Back in the Game

I’m back at site finally and hopefully back to a regular internet schedule. I inadvertently left my power cords here, so computer access was difficult because although I had some access to wireless, my battery doesn’t last very long and I was having to borrow cords to keep the computer going. Not to mention finding time to do more than throw a quick look at emails. And frequent power outages because of the rainy season. After a whirlwind 3 weeks of IST I feel marginally more qualified for the job I’m here to do, and slightly more motivated. The best motivator was really the Environmental Education conference that immediately followed IST in Dakar. (Almost) all the EE volunteers met in Dakar for a 2-day conference where we talked about things that have worked, things that haven’t, and our overall goals as a sector. It’s good to see people actually doing the work that up until now has seemed elusive and confusing. I have some good ideas of what and how to do Environmental Education in my village, although the path is by no means paved yet… if you know what I mean.

After the EE conference, I went to Alexis’s site in Joal-Fadiouth for a little bit. It was kind of fun to be a tourist and see the island (Joal is a peninsula, but there’s an island there called Fadiouth which is entirely made from seashells). They also have a Muslim-Christian cemetery. I don’t know how many of those there are (combined cemeteries) but it’s not many. It was neat. We also went swimming and had an interesting conversation with some local guys. As a white person, especially in touristy places like anywhere on the coast, you’re a bit of a novelty if you speak a local language with anything remotely resembling fluency; consequently you command more interest than you generally desire. I’m trying to cut down on the “us and them”/Toubab rhetoric, but I’m certain that had we not been two white girls in a local hangout, we would probably not have been approached. Alexis is wicked good at Wolof so when the guys nearby heard her say something, they immediately came over and insisted on conversing. In general this would set of my sai-sai alarm (sai-sai = player, in Senegal) because inevitably the conversation would turn to “oh, if only I had an American girlfriend” in less than 5 minutes, 10 if they’re exceptionally polite. But somehow we managed to avoid that (maybe we were a little rude or curt or whatever, but we were in the only swimming area, it’s not like we had a lot of places to go to get away) and somehow we ended up talking about development in Senegal and the problems involved in general. I left the conversation hoping that I’d encouraged them to act on desires to use their technical knowledge (they were software engineers in France, home for vacation) to better their own country rather than just their own purses, but more than that, I left having had a real, deep conversation with a Senegalese. Granted, this was in English… I don’t have the pulaar vocab to talk about corruption yet… but it was real. I needed that because I don’t generally have those kinds of conversations with strangers and I hadn’t yet had that kind of talk with a Senegalese person. Sometimes being here feels like I’m playing an oversized game of dress-up and all I’m really doing is trying to pass myself off as an informed visitor until my 2 years is up. It’s more than the cultural exchange, although that’s certainly a big fat hunk of it. There is actually work to be done and I can actually help make Senegal a better place to live and a more successful country in today’s globalized economy. It was a shining moment that held, for me, more than it’s own weight. It was a “Peace Corps Moment”.

After Joal, I went back to Dakar to swim in the annual Dakar-Goree Island swim. It’s a 4k open-water swim and I did pretty well. I finished in under 2 hours (about 1h 40m) and although I was exhausted from over-exertion and felt like I was gonna throw up after I finished, it was a lot of fun and I fully intend on doing it again next year, maybe even training more than a week in advance. There were about 15 or so vols in the swim and they said about 700 people overall. There were even some Gambian volunteers who came up just to do the swim. The next day, after my time in Thies and Dakar (and lots of ice cream) and 5 weeks away, I headed back to my village. I was a little terrified at what readjusting to the village would be like and having to navigate those still new relationships and remembering who people were. I definitely forgot some people’s names, but it’s ok. I’m here for another 1.75 years. PS. Notice that when I started my blog that number was 2.25… this Saturday makes 6 months in country. CRAZY! The next stage of trainees arrives in Dakar on Thursday! They probably started staging in the US today. WELCOME!

Speaking of new volunteers, I want to congratulate Julie-Ann (a friend from BU) who swore-in at the end of August in Mauritania. We’re practically neighbors!

The day I got back I stopped at the first compound in the village and thought, gosh, everyone looks so serious. It’s like someone died. I am so glad I didn’t say that aloud because in truth, someone had died. I just didn’t find out about it until a couple of days later when I came back to visit. My friend’s husband, who came to the village about a month after I arrived, had been working in Europe and came home because he was sick. After finding that there was nothing they could do in Dakar, he came home to be with his family. I had no idea. He was sick when I left for IST, but I thought it was the flu or something. I guess he died a couple of days before my return. I’m glad I wasn’t in the village for the funeral. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. And I really liked him. I think it would have been too hard.
The cycle of life continues… my other friend had a baby the day after I arrived. My second stop in the village after arriving was at the school director’s compound and I was surprised to see his wife still very pregnant. I thought she’d have the baby while I was away. And when I went back 2 days later, she was in her hut, newborn alongside. A beautiful girl! I’m actually in town today especially to buy some baby clothes for the baptism on Thursday.

Tuesday was the first day of Ramadan, and living in a Muslim village, the big question is, “Aminata, are you fasting?” I wasn’t going to, because I’m not Muslim and I’d like to respect the belief as well as take care of myself. I have changed my mind about that. The villagers really like that I fast with them, it gives us another way to connect and is part of life here so I feel like I’m experiencing it more. If they ask do I pray too, I say yes (that’s true) but it’s different because I don’t do the Muslim prayers, I pray like a Christian. They understand and I feel that I am still respecting the purpose of Ramadan. Plus breaking the fast at sunset is one of my favorite things so far. All the women from our neighborhood come over to our house and bring mooni (millet/corn porridge) with them. They mix it all together and then serve it in 3 large bowls and we all eat together. If there are dates (ie, when I bring them) we eat them too. After the porridge we eat something called torro, which is like corn dumplings in okra sauce. I’m not sure, but I think this is what other volunteers call “snot sauce”. We know how goopy okra is, and yes, it is a little reminiscent of the texture of snot, but I like it. I guess I’m not bothered too much by texture of food. Good thing too, because I have a feeling that’s gonna be to my benefit as I experience more festival food.

This week is exciting. Because it’s been rainy (rainy season, duh) there’s enough greenery for the cows to produce milk. I just found out yesterday that one of the old women in my village has cows (they’re tended by men in the next village over) that she milks every day and sells the milk or soured milk (kosan) to the neighbors. Tomorrow I’m planning on going with her in the morning to learn how to milk a cow. She’s a really neat lady and I’d like to spend more time hanging out with her. That’s true of a lot of people in the village actually. There’s a man who keeps bees as well and I’d like to ask him about that. At the end of the week I’ll go to Kolda for a very exciting (at least in my mind) meeting… we’re getting together to plan our regional strategy. We’ll set some goals as a region and hopefully have some ideas on working together across the different sectors. It should be cool.