Merry Christmas!!
I’m just getting home from spending Christmas at the beach with a group of other volunteers from my region. It was definitely a little atypical to say the least, and it didn’t really feel like Christmas. But it was nice to spend the holiday with other volunteers and have a few days to relax in our rented beach house with Christmas music blaring from the stereo nonstop. For Christmas dinner, we rented out a restaurant that is right on the beach and had a great Senegalese chicken dish with chocolate cake for dessert.
Right before Christmas was the Muslim holiday Eid-al Kebir, known in Senegal as Tabaski. This holiday celebrates the day that the prophet Abraham sacrificed his son for Allah and was quickly rewarded with a ram for his faithfulness. This is one of the big two Muslim holidays (the other is Eid-al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan) and every Muslim household kills a sheep the morning of the holiday in remembrance of Abraham. For the rest of the day, it’s a feast of epic proportions. After going to the Mosque in the morning, the men come home, kill the sheep in the yard, then skin it and clean it. This was a little shocking to watch as blood and entrails ended up everywhere. Everyone kept trying to get me to kill one of our sheep (we had three) especially after they found out I had never killed or even seen an animal get slaughtered in the United States. This led to an explanation of how Americans purchase meat which blew some of my family’s minds. I was able to get out of killing it by promising to help more next year so we’ll see what happens then.
After butchering the sheep, the women start grilling the meat for lunch and we ate a huge lunch of sheep covered in a mustard and onion sauce with French fries. After eating lunch at my family’s compound, I went next door to my extended family’s compound where I ate the same lunch again. During the afternoon, everyone lazes around in a food coma - drinking tea and visiting with family. For dinner, we ate another giant meal of sheep in a heavy sauce with bread. After dinner, everyone goes out and visits friends and family into the early morning.
We followed the same schedule the following day: eating massive amounts of sheep (which at this point expanded to include the stomach, intestines, and feet), visiting friends and family and relaxing around the compound. For the entire holiday, everyone wears traditional clothing – men wear long, brightly colored gowns and women wear very elaborate dresses or skirts with matching shirts. Women also put henna on their hands and feet and braid extensions into their hair.
I hope all of you are well and had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year. I miss you all.
Chris
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
These past few weeks I have continued to meet more and more people and visit different organizations that I can potentially work with. I’m flooded with new information about people, my town, Senegal, and everything else imaginable ranging from traditional medicine to the proper way to make Senegalese tea.
I have also started Wolof tutoring with a teacher at the vocational school for girls. Neither of us really know how to go about teaching a language that is largely a spoken language, it was only put into writing 20 years ago or so (nobody here writes in it). But, we plug away at it and I think I am beginning to make some progress, slowly but surely.
My tutor shares a house with several other teachers – teachers are placed in schools by the state and consequently don’t necessarily work in their hometowns. So they live in faculty housing which is a lot like a college apartment. I’m becoming friends with the teachers in her house and am spending more and more time there, which has been great. They are all very engaging, easy to talk to, and are patient with any language barriers we encounter.
Also, feeling the need to start doing something more tangible, I’ve started helping my tutor with one of her English classes at the school. Yesterday was my second day of class and all of the girls choose English names for the class. They were all very excited to have English names and kept on saying “my name is ____” and then giggle uncontrollably. The style of class is so different than American classes. It is solely based on repetition so I’m not sure how much the girls are retaining or comprehending, but it’s too soon to judge.
Finally, this past weekend I went to a village about 30 km south of me to meet with an NGO and several women’s groups that want to start selling vegetables at a local market. To get down there, I was told there was a mini-bus that left from Nioro every afternoon. After waiting at the garage for several hours and seeing no sign of the bus, I began to ask around and finally another car headed in that direction showed up. I don’t know what kind of car it was but probably about the size of a Ford Escape and designed to hold 6 people. When all was said and through, we were tumbling down the road with 15 people in the car and a live goat tied to the roof.
Once I got to the village, a volunteer there told me about a huge, weekly party that happened to be that night. It didn’t begin until a little after midnight, but there were people from all of the surrounding villages. People were dancing to a group of drummers and there were two commentators with microphones announcing who was arriving (in the same way that announcers work the red carpet before a large film premiere). The announcers immediately took a keen interest in the two Americans at the party and conducted a 20 minute interview with us, which ended by them saying “You have everything you want here: dancing, food, Americans.” The party is actually more of a giant wrestling competition in which each of the villages selects a representative for the event. The wrestlers then compete in a round-robin tournament through the night. The wrestling was occasionally interrupted by kids sprinting through the ring with flaming torches and other events. I can’t really say that I understood everything that happened there, but it was definitely amusing.
All in all, things are going well here and I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the town, my family and my activities. I hope you are all well.
love
Chris
I have also started Wolof tutoring with a teacher at the vocational school for girls. Neither of us really know how to go about teaching a language that is largely a spoken language, it was only put into writing 20 years ago or so (nobody here writes in it). But, we plug away at it and I think I am beginning to make some progress, slowly but surely.
My tutor shares a house with several other teachers – teachers are placed in schools by the state and consequently don’t necessarily work in their hometowns. So they live in faculty housing which is a lot like a college apartment. I’m becoming friends with the teachers in her house and am spending more and more time there, which has been great. They are all very engaging, easy to talk to, and are patient with any language barriers we encounter.
Also, feeling the need to start doing something more tangible, I’ve started helping my tutor with one of her English classes at the school. Yesterday was my second day of class and all of the girls choose English names for the class. They were all very excited to have English names and kept on saying “my name is ____” and then giggle uncontrollably. The style of class is so different than American classes. It is solely based on repetition so I’m not sure how much the girls are retaining or comprehending, but it’s too soon to judge.
Finally, this past weekend I went to a village about 30 km south of me to meet with an NGO and several women’s groups that want to start selling vegetables at a local market. To get down there, I was told there was a mini-bus that left from Nioro every afternoon. After waiting at the garage for several hours and seeing no sign of the bus, I began to ask around and finally another car headed in that direction showed up. I don’t know what kind of car it was but probably about the size of a Ford Escape and designed to hold 6 people. When all was said and through, we were tumbling down the road with 15 people in the car and a live goat tied to the roof.
Once I got to the village, a volunteer there told me about a huge, weekly party that happened to be that night. It didn’t begin until a little after midnight, but there were people from all of the surrounding villages. People were dancing to a group of drummers and there were two commentators with microphones announcing who was arriving (in the same way that announcers work the red carpet before a large film premiere). The announcers immediately took a keen interest in the two Americans at the party and conducted a 20 minute interview with us, which ended by them saying “You have everything you want here: dancing, food, Americans.” The party is actually more of a giant wrestling competition in which each of the villages selects a representative for the event. The wrestlers then compete in a round-robin tournament through the night. The wrestling was occasionally interrupted by kids sprinting through the ring with flaming torches and other events. I can’t really say that I understood everything that happened there, but it was definitely amusing.
All in all, things are going well here and I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the town, my family and my activities. I hope you are all well.
love
Chris
Thursday, November 22, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Pictures!!
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Sorry i didn't add more but the connection is really slow - i'll put more on facebook
pictures
For some reason i can't get the pictures to load today but i will try again later this week. Sorry
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