finally at site

I don’t even know where to begin – so much has happened in the past week. I finally got to my site last Thursday afternoon. After I finished unloading all of my stuff from the Peace Corps car, the staff returned to Kaolack, leaving me at my new home. My father and 12 year old host brother are the only two people in my family who speak French and neither of them were there for my installation. Consequently, communication with my host mother and my 10 and 2 year old sisters was limited to pointing and gesturing.

I was completely overwhelmed while I was unpacking – it seemed like my family and all of the neighbors piled into my room and dug through my bags – picking out things they liked, admiring themselves in my mirror and asking me what different things were. After about an hour, everyone left (the majority of the kids stayed in the doorway to watch me) and I was able to begin to unpack and arrange my stuff. Several times during these first few hours I questioned what exactly I was doing here again – but these thoughts were spelled by my excitement to begin to get settled and adjust to my new life here.

The next morning I forced myself, somewhat reluctantly, to go wander and begin to get a feel for the town and start meeting and introducing myself to people. The first morning was easily the most conspicuous I have felt in my life. Kids came flocking from every compound screaming “Toubab” (Wolof for foreigner/white person) wanting to shake my hand and ask me for gifts, which ranged from my sandals to one little girl asking me for my hair.

With everyone I passed, I used the little bit of Wolof greetings that I learned in Thies. I was able to then switch to French with most people I talked with. In general, people have been extremely interested in why I am here (I am repeatedly asked why I would want to leave America to come to Africa) and what my role is as a Peace Corps volunteer.

I’ve continued this routine each morning – trying to go to a new part of town to meet and see new things. I come back home and eat lunch with my family and then rest for a while. Pretty much the entire country takes a siesta in the early afternoon to try to escape the heat. After my daily nap, which I am adjusting to quite well, I recruit the neighborhood kids to teach me Wolof. It typically involves me pointing to something or mimicking some action to learn new vocabulary. Additionally, I will meet with a teacher from the high school twice to week to learn the grammar and have a little more formal practice.

All in all, things are going pretty well here. I will write more as soon as I can. There isn’t internet in Nioro yet, although its rumored to be on its way (this of course could take anywhere from a week or two to three or four months) so I need to come to Kaolack for it, which is about 30 miles north of me – but takes about an hour and half by car to give you some indication of how bad the road is.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all – all the volunteers in my region rented out a restaurant that is owned by an ex-pat, and she is preparing us a giant Thanksgiving feast with all the fixings. It should be good.

Off to site

Tomorrow I finally I get installed in my site – after so much waiting its hard to believe that its finally here. I started the application process for the Peace Corps nearly 14 months ago and after months of waiting, interviews, waiting, medical appointments, waiting, and training I am now ready to go to site.
The last few weeks of training were an absolute whirlwind with so much going on in preparation for our departure. We had a two-day workshop with our site counterparts and supervisors which gave us an opportunity to meet people from our sites and have some expectations of what type of work I will be doing. I really liked both of my counterparts – one has worked with several Peace Corps volunteers in the past while the other never has. They both work for different development organizations in my site. One is a Senegalese government development agency and the other is a NGO that receives funding from the UN. Each organization conducts trainings and offers counseling for small businesses and entrepreneurs and I will assist them with these projects. It was great to meet with them and learn more about Nioro, but the whole experience felt like a really important blind date.
Last Friday we had our swearing-in ceremony at the US Ambassador’s residence in Dakar. The ceremony was essentially a graduation as representatives of both the US and Senegalese government gave speeches and we all received our formal invitations from our sites. In lieu of caps and gowns, all of the trainees wore traditional Senegalese clothing. The ceremony was also filmed on the national tv channel and a few people have already stopped me to tell me they saw me on the news. I guess I’m now kind of a big deal.
After swearing-in, I packed up all of my stuff from my house in Thies and took a station wagon taxi with two other volunteers from Thies to Kaolack. The car was overflowing with bags, medical supplies, water filters, a few small trees (one of the other volunteers bought them to bring to her site) and there were three bikes strapped to the roof.
I have spent the past week at a Peace Corps regional house in Kaolack exploring town, setting up a post office box, and buying even more things I will need for my site – a propane stove, a trunk, a fan, gifts for my new family and plenty of other small knick-knacks I will need for my house. From here, Peace Corps Officials take us one at a time to our sites to officially install us and drop us off with our families.
I am very excited to get to site tomorrow, but I think that Friday (my first full day at site) might be one of the longest days of my life. I hope you are all doing well – I miss you all.

Chris

my new address

Hi all,

Sorry i haven't written in a while but the last few weeks have been absolutely crazy with so much going on and getting ready to leave for my site. I have been in Kaolack for the past couple days buying everything i will need for my house and I am getting installed Thursday afternoon. I don't have much time right now but i will write more tomorrow with stories from the past few weeks. I did however want to tell you all my new address:

Chris Andrews
B.P. 496
Kaolack, Senegal
West Africa

Hope you are all doing well