Volunteer Life

These are pictures to shed some light on the volunteer life:

I am outside the training center (centre de formation) in Thies. This was also like two days before I started my dreads. Dreds. I'm still unsure about the spelling of that word.

This is a baobab tree, the national tree, with particular personality. A lot of people think they look kind of like big elephant feet coming out of the sky. They remind me of Dr. Seuss trees because (especially in the drier areas and in the dry season) the leaves tend tend to grow in tuft-like formations... go read Horton Hears a Who, you'll see what I mean.

At IST we learned how to paint an extremely (in)accurate and (im)precise map of the world by practice. We painted one in this gym/karate studio. Did I mention Senegal loves martial arts?

Bethany learns proper gardening techniques by making a plot in the demo garden at the center.


After IST, I visted Alexis in Joal-Fadiouth. Here we are on the island that is just off Fadiouth, also an island, where there is a cemetery for both Catholics and Muslims. It is very cool to see somewhere with such religious unity and is symbolic of Senegal's tolerance, of which they are very proud.

Our guide at Fadiouth. He's pointing out a souvenir shop that is much better than your regular market. Better than a super market. It's a Hyper Super Market. "Cheaper than free." Now that's good marketing.

This is the day I received Katie's Halloween package. I'm obviously excited about it. Katie, you can see how it arrived. The butterfly eventually came off and is now hanging in my window, kind of like a suncatcher. It's pretty. Thanks.
This is a well packed bicycle, if I do say so so myself. (I packed it). Trek provides all the volunteer bikes. See how I've got my 1.5 liters of water and helmet. Safety first! I've also loaded on the back 4 mosquito nets, my computer, and nearly all of my Christmas shopping. Plus an extra teapot I picked up. And you can see my ipod strapped to my handlebars so that I can listen to Christmas music on the ride back to the village.

WARNING!!! The following is a picture of my neck infection/abscess. Skim over it if you're not interested in gruesomeness and gore. I passed on the most graphic pic, so you can see this one instead, after it was partially drained. It's more or less for Katie's satisfaction.