 minutes from Thies.  I was able to spend a few days with the volunteer I’m replacing, recently.  I stayed with her at my new host family’s home and she introduced me to some people in the community and told me about things I’d be working on. I’m a little bit nervous and really excited at the same time.

     We went to an “End of School Year Celebration” with lots of drumming and performances by kids it was great.  During this party, we were singled out, pulled into center stage.  I was grilled about my marital status and how many kids I have and then they made me dance.  I’m so happy to be a source of entertainment!  The next day we went out and she was asked, jokingly of course, by some guys if she would give me to them.  And this is just normal, joking conversation.  I really can’t wait until my language is up to snuff so I can joke back with those jokers!

     My host family is small by Senegalese standards.  I have a host mom, dad, uncle and 4 younger siblings between 4 and 24.  I met some of them during my visit and know I will enjoy living there.  My 10 year old host brother is really a lot of fun.  I will have my own room and share a bathroom/shower with the family.  The family home is on the outskirts of town and near the Garage or transport station, two major plusses.

Tivaoune is a transportation hub so I can get anywhere easily Senegalese “style”.  I can get a taxi, a sept-place (7 seat car), an Alham (30 person bus), a big 60 person bus, a donkey cart or I can take my bike.  The sept-places and Alhams must fill up before they leave…so I’ll always remember to bring with me a book…who knows how long I’ll be sitting around waiting.

     Garages, I’ve learned, are a great place for breakfast.  Duck into a curtained shack, sit down on a rickety bench, don’t pay any attention to the cleanliness of the place, order an egg and onion sandwich and a coffee touba (spiced with something unidentifiable and delicious!) then wait while they prepare it for you over a propane burner.  Your coffee will be handed to you piping hot and your sandwich is wrapped in sheet of newspaper.  Enjoy!  I’ve had a few of these and they really hit the spot.  Other great street foods are bean sandwiches and pea sandwiches.  I can’t wait to discover more.  Many times you can buy these in front of people’s houses or just on the street on the way into town.

     Currently I’m in Dakar at Peace Corps Head Quarters.  Unfortunately, I’m in the sick bay.  I’m okay, but I sure wasn’t a few days ago.  A nasty bug got 7 of the 17 of my group.  We are all on the mend.  This is great place to convalesce.  Why?  HOT SHOWERS!  I haven’t had one of those since June 14^th, but who’s counting?  A hot shower is so much better than I ever imagined.  There is also air conditioning and internet.  Right now, I’m the only one in the common area and I’m really enjoying some alone time.  I’ll be here for a couple of days.  It’s nice to meet the volunteers who are passing through.  In a bit, after my hot shower and if I’m feeling stable, I’m going to take a walk to the big grocery store.

     It’s called Casino and it’s very western and even sells Ben & Jerry’s ice cream…too bad it something like $13 a pint.  Casino is in a mini mall.  I walked in yesterday and was amazed; it kind of felt like I walked into a mini mall in Germany.  It was clean and bright and modern looking.  I almost didn’t know what to do with myself.  With my combo of being overwhelmed and having zero appetite, I didn’t buy much, but I bought some necessities I’ve done without since I got here: a fresh baked whole wheat baguette and a locally made artisanal goat cheese.  I had some for breakfast today.  Heaven.