Our compound Suso Kunda II - it's very new and pretty nice! Our door is the one on the left.

Kawsu cooking on our gas burner. This is the most expensive thing we own here, except our bikes, which really belong to the Peace Corps, not us, so they don't count. Our family was upset one day because I accidentally left it outside and they said someone would jump over the wall to steal it! Oops.

Maamaa carrying water from the sweet tap inside the compound.

View you can see if you climb up on something and look over our back wall. This picture was taken last night, about 20 minutes before a tremendous (and unexpected) rain storm.

This past Friday we officially went from trainees to volunteers. It has been a whirlwind week of filling out paperwork, shopping for household items (really exhausting when you have to bargain for a decent price on almost anything) and socializing with each other before we head off to our respective villages. At some point today we (along with all our junk!) will return to Bwiam and set up our little house. We should have internet access somewhere in town once we get settled in there, so you should all being hearing from us soon!

Also, I'd like to share a quote from the toilet brush & holder set our friend Keith purchased yesterday at a store down the street (we agree with him that your pit latrine can never be too clean): (picture this in a beautiful script beside a big flower) "plastics companion you are living every a day"

Thank you China, for sending your weirdest and most cheaply made products to Africa.

Also, happy belated Mother's Day to all!

Celebrating after our swearing-in ceremony (picture thanks to the lovely Sarah Stever)

Hanging out with the kids in our training village compound.The goal of this post is to let you all know that we are still alive! We survived our first experience with being sick here (everyone in our language class feel victim to the same unpleasant gastrointestinal illness), but we are feeling just fine now. We have just left our first Gambian host family and returned to Fajara to prepare for a visit to our permanent sites. Being in the crowded transit house is not that great, but there is electricity here in the big city and, thus, the store down the street has plastic bags of vanilla yogurt to suck on. Also, sometimes there is working internet! We will post again when the internet is faster.

Fo silaa kotenke (until the next road)!

-Maamaa and Kawsu/ Colette and Darrin

We (18 trainees and various Peace Corps volunteers and staff) began the drive from Thies, Senegal to Banjul, The Gambia on Wednesday morning at 6 AM (I don't know how this miracle of punctuality occured- It was actually 5:57 when we left). Our embarassingly large convoy consisted of 2 buses, a trucks full of baggage and a Land Cruiser. We all arrived in Banjul at around 5pm. The trip was OK (except for fellow trainees who felt ill the whole day) and we even had enough CFA left (Senegalese currency) to buy a few snacks along the way and share them amongst ourselves. Including some excellent egg sandwiches with hot pepper sauce.

Many people in our group will agree, that although we really miss the trainees from Senegal who we've lived and learned with for the past month and a half, we are really excited to be in The Gambia! It is excellent so far - the beach is very nice, the Banjul transit house is deluxe (there's a fridge and a shower!), there are about 7 bookcases filled with books for volunteers and most signs here are in English as opposed to French. This last point is significant considering that we spent the previous month guessing what things said along the street (and what people said). Community members here keep greeting us in English and we find ourselves surprised and confused, like it's all a dream.

Tomorrow morning we head to our training village to stay with host families and continue practicing the Mandinka language. We'll only be with them for about 2 weeks, but hopefully we can learn a lot and enjoy our time there. Everyone keeps emphasizing that training villages are different here than what we experienced in Senegal - they are smaller, more rural and do not have electricity. They also involve having our own pit latrine, whereas in Senegal it was very much the norm for Peace Corps trainees to share one pit latrine and one bathing area with upwards of at least 25 people. We also get our own bicycles to visit other trainees when we have free time. We are going to feel very spoiled in this respect!

 Until next time...

~ Colette & Darrin (Maamaa & Kawsu) ~

 The road through our eventual home of Bwiam

Got our permanent site assignment today and will be headed to the Gambia for more training at 6 AM tomorrow! Our permanent site is in the southwestern part of the country, kind of near Kalagi. If you look on this map, it's near the only border that forms a right angle:

We left Mbour yesterday morning and are back at the Peace Corps Training Center in Thies with mixed emotions. On one hand, it was very sad to say goodbye to our Senegalese host family, whom we were just beginning to feel very close to. On the other hand, we Gambian volunteers are excited to move to the Gambia next week and begin the second phase of our training.

Not long after arriving back at the center we did our first language proficiency interviews in Mandinka. I am both exited about how much we have learned in the past month and intimidated by the amount of things we don't know. However, Darrin and I were both able to greet the interviewer somewhat extensively and answer personal questions that she asked, which is far more than we could do before our time in Mbour.

For those readers who are not familiar with the greetings and common expressions used in many West African languages (Mandinka included), I will translate some of my favorites:

"I hope there is no trouble."/"There is no trouble."

"Are you at peace?"/"Peace only."

"How is your family?"/"They are there."

"How is your mother?"/"She is there."

"How are your children?"/"They are all there."

"How is the work?"/"The work is there only." OR "I am on it, slowly slowly."

"How is the morning?"/"The morning is here only."

"You are sitting."/"Yes, I am sitting."

Mbour family!

Us girls and some girl who was getting her hair braided by my sister

Caoussou and Caoussou

Our room in Mbour

Hello Friends! We have spent the last 6 days with our training site host family in Mbour, Senegal. We are trying to learn Mandinka as fast as we can, because they don't speak English and we speak no French. I can now converse in a very primitive fashion on several topics including: if one slept in peace, if the people of one's compound are there, how the work is, if someone is sitting/standing/lying down, if rice and fish is delicious, hair braiding and extensions, chickens and goats, and breastfeeding.

Our family name is Maria, though in Senegal this means only our host father and siblings have this name (not the wives and various extended family members in the compound). Host families are apparently very excited to name their Peace Corps trainees after members of the family, so Darrin is Caoussou after our youngest host brother and I am Maamaa after the oldest host sister. Our host mom is very nice and patient with our language learning and our brothers and sisters help us with our homework everyday. It's a very relaxed atmosphere and they keep us very well fed. We have a tap in the yard and electric lights in the compound, as well as a pit latrine and bathing area (for bucket baths) which we share with everyone. In case everyone is wondering, the Peace Corps gave us each one roll of toilet paper to take with us to our sites, but I actually forgot I had it and am pleased to report that with a good bar of soap on hand everything is just fine. Our host family also has a TV, but nearly everything is in French or Wolof.

All the streets in our neighborhood are deep sand, with the occasional horse or donkey cart or car careening through. Walking from our family's compound to our language teacher's compound involves compulsively greeting everyone we see in various languages while avoiding the crowds of children screaming "Tubob!"

On Sunday Darrin and I walked to the beach with our host brothers Omar and Paapaa and went for a swim. We also walked through the market, which was intimidating because it was very crowded.

I am sorry to admit I still have no understanding of the money here in Senegal and that without speaking French or Wolof it is generally impossible for me to understand how much they are asking me for. I am kind of excited to go to the Gambia, where more people speak English.

-Colette (Maamaa)

We arrived in Dakar, Senegal Tuesday morning, came to the Peace Corps training center in Thies (pronounced "Ches") (I didn't know) directly and have been here since. The weather is warm and lovely, the bats are impressively large and awesome and the food here at the training center is excellent - I think we are being spoiled. The other Senegal and Gambia trainees are all really nice and smart and interesting. Basically, we have been busy going to training sessions and socializing rampantly.

Today we went on a walk in the market with one of the seasoned Senegal Peace Corps volunteers. It was a bit scary for me, because I no idea what anyone was saying (I now know almost as much Wolof as I know French, which is to say next to nothing). It is really humbling to not know the language, the local currency or how to get anywhere. Also I was scared of being run down by the traffic, which consists of dilapidated automobiles, a few really nice automobiles, many carts drawn by skinny horses and some motorbikes/scooters. I am trying to have faith that I will learn a lot and become more comfortable someday. In the meantime, I plan to only venture out in a group that includes at least one decent French speaker.

We begin learning our languages and living with a host family in a few days. I am really nervous for that, but also excited. I think Darrin and I will be learning Mandinka, which is very common in the Gambia (we will go there permanently after another 4 weeks or so). We'll find out for sure in the next few days.

I didn't take this picture, but it shows a street in Thies, so I am including it. Someday I will take pictures and figure out how to upload them...

In six days we will be leaving for Washington D.C., where we will do paperwork and learn some stuff (and probably get some injections), then fly to Senegal the next day to begin our three-month training period. Right now we are just trying to tie up loose ends here in Preston (mainly we have to clean up the mess we made redoing several of the bedrooms in his parents' house). We also hope to finish our packing in the next day or two. We pretty much have everything we plan to bring, but there is the inevitable anxiety about having too much stuff and then, alternately, being anxious that we have too little.

Here are a few pictoral highlight from our travels since November 1st:

Darrin at the breakwater in Provincetown, MA while visiting my dad and hometown

Darrin and I hang out with Johanna in Brewster, MA.

Darrin and Jessie (his sister) enjoying the amazing fall weather in Ohio

Darrin and our niece during our NewYears Eve hat-making festivities in Wisconsin. Molly is eating a suspiciously gummy candy cane from the Christmas tree decorations box that turned out to be older than she is.

We occupy our other niece Josephine with a flask of whiskey. Worst babysitters ever! (It's actually empty)

We decided to give a short update on what we did this past summer/early fall for those of you we've been out of touch with.

Colette: Though I passed boards and received my Iowa nursing license in June, I knew we were planning to leave with the Peace Corps soon and wasn't able to find any short-term nursing jobs that were appropriate for a new grad like me. So I began my summer working 3 days a week at Tabletop Farm in Nevada, IA. I mainly focused on harvesting, processing and packing veggies for CSA (community supported agriculture) distribution, though I sometimes got to do planting, weeding and other things. This was a good job for me because I got to help out a great new farm during their first year (and got to be their first ever employee). I found a lot of my skills from my previous life as a produce manager/worker to be applicable too.

At the end of July the wonderful folks at Turtle Farm, where Darrin was working, let me join their team two days a week. In this way I became a full-time organic farm worker. In my spare time I did some eldercare, yardwork, plasma donation, babysitting and even a little bit of cooking to help a friend out with her catering jobs.

Working at Turtle FarmMy last day at Tabletop - and first time driving the tractor

Darrin:

Like Colette, it would have been difficult for me to find full-time employment out of college because we were planning to leave for two years. Luckily, organic vegetable farms always need seasonal help, and what a perfect way to prepare to serve as an Agricultural Extension agent in the Peace Corps. Especially since many farmers in the world cannot afford to purchase chemicals for their crops.

In June I started working full-time on Turtle Farm CSA in Granger, Iowa. Turtle Farm grows organic fruits and vegetables, and distributes them weekly to almost 185 farm members. With a team made up of brave and outstanding people our duties were many and included: fertilizing, planting, weeding (and more weeding), trellising, harvesting, processing, more weeding, packing CSA boxes, bending, squatting, lunging, and weeding. In addition to that I found time (and energy) to substitute-teach yoga classes for Ames Parks and Recreation, cook some great meals, pack our belongings, have a large garage sale, and spend time with Colette!

Covering the fall garlic plantingTaking a much needed breakIn summary, We worked on farms in Iowa at the foot of the Des Moines lobe... (I couldn't resist!)

Now that you are caught up, we can continue with our regularly scheduled blogging!

I am not sure we have told everyone, but our departure date hasbeen delayed two months. We are now leaving early March 2012 to train with the new Peace Corps volunteers of Senegal. So the first 3 months of our adventure willbe in and near Dakar, Senegal. After our training period we will then make TheGambia our home for two years.

This new arrangement leaves us with January and February to revelin our states of homelessness, joblessness, and anxiousness. We are reallystarting to understand the difficulty in not having our own place to call home,but this is part of our reason for doing this in the first place. We wanted tobe liberated, free of stuff, thrown into new environments with new and differentresources to work with. This is the start of our journey together and we mustlearn to let go.

Some of our friends and family have expressed concern for us andmany people have asked us if we are angry at the Peace Corps for delaying ourdeparture when we had already committed to leaving our apartment and jobs. It was frustrating at first, especially since we had so little money tolive off of until our departure, but we both agreed that this was a situationthat challenges us to really live our belief that a person is in no way the sumof their house, their material belongings, their current job situation or anyother transient circumstances. We are lucky to have this time to truly come toappreciate our families and friends who do so much to support us and our goals.We're looking forward to someday being in the position of being able to"pay it forward" (and backward as well).

Over the past month we have been packing up all of the things we don't use on a daily basis and taking care of little details here and there. Our car decided to break down a few weeks shy of the time we hoped to sell it and we ended up parting with it for a fraction of what we'd hoped to get if it was still running. This coming week will be the hardest though - or beloved cat, Edie, will be moving across town to a new home. She will be an entertaining and loving companion for the woman who is caring for her, but we are going to miss her a lot.

All of these things have been helping to liberate us and make our transition to a vagabond lifestyle a lot smoother. At the end of this month we will be packing up the rest of our things, and with the help of my awesome parents moving them to Minnesota to store in a bedroom for the next 2.5 years. From there we will be making our way across the eastern U.S. by train and mega-bus. Then the next chapter begins...