The day I became a Peace Corps Volunteer...

Counterpart Workshop: 

Counterpart Workshop (CPW) is when all of the volunteers’ counterparts come to the Thies Training Center for a three-day event to help both parties, the volunteers and the counterparts, understand what is expected of them and how they will work together to achieve their goals. At the time of the workshop, I didn’t think the formation was that useful; I just thought it was all very stressful because the day it was over we had to go to Dakar for paperwork stuff, then we had all of our finals and a final readiness to serve presentation the day after Dakar day (two days later). I just wanted to study and prepare for the days to come. I didn’t spend that much time with my counterparts while they were at the formation outside of the sessions mainly because my language was horrible and it was just very hard to try to communicate, plus I was trying to get everything in order for the days to come. 
I will touch back on this later on in my blog when I talk about my first few weeks in village...

Swear-In:

I passed all of my finals, including managing to achieve the required language level in order to swear-in as an OFFICIAL PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER!!! Whooooop, Whooooop!

The day after all our finals were over, all the volunteers went to the beach and had a beach “weekend” (but, it was the middle of the week??) to celebrate and relax before swearing-in and moving to our respective sites for the next two years. As many of you know, I have chosen not expose my skin to the sun since late 2010, so I was very, very pasty white. I decided that because I had atrocious tan lines from at least knee length everything, flip flops and my varying tops, I would expose my skin to the sun and try to even it out ...on purpose. Well, I put on 30 SPF in the morning, three hours of tanning, I was redder than a sunburnt lobster (if that is even possible??), with blistering puss bubbles all over my body. I literally could not walk because the area behind my knees were so raw and burnt I couldn’t bend my knees. I spent the entire beach weekend hiding from the sun, lathered in aloe almost in tears. Okay, I will be honest, I was in tears more often than not. It was painful. THE SUN IS NOT MY FRIEND!! 

The day after we returned from the beach, May 8, 2015, was our swear-in day. I didn’t even want to think about putting on my fancy komplet because of the pain it would cause. I was looking forward to Swear-In day because I spent so much money and time designing my outfit and because of a three-hour poor decision, it wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been. I wanted to just stay in bed with as little clothes as possible, but I didn't. I put on my komplet, and, yes, it was agonizing! So, when you look at my pictures and you notice I look a little burnt up top, that was the mildest sunburn I was suffering from at the time. 

Swear-In was great. My friend Abigail gave our Pulaar speech and she was amazing. She truly moved the entire room in a language she only started learning 8 weeks before. She is a third generation Peace Corps Volunteer, so she was born for this job!  I am so honored to know her and call her my friend. She is going to do great things in this country and in the future.   

Traveling// Kolda // Site-Pre-Install:

The early morning after we swore-in we were sent on our way to our respective regional houses to buy all of our stuff for the next two years and get the low-down on what-was-what work-wise in our region/regional house and in our work sites/areas. 

It was a stressful event trying to pack up all of my stuff along with two other volunteers’ (Abigail and Brandon) stuff into a sept-place (sept-place details will have a separate blog entry in a few weeks). I am not sure how I accumulated so much extra stuff in the 10 weeks that I lived in Senegal, but I did. I have SO MUCH STUFF!! (but, at the same time, I feel like I have NOTHING at all.) We left super early in the morning and made it down to Kolda in decent time, it only took about 13 hours. 

Let me tell you one story about our drive down here that has really stuck with me:

Our driver had some tools in his car in case he broke down, we passed a big truck that was broken down, and he handed him (a complete stranger) his tools and drove off, never to see his tools again. That right there, is hospitality and kindness. I hope I never forget that moment. 

The next day we bought all of our stuff at the Kolda market that we anticipated using in the next two years. I say “all” but that is a total lie. We get 80,000 CFA for a site replacement  or 100,000 CFA for a new site. Let me just say, that is NOT NEARLY enough. I spent close to 200,000 CFA and I still haven’t bought a bed frame, desk/table, food, stuff for my garden/backyard, enough paint for my room, or storage units. I anticipate spending at least another 100,000 CFA more to get the first round of everything I “need” for my hut. 

Sare Hamidou:

I was installed on May 12, 2015.

When Mbouille, Amey and Jenny left me alone at my site, my eyes filled with tears. I knew I was an emotional person before coming to Senegal, but I always kept it internal and never let anyone that I wasn’t very close to know that I was upset. Here, it just isn’t the case. Every emotion is read on my face, very easily. 

My village, a small “bush” village without electricity, running water, and extremely poor cell phone service, hired people to come and play music and have a welcoming party for me. That is a big deal when they have little money and little resources. I was a little overwhelmed and honestly just wanted to settle-in and arrange my baggage and plan my next few days. I danced a little to make a good impression and after an hour or so I retired to my hut and arranged my stuff, and decided to paint my hut the following day.

My counterpart, Hoyo, could not be better to me. He takes care of me more than I could ever, ever ask. When I painted my room the second day in site, he helped me paint all day, never quitting until I was satisfied (well, kind of, we ran out of paint). The next day when I asked about a shade structure for my backyard, he gathered the boys in my village, went out and cut down trees to build my shade structure for me. I told Hoyo that I wanted a cat to eat all the bugs in my room (I know, a cat?? I don't like cats!! But, I thought it was necessary and I am super glad I have this little booger. He is totally my "baby"), but I didn’t want a full grown cat, I wanted a kitten. Hoyo, asked around, the next day a man rides his bike 30km with a kitten in a box to give to me. This kitten, honestly should still have been with his mom so I was concerned about how I was going to keep him alive and healthy. I don’t have a boutique in my village to buy any food or other misc. items, so Hoyo biked with me to another village to buy my kitten some condensed milk until Jenny, my site mate, could get me the powdered vitamin milk she bought in Kolda. Then, later, when I found termites (which, is very common, but I was not happy and freaking out), Hoyo went out and compiled this mystery potion to kill my termites outside AND made a separate one to kill them in my roof because I didn’t want my paint to smear with the water splashing (I bought water based paint because it was cheaper). He also put up tarp in my hut so that my thatched roof wouldn’t drop dirt/stuff on my floor bed. These projects were all just within the first week. I am not even touching on the every day things he does for me like pump up my bike tires, put my solar lights out to charge in the morning and then he brings them back to their respective locations and set them back up for me at night. Hoyo talks and teaches me Pulaar. He understands and gets me in a way that no one else does. When I try to talk to other people in Pulaar, they always call Hoyo over to translate what I say to them, and vice-versa what they say to me. Hoyo has made me love my site and motivated me about future projects. The other day when I asked him why he is the only person that understands me, he said that the formation (the Counterpart Workshop (CPW)), in Thies really taught him what I needed and how he could better communicate and understand me. For that, I am so thankful for the CPW. I wish I was more attentive to him while he was in Thies for the formation, especially now that I understand how seriously he took it and his role in my service and how wonderful of a person he is. 

The first two weeks at site have been great! I am learning so much Pulaar. I can honestly say that I learned more Pulaar in my first two weeks at site then I did the entire 10 weeks of training. 

I thought I would share a text that I sent my mom on May 22, 2015:

“I think I like my Pulaar personality better than my English personality. I am very outgoing, funny and theatrical!! I had such a good day! I went to my other counterpart's village, Sarre Tobo, and I greeted everyone. The kids taught me sooooo many random words in Pulaar, several chickens were killed in my honor, and I literally made a difference today. The Sage Femme and the ASG both were misinformed about a birth control and I corrected them and explained to them how it worked with hormones and the correct timeframe a woman can keep it inserted. And, I taught them how to better sterilize the utensils for delivering babies by boiling them, not just washing them with soap. They don’t have much, but I want to make sure they optimize what they do have to the best of their ability.  Like, I actually feel like I made a difference today and that I was sincerely appreciated. I made a speech to a women's group and danced and I made countless jokes …and EVERYONE laughed at EVERY joke. And, after I left their houses, I heard them telling other people what my jokes were lol.
I'm super excited to work in that village!!
Pulaar is hard and it is hard to really express emotions and gratitude in the language because there aren't words for emotions or feelings, but it is how people say the words is how they express their feelings. But, when the women's groups was thanking me, I felt a huge burst of countless emotions. I definitely had to hold back some happy tears.
Being in an environment like that today has really motivated me to really practice my Pulaar, be able to speak it clearly, so that I can do the best possible work with the communities to help hem live healthier, happier lives.”

I am so happy, but there are many things that I need to set stricter boundaries on with my village community members regarding my personal space and my personal belongings. It is just hard to set these standards with my limited Pulaar and me trying to integrate and get everyone to like me. Although, I am told that it is best to set the boundaries at the beginning because it is harder to change things the more time passes. 

Currently, I am in Dakar again. I am sick..I don’t want to say “again” because I don’t think I ever truly got better. I am pretty sure I have a parasite of some sort, but the medical team is doing tests to figure out what is exactly going on with me. Most volunteers participate in a “Five-Week-Challenge” and I wanted to conquer the challenge so much that I waited over a week of bad abdominal pain, vomiting every day, and other bodily fluids that I won’t share on this blog (although, it is very normal to talk about every gross health issue between volunteers, I just don’t think you all want to hear all the details, if you do.. private message you. I have some stories). I have been having headaches, having dizzy spells, I am fatigued and I am very weak. I really shouldn’t have waited to call and been a "Tidde Horre" (hard-headed, stubborn person) to call and get the medical help I needed, but I really wanted to stay in village for the five weeks. But, I am here now, resting and trying to get better!! 

I also wanted to give an update on a few things I mentioned in my last blogpost: 

1. I think they expanded my backyard from the first time I saw it!! I can defiantly fit a shade structure because like I said, Hoyo built one for me. There is also enough room for a small garden, where I plan on doing four small beds eventually. I plan to make my backyard a “little american oasis” with solar garden/walkway lights, solar christmas lights and hopefully sunflowers! yay! (My Grandmas better pull through with a care package with solar lights!!)

2. The woman that I said I knew was going to be my friend because of the baby goat, she is defiantly one of my closer friends in the community. She checks in on me every day and sometimes sits and helps me study Pulaar verbs. She is a great, great woman. 

3. The big mango tree I was in love with in front of my hut isn’t an ideal spot to lounge under now. When they built my fencing around my hut, I think the whole village got new fencing, and now my neighbors fence goes straight up under the tree and it is no longer a big open space.

4. My hut is looking awesome, and I am super excited about it. As soon as I buy more paint I will be able to finish the inside and start working on my outdoor oasis! HGTV would be proud. Check out my Tumblr for before and mid-point pictures on my Tumblr!!

Thank you all so much for following my journey!

Make sure you check out my Tumblr for my photos!!

JLoweINSenegal.Tumblr.com

Next Up: Since, I have internet access and some free time here, I might be doing blog posts about Senegalese Culture and my personal experiences.