The day I gained perspective..

The day I gained perspective…

Postive Notes.

I realized that my past few posts haven’t been that uplifting and positive. And, although, it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns here, I do see rainbows frequently… literally. 

Village life is great! What I said before about my “problems” at site weren’t all exactly problems. It was just a misunderstanding of how I portrayed my interactions with the other volunteers in my region and their experiences here. It just goes to show that you can’t generalize any population regardless how close in proximity, shared nationality, religion, culture or tradition. You have to experience it first hand to understand the dynamics of anything truthfully and completely. 

I am learning Pulaar with an increasing momentum! The other day a few of the elders told me that I speak my Pulaar from the heart. (There actually isn't a word for “heart” in Pulaar! So many things have a 3-5 different words to say the same thing, and so many things, that I think are very important, including health terms, don’t have names at all! They borrow words from the French language frequently, but then only a few know and understand what those words mean.) Being told that I speak from my heart is a huge compliment. I have to say,  I probably speak better and know more vocabulary that the average volunteer at my stage because I literally go weeks without speaking English, so I have to learn quick, and my new normal is Pulaar. I find myself forgetting English words or phrases when I am trying to do any work, it can be frustrating at times. Actually, I had my first dream in Pulaar the other day! It is weird for me to remember my dreams to begin with, so when I dreamt, remembered it, and realized it was in Pulaar, my mind was blown and I had to reflect what that meant for my language level. Don’t get me wrong.. I still don’t understand a lot of what a lot of people say because the verbs or so specific that it would take me more than my two years of service to truly be fluent in this language. 

Maimunna is back! My second dad’s wife that had the miscarriage finally returned to village! It is customary for the woman to stay away at a different relative’s house until she is “healed,” which takes a lot longer here than you would think. She was gone for over a month. But, she isn’t allowed to do any work, not even cook, for a year, and not any fieldwork or water pulling for around three years. So, she is afraid that her husband is going to get another wife because she can’t fulfill her duties and her kids aren’t old enough to do most of her work. And, of course, her husband shouldn’t be expected to pick up any slack because he is the man. But, yay! She is back. I finally have my bestie at site around again. She is two years older than me but has a completely different life than I do. She has four kids, is married, and is illiterate, so sometimes it is hard to find a common ground to really connect on, but we make it work. She understands me almost as well as my counterpart does, which makes conversation easy. 

My youngest of the teenage sisters went on vacation a few weeks ago, so I have been having to befriend my other two teenage sisters since Maimunna was gone. It has been hard having Tida away, but it has given me a chance to connect with the other two girls. They have been spending the evenings in my room for dinner and hangout sessions the past few weeks. But, out of the blue, my second youngest teenage sister (I say teenage, because I have a lot of younger sisters, but I don’t hang out with them because they are too young and.. annoying.) told me that she is going to her future  husband’s village for the next six months to prove to his family that she is worth her keep and is auditioning her cooking and cleaning skills for a marriage next year.  Even though her husband lives and works in Dakar and won’t even be living with her at his family’s compound. (Obviously she didn’t use that terminology but, it is exactly what she is doing.) So, I am down to one teenage sister, and her Pulaar is so fast and unclear that I can never understand what she is staying, and I am pretty sure that is a two-way street because she always has a confused look on her face when I say anything to her as well. 

My work has finally started and I am extremely busy. PECADOM +, an integrated malaria program, is in full swing since we are in the wet season, aka, malaria season. I have been attending trainings and workshops to make sure everyone involved knows what to do when they are out in the field doing their sweeps through the villages. It is a lot of work and is hard because we don’t have cell phone reception to confirm schedules so it is hit and miss with the trainings. We will be having a five day long session after Tabaski and the next vaccination sweep at the end of the month. I just finished up a baseline survey, where I interviewed every compound in my community asking upwards of fifty compound questions related to their health and health knowledge. It was a great way to understand the problems my village has under the surface and better gain perspective of what they need from me, even if they don’t realize that they need it yet. Baseline surveys are great Needs Assessments, and thankfully it is a reportable task for evaluation, monitoring and reporting purposes. I know a lot more people in my village now. I think at the beginning of this month, I might have known around 15 people’s names, now I know upwards of 50 and growing. As soon as I get everyone’s picture I can really start to learn names and faces better. 

I had my first Technical Site Visit where my supervisor came and put a stamp of approval on my upcoming projects and work in my village. We had a meeting with all of the people in my village that are important and/or are involved in my work. The discussion mainly was working out the kinks of building a Health Hut. The week preceding the meeting, I talked with the doctor at the Health Post that would be the supervisor of my Health Hut and he didn’t agree to its construction. So, he suggested that we go to all of the surrounding villages and basically start a petition for our Health Hut. We had all of the surrounding village chiefs, religious leaders and health workers come to my village to attend a meeting and get everyone’s IDs for their names, birthdates, ID numbers and signatures. (Most signatures are a doodle because most people are illiterate, so the signature part is comical on my end.) We will be taking this paper to the Regional Doctor and the man that is the “President” of the Health System in our region to get the final approval. I was afraid of the politics involved in all of this, so I was hesitant to pursue the project without talking to my supervisor. The newest Health Hut in Sare Tobo (about 5km away) is non-functioning because of a political matter, a disagreement between the village chief and the ASC, the person that runs the facility. So, I don’t want our structure to end up like that one. If I am going to contribute and have a legacy here, I want it to be a successful, respectable one. But, it looks like everything is good to go and I will be starting the grant in December to start the construction hopefully early next year. I just inquired about educational/technical training for a woman in my village to become a Matrone, a woman that delivers babies, comparable to a midwife, and for my counterpart, Hoyo, to get his training to become an ASC, and I am in the mist of recruiting a person to be a DSDOME, a person who does integrated malaria sweeps through villages. I am also starting on my hand washing station, aka "Tippy Tap," project by installing these stations at every 'bathroom' and eating spot in every compound and community gathering area to make a behavior change shift to hand washing by making hand washing something that is easy, fun and cool to do. So many deaths and illnesses could be prevented by something so simple, that we as Americans take for granted, Hand Washing. It is a huge project that will take up until December to complete because I can’t just install these stations, I need people to take ownership of the project by having causeries explaining what it is, why it is important, when they should wash their hands, what illnesses not washing their hands could cause. Soap is also an issue. Soap is “expensive” when people don’t really have any income, so I am having soap making trainings with the three women’s groups in my village to ensure that their stations have soap at all times. My village chief, so kindly told everyone that attended the meeting for the petition for the Health Hut that I would do the trainings in all of their villages too. Which, I never agreed to, but I will try to figure out how to make time for it, I guess. 

Tabaski, the biggest Muslim holiday, is tomorrow! I spent the past two days getting my hair braided with fake hair. My back will never be the same. So much pain sitting like that for that long. But, apparently it looks super attractive, although, I would be the first to disagree. The next time I get my hair braided, I don’t think I will be dong fake hair. Actually, I am pretty sure I cut some of my real hair off when I was trimming the ends of the braids. I might need a different hair style after all of this is over. It was a fun experience with the women that did my hair. We braided, drank tea, and practiced some dance moves. I have to make it a habit to hang out with more women in my village because I just don’t know their vocabulary as well. They talk way too fast and I hardly understand their sentence structure, let alone their vocabulary. I hang out with most of the village elders because they talk slower, are typically more educated and their Pulaar doesn’t have as much Wolof, French or other languages mixed in, so it is traditionally better. But, now that I know sounds and some syntax, I think it is time I push myself with the women. Wish me luck, it won’t be an easy task. 

I have made some seriously incredible friendships with some of the other volunteers. It is hard being thrown into this life and no one is truly themselves at the beginning so it is a struggle to find out who you are in this new life and who you can//want to be friends with. I am glad that I know I am not alone in my struggle and that when I have something exciting  (like seeing a Komodo dragon, which turned out to be a Monitor lizard) or something dramatic that happened (like having worms crawling under my skin) that I need to tell someone, I just need to bike out to get cell phone reception and hope that they have cell phone reception at the same time to talk about it. I have made at least three solid friendships, all very unique and special that are very precious to me. 

Next on my list of Positive Notes……. I am coming home in December!! 

I have been waiting to tell a lot of people, but it is quickly approaching so I am letting everyone know now! Yay. I am extremely excited to come home and take a shower in my parents’ new bathroom and know what it is like to feel clean again. I am excited to have to figure out how many layers of clothes I have to put on to be warm, not figure out how I can be nakeder than naked to not feel like I am fire. I am going to have my grandmas take me to get a good steak at the Malibar Inn and eat as much (good, non-rice) food as I possibly can! 

Sorry it took so long for an update, I will try to be better from now on. I am starting to get a daily/weekly routine, and I want to incorporate blog writing that routine so you all can get weekly/bi-weekly updates! 

Next Blog will be about Tabaski!! (Including Pictures with my new Komplet and my hair!)

The day I lost feeling in my butt...

The day I lost feeling in my butt…

The Sept-Place Experience:

Eight People Deep 

After being in Dakar for almost three weeks trying to regain my health and strength, I finally got medically cleared to go back to my site. It was bittersweet knowing I could go back. The rest of my Stage stayed (or attempted to stay) at their sites for five consecutive weeks, but that was not the case for me. I was “present” at my site for two weeks before I started to feel sick(er), and then I stayed in my hut for the third week before my “long” stay in Dakar, where I lost all the language that I learned and ate all the food I started to “forget,” needless to say, going back to my village was daunting. I bought an insane amount of food to bring back to Kolda, so much that I needed to buy a huge duffle bag to transport it. I couldn’t even carry the bag by myself it was that large/heavy. I knew that I was going to have to barter the price of my baggage on all fronts. There is typical a set price to  buy a seat in modes of transportation, but baggage is up in the air. 

Going back to Kolda from Dakar is a huge ordeal. 

I had to get up at 3:30am, leave the Peace Corps Medical Hut by 4am, and get a taxi to go to the “Garage” where people get a “sept place” to travel to certain cities throughout Senegal. To get to Kolda, we travel through The Gambia and it is necessary to leave super early in order to get to Kolda in one day AND not have to wait for HOURRRRRRSSSS at The Gambia River to get a boat to cross over to the other side. Once I got to the Dakar Garage, I had to wait until seven (7) people bought a seat in the car, including myself. (P.S. Sept is Seven in French, ahh haah!!) When I say car, think station wagon with a bench seat in the middle and an elevated bench seat in the back and a front passenger seat plus the driver;s seat, totaling eight people in a tiny, broken, barely drivable/ridable, station wagon. It is rough. It is the most uncomfortable 13+ hours one can have. My butt and legs literally went numb and/or were throbbing to the point of extreme vein popping pain. I’ve decided that the WORST seat to buy is the middle bench, middle seat. The second worst seat is back bench middle. Both middle spots have the hump in the ground where the people have to straddle either side and/or raise their feet/legs to the level of the hump putting even more pain on the lower back.

Once we get to The Gambia, because I am an American/Non-Senegalese, I have to get out a total of four times to get my passport stamped at each location—exiting Senegal, entering The Gambia, exiting The Gambia, and reentering Senegal. Once we arrived at The Gambia border, we have to buy a ticket to get on a ferry boat to cross the river, that costs 200 CFA. Depending on the time of day and the amount of trucks/buses/cars arrived before you, you can wait a very long time (I’ve heard people waiting over eight (8) before!), but we only waited two hours. It was pretty interesting because the Pulaar people heard their cattle and one ferry had pretty much was filled with all cattle to cross the river. (You can bet that I was the “tourist” taking the pictures!!) 

Ferry at the Gambia River

After getting out of The Gambia it only takes about another three hours until reaching the Kolda Garage. It is so, so hot right now that by the end of the ride it is a putrid smell of body odor. (Just FYI, my solar radio reads upwards of 130 degrees, plus humidity on some days) Since it was almost dark upon my arrival, I had to stay at the Regional House one more night and return to my village the following morning. Because I live in the “Bush” a taxi from Kolda to my village costs 5,000 CFA (it is only about 10-12 Km drive) whereas the sept-place from Dakar to Kolda costs about 9,500 CFA (which is 672 Km, but in actuality probably longer because of the windy roads). That doesn’t seem quite right, does it? Oh well… 

I asked a cab to take me to my site, he said he would so I loaded my stuff up and we were on our way. The issue was, he didn’t know my village, and I had only driven there during the day time once and in the night time once; plus, I don’t have the greatest directional sense in new places with no road names and the only landmarks are sand, trees and huts (that ALL LOOK THE SAME!!), so I also didn’t know exactly where to turn off to get to my village. I knew that I had to turn left into a smaller village, but I forgot the name and I wasn’t paying attention to all the recognizable landmarks that I told him to turn into a village, I thought could be the through village… it wasn’t. It was, however, another village I knew and I knew that the next village was the through village. What I didn’t know was that Sare Samba had a back road that took us to Santancoy and not to the road we previously left, so I told him to turn down the wrong road. Once I noticed that there was no way back out to the other main road, I tried to figure out how to tell him that he had to turn around. Finally, we reached another village, the village preceding Santancoy, where my dad’s family lives, and they told my driver to turn around. Once we got back to Sare Samba, one of the men there ran out to the taxi and told my driver how to get to my village. My driver was M.A.D. at me, but I honestly don’t think he should have agreed to the trip if he didn’t know how to get to my village himself. He just wanted the money. But, once I arrived at my village, I had a great reunion with my kitten, counterpart, and my family. I am, however, a big gossip piece about how I didn’t know how to get home and I got my driver lost… oh well, there could be worse things that people said about me. 

Now, I am trying to reintegrate into my community and figure out how to speak Pulaar again,  but I am currently in Kolda for my “language seminar” and will be posting a few more blogs within the next few days. I go back to my site on July 5th.

The (first) day I finally saw not only meat, but a vegetable in my lunch bowl..

Korite 

Korite is the day of celebration of the end of Ramadan. Everyone wakes up early, they get dressed to the nines in their new komplets, shoes, jewelry, etc and show off. (Although most of my village could not afford new komplets, so they either just got new skirts, or a new pair of shoes and dress in an older outfit, but for the most part everyone has a new braids in their hair (except me)!) They go and pray together and then go household to household greeting everyone and giving small tokens like a 10/25/50 CFA coins or candy. They go pray again and then they start the preparations for their “feast.” Most families purchase a goat to eat on this day of celebration, but because my family and the people in my village are exceptionally poor, not everyone was able to conform to this standard. My family went in with a few other households to buy a goat, some of the other households in my village bought a few chickens instead. 

My counterpart came to ask me to use my knife to cut his family’s goat’s throat to kill it then to skin it and so forth, but I down right refused him that option. Firstly, I didn't want my knife to kill an animal and secondly, it was my best knife, I didn’t want them to dull it and ruin it with cutting bones. It has become apparent to me, like children, adolescents, and even some very privileged adults in The States, most Senegalese do not take care of anything that is lent to them because they didn’t buy it so they don’t appreciate the value; they ruin/break it, give it away and/or will never give it back. I wasn’t about to lose my knife this early in my service, plus I am working on being able to say, “no” to people. (It is actually on my 30 things to do before I am 30 list, and I thought living in Senegal would help me with that, but I find myself caving in even more than I did before.. Stay tuned (next blog) for the juicy details of that statement!) But this request was easy to stay strong to because I have refused to let my counterpart’s family kill a rooster they “gave” me to eat. I told them if I know the rooster, I will not eat the rooster, but if it is an unknown rooster and it shows up as meat not as an animal, I can eat rooster/chicken. (After I said that, they joked with me about it for a few weeks, then one day I asked where my rooster was, and they said they sold him since I didn’t want to eat him. Heh.) They don’t really understand  how I could be ok with eating a random piece of meat but not one that I knew because here they buy the live animal, they kill it, pluck it, skin it, cut off the meat, and cook it. It isn’t like back in The States where we go to the grocery and find all the options of meat with the degrees of quality, cut or portion size and there is no option of boneless of boned meats, they have one option: kill the animal, prepare the meat, and figure out how to store the meat not immediately consumed without electricity to cool or freeze it. Most times, people in village eat meat several days old that is evidently spoiled because they don’t want to waste the meat that their precious money bought and they end up getting very sick from that consumption decision. 

I knew that our family bowl was going to have meat in it, which was very exciting since it would be the first time we had any form of meat, including fish, to eat, but when lunch was ready, to my surprise, I saw my first vegetable too! I finally ate some onion!! I was only allowed to have a very tiny piece of meat, no bigger than my thumb (which I secretively gave half to my cat since he is looking a little malnourished as well), but I was able to eat several spoonfuls of onions! Our meal consisted of rice, onions and some goat meat. That is the big feast of a poor bush village family. However, I don’t want you all to think this is the eating habits of everyone in Senegal, but because I am in the poor south in a poor village, this is how they live. The majority of my stage mates (even volunteers in my region) have more variety to their everyday meals and defiantly to they holiday meals. I just “lucked out” on my site placement so these details are the only ones that I am accustomed to and can illustrate in my blog. 

After everyone ate, the adolescents went to dance the rest all day.  The day was filled with extreme heat, where some girls/women wore komplets that were so extravagant that had headscarves with bows and flowers on top of their heads where even at 0900, I could see beads of sweat rolling down their faces, not even penetrating the thick layers of makeup they applied earlier in the morning.(Which, by the way, when my sister came to my room in the morning, I had no idea who she was because of how they put on the make up here, they don’t look ANYTHING like what they normally do.. it is kind of scary actually. It is stage makeup boarding clown makeup!!) I am still confused on how that can be managed. I personally took several breaks throughout the day where I had to go into my room, strip down naked and just poor water over myself to cool off and just lay there for an hour before I could even think about putting on my komplet and facing the heat again. I guess they were born here and are used to it? When I get too hot and need to “rest” aka, go strip down and cool off, they tell me that my body isn’t strong yet, but after two years I will be strong. I didn’t realize that “strong” meant being able to endure heat, but here it does. 

When people asked me how I liked Ramadan and how Korite was for me, I would reply, Ramadan wasn’t nice, Korite was hot, but I am happy because from now on (until next Ramadan) I can eat lunch! 

The day I reflected on my packing list...

Five months ago I arrived in Senegal. Although, (way) more than five months before that I started researching and reading blog after blog trying to figure out what I was going to bring with me on my 27 month stay in a developing country with little means, and how in the world I was going to get it packed within the weight limits. This task was the worst part of my anxiety of my departure and my service. I have never been a "light packer" and with all my research and purchasing, my dad swears that I was keeping Amazon in business and they are bound to go bankrupt since my departure decreased their sales significantly.. at times I thought he was right. I went overboard. I have been planning my Peace Corps journey for over a decade, so of course I had plenty of time to contemplate my precious cargo. 

Below is the list of what I actually brought with me--because I had to leave double what fit into my suitcase back in Ohio. This list was going to be one of my first posts, but since I was repacking up until the very second I left for the airport, I wasn't able to take a true tally until I reached country. This list is now accompanied by my thoughts on my choices and things I wish I knew were easily available in-country allowing me to pack something else instead.  

My Packing List: 

• 2- pairs of gardening gloves ---> luxury item, but I am very glad I have them since I work with manure all the time for my garden and compost pile
• 4- tubes of super glue ---> Easily found in-country
• 1- multi tool/knife ---> So glad I brought it, I use it daily and it is great for mango season!
• 1-nail kit ---> So glad I brought it! 
• 1-pumice stone ---> Your feet will be worse than you can ever imagine 
• 1- bottle of medicated body powder ---> This stuff is GLORIOUS! You can get powder in Senegal, but the medicated aspect is the key. I am getting more shipped to me in my next care package
• 2- outlet converters ---> Yea, maybe only one 
• 2- rechargeable battery devices ---> I use them all the time 
• 1- MacBook Air ---> You need a computer for reporting, but they are working on getting computers at all the regional houses, so computers aren't necessary, but I personally would never come without one 
• 1- 64 GB iPad ---> Nice for site because I don't have electric or cell reception to buy an internet stick at my site, and I don't have a solar panel system that can change my MacBook Air, so it is the only entertainment piece (besides my Kindle Paperwhite) that I physically have at my site. The regional houses have trunk spaces you can buy into that allows you to keep your stuff there... safe
• Kindle ---> Great for acquiring all the digital books on hard drives, but I wouldn't recommend reading it in front of people in your village. You don't want to seem any more patrone than what they already think you are
• 1- 2 TB passport external hard drive ---> So incredibly important. Load it with lots of good stuff, keep space so you can acquire new stuff from other volunteers 
• 1- headlamp ---> Priceless. Make sure you bring one
• 6- battery operated lights (the "push" on kind that have wall sticker mounts on the back, so that when you walk into your hut at night, you push the light, almost like flipping on a switch. I was proud of myself on this idea)---> I use them every night, but they are a luxury item
• 1- solar powered flashlight ---> It helps save on charging batteries all the time
• 2- small solar hanging lights ---> Luci lights are amazing
• 4- toothbrushes ---> You can get them here, just bring one to start out with
• 1- hamper ---> So glad I brought it, but it is not necessary 
• 3- 8 pack of crayons ---> Gifts for host family at CBT
• 3- kites ---> Gifts for host family at CBT
• 1- dry erase wall sticker/memo --->  Amazing, I do all my weekly planning on it
• 1- manduka travel yoga mat ---> I have bad wrists so I needed the good mat for support, but there are plenty of alternatives for yoga mats in-country
• 1- backpack --->  I use this for in-country travel 
• 1- daypack --->  I use this for day travel on my bike from village to village 
• 1- sewing kit --->  Bring one. Nothing extensive because you can resupply here, but Senegal is rough on everything
• 1- shower caddy ---> So glad I brought it. I wish I had two: one for my hut and one to keep at the regional house 
• 6- rolls of duct tape ---> Right now I think 6 might be excessive
• 1- pair of waterproof hiking shoes ---> I have yet to use these, but when I travel to Kedougou, I am sure I will get some use out of them.. Although, I am not sure the 1-2 times of use will be worth the space and weight
• 1- pair of trail runners ---> Horrible. Sand filled when worn outside
• 3- pairs of sandals  ---> Excessive. You can buy cheap (nice leather) sandals here
• 1- pair of shower shoes ---> Don't bother, you can buy cheap flip flops in-country 
• 4- tubs of witch hazel cleaning scrubs ---> Senegal is rough on everyone's skin 
• 3- 1 subject notebooks --->  You don't need them, they are provided during training and you can buy them if you want more.. however, they are the grid type, not the college ruled
• 1- clipboard that opens up for storage ---> It is a luxury item, but I love it for field surveys.. Which you will do a lot of
• 2- packs of note cards//flash cards --->  Great for PST language learning 
• 3- packs of pens ---> Pens are just not the same here
• 1-paper organizers --->  It is great to keep the lose papers together that you're given throughout training to reference if you don't have Internet access frequently
• 1- peel and stick chalkboard ---> You can buy chalkboard paint here
• 1- pack of liquid chalk ---> You can buy normal chalk here
• 1- bottle of shampoo --->  You can easily find shampoo here.. just not Aveda, which is what I use 
• 2- bottles of conditioner ---> You can buy conditioner in the bigger cities in the "western" stores
• 2- loofahs ---> You can buy the local equivalent here for 1$
• 2- sponges ---> I use them all the time, but you can find them in-country pretty easily
• 3- water bottles ---> I'm glad I brought 3. Each have a different purpose: My Nalgene bottle is my daily use. I have a Hyrdoflask that is amazing because it keeps water cold (if you added ice or it was cold before you put it in your bottle) for up to 24 hours, which is a luxury in the hot season. I also brought one that was a Lifestraw bottle that that conceals the fact you are filtering the water. This feature is great because if you are in the "bush" more than likely you won't always have easy access to "clean water" (for instance my village doesn't have a boutique to buy it and you're traveling without your filter.. So this way you can put it in your water bottle and they don't know you're using a special filter per se. Using items that are out of their reach and not available for a behavior change you are trying to promote can hurt your endeavors 
• 1- tube of toothpaste --->  Good to start out, but Senegal has lots of toothpaste options.. Surprisingly
• 4- packs of 4, rechargeable AAA batteries --->  Essential for my light sources without electricity and it keeps my overall expenses down by not having to constantly buy batteries
• 4- packs of 4, rechargeable AA batteries ---> Read the above 
• 1- alarm clock --->  No. Don't waste your space or weight. Use a phone, and honestly, you will just wake up with all the morning noise
• 1- pair of scissors ---> So glad I brought them, but they are a luxury item. You can buy scissors easily here, but the quality obviously will not be the same
• 1- bag of wooden clothes pins ---> You can find these everywhere here
• 1- clothes line ---> Don't bring one
• 1- can opener --->  I cook a lot at my site, so I use mine all the time
• 3- cooking knives ---> At least one good knife
• 1- set of Tupperware containers in varying sizes ---> You can buy these here
• 1- fast drying towels ---> Yes. I am actually getting h one mailed to me because my towel isn't cutting it. I switched to the REI one that pretty much everyone else has and raves about
• 1- rain jacket ---> Luxury item. Depending on where you are placed, you might never even consider using it
• 30- pairs of underwear ---> Don't question it, wait for a sale and just load up
• 10- pairs of socks --->  Maybe 2 pairs would be sufficient, but I am not running all the time
• 12- bras --->  Sweat wicking bras. Get a variety of strap designs. I only brought a criss-cross kind and my straps are always showing. I'm getting some new ones sent to me
• 2- pairs of jeans ---> Honestly, 1 should be sufficient .. It's too hot for jeans most of the time
• 2- long skirts ---> To start out training with, but most likely you will get a lot more made with the local fabric 
• 3- t-shirts 
• 5-tank tops --->  Bring the wider straps, highly recommend the fast drying/sweat wicking kind 
• 3- sweaters ---> I was in a fantasy world. Bring one sweater
• 1- wall sticker map ---> Luxury item for my hut decoration
• 1- box of bobby pins
• 6- packs of hair ties 
• 1- travel pillow ---> I wish I would have brought a "real" pillow, you can't find nice pillows easily here
• 1- brush
• 1- comb
• 1- journal
• 1- atlas of West Africa 
• 2- note taking travel pads ---> These are AMAZING for your first few months at site and language learning/ acquisition, but you can easily make them yourself and safe the space and weight in your suitcase
• 1- pack of ear plugs --->  Senegal is so noisy. It's a great idea to have more than one pair (especially if you get a cat like mine that always manages to find them and eat them)
• 2- solar battery chargers --->  Great because I can't always get to electricity to charge my batteries
• 1- box of bandaids --->  The water resistant kind. You don't get the "good" stuff in the MedKits
• 2-pair of tweezers
• 1- USB/ solar power STERI pen --->  I lived on the STERI pen when I lived in India, but it isn't ideal because of what Peace Corps represents and promotes. We don't want to teach clean water habits one way to the people of the country and then use a high tech technique for ourselves that is not feasible for them. Think integration  
• 1-ENO double deluxe hammock --->  I use it every day in my backyard at my site
• 4- carabiners --->  Useful for endless reasons
• 1- cooling towel 
• 1- wall stencil --->  Luxury item for hut decoration 
• 1-solar/crank/weather/AM/FM radio --->  I don't use it..At all. Except to check the temperature. Record temp 131 F
• 1- bike helmet ---> They told us we had to bring one but they ended up giving us all helmets. It's a tough call 
• 1-cloth produce bag ---> I use it for pretty much everything, especially shopping in the markets
• And a lot of ziplock bags varying in size ---> Yes, a million times over. Bring tons!

Things That I Had Shipped To Me: 

• Powdered Cheese 
• Parmasean Cheese
• Protein Powder 
• Protein Bars 
• Fiber Bars 
• Bike Basket 
• D Battery Operated Fan ---> I am not talking a hand fan either. I highly recommend getting one of these things! 
• Rechargeable D Batteries 
• Portable Battery Charger for Mobile Devices
• Macaroni and Cheese 
• Tuna Helper 
• Spices 
• Bike Tool 
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Castle Soap
• Wet Wipes
• Vitamin C Supplements
• Acne Face Wash
• Acne Spot Treatment
• Face Lotion
• Face Sunscreen 
• 70 SPF Sunscreen 
• Resistance Bands 
• Closet Organizer
• Storage Bags
• GRE Books
• Acrylic Paints & Paintbrushes (Actually, I am still waiting on this package to arrive)
• Bathing Suit---> Bring one. We have beach weekend and at most regional houses you can find a nice hotel that you can go swim in their pool
• Baby Clothes for Baby Ceremony Gifts
• Cat Med Supplies and Toys
• Swedish Fish
• Pop Tarts
• Marshmallows 

Obviously, I have a very loving and generous family that is willing to send me numerous care packages despite the amount of effort and expense. I am truly grateful for their love and support throughout this adjustment period. 

If anyone was wondering how I packed everything, my answer is: carefully. 

I originally had 2 rolling suitcases, but the night before my departure I recruited my dad and mom to help me decide what was "necessary," and my dad convinced me that I wouldn't be able to handle 2 rolling suitcases plus my hiking backpack and my book bag all by myself. He was right. So, I cut my belongings almost in half as I discarded one of my large (50.0 lb) suitcases. I arrived at the airport with one, 49.9 lb hardshell suitcase to be checked, my hiking backpack that was 50.0 lbs to be checked, and a carry-on book bag (probably also weighing close to 50 lbs) with all of my electronics and batteries in it and a small-ish purse. It was a rough go. IF by any means you can manage to not travel as heavy as I did, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. However, as my parents can personally attest, it would have been cheaper to pay for the extra piece of luggage in the beginning than to ship all of my care packages. But, defiantly not as much fun on my end.  

The day I decided to Break Fast…

The day I decided to Break Fast…

Ramadan: 

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide. 

There are Five Pillars of Islam: 

1.) Shahadah: declaring there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God’s Messenger

2.) Salat: ritural prayer five (5) times a day

3.) Zakat: giving (2.5%, but I think this is a lose idea in amount) of one’s savings to the poor and needy

4.) Sawm: fasting and self-control during the holy month of Ramadan

5.) Hajj: pilgrmage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime, if one is able

Sawam: Fasting

There are three types of fasting: (Siyam), which is Ritual fasting, (sura Al-Baqara), which is fasting as compensation for repentance, and (Al-Ahzab), which is ascetic fasting.

Ritual fasting is an obligatory act during the month of Ramadan for any Muslim that has reached puberty, unless s/he has a medical condition that prohibits her/him from fasting (we will talk about that a bit later..) abstains from food and drink from sunrise/dawn to sunset/dusk during the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. They are also supposed to be mindful of other sins during this period and refrain from smoking, having sex, listening to music, violence/anger, gossiping, and trying to just get along and be in peace with other Muslims (and the rest of the world). Additionally, all other irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided. 

Fasting is obligatory, but is forbidden for groups that the act poses a danger to their health/well-being, these groups include: pre-pubescent children, pregnant or breastfeeding women, people with diabetes or elderly people, and/or women who are menstruating. If people miss a fast, they are expected to make up the fast later on in the year. I hear, the penalty for breaking fast intentionally is 60 extra continuous days of fasting. Ouchhhhhh! Although, I am pretty sure that rule isn’t enforced that often... at least not in my surrounding villages. In my village, a lot of younger people say they are sick and do not fast, simply because they don't want to or that it is hard and tiresome. On the other hand, some women who are breastfeeding and/or are pregnant fast even though it is harmful to their babies’ health. It is a weird concept when and how far people go to be holy and religious in this month, and how others purposefully avoid it. 

I am not sure if I have mentioned the specifics of the Pulaar language yet, but they have verbs for the most specific things. They have a verb for jumping up and down on one foot, for covering a newly planted seed with dirt, for having something in your eye, you name it, there is an obscure verb for a very specific action. So, one would only imagine there is a whole set of vocabulary just for Ramadan and fasting. There is a verb for Ramadan, a verb for fasting, there is a verb for breaking the fast at dusk and being able to eat and drink, and there is a verb for early morning meal at dawn before the fast begins. Iftaar is the arabic name for when friends and family gather together to break the fast, it literally translates to “break fast.” Even if someone isn’t Muslim the solidarity of fasting and the tension leading up to breaking the fast is something precious to experience. 

Breaking Fast Appatizer-esk meal at Vanessa's House 

Let me just say this though… people get CRANKY during Ramadan. They are not the same people that you knew when they were weltima (happy and with fully bellies). People don’t want to work, they lie down all afternoon, and they sleep all day. When there are only a few minutes leading up to breaking the fast left, everyone is anxiously awaiting the mosque’s call to announce that they can now break fast. Most people go all out on their meals and have vegetables and meat, milk and kinkiliba tea, and other sorts of goods that we never, ever eat. Unfortunately, my family does not go all out, we just have mooney (what we normally have for breakfast, which is like a millet porridge) and then couscous with a hibiscus sauce (which is our typical dinner time meal)… every night. BUT other volunteers’ families really know how to do Ramadan breaking fast right! The other night, a few of us went over to Vanessa’s house to break fast and her family really did it up. Abigail, Brandon, Vanessa and I all were in the same language seminar class, hosted at Samba Kande's house, and since Vanessa lives in Kolda close to our Regional House (where we stayed for the formation's duration), we went over to meet her family and experience breaking fast there. 

Breaking Fast Dinner at Vanessa's House

So, my experience with fasting is/was… I got back from Dakar from being sick, and Ramadan was already in progress. I decided to experience the culture and fast with my community. I lasted a WHOPPING FIVE (5) days! It is rough! It is so freaking hot and I need to drink water. My stomach started to grumble at 5:30pm, and it was just overall not fun. 

The month is intended to improve morality and character and work on personal positive traits and thoughts. Fasting during Ramadan is supposed to give Muslims a feeling of being mentally and physically cleansed and closer to God. I, however,  only felt closer to God because I thought I was going to DIE!! When people now ask me if I am fasting and I tell them I am not, and they ask me why, I always say that my body doesn’t agree and it is too hard. They laugh and they agree that it isn’t fun to fast and it is very hard. I know they are disappointed in me, but I might fast a few more days at the end of Ramadan and just prepare not to do too much. I have a lot of gardening and In-Service Training preparation to do in the next few weeks that I need energy that only water and food can provide. Korka kaa wonii welanni. (Fasting isn't fun/nice/good)

Ramadan lasts for 30 days, it began on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 and ends on the evening of Friday, July 17. In the Islamic calender, holidays begin on the evening of the previous day, so observing Ramadan started on the 17th, but the first day of Ramadan was, in actuality, the 18th. At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which is one of the two major holidays of Islam (the other being Tabaski, Aid El Adha, which is in September). Eid is the single day of the Muslim calendar where fasting is not permitted, so the final Day of Ramadan is celebrating the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast. Families buy and slaughter goats to celebrate and I hear it is a huge ordeal. I will for sure do an updates post on the this big celebration. 

Wish me luck on my upcoming fasting attempts!! 

The day I understood the saying, “It takes a village”…

The day I understood the saying, “It takes a village”… 

Double Digging My Garden:

After coming back to my site from Dakar, I decided it was time to start my gardening project. The thing about the soil in Senegal is…. well, it is usually horrible. So, in order to get a good crop it is best to do a double digging technique where you separate the topsoil from the subsoil, till each layer and add supplements to each layer. The supplements that are “readily available” here in Senegal are wood ash, peanut shells, manure, and charcoal. It’s important to have the correct ratio of nitrogen and carbon in the supplements for optimal water retention and plant heath. 

Currently it is Ramadan (My next blog is going to be about Ramadan in Senegal) and people are fasting all day (not eating OR drinking ANYTHING ALL day from 5:30isham (after sunrise) until about 7:30ish pm (sunset) in the extreme 100+ degree humid heat), so most people are resting/sleeping the hot parts of the day because they don’t have any energy and if they get too hot, they can’t drink anything to rehydrate themselves. I was also fasting to experience the culture, but I decided that I couldn’t rest like everyone else and I had to start my garden project. I got as far as measuring out my three beds, sectioning them off in thirds, taking off the top soil and tilling the subsoil in all three beds before I realized that I still needed to gather the soil supplements. My little sister, Tida, came over and she volunteered to help me after she saw how much work I did already alone. Here, the pecking order for work around the house is the younger kids pretty much do everything, so if you are an adult, you command the younger ones to do all your work, regardless if they are already super busy with other chores. In that sense, I think she might have felt obligated to help me, but, I accepted her help regardless of the guilt. She helped me go to compound to compound to collect all their wood ash from their cooking huts, collect all the cracked peanut shells, and then scoop up random piles of manure to mix into the soil. Then, she helped me mix the soil and dig, when my blisters popped open and it was painful for me to till, she called a few other boys from the village to help till and shovel. When my supplement supplies were exhausted, she called for her friend to go gather more manure and wood ash while we continued working. (Let me just say, at this point my work consisted of breaking up large poop clumps into a small dust like consistency. Yea, I wanted to title this blog, “The day I played with poop,” but I decided against it.) Then, when it was time rake and water the soil, another girl came to get my buckets to draw water from the well. I started the venture alone, but by the time my three flower beds were finished being dug, my whole village was involved, either by giving me their supplies, gathering goods, helping me with the actual labor, or just coming to check out the progress of the work. When I was finishing up building the walls for the beds, I thought to myself, “this must be where the saying, ‘it takes a village’ came from.”

It is incredible how people work together and help each other out here. In so many ways I feel overwhelmed by the differences in culture and standards of living, but when I sit back and reflect on the positive aspects of those differences, I am truly grateful that I am experiencing all of this first hand. There is definitely beauty in the imperfections. 

Coming up Next: Ramadan, aka, the month of starvation, and how my experience with it thus far.. 

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.