Too Many Mangoes.

Here is an incredibly long blog post to make up for all of the non-posting I have been doing and probably will continue to do. Thank you for reading, though! There is only one week of training left, before we all become volunteers and officially start our two years of service. I am excited to actually start working and settle into my new life. However, I’m also apprehensive. So far, we have had activities planned out for us, and have been able to all spend time together and decompress every day. It’s all new and exciting, and I really like hanging out with everyone. I have made a few close friends so far, and we will all soon be spread out around the country. I don’t know if I’m ready to trade all of that in for a slow paced and self-imposed schedule. However, it really feels like I have been living out of a suitcase for the past year, and I can’t even describe how nice it will be to settle in to one place for the next two years. I feel like no matter what happens, I have automatic ET (early termination) insurance based solely on the fact that I have a TON of stuff that I will not be voluntarily moving again any time soon : )

Michigan’s graduation was this past weekend, and Obama spoke at it. It hit me that I graduated exactly one year ago, and I can’t believe it. It might as well have been yesterday. My time in Hawaii flew by, and my time in Victoria was marked by two moves, getting a visa, getting in to Grad School, and then finding out about Peace Corps. So much was going on that whole time, that it flew by as well. Going back to Michigan, visiting family in other states, and leaving for Senegal also went by quickly. I have been in Senegal for 8 weeks, and can’t say where the time has gone. So much has happened, and it has been amazing! We have had nonstop excitement, new experiences, fun hanging out as a big group, and learning how to make the most of the next two years. Last weekend we all rented a house on the beach in Popenguine, which was gorgeous, and just had a relaxing fun weekend. I ate sardines, we all swam in the ocean at night while someone shot of firecrackers, I did a crossword puzzle, climbed up a big rock in the ocean, and cut my feet up while swimming in the ocean (it’s like being in Hawaii all over again…). It was so much fun! All in all, this past year has been one big blur of new people, new places, exciting adventures, and overall amazing experiences. In two weeks I will put my stuff down, stop traveling, and accept a much more slow-paced and focused kind of life. I hope I can make the transition alright, and am sure that it will be fine! After all…even though I joined Peace Corps with the expectation of being way out in the African Bush for two years, I will never be more than a short bike ride away from a gorgeous beach and a cold beer.

Anyways! I thought I could give everyone an idea of what I am doing here by narrating just one day at training. Currently, I am at my homestay and one of my sisters (who is 17) is reading this out loud over my shoulder in broken english, while wearing one of my skirts on her head that she just washed for me by hand. I’m afraid she will understand what she’s saying….OK. To start at the beginning, I woke up around 7:30am to one of my sisters bringing me half a baguette and hot water for instant coffee (breakfast every day). I eat my breakfast on the roof, which is like a big cement patio overlooking the village. It’s my alone time for the day : ) After that, we all meet at the garden to water, which involves unrolling a huge hose, and then sitting for an hour while our oil drum fills with water. After that, I take the half of my breakfast baguette that I can never manage to finish over to a sheet metal shack with cloth doors (the country wide symbol for bean sandwich huts) where I get amazing chick pea bean mash and eggs put on my bread for the equivalent of 25 cents, and then eat it during language class.

Today after class, my sister and I went to the tailor to get a gorgeous dress of hers copied, which seems to be the only way you can buy clothes in this country. I have been working on making this happen for a few weeks now. Step one was getting the language down well enough to ask her how. Then I had to go on a fabric buying mission at the market in Thies, and negotiate prices. So, today I was excited to finally get to a tailor and have it started. However, he was charging more than my sister wanted me to pay (it was like…2 dollars more) so we stayed for half an hour negotiating the price. He wouldn’t give, so we decided to take that extreme financial hit, gave him the fabric, and left. But, on the way home, we ran into my mom, who was angry that he overcharged us, and marched back in there to yell at him for 10 minutes before grabbing the fabric and storming out. Apparently we are going to a different tailor tomorrow, inshallah. I’m leaving Sunday, so I have a feeling this wont be happening. It’s frightening that just getting a dress is such an ordeal. Wait until I try to change the world…that might take even longer.

So, after that, I came home to my language teacher asking if I could translate a 3 page French document into English for a group at the university. I said OK, even though I am currently trying to write a speech in Serere for the big swearing-in ceremony we have next week to become volunteers. Each language group has someone giving a speech to the rest of the volunteers. I started translating the documents, but then decided to call one of my friends here instead just to take a break from all of it. Hearing from people at home is always nice, and can be a huge comfort, but having people here to talk with and gossip with is a different kind of (very entertaining) release. After the phone call we had lunch. Usually, we sit on the ground and eat fish and rice out of a bowl with our hands. However, today I was introduced to the most wonderful food in the world. It is called Dahine and it is magic. It’s some kind of spicy rice/fish/peanut mush with pepper in the middle. I was the last one at the bowl and I ate until there was nothing left in it. That is an unprecedented event since my arrival in Senegal.

Post-lunch I had hoped to go get a coke at the boutique, but was instead called into my mom’s room where she had me read from what is possibly the only seereer book in existence other than the bible, so I could get “practice.” Then it was time for more language class. We have taken to watching movies after language class, like 300 and Casino Royale, but the power rarely works, so we were not able to watch anything today since my laptop died. To curb the disappointment, one of the other girls and I went to buy mangoes, (because it is mango season!) which was a complete disaster. I only wanted three, but I misunderstood the price, and somehow managed to ask for 300 mangoes. Then the woman selling them couldn’t understand when I tried to correct my mistake, so I found myself standing there with about 30 mangoes and a crowd of people staring at me while I blabbered on in my limited Serere. We eventually fixed it and walked away, three mangoes in hand. But, after turning a corner we both broke into uncontrollable fits of laughter. Eating the mangoes was equally difficult, and I almost always have to shower afterwards. They are amazing...but there are no plates or napkins or utensils to try and eat them with.

So, after that I went home, and hoped to take refuge in my room, but instead was recruited for English homework help. Then, at 7:30 we all went to the neighbor’s house to watch Marina (a portugese soap opera dubbed in French) which is one of the highlights of my day. Everyone crowds into a room and its fun. Plus, everyone is staring at the TV which means they are not focusing their undivided attention on me. And I don’t have to talk! After Marina, we had dinner, which is millet and bean sauce. I love it so much. Now I am writing this, translating the English papers, not writing my speech, and will hopefully get to bed at a reasonable hour. I have grown really attached to my family here at the homestay site, and love hanging out with them/being in this village. The food is good, the people are fun, the house is amazing…and I only have a few days left here. But, it is time to move on I suppose, and get ready to actually begin my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer once and for all.

I hope we actually get the dress made tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

I hope you’re all doing well : ) I think of home pretty much constantly. But, in a good, “this would never happen in the US…” kind of way.