remember nessie? i think about her everytime i go swimming in the river (because the hot season decided to come two months early this year) as i swim farther away from the beach i can't help but wonder what exactly is below me. it doesn't help when i see a six foot eel with teeth the size of a bear claw for sale at the market. being sold by a lady from the village right next to mine. whose husband fished it out of the river that very morning. now between thoughts of nessie swimming slowly and gracefully below me i have thoughts of the screeching eels slithering closer and closer to my toes which look oh so edible. but still, it's hot and the river is blessedly cool. and so i go swimming.

two weeks ago while i was in dakar for our cos (close of service!!!) conference nessie made another appearance in the village. my brothers rushed to tell me this when i got back home. now one sighting is cool, but two? does that mean nessie's made a home? with male-nessie? and nessie-pups? i needed to know what exactly nessie was. is she safe? does she like meat? what would she feel about the pale figure who doesn't stay close to the river bank? so i hunted down my friend oumar who is often not in the village but working in a different one. he speaks english like i speak pulaar; one part cave-man, one part three year old adolescent so i felt that he could answer my nessie dilemma. i find oumar and make him sit down and tell me about this creature, my dictionary in hand. one way or another, nessie's going to have a name. we flipped through a few names to try to match the word with what i remembered and what oumar knew of nessie, because, as he put it, it's a big blobby thing that swims. they're very special.

so i started saying every single word i knew for things that lived in the river. i started small. minnow? no. fish? no. eel? wait, what did you say? no, not eel. but close. hmm...okay... catfish? no. human? idiot who doesn't know how to swim? no, banel. you think of the darndest things. hippo? no. yes. well, not a hippo. it swims. but is big like a hippo. okay. so what is something that is like a hippo but swims instead of walks? think, banel, think. (the would-be marine biologist of my third grade youth would have known this right away.) wait a minute.... and then i drew it out. is this what it is oumar? yes! that's it. very good. how do you say it in english? well, funny you should ask oumar...

manatee.

nessie is a west african fresh water manatee. there have been many sightings of them this past year because of the very successful rainy season. one was accidently killed near the city of bakel, which on the map is as far inland as you can get in senegal, right by the mali and mauritanian border. how freaking unblievably cool is it that i have manatees in my river? soooooo freaking unbelievably cool.

in case you're curious, a bit on freshwater manatees via wikipedia:

West African

They are found in coastal marine and estuarine habitats, and in freshwater river systems along the west coast of Africa from the Senegal River (AKA RIGHT OUTSIDE MY HUT!) south to the Kwanza River in Angola, including areas in Gambia, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

They live as high upriver on the Niger River as Gao, Mali.

Communication

They emit a wide range of sounds used in communication, especially between cows and their calves. Adults communicate to maintain contact and during sexual and play behaviors. Taste and smell, in addition to sight, sound, and touch, may also be forms of communication.

Diet

Manatees are herbivores and eat over 60 different plant species such as mangrove leaves, turtle grass, and types of algae, using their divided upper lip. An adult manatee will commonly eat up to 10% of its body weight (approx 50 kg) per day. Manatees have been known to eat small amounts of fish from nets.[12]

Predation

Manatees have few natural predators (sharks, crocodiles, orcas, and alligators.) Predation does not present a significant threat to their survival. Humans do.African manatee's only significant threats are due to poaching, habitat loss, and other environmental impacts. They occasionally get stranded as the river dries up at the end of rainy season and are cooked for a meal.

In West African folklore, they were sacred and thought to have been once human. Killing one was taboo and required penance.

so now when i'm swimming i will think lovingly of the gentle giants who swim beneath me, munching on river grass and generally loving their beautiful african habitat.

i'll be thinking of them. and the eels.

what is a talibe?

they are little boys (usually ages 5-15) who go to koranic school to learn the koran. most of these boys live at the school under the supervision of a imam or marabou (religous leader and teacher). during the day when they are not in class these boys will go throughout towns begging for food and money which is then given to the marabou and is (supposed to be but never enforced) used to clothe, feed, and raise the talibes. however, this is rarely the case, especially in large cities. marabous often take the money themselves and beat talibes who only bring back food or not enough money. (many talibes have quotas they need to fill by the end of the day). as a result, these boys are often the most malnourished and overlooked part of senegal. they sleep in overcrowded, dirty spaces and usually just on the floor with no mats or blankets. it's rare to see a talibe wearing shoes or clothes that properly fit them.

as a toubak, i have a huge target on my back for talibes, as does any visitor. this often means we get followed anywhere we go by one or two whenever we are in dakar, saint-louis, etc. it's frustrating because while you feel so incredibly bad for these kids who are forced to beg, you are also extremely annoyed because they do not leave you alone until you give them something. this is one of the many many many reasons it is hard for me to accept a culture that condones begging and neglects children.

so, lauren and i decided to do something for these guys. we had a few mosquito nets left over from our distributions and we decided to give these nets to the various koranic schools in podor. though podor is a smaller city (about the size of platteville) there are over 400 talibes, about two thirds are 12 and under. lauren went around to each of the schools, talked to the marabous and tallied up the number of talibes (aka the tali' tally) i came up for a few days and we were able to distribute to all twelve schools.

this was a great project for me for many reasons. not only were talibes given mosquito nets and now completely covered at night from malaria, but they were also given medicine for schistosomiasis from the health center at the same time. we got to spend time with each school, play with the boys, and talk to the marabou's about malaria and taking care of the boys. in general, the distribution went really well i think it will be a great help for these schools.

it was also really interesting to see the differences between the schools. there were a few school that were clean, had sleeping spaces for each boy, had a schedule for class, fieldwork, etc and the marabous knew each and every kid's name. then there were marabous who had no idea what kids were in their school, were overcrowded, dirty, didn't take care of their kids and even hit the kids in front of us. one even started pulling boys off the street so that we would give them more nets. it was so incredible to see such great differences between schools, even in a small city like podor. it was really obvious which marabous took care of their boys and took their job seriously and lived out the koran truely, while others just took advantage of their power position within their communities.

at the end, the boys were what really mattered and now when we're in podor, we are loved by the talibes and they no longer hassel us but follow us around because they're so thankful. it isn't much, just a few mosquito nets, but for these kids it made all the difference.

cheers!

i know, two posts in one day! i came to the cyber prepared to write about jabbes then something happened on the way here that i wanted to write about too so my gift to you, a blog posting two...

you often see the aftermaths of accidents here; a smashed up car next to a tree, a turned over motorcycle... accidents happen all the time here and are always really really dangerous and violent. i've seen semi trucks turned over because they were overloaded. i've seen--and been in--alhams that are full of thirty people and come sooo close to tipping. these always make me nervous because if something did happen- the alham i was in did tip over- what would happen? people would of course be hurt, some severely and some probably would be killed. forget help- the emergency services we have in the states don't exist here so anyone who couldn't walk away from the crash would probably not make it. needless to say that i travel tense and anxious until i get to my destination.

now, today i'm in a sept place on my way to podor to do a mosquito net distribution to the different koranic schools with lauren (more info on this in the next post i promise) and we're getting to one of the dips in the road. these dips are like a bridge in that they have steeped sides, but there's no body of water. as we're crossing, a two donkey charette is coming the other way. suddenly the charette driver loses control and the charette- and occupants- go over the side. donkeys and cart, everything flips over. as i was in the front seat i saw the whle thing happen and of course gasped, my heart thumping. immediately the driver stops and runs out of the car over to the charette. meanwhile i quickly open the rest of the doors (because they can only be opened from the outside in most cases) and everyone rushes out of the car to help. meanwhile a few other charettes come up, people bailing off to run over and help. luckily, no one was hurt, just a few scratches. the donkeys were okay two and were removed from the harness. five guys turned the charette over while the ladies picked up the articles that were thrown about.

while i was thankful that no one was seriously hurt, i also realized how fortunate that it was only a charette. we were only about 3 k from podor so we would be able to get help right away, but still. i am so happy that everyone rushed to help them though. no one decided to stand and watch, everyone acted which i think is a testimate to their characters. it's so important to help your neighbor here and yes, usually this doesn't ring true as much as today but when something like a charette tips over there will always be people to help. i will rest a little bit easier, though my heart is still pounding a bit.

off to go distribute nets!

jaime

there is an area just a short walk from the village where everyone gets their firewood, there's a few mango trees, lots of other trees and right by the river after the rainy season beans and corn are planted. i love this area for many reasons; it's a quiet place to go for a walk, there are plenty of shady areas to sit and watch the river, it's proof that trees do grow when you don't cut them down, and there are trees that grow this weird fruit thing called jabbe that are everywhere. jabbe season just wrapped up for us and these past few weeks i would often take whatever small children were around, a bowl, and a large stick and head out to the jabbe trees.

the jabbe tree is like most trees that grow in the fuuta; there are thorns. and not just any thorns but little thorns that are shaped like hooks. so not only do you get stabbed by the thorns, they refuse to let you go. hence the large stick. when you're collecting jabbes it's best to just whack the tree and let the jabbes fall to the ground, where usually safe from thorns you can collect them almost pain free. so my job, as the only person over the age of five on these outings, is to beat the trees while the little munchkins gather up the jabbes. this goes on for about an hour or two until we've filled up the bowl. then we head back to the village, usually singing and me leading like the pied piper. once home, we deal out the jabbes and feast.

the first few trips it was just me and silleye who attches himself to my hip when i'm in the village. on our way home silleye would usually get tired (or lazy) so i'd carry him on my back where he imediately would go to sleep. then as our activities were noticed by more and more mothers (aka banel's going away for a couple of hours, let's dump the kids on her!) the number of kids grew so that i'd have anywhere from five to twelve kids with me. the more the kids, the louder the parade back to the village and the more the mothers would smile and laugh. the more i'd smile and laugh too.

now that the jabbes are over, you can only buy them at the markets, and so the trips have started to die down. but i still love going to the mango trees and just watch the river float on by...

these past few months, one of my favorite activities i've been doing is a monthly radio show with a few other volunteers, au coeur de pete (in the heart of pete. it's a play off a really really popular brazilian soap opera they play here). our show is on 102 fm radio communitaire de pete (pete being the town's name though it is also fart in french. hehehe. yea, that doesn't get old for me.) me, justin, marisa, and sarah go once a month and tape two shows which are played for that month on every tuesday afternoon. the shows basically consist of us greeting people in the area, playing american music (our theme songs are creedence and journey. with a distant chant of usa! usa! usa! in the background. i kid, i kid.) though everyone here is all about the phil collins which we do play just for them. in between songs we do skits and lessons about various topics from malaria, hiv/aids, breastfeeding, vaccinations, etc to environmental issues like the importance of trees and nursery building. everything is in pulaar which is also a great way for us to practice our language skills and writing in pulaar.

although my village doesn't get the station (sadly we're out of range and only get the saint-louis stations) the feedback we've gotten from people is really good. people will tell us they heard our program and then sum up the lesson or comment on some of the characters. everyone loves it when we greet them on the radio because they get to hear their name and sound important. we've also started taking requests for music. more dance, less classic rock. all in all it's a great way for us to spread health and environmental messages; more people hear it and because it's on the radio and not in the village via impromptu meeting, people are more likely to really take the lessons to heart.

to more radio programs, healthy babies, and mosquito nets... this is banel mall signing off.

cheers!

jaime

i know that i have neglected my blogger duties and haven't posted in a while. sorry...

i'm currently in dakar preparing for christmas with a few friends. we're going to cook dinner at a friend's apartment (ham, duck-with beak and feet attached in honor of a christmas story, among other amazing things. like cheesecake with blueberries (this is the beauty of dakar). while we were starting the day off, joey turned on the christmas tunes and do they know it's christmas by band aid came on. we sat there and listened to the lyrics (which i'll post below) and couldn't help laugh uncontrollably at the irony of the song and our situation as well as how bad the song actually is.

here it is: (with my comments)

t's Christmastime

There's no need to be afraid (cuz it's not halloween? is santa really michael myers?)

At Christmastime, we let in light and we banish shade (okay, in this country, banishing shade is a bad idea. and when is shade

the opposite of light?)

And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime (hands across america anyone?)

But say a prayer (oh dear here we go...)

Pray for the other ones (the others? like ben and jacob? better not tell locke)

At Christmastime it's hard, but when you're having fun

There's a world outside your window (go take a look)

And it's a world of dread and fear (sike! run back and hide!)

Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears (wait....isn't christmas supposed to be full of joy? not bitter tears)

And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging (christmas bells are good)

chimes of doom (dun dun dun!)

Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you (lucky, lucky you)

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime (no snow? wait, i thought africa was supposed to be a winter wonderland)

The greatest gift they'll get this year is life (isn't that the greatest gift of all?)

(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows (well...)

No rain nor rivers flow (then what have i been swimming in?)

Do they know it's Christmastime at all? (if not, then there is a weird facination with a guy in a beard and red suit in dakar)

(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone

(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun (now that's just mean.)

Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Feed the world

Feed the world

Feed the world

Let them know it's Christmastime again

Feed the world

Let them know it's Christmastime again

so there it is...full of christmas cheer right? i know that the song was intended to raise money for food aid, which it did. but really? not exactly the most tactful song. and as pcv's currently living in africa we can't help but highlight this song. nothing like a little cultural insensitivity to put you in the holly jolly mood.

but i'm loving christmas in dakar. the streets are decked out. and there's a bustling going on that only goes on during the holidays. plus, i've gotten to decorate two (two!) christmas trees, though small. but i love trees. and just being in a little america is helping the homesickness. though what i wouldn't give to be shoveling snow, coming inside and drinking a peppermint paddy, snuggling by the fire, and watching a christmas story in lounge pants.

so i might not be home for christmas, but it's in my heart and i'll be thinking of all the wonderful people in my life and counting the many many blessings that make my life so darned wonderful.

merry merry merry christmas!

love, peace, and goodwill to you and you and you!

jaime

this past weekend was me and sarah's girls leadership conference. and it went awesome! we held the conference for sixteen girls and their parents. the first day we had awa, one of our staging coordinators, talk with the parents while we did activitites with the girls. she discussed with them the importance of keeping girls in school and the obstacles that they face. then we watched a movie with girls, they got to spend the night, slumber party style. (it was really really sweet to see the girls push all their mats together and giggle late into the night)the next day we had six women from the area who have important jobs within their community (nurses, school directors, secretary, teacher, etc) and talk about their experiences, challenges, and why they chose to stay in school. the talk was really great for the girls and they really really enjoyed talking with the women. i think that both the girls and the parents got a lot out of the conference. as did i. it was a lot of work to organize but i'm so glad that me and sarah were able to do it. having extra volunteers their to help was also really nice and beneficial. hopefully we'll be able to do another conference like this one.

cheers,

jaime

when deprived of the usual forms of enjoyment and a sofa and a fireplace and a spot to snuggle my feet, i get my kicks where and when i can. so in place of television i have made a few of my own shows...

er: watching my uncle demba dig an inch long thorn out of my brother hamadel's foot while my two cousins hold him down. yea the tears were real.

man vs. wild: each week i take on a new area of the fuuta; the podor garage, the taredji market, the sept place from dakar to ndioum...i share my tips on surviving through each of these situations. sometimes questionable food is involved (meat in a bag anyone?) take that bear grylls!

cheers: yea, wherever you go...EVERYONE is going to know your name. and say it over and over and over again.

house: with a handy little health guide you too can attempt to diagnose your mystery rash, explosive diarrhea, or a sneeze that has gone on for months. pop your multivitamins like they were pain killers.

tour de france: i race charettes and trucks every sunday. have yet to win the yellow jersey.

lost: on a good day i feel like i survived a plane crash and am stranded on an island. on a really good day i'm one of the oceanic six and i DON'T go back.

friends: each night i get to watch my eight closest friends hang out but instead of a coffeeshop it's my bathroom floor. and instead of jennifer aniston it's toads and a lizard. please don't judge me. my ipod died and i need to save my sanity.

and let's not forget the hundreds of reality shows that my life seems to mirror everyday; survivor, amazing race, the real world, candid camera...

stay tuned for the emmy's. i guarantee you no nph, but you won't see anything like it!

cheers!

jaime

would you rather fly or have lightning speed? would you rather lose an arm or a leg? would you rather marry FDR or teddy roosevelt? would you rather get a job after college or spend two years living in a mud hut eating rice?

so the other night, this question came up to my family. it was night time and as usual i was sitting on a mat chilling with the bros when my sister binta starts screaming and runs out of the house. turns out there was a toad that hopped in after her and scared, she ran away. so now there is a toad in the house but no one will go near it. as it happens, everyone from my siblings to my host mother and aunts and uncles are afraid of toads and frogs. my tocaram asks me if i'm afraid-i say no, it's a toad. so i go into the house, pick up the toad and walk outside. i chase my brothers around for a bit until they start to wimper and then take the frog over to the livestock area and put it down. i come back over to the mat, wipe my hands clean and pronouce "there, it's over". the rest of the night all my host moms and aunt could tell me was how brave i was.

puzzled as to why exactly my family, and in fact a lot of pulaar villages that i know are afraid of toads i asked my family. everybody it seemed had their own reason, "their eyes are weird, don't look at them in the eye", "they only come out at night and make lots of noise", "they hop everywhere, they don't walk", "they pee on you". so all of that may be true, i said but they eat bugs like ants, termites and the stupid little ones that have no name but dive bomb into your eye at night because of your head lamp.

so, i asked would you rather? would you rather have a scorpion in your room or a toad. a resounding "scorpion" was the answer. this flabergasted me. "so let me get this straight, you'd rather have a scorpion-something that could give you excrutiating pain, that hides under things so you can't see them- than a garden toad?" "yea, banel you can kill a scorpion." apparently toads are immortal, something i have yet to tell the many toad corpses in and around my village. "okay, would you rather get stung by a scorpion or peed on by a toad?" "stung." "STUNG?!" "yea, toad pee is very bad." "you're crazy!" "no, banel. toads are very bad."

they may be bad, but my hut's been free of bugs for a month. plus, i'd get peed on everyday before i took a sting to the foot. that's my rather.

cheers and happy toad hunting!

jaime

quick geography lesson. northern senegal is part of the sahel of africa, a band of semi-desert that goes from the antlantic to indian ocean. the sahel is very end of the sahara desert to the north before you get to some pretty awesome jungles and plains. for the most part the sahel is dry and arid and hot, aka the "hell" part of sahel. when i came to senegal everyone kept talking about this rainy season where the sahel grows grass and becomes a savanna, aka the "sa" in sahel. last year during our rainy season i went nuts because it turned green. but by green i mean that it turned puberty green. just a little peach fuzz to show off to your friends. after spending what seemed like an eternity in nothing but sand just this little green was enough to make my day.

this year the rains came late. at first i figured that this meant that it wasn't going to rain as much and that we were going to have a drought. well, the opposite happened. they were late, but man they raged. as i've been told by many reliable pulaars this is the worst rainy season in ten years. it never just rained. it rained, sandstormed, and winded (is that a word? wind blew i what i meant) all at the same time almost every three days for about two months. lesson: be careful what you wish for. i wanted the rain to come and yea, it came.

the river where i used to play and swim and frolic is now a deadly torrent of brown sludge. the bank which used to be thirty feet to the water is now almost overflowing. though watching my bros do backflips into the water is pretty cool. the rice crops were heavily damaged and so the harvest this year is in peril and we're talking the only income many families make (reminicent of wisco's crop loss these past two years). my hut, my poor precious paradise has been beaten badly but is however, still standing (thank god!). although my roof is now sporting grass which is kinda cool. flooding is everywhere and because of standing water the mosquitoes are extra bad this year.

and the bugs. or should i say, the plague of bugs. ever wonder what it's like to have thirty grasshoppers, all about four inches long, dive at you? or look at the floor and suddenly realize it's moving with thousands of beetles? or to put up your bed at night only to be overcome with hundreds of moths, beetles and other critters who find your headlamp irristable? yea, it's sooo much fun. i just love bugs. and i really did until they came in ginormous number.

but it's not all bad.

because of the awesome generosity of family and friends my net distribution is being put to excellent use. my village is putting their nets up early and using them religiously (that's a big alhamdoulillah!) my friends walter, shermann and lilypad are back and they brought two new lizard friends, smithers and gernonimo. hehehe, no more bugs in my room! my tree nursery and trees that i've given out to the village in the past year are growing like crazy. and there is grass...wonderful grass. like full on grizzly adams beard grass. it's so great; the cows and goats are healthy and are able to eat and eat and eat, and the sahel is beautiful. it really is the "sa" in sahel. so right now, i'm enjoying the greenery while it lasts because i know the cold season is coming!!

on a different note. i would love to announce the news that i'm now a grandma. my goat, clementine, has delivered a healthy baby boy, citron. so i'm officially a herder with my own herd of goats. both dam and kid are healthy and will be returning from the island as soon as the river goes back down and is safe to cross.

have a beautiful and wonderful fall, i'll be enjoying the sahel's own metamorphosis.

cheers!

jaime

these past two weeks have been two of the busiest of my service and two of the most rewarding. so to sum up...

access is a program through the us embassy that teaches english to middle school and high school kids. there are a few programs in dakar, one in thies, and one in zuinginchor. during the summer the embassy puts on a week long camp for each class the peace corps volunteers run along with the access teachers. me and three other volunteers helped out at the thies camp.

the whole week long we did a number of activities to help kids learn english in a fun way. we taught a number of different songs (head shoulders knees and toes, the hokey pokey, if you're happy and you know it), and new english lessons (who am i, songs lyrics, american slang). the kids had only been learning english for a year or so so their level of english was low so at first they were a little shy but after a day or two they really got into the camp and had a lot of fun. it was a great week; it was so much fun teaching kids new games, see them having fun, watch the girls have a confidence those in my village don't have, and have fun myself doing games and the like. i'm really glad i was able to do the camp and i think the program itself is great. it teaches kids english (and very well too, the kids who've been in the program are able to speak much much better than those who simply take english in school). and it is also a way to further the teacher's education as well (many of the teachers get to attend english programs in the states which also helps them get better jobs later in their life).

after the camp, i raced back up north for my village's mosquito net distribution. me and lauren hosted nine volunteers from england who helped raise the other half of the nets. (if you remember, i was raising funds for nets that were two dollars. the nets were actually five (with shipping costs) and a another organization, price waterhouse coopers, raised the shipping costs.) the volunteers came to senegal to help out with the distribution and to see where their nets are actually going. they stayed for four days and three of them were able to stay in diambo with me. they helped out at my distribution and then three others that lauren organized.

the distributions went awesome. we gave out almost one thousand nets to four villages completely covering those villages (aka every one will be able to sleep under a net) the volunteers really enjoyed visiting the different villages and got to experience many aspects of pulaar culture. i really enjoyed having them visit. the kids of course loved them, they got to see a scorpion in my room, dance, eat the local delicacy (rice rice rice) and live like a volunteer. i hope they had a great time and enjoyed being in senegal and my village as much as i enjoyed hosting them.

it's been a busy couple of weeks but like i said earlier, it's been extremely fulfilling. i feel like i've been able to do a few very concrete things and see the effects right away. so much of what i do is hard to actually see the results of so it's difficult to think i'm doing anything at all. it makes me excited to think of what else i can do for the next eight months!

cheers

jaime

pcvs like to joke when we go to dakar that we're actually leaving senegal and going to a whole new coutnry. in many ways this is true; dakar is the biggest city in west africa and has in some shape or form everything you miss about home. (except snow, cheddar cheese, spotted cow, family and friends...) but they do have a ton of restaurants (indian, chinese, brazilian, lebanese, vietnamese, etc etc etc) plus n'ice cream, a little slice of heaven offering over 30 flavors of ice cream everyday. so when pcvs come to dakar it takes us a little while to get used to things. (it would kind be like going from chugwater, wyoming to new york for the first time. a lot to take in for both body and mind.) and it's always weird because we tend to blend in better here. there is a huge expat community both american and other western countries, plus the tourists (though trust me, we AREN't tourists in dakar). half the time i don't think the majority of us know what to do with ourselves.

such as been the case for the last week or so i've been here. i had my mid-service doctor's exam (making sure everything is okay, and it is) this past week and so have been hanging out while a few friends cos (go home). we've done the usual; n'ice cream (obama cookies, chocolate pear, tiramisu, pistacio, yummmm....), happy hour, and food glorious food. but that's all good if you're here for a few days (for various reasons, one being that your gi system just got used to eating rice everyday, another, your bank account dwindles) if you're here any longer things start to get a little boring.

so a few friends and i decided to play 'tourist'. (like i said, we're not tourists. once people know we speak the local languages and refuse to speak in french we get treated as something better than a tourist (not getting ripped off big time) but not quite a local (paying the real price)). we went to the grocery store (yes, a grocery store with aisles and a frozen food section.) and bought goat cheese, brie cheese, bread, olives, and red wine (very pricey, but today we are tourists!) then we went to ngor island (where the rich have their second house) and ate our delicious food on the beach. (did i mention that it was alsmost two pounds of cheese?) there, looking out at the ocean and the beach we were struck with how different dakar really is from the village.

teenagers on summer vacation were on the beach playing without adult supervision and not a care in the world. i don't remember the last time my brothers, sisters and cousins got more than an hour or two off from working, chores, or helping in the fields. being able to go to the beach isn't free. it costs 500cfa per person (little over a buck) to get there, then you have to pay for an umbrella and spot. with 500cfa in the village the women buy everything they need for lunch and dinner that day (vegetables, oil, spices etc.) and that is a huge expense. people were friendly and left us alone. we didn't get hassled on the beach like we would if we went to a neighboring village.

as we sat there, we couldn't help admiring the lives the people around us had. after a while though, i began to think about my family back in diambo. how lucky i am to be able to come to dakar when i want to. i've seen so much more of senegal than anyone in my village and have lived in way more comfort. how different life is back in the village where a trip to the weekly market is the big occasion. the disparity between dakar and the rest of senegal is so big. the more dakar seems to build (a new mall in 2010 for example) the more it seems that the villages get left behind. it's hard to take it in (is it just the way development goes? where is the money coming from? who is getting the money? why does over half the population still not have electricity and running water? why does the president need yet another house?)you get torn.

on the one hand i love dakar and everything it gives pcvs from food to company to a break from the stresses of the village and being in another country. but after looking out into the ocean i began to picture my river; the kids playing in it, the women doing their laundry, boats crossing and going to the fields, my dad bringing his horse down to water, maybe nessie in the background, and have realized that diambo and "the village" is senegal for me and that dakar really is a different country. one that i'm glad to visit from time to time but always happier to leave and head back up north.

cheers!

jaime

what do these things have in common? nothing really, but they've all never really happened to me in the village until two weeks ago. then diambo just starting getting jiggy with it.

the rainy season has supposed to have come by now but is actually late. so one day, about seven o'clock or so i am taking my third bucket bath of the day before dousing myself in baby powder. seriously, heat rash could be the worse thing in the world. especially traveling heat rash. so i'm taking my bucket bath and notice some storm clouds moving. hurrying along i look up again and come face to face with a orange cloud. i can see the cloud moving. think of planet earth time lapse, but in real life. it moved that fast. and that is no lie. suddenly i hear everyone start yelling and shutters closing up. aka, everyone was hiding but me. so what do i do? dive (literally) into my room and start to wimper. the sky turned a rust color and the only sound was goats screaming. now, i've experienced sandstorms before but that one was really weird, terrifying, and awful. took me an hour to sweep out my room.

fourth of july came and went, and i spent the day celebrating in kedougou where the pcvs there hosted a fantastic party. the next day we went to a waterfall not far from one of my friend's sites (a little jealous, but he doesn't have nessie. keep reading...) when i got back up to site i greeted everyone and then sat down under the shade structure to hang out before lunch. after a while my tocara said "you haven't greeted binta yet, she gave birth while you were gone." this came as a shock to me. indeed binta, my younger sister wasn't around. i had noticed that she was pregnant when i came back home from the states, but i figured she had a few more months to go. not that she wasn't ready to give birth (who would want to be pregnant in 130 degree weather?) so i jumped up and ran to her room and sure enough, binta was laying there with a little bundle of joy, her son sinthian. i was so happy for her, and so happy that everything went well. she had the baby at the local health post, and he weighed in at almost six pounds. (which may sounds small but he is actually one of the healthiest babies i've seen. she took great care of herself during the pregnancy, partly because i kept feeding her extra goodies. to which my little husband is still bitter about). it's great having a baby around the compound. (the first in many, many years). my tocara just beams whenever she holds her grandson (the fourth grandchild, all boys) and it's the cutest things watching my little brothers fuss over the baby. he even likes me, which will probably change once he realizes that all babies six to fifteen months are supossed to be afraid of me. a week later, the village chief's wife who was also pregnant had her baby, another boy. they live right by my hut as well so now there are plenty of babies around. it'll be fun watching them grow up while i'm there. even the kids who were one or two have changed so much and have gotten bigger.

there are a few things me and my fellow northern pcvs are mildly obsessed with. for example; curry onion rings, dance parties, flour fights, bean burgers, and among other things... vampires. so marisa, a fellow volunteer from the north near ourosogui, was visiting my village one day and we got to discussing vampires. of course all my younger brothers were around watching us and so we asked them if they've ever heard of vampires. they said yes, there are people who live in the ground and drink blood. they're very very bad because drinking blood is wona lawol (not the way). my cousins also told me that if i see one they would kill it for ten mille (about twenty bucks). van helsing would be so proud.

finally, nessie. as you all know i'm a big fan of the river that is right by my village. during the hot season i would go swimming once or twice a day. however, now that the river has started to get cloudy and the current has picked up, no one spends any extra time there. everyone stays close to the shore and the littlest kids are washed at home. when i asked about this last year some friends told me it was because of the crocodiles and things that live in the water. they only come out when the river gets cloudy. well, there hasn't been a croc by my village for decades so i never took them seriously. then, everything changed.

i'm sitting in my hut with marisa (she had an eventful visit) and little sileye comes to my door crying. i let him in and he immediately crawls into my arms. he tells me that he's scared of the river and doesn't want to go alone (his mom is doing laundry there)so i carry him down to the river. as we get closer i notice that there are a lot of people on the banks and they're making a lot of noise. i get to a woman and ask her what's up. she points upriver and says a word i have no clue what it means. i look where she pointed and don't see anything. then, after staring at the water for a few minutes i see it.

these are the facts:

-the creature was large, blue-grey in color

-it glided UPRIVER like a whale and would occasionally surface for air

-what broke water was at lease five feet

-following the iceberg theory, there has to be much more under the water that i didn't see

-after interviewing several people i have learned that; it's very big, bites but does not eat people, lives in the water, is red and has boobs.

-it has been confirmed by the french speaking people in my village that it is not a hippo or crocodile.

conclusion: nessie got lost and wound up in senegal.

further action: will try to get her on camera but as we already know, she is very elusive. but if there is anything i've gained in this country it's patience (just try getting villagers to wash their hands... one year of service right there) and i got another nine months.

but i'm staying out of the river for now.

cheers!

jaime

during the hot season one has more free time than usual so you get a chance to do a lot of reading. i mean you can only nap for so long during the day...so to kill time i do a lot of reading in my spare time. so what's makes a good page turner while living in a village? a couple of pointers...

-do not read anything that involves vivid descriptions of food. the last thing you need is to read a paragraph on a summer picnic full of brats, burgers, corn on the cob, fruit, salad, cheesecake, etc etc etc when you know that you will have rice for lunch rice for dinner and rice again and again and again.

-avoid subjects such as isolation, lonliness, etc etc. epsecially when you're already having a bad day.

-anything magical is awesome and you will have multiple long discussions with other pcvs about the mythology of such magical topics and apply them to current life situations. my patronus, camel. i'm also a pub owning hobbit who entertains friends.

-period piece books are more entertaining when read in accent.

some of my favorite reads are; jane austen's (try the accent), harry potter (though explaining it in pulaar is kinda hard), angela's ashes...appeals to the irish catholic in me, the brother's k (to be read during baseball season), and a few others.

the first of many mosquito net distributions were this past week. this one was a national distribution sponsored by usaid for children under 5. it's goal was to provide complete coverage for senegal. and overall, it was very successful. i helped out at a few different villages distribute nets. the distributions that i'll be doing in a few months will be a great compliment to this distribution. it's pretty exciting to be able to make such a huge impact against malaria.

cheers!

jaime

what do you do when you having stopped sweating in two weeks? the hot season is back...and quite frankly it sucks. for a number of reasons. number one it's hot, like 120 degrees or more everyday. so everything that you normally do during the you still have to do but in the baking sun. number two, because it's so hot you only have about 4 or 5 hours of the day to actually do work (everyone rests between 12 and 5. and i mean rests. i tried getting up to go to work at 4 and my host mother sent me back to my room and wouldn't let me out until it got cooler. yea, i'm an eight year old.) it's hard to get any sort of work done because everyone is fitting in there work at that time. so if i want to do a causerie or a demonstration i have to compete with pounding rice, laundry, dishes, fieldwork, etc. number three, you have a constant battle of staying hydrated and cool. within three days of staying hydrated i upped my water intake from 3 liters to seven. and i'm swimming in the river or taking a bucket bath at least twice, usually three times a day.

there are a few tips i've gathered to help me cope and survive until the rainy season comes.

-dunking your clothes in water works as laundry and ac

-it's okay to have little siblings follow around you with a fan

-working yourself to the point of exhaustion helps you sleep at night

-perfect the ultimate 'hot season cleanse' so you can make a diet book deal when you get back.

-biking 10 k for ice is okay, you'll even become the village ice cream truck

-embrace the heat happies (uncontrollable giggles that occur between 2 and 8 pm)

despite the heat i have been pretty busy the last two months since being back. i've successfully completed building mud stoves in my village for each kitchen area. mud stoves are a more efficient way of cooking (faster, cleaner, safer) and uses less wood than the open camp fires that most people cook over. living in the sahel where there are less and less trees these are a great way to save firewood. i think the stoves were a good idea. as soon as i made them the women started cooking with them, despite the fact that they needed to dry out and sun bake for two weeks. however, i'm taking the fact that using them instead of just letting them sit there shows how much they wanted them. so, a success.

thanks to all who have donated money towards my mosquito nets. because of the overwhelming support of donors in the states peace corps and usaid are doing a massive net distribution throughout senegal. after this distribution children under five will be completely covered by nets with about 50,000 other nets going to peace corps villages. it's pretty exciting to think about how much this could possibly help fight malaria in senegal...it's by far one of the biggest distributions ever done...so thank you! with any luck we'll have the nets by august and distributed within the month. i'll be posting pictures and video of the distributions as soon as it happens. so be on the look out.

cheers!

jaime

i'm back into the village life routine after a vacation to the dairyland and a trip around senegal with my parents. i can't tell you how proud i am of them. for two people who have never left the states to go to a third world country as their first abroad experience, they were amazing and handled every situation that arose like champs. we were able to spend two days in saint-louis before heading to my village for a few days. the village part of their visit was by far my favorite for a number of reasons. my folks got to meet the people i'm constantly talking about, see where i live, look at the work i'm doing that's making a difference. my village got to meet my family that's always calling me, learn some awesome campsongs, and meet my family.

when we arrived in diambo the whole village came out to greet my folks, the women danced and gave my mom her very own grand boubou which she was able to rock later. i felt a million of emotions the whole trip but in my village i felt how loved i really am. i was surrounded by people who truly cared about me and showed that by the way they welcomed my folks. i've said it before, but i'm saying it again and will keep on saying it; i am so lucky to have the village i do. like i told the villagers, i have one family in america and one in senegal and my parent's visit made that into one family.

after the village visit we spent the remaining days back in saint-louis where we relaxed on the beach, took in the sun shine, and hung out in the second coolest city in senegal (the first being diambo or course). we went on an excursion to the langue de barbarie where we saw hundreds of birds, got a boat ride, and a private lunch on an island which was fish caught moments before we ate them. it was the perfect trip for them- we got to see the senegal that i know and love as well as relax enough were we didn't feel rushed. i was sad to see my parents go but so proud of how they were able to handle the heat, hustlers, foreign languages, among a whole slew of other things. i'm sure they have plenty more stories to share with you, if you ask. (according to joeber that's all they talk about. sorry bro). dad's also put the pictures he took of the trip on my photo site. some shots of my village are incredible, especially the ones of things that are so unique and different that i've taken for granted. the bird park ones are also awesome. so check them out and enjoy!

on another note and soap box. during my vacation many of you asked what you could do to help me. well here it is: a group of about ten volunteers (me included) are doing a mosquito net distribution throughout senegal and are currently raising funds for nets (about 6500 total). malaria is one of the top killers in africa, and the number one killer of children under the age of five in senegal. i'm raising funds for my village as well as the other two diambos next to me. i hope to get enough funds to completely cover these villages aka have enough nets so that every man, woman, child, and donkey (not really donkeys) is able to sleep under a net. the costs of the nets is very inexpensive- each net is only $2 so any contribution goes a long way. the website is

www.AgainstMalaria.com/PCVs6500

from that site you can find my specific donation site or you can donate directly to the cause. either way you're still helping fight malaria in senegal.

my specific site is www.AgainstMalaria.com/jbodden

donating at this site will go for nets that my village will receive.

the rainy season aka mosqutio breeding time is quickly approaching (although it's hard to imagine it with the heat) so the quicker we raise funds the quicker we're able to distribute nets to the villages.

thanks so much!!! cheers!

peace,

jaime

it's been a little over ten months since starting peace corps and i've learned many a life lesson in that time. but there is one that i've really taken to heart.

blog warning: it's gonna be a semi-sappy post. that's right, i'm about to get all hallmark on ya.

so life here is in a fragile balance. literally any little thing can make or break your day. i've had really really awesome days; language- no problem, work productivity- doing well, help making a difference- check, and then some random dude comes over to your family's compound and wants to marry you and your money. good day has just left you high and dry. on the opposite side i've also had super rotten days where nothing has gone right; stuck waiting for a car, no one understands you, no one came to your causerie, people keep asking for stuff...and then like a light beam a little kid who has been so afriad of you for the past ten months (so afraid they actually pee when they see you) runs up to you because they are so happy to see you. makes your heart melt.

so what i'm saying is that you have good days, bad days, great days, i want to go home days...and they can change at the drop of a hat. what's the lesson here? i'm getting to it.

the other day, a while ago...it was a long day. i had spent the morning in podor running a few errands. the market was especially crowded so i got hasseled by vendors more than usual, the post was full of people getting money wired so i had to wait for over an hour to send my letters, my cyber guy was out of town so i couldn't check my e-mail, then i had to wait for another hour and a half for a car to fill up so that i could leave to go home. it was a long day. i was tired, cranky, hungry and frustrated at life. finally after stopping maybe five thousand times (okay a slight exaggeration) i got dropped off at the herder village which i have to walk through to get to my village. i wanted to be home for lunch but it was now late afternoon. as i'm walking i can hear the herder kids yelling my name and then i can see then running toward me. they always come and greet me whenever i go home and usually i can deal with it. but today i was tired and having ten little kids hang on me was just not in the cards. they were getting closer and i was getting tenser. i could literally feel myself cringe with anticipation. and then....

clarity. it was my big ah-ha moment. i had a simple choice. i could either let myself get mad and get into a worse mood. or i could just let myself go and see what happened. i chose to let go. as the lids swarmed around me, one hugged my legs. i took her face in my hands and screamed, 'i missed you so much! i'm so happy to see you!' this was not the reaction i think she was prepared for. a look of terror crossed her face (the toubak finally cracked) then confusion then complete happiness. she started to laugh and then all the other kids started shouting, 'i missed you banel, i missed you more!' that got me going and for five minutes i faced off with the kids about who missed who the most. then we all walked hand in hand to my hut.

the weight of the world was gone. i was elated. for no reason at all besides the fact that i just went crazy on these kids. only ten minutes earlier i felt as if i was walking with lead in my shoes and a boulder on my back. i had simply acknowledged i was in a bad mood and chose to let it go and start fresh. everything changed. the rest of my night was aweseome. my tocara noticed i was tired so she gave me the first glass of the boisson i had brought from podor. my younger brothers and little husbands cuddled with me as everyone watched tv. we had haako for dinner. going to bad that night i thought to myself what a great day it had been. and despite the frustrations, it had been a good day.

so the lesson learned; life sometimes has bad days. but you can let the bad days just keep getting worse and worse and when a hoarde of village kids come running at you, you can either tense up and cringe or welcome them with open arms. you chose how you feel. dwell on the bad or let the good in. your choice.

warned you it was sappy. but i've seriously taken this to heart and have applied it everyday since and believe it or not, it's worked. i've chosen to be in a good mood and this past month has been the most rewarding in senegal. pulaar (though not even close to fluent) has gotten easier, i've gotten so much more work done, i've found new friends in the village (who aren't under the age of five) and the sun is shining. (it's also the beginning of the hot season where i will have no choice but to look on the bright side of life). it's been great and i feel great.

as for the herder kids...i'm in the process of teaching them the victory tunnel for me to run through when i come home. they love it and i love. it's not handwashing or malaria prevention but everyone is happy.

cheers and see y'all in three weeks!! (yea wisco vacation!!)

i cannot wait for the day i get to eat cheese and crackers and wash it down with a spotted cow. i haven't been counting the days or anything....

peace,

jaime

a round of applause please, for the long and tedious journey of livestock purchasing in senegal has come to an end. that's right...the goat is bought, paid for, home safe and sound. i went to the weekly market this past sunday with my host father who decided that it was his tabaski good deed to help me out. so off we went, and once we got to the market he told me to go do my thing that he would come find me. so i bought my peanuts, beans, and bananas for the fam and myself some fatayas for breakfast (fried bread with onion sauce. sooo tasty. the lady also gives me a little one for free.) once i finished eating, there he was waiting for me. "okay, so there is a good goat. sixteen mille (about 35 bucks). let's go look and if you want, you buy it". done and done. so we go over to where all the herders are with their goats and sheep for sale, he points out a pretty little number and i hand a herder named ba sixteen mille. goat. check.

so my host father brings my goat home (apparently i own the goat but i don't have to do anything to actually care for the goat...that's what family is for...) once home my host father and uncle explain that their herd of goats is on the island including a nice big billy goat to you know...so they assure me that the next day they will take her to the island to go hang out with the other goats and in no time at all i'll have two goats. but first, i had to 'mark' my goat. thinking i could just whip-up a nifty necklace for it, but nope. mark means brand. so i got to come up with my own brand and take a hot iron to my goat. not exactly what i wanted to do my first day with my goat but hey...when in africa.

i'm pretty stoked about the goat. to be quite honest i didn't think i would actually get my goat at all...after attempt after attempt and attempt...discouragement was settling in. but things work out. i even found out that the little sheep i tried to take care of way back when is still alive and growing. during my second month in the village one of our family's sheep had a baby and then died. being the animal lover that i am i took the little lamb under my wing and fed it some milk as an attempt to keep it alive. however, one weekend i went away from the village and came back...the sheep was gone. my family told me that it went over to the island. i took that for the standard "it's gone to the sheep farm in the sky" routine. a little hurt, but nonetheless it happens all the time here. well, apparently i need to take things a little more literally. they actually meant they took it to the island (to go live with the other sheep. literally).

sometimes i think all i'm good for in the village is to humor everyone with how dumb and naive i can be.

but at least i got my goat.

cheers!

jaime

so the cold season has finally hit the fouta. it actually happened rather quickly, pretty much overnight (literally one night i was simly wearing a tshirt and skirt and the next i was huddled with all of my younger brothers in a sweatshirt and pants. i put a thermometer outside just out of curiosity to see how cold it really has been. it's gotten just over 90 degrees here at about one oclock and when i wake up in the morning it is about 65. the sad part, the part that makes me hang my wisconsin winter head in shame is that it IS cold. i go to bed in long sleeves and pants and burrow under my quilt...thank god i brought it with me! in the morning i heat up my water before taking a bucket bath. my littlest brother and nephews all cuddle with me at night for warmth...i never thought i would say it but that africa is so cold right now. even during the day it's comfortable...90 and breezy is the perfect day here. i could quite possibly die of hypothermia when i come back to wisco in february.

no snow shoveling is nice though especially from last winter...

we just celebrated tabaski here which is the most important holiday here. it celebrates abraham's willingness to sacrific issac for his love of god. (y'all know the story)...anyways each family kills a male sheep as a sign of rememberence and then the meat is cooked and shared among everyone. i was excited for tabaski for a number of reasons; after experiencing korite i was better prepared for what was going on in the village, i got a new outfit that was SO beautiful (i was even told so by my teenage sisters and they are pretty critical about my appearance), i bought all the kids candy to eat, and the village becomes so lively and happy. we ate meat all day long with potatoes and macaroni, drank tea, and visited each other. a fun day or i should say days since it goes on for awhile. i hennaed myself which impressed all the women, "banel you are so baleejo (senegalese)" and lauren,a volunteer who lives in podor. all the men got dressed up in their nicest boubous and it was really beautiful to watch all the men line up behind my cousin who is the imam to pray. all their clothes were these vibrant hues of purple; green, blue, and red they looked like a rainbow. and the women got dressed to the nines as well. that was my favorite part for me- watching the women get to dress up. they work so hard day after day after day that they take full advantage of the oppurtunity to pamper themselves. i loved the different styles of clothes they wore and the different braids they did, they were all so happy they even would break out dancing just to do it.

now i'm sure each village is a little bit different in how they celebrate tabaski but i loved the way my village came together. everyone in my village is related some way or another and so when it was time to eat everyone brought their bowls of food together and then split off into different groups which were; kids under 10, boys 10 to 15, girls 10 to 15, teenagers, married couples (20 to 40), older married women, really old women, and older men. where exactly did i fit in? i was too old to eat with the teenagers, not married to sit with the married couples...old women it was. until i got yelled at by my older sister to come sit with the married couples because i was one of them. (i forgot about my little "husband") so i spent most of the time there. it was fun going from group to group though to see everyone's outfits, gossip, chatter, games. i went to bed exhausted but full and happy.

with any luck the next few months will go by quickly. i have a number of things planned starting with a mosquito net dipping in my village next week. i'm a little nervous about it because the chemical is pretty nasty and i'm not the most coordinated of people (broken nose anyone?) but i've done a dipping before and i think that if i can keep people away from the dip area it will go well. it's malaria season right now and i feel like this is the bast time to do it. plus, the mosquitoes here are relentless and tricky little punks...they find there way everywhere and bite through everything. it's time to fight back and i will show no mercy.

on that peaceful note...merry christmas and happy holidays everyone!!

peace,

jaime

i'd like to dedicate this post to the most useful object in country... my bucket.

seriously. living with as few of commodities as possible you start to get creative with what you can use something for. for example...

a bucket by all appearances just seems to be a plastic container with a lid into which you can put things. however... fill it with tasty treats from back home and my bucket becomes my own pantry. if i fill it with water and put a cup in it it becomes my very own bathtub/shower complete with shower head (the cup). if i go back to the well and fill it up with water again...presto! a washing machine powered by human (my) hands! if you sit on a bucket you got a chair. if you stack two buckets on top of each other and then sit on my bed you have a table. if you stand on your bucket you have a ladder. *note, it is better to turn the bucket upside down before standing on it as the lid tends to collapse. my bucket is my cutting board, my sink, my dresser top, my defense against rowdy kids, my place to hide from big scorpions. to me, my bucket is everything. who needs all those extra things when you got a bucket? i guess what i'm saying is that you learn to appreciate the things you have a whole lot more when you use a piece of plastic for every little thing you do.

thanksgiving went amazingly awesome. we (our regional house hosted) had approximately 47 people from all over senegal including one volunteer from mauritania, and a couple from england who wanted to celebrate with us. everyone arrived wednesday and had stew for supper. thursday the men of the region killed the turkeys (yep, we found turkeys in this country) and grilled them as well as five chickens. they even successfully deep fried a few. meanwhile me and a few other volunteers cranked out dinner consisting of mashed potatoes, stuffing, casseroles galore, fruit salad, deviled eggs, cornbread, and ten different pies. enough to literally feed an army. plus we were able to watch the dark knight and part of the new bond movie before the power went out on a "big screen" outside (a sheet with a projector). fun was had all around and it was indeed a great thanksgiving. plus i got to drink out of a boot. need i say more? (thanks joeber!)

the goat update: i want to keep as much money as i can in the village so i have been dead set on buying my goat in the village. so the other week i went around to a few herders i know and discussed my desire to purchase a goat. lucky me, i got a hit with one of my close friend's family. i told them i would come back on sunday to buy the goat. they said, "great, see you sunday, inshallah..." (note to blog followers on a previous entry about that word. i should have gotten the hint...) so i go back home tell my dad and uncles all about the goat i am going to buy. they look at me and shake their heads and say, "go buy a goat at the market sunday". i explain that i want to buy it in the village so that a family i know will get the money. they smile, look at me and drop the subject. sunday rolls around and i head over to go buy the goat (after coming from the market with my weekly purchases). i greet the family and my friend realizes that i've come for the goat. she looks at me and says, "i forgot you were coming...we took the goat to the market to get sold." inshallah... so i do the walk of shame back home and there is my dad and uncle with a knowing smile on their faces. "next time you go to the market and buy it" they tell me. no duh, i want to tell them but i don't think it translates. besides, how am i going to get a goat back to my village on my bike?

inshallah...

so i realize that a lot of time has passed since the last post. although it hardly seems like any at all...time moves surprisingly fast despite the fact that you only have about five hours a day to actually do any work within the community. what i mean is, by the time i get up in the morning and clean, pull water, etc it is nearly 9 in the morning...and there is only about two/three hours before it is super hot outside and then there is lunch. then after lunch there is the "foftere" or rest which lasts until 4 or 5 giving me another two or three hours before dark. these are the only times people are willing to go to meetings/causeries/or do any work. so that said there is a lot of time where i don't have much to do and that has been a much bigger challenge for me- filling time.

there are a few health posts within the area i live in; one in taredji (6k south), one in mbantou (3k southeast), one in diambo soubalou (1k south and where emily lives), one in ndiawara (2k north), and one in podor (16k north). emily and i are starting to paint at each post-specifically growth charts and health murals and colleen, another volunteer who lives near us (and puts my art skills to shame) has started a huge project in podor which she has graciously allowed me to help out with. the health center there just has some major expansion and is more like a mini-hospital than clinic. so when there isn't much to do in the village we've been painting at these places.

i've also successfully grew a few (fifteen out of forty seven seeds) been trees for the village and next week i will be handing them out to a few guys who will plant them so they can grow (inshallah-note previous post)...these trees are like the super tree here. they can grow anywhere and grow fast, their beans and leaves are edible (the leaves used in my favorite dish here), the roots are natural water filters...they are great. i really really really want to be able to do a few gardens of them and spread the bean tree love throughout the village.

there's also vaccinations days at the clinics, causeries that we are sometimes able to do, routine house calls, and in between at all that we got the potato study i'm helping out with which is very interesting and i'm glad to be a part of it. it will be exciting to see how each distribution and weighing goes. i could even blog about in the project in detail...

for another day perhaps.

so yea, it's been a busy time. i've even turned a year older in the midst of it. i even got birthday haako and it was goooood. best i've had in country yet. so october just flew on by and i can't believe that november is nearly half over too...with thanksgiving right around the corner-yikes!

well, that's all for the quick update. now that we got internet at the regional house i hope to be able to post more frequently and share a few of the more exciting stories.

cheers!

jaime

since coming to senegal nearly seven months ago i've come to appreciate a few things...

village kids. specifically MY village kids, not nessessarily all village kids. but i am so glad that i have the kids i do in my village. for the most part they are very well behaved (different standard of what a "well-behaved" kid is but still...) i am able to let the kids in my room and they know they aren't allowed to touch or pick up or play with anything of mine before asking (and they DO ask!) whenever i do any sort of chore they come help. i have my regular water helpers who help me pull water from the well and bringit back to my hut. they love playing any sort of games and are just so happy to be around me. this bugged me at first--do you have to constantly be touching me!--but i've come to really like that. the kids don't hide their emotions, you can tell when they are so happy because they literally jump for joy as well as when they are upset because they scream and wail. (at first i was alarmed at this and bothered by it until i noticed the different wailings; i'm really hurt vs. i want you to look at me because i didn't get my way. after a while even i ignore the latter). the other day for korite (more on that later) i went to go greet my village and the herder village. a bunch of my village kids decided to come with me and took me by the hands and led me around. we created a little mini-parade much to the delight of the adults. and although a lot of my frustration comes from the kids, they really are such a god-send to have. a few have started giving me random hugs throughout the day which always lift my spirits and they are up for whatever game i want to teach them. they have even started calling me "banel toubak amen" which is "OUR banel foreigner"

senegalese faith. this is different from the muslim religion that the majority practice here and in fact exclusively practice in the futa just to get that out there. there are three major sayings that some up their outlook on life which are actually arabic (because they are muslim phrases). forgive me of my spelling (never was good at it)...the first one is "alhamdililah" or "thanks be to god". you see this everywhere in senegal from the vehicles to buildings. one of the public transports is even referred to as "alhams" by pcvs because it is written everyone on these big passenger vans. i don't even know their real name. one can say alhamdililah after anythig and they do. when you greet someone the conversation probably goes something like this, "how are you" "i am fine thanks be to god" "thanks be to god" "how is your health" "peace only, and yours" "peace only, alhamdiliah" "alhamdililah"...and so on...now depending on how you say it the phrase can mean several things; thanks be to god!!, thanks be to god i am finally out of that vehicle, thanks be to god now go away, thanks be to god THAT'S over, etc. the second phrase is "inshallah" aka "god willing". you say this whenever you make plans for something or refer to something in the future so..."inshallah"..."god willing i will see you tomorrow, god willing i'll make it back home alive, god willing it will not rain tonight because it is sooo hot in my room, god willing i will never have to do that again... the final phrase, "so allah jebbii" is a mix of pulaar and arabic meaning "if god wills it". is it going to rain tonight? so allah jebbii...are we going to have rice for dinner? so allah jebbii...will you do well on your test today? so allah jebbii...you get the idea. the other night manne my aunt here asked why i don't eat with my hands. i told her that i make too big a mess and that i prefer a spoon (which is true). she said, tomorrow night you must try your hands. and my mother replied, yes yes, so allah jebbii. the next night rolls around and we sit donw to eat and my sister hands me my spoon (knowing full well that i don't want to eat with my hands) and it is a while before my aunt realizes that i'm not eating with my hands. (i should clarify HAND. right hand only). she asks me why i wasn't and without missing a beat i reply, allah jebbani "god didn't will it" to which everyone cracked up. with these three phrases even if you don't know pulaar well -like me- you can still crack jokes and let people know how you are feeling. that's what i like about these phrases. depending on how you're feeling they can mean so many different things...it's a great way to bond with people when you both after a six hour car ride arrive at your destination and utter a "alhamdiliah!!"

my roommates. yep, although we are supposed to live along i have a few squatters in my hut. they've been gradually moving into my hut so i didn't notice them at first but now they've made their prescence known and although they didn't ask, i'm more than happy they call my hut home. i'm referring to shermann, lilypad, and walter my three toads. at first it was just shermann and he kept pretty much to himself. then lilypad moved in and for some reason like to hide in my clothes. (which has sometimes scared the____ out of me. walter is the newest addition and i must admit the most friendly and outgoing of the three. i greet them each morning as i sweep out my room and find out where they are hiding. they each seem to have their own space which is kinda cool so i can tell them apart. we have breakfast together and then i let them have a nap while i go do my thing. (as i discovered the other night they are noturnal and don't do much during the day. i was sleeping outside and it started raining so i had to move inside and couldn't sleep because they were crawling over everything!) but i love having them in my room. my ant problem is gone and there are less annoying beetles around. as long as they keep eating they can stay. it's also a riot because for some reason my village is afraid of them. my brother nearly started crying when i chased him with one and my mom won't come into my hut anymore. i don't understand why toads are so scary to them...my brothers chased a small mamba around the other day trying to kill it, yet they run like hell away from a toad. hmm.

market day. i get to ride into taredji, buy some frozen milk, chat with the vendors, buy beans and bananas...it always puts me in a good mood. plus i love it when i come home and surprise the kids with a treat (usually the bananas).

the landscape. it is soooo different from wisconsin. at first i hated it-it is brown and dry and hardly anything grows- but after a while i have been able to find the beauty in it. everything is in a delicate balance here and when it rains everything comes to life. because it is such a harsh place the things that do live are the toughest of the tough...plus the birds are so cool to look at (yep, birdwatch even here)

star gazing. and you thought the high school roof was the best place to watch the night sky (or get arrested for tresspassing if you're too loud about it)...it's amazing how many stars you can see here...it even beats the wyoming sky of duck creek ranch! i literally sit at dusk and just watch the sky. the sunsets are so beautiful and then night emerges...a great way to wind down the usually stressful day.

podor. when i just need to get away for the day, drink a cold soda (anything cold!), eat a bean sandwich (soooo tasty) and watch a movie trailer i just go to the side of the road wait for and unspecified amount of time, hop on whatever car pulls over and in twenty minutes i there. i love this town. the market is always bustling, the people are friendly, the post man always has a present for me (it's imported from the states) and the cyber guys are the nicest people in country. businesses here usually close for the hot hours of the day and so when we come they let us stay at the cyber, turn on the ac, and watch tv or do whatever we want while they lock up. it's really really really nice of them and i don't know what i would do if i didn't get to do this every week or so.

okra. it can grow in nearly every soil condition which is important here because you can't grow much out of sand...plus it's loaded with vitmins and minerals and available all year round and it's cheap. and it's surprisingly tasty.

ramadan. i won't elaborate as i've taked enough about it, but i really enjoyed it and very glad i got to experience it. we just had korite which marks the end of it. my village killed a cow so we ate meat all day, drank atayaa, and vistited everyone. i got my feet hennaed, my hair braided, and an outfit made for the occasion which the village loved and are still complimenting me on. it was more low key than i thought it would be but fun to see everyone dressed up and visiting with each other.

ok, there's so much i want to talk about but i've been pretty long winded already...enough for this post. i'm off to go hit up the post office then get a cold beverage for the fam.

peace out y'all!!

food in senegal. many of you have asked what kind of food i eat here and if it's any good. that's what i'm going to talk about today; food habits in senegal and those as a pcv.

the senegalese diet is based on three major starches; rice (by far the most common), millet and corn. these are used in every meal of every day some way or another. a typical breakfast is bread and cafe touba (nescafe and eight+ cubes of sugar). it's pretty sugary but sugar and sweet tasting things are very very popular here. for lunch it's marro e liddi (rice and fish). this is cooked in a number of different sauces usually tomato based with onion or some form of bouillion. veggies such as eggplant, potato, cabbage, or okra as well as bissap leaves are cooked and put in the bowl as well. occasionally there will also be beans. for supper we typically have lacirii (couscous made from millet or rice) with sauce, beans, or fish. my favorite dish in senegal is lacirii and haako which is couscous and a leaf/fish/spinach sauce. the closest i can describe it would be couscous with fish, spinach and pinenuts made into a sauce. it's really really really good and i love it when we eat it which isn't very often because it is a pricier dish to make. some nights we have goci which is rice with sugar and water and occasionally milk. my family usually makes it with milk which makes it taste better. they also make this with corn. goci is not my favorite and we eat it a lot.

those are typically my meals everyday. compared to most meals in the states it's really repetitive and yea, it gets really old eating the same thing everyday. however, my family has some amazing cooks and because we share three different bowls at lunch and dinner we get plenty of variety. my only complaint is that my family tries to stuff me full of food each meal. (it's considered a sign of good hospitality if a guest is well fed and gains weight during their stay). since there is a food crisis going on and many of my siblings are malnourished you can see why i have a slight problem with it.

traditionally when you eat men eat with men and women and children eat together. i eat with the women. we all gather around the bowl and sit down. it's common practice to eat with your hands (only your right hand-left hand is used for the bathroom). for the life of me i cannot get this down without making a big mess and getting a lot of food on the floor so i eat with a spoon as well as other guests or highly regarded people. you eat what is in front of you and are able to to take pieces of what you want from the middle communal section. never reach across and take from someone else's food and never take a whole item (like a carrot or fish). when we eat we eat one bowl first and then proceed through the rest. usually it's about 8 people eating around one bowl.

for ceremonies or special events we may have chicken or meat (usually sheep, rarely cow, never prime rib). sometimes this is eaten with fries, onion sauce and bread, other times rice and veggies. meat is very very expensive here so it is a big deal to be able to eat meat. my family had a sheep die suddenly and we cut up the meat and distributed it to every single house in my village. no one got a lot of meat but being able to share the little that we had is a sign of respect and love.

many pcvs cook for themselves for a number of reasons: they miss american food, they don't get enough vitamins and minerals, they like controlling when and what they eat. i eat breakfast in my hut alone but eat lunch and dinner with my family. i really enjoy it because i eat very well compared to many other volunteers and it's also a great time to spend with the family. (this is something i love to do in america as well-ginny's making scalloped potatoes and ham at gramps? be right over). i love the sense of family i get when eating with everyone. it's comforting and having lunch always helps relieve some stress that i gathered during the day.

i do enjoy cooking here in country though and i get to do plenty of it. i tried making a few "american" things for the family which they didn't really like which means i do all of my cooking at the regional house. i'm close enough that i'm able to go for a weekend and get a fix of american food whenever i need to, luckily. and believe me i do. pizza, spaghetti, stew, breadsticks, pasta, egg salad, i could go on and on. and i never thought i'd say this but mac n cheese is a god-send. (after i vowed never to eat it again thanks to a little brother and a childhood filled with mac n cheese. love ya joeber). it's been fun figuring out what i can make with the few ingredients we have here (most veggies are out of season and there isn't much variety) and there has been a few mistakes, but i think i'm a much much much better cook in senegal than the states. at least i haven't melted any plated here. yet.

well, all this talk of food has got me hungry and it's about five hours till break of fast. enough for now. love to you all!

cheers!

jaime

like i said in the previous blog, ramadan is going on right now where muslims the world over abstain from food, drink, tobacco, alcohol and sex for 30 days. i've spent the past week fasting with the family and i've come to a number of surprising conclusions. the first being that not eating between the hours of five(morning) and seven (night) is relatively easy after two days. granted those first two days were a little brutal. the culver's butter burger dream i had one night probably didn't help at all either. i get up around 5 and make myself some breakfast/startfast to be technical which is usually oatmeal, pb, dried fruit or bread and nutella (thanks ruff!) then i do my darndest to chug two liters of water. i can usually polish them off in about 20 minutes...but it's hard. you try it. you'll be peeing like crazy. after that i go to bed for another two hours and get up for good. the day consists of me visiting other compounds, laying around with everyone and trying to fill my time before break of fast.

another thing i find quite enjoyable about ramadan-it's completely normal to fall asleep at someone's house. they'll even consider it a sign you're comfortable and take pride in it if you are a toubab like me. i've successfully fallen asleep at four different compounds one day. i'm hoping to get the whole village done by the end.

kids never get tired.

although by the end of the day they are all really really annoying and i want to scream somedays, my family's kids have been extremely entertaining. we draw and color, they play soccer, the boys see what they can catch...it goes on. i can tell they are often bored and looking for something to do so i do my best to keep them entertained...which somehow turns it around so that i am entertained. i think my favorite night was the bubble night. half were scared and ran away from them, others ran around popping them and the rest just stood there amazed that i could make bubbles out of soap and a plastic ring. i wasn't the only one entertained; my family got a kick out of it as well and gave us all a half hour we weren't watching the clock.

did i mention the street/village cred i'm getting? not to be selfish (ok maybe a little) the village thinks it's awesome that i'm fasting with them. they can't believe i was willing to not eat just because they were fasting. some said i was crazy, others laughed at me, but most think it's pretty cool. as i told my cousin moussa the imam, "you guys are all fasting and i'm not going to eat in front of you so i'm fasting too". he shook his head as if saying "stupid, you have no idea what you're doing" but he told me that i'm 'senegalese' for doing it. i'll take the compliment.

my favorite thing about ramadan is breaking fast. by seven my whole family is sitting around together, my sister's have started to prepare dinner, and everyone is holding a cup of coffee and a piece of bread. suddenly the call to break fast is heard from the mosque and everyone dives in. i usually do a little cheer and booty shake to celebrate. after coffee, we drink juice and cooled water as well as have peanuts. then we eat dinner and hang out until i go to bed. i know this doesn't sound exciting-at least nothing to give up eating all day for-but as soon as we break fast an invisible wave of happiness falls over the village and it's a totally new place. everyone is calmer, joyful, and much much much less irritable. i was a little skeptical about ramadan but it's a great time to be in the village and bond with everyone. i say, rama-on people rama-on!

i want to finish this post with a HUGE thank you to all the family members who were part of the dvd home video that jason and leslie sent. it was so amazing to get (a really big surprise- thanks leslie) and such a great thing to watch. i watched it my first day of ramadan in the village and it was the perfect timing. i then played it for my family and needless to say it was beyond a hit. they are convinced that i live among famous people. (who could argue with that?) i was glad i got to share it with them-you guys have been the talk of the village for the past week. i'll definitely watch it over again and again. the muscians rocked -er- accoustically pleased, the singers sang lovely, the groupies were great to look at. thanks again fam-love you all and miss you all A LOT!!

lotsa love,

jaime

it's a great feeling knowing that you've been missed and when you get back to your village you get swarmed by people who just want to tell you how glad they are that you're back. it felt so good to get such a warm reception when i finally got back to site. as soon as i got my bags off me my family made me sit and rest and had i not insisted on cleaning out my room myself (termites make a lot of mess) they would have kept me there all day long. i myself was glad to be bake in the village, i missed the laid-back pace of life as well as the routine of things. i spent my first day back greeting everyone and catching up on the village gossip. i found out that one of my good village friends had a baby while i was gone. (I didn't even know she was pregnant- it's taboo to talk about it here and they hide it under baggy clothes)so i was surprised needless to say when i went to visit hre and walked in on the baby's baptism. he looks healthy and was a good weight, 3 kilos so i am excited to see him grow.

yesterday i went to mbantou, a village about 3km from mine on the river with a couple of guys to watch a soccer match. not only was the playing incredible but the fans themselves kept me very entertained.

ramadan started today. i got up early...5am and chugged a liter and a half of water, went back to sleep and got up at 7 to start the day. when i told the village i wanted to try fasting they were really excite although some were a little worried i'd get sick. so far so good-only one day in though and 29 to go...

tonight i'm going to podor to celebrate lauren's birthday with emily and colleen. my guess is that we are going to hide in her bedroom and overeat on chocolate and other goodies. i can't wait!

cheers!

i've finished up ist last week. it was a great month of training. i got to learn a few new gardening techniques, some super-carb porridges for the little kids, among other things that i cannot wait to try out once we get to the village. this past weekend we had a big 'ole volunteer party in mbour which is one of the tourist spots along the coast. it was such a great time and so nice to go swimming again...even at 2 am.

this past week i've been in dakar for meetings and such and since it is the rainy season, it's rained everyday i've been here. this wouldn't be a huge deal except for the fact that i haven't seen rain for six months and now i can't get away from it. luckily the hostel i've been staying at is right near the peace corps office so getting there hasn't been too bad. however, getting caught in the rain downtown and then having to stay wet all day is. which is quickly remedied by n'ice cream which is like culver's back home. i've eaten my last three lunches there and should you ever find yourself in dakar i reccommend the banana/chocolate strawberry combo. or the cherry cheesecake/white chocolate. or the peach passion fruit yogurt/vanilla fudge. i know, this is a little lame but if you lived 300 km fromt the nearest ice cream you'd feel the same way.

i won't even start on cheese.

today i met with counterpart international. they're an ngo in cooperation with usaid and one of two ngos that work in the fouta region of senegal. they're doing a number of largescale projects from hiv/aids education and gardening to koranic school partnerships to nutrition research. i'm hoping to help with a new potato/soy porridge they're developing as part of the nutrition projects i have planned. here's the link for their site for a little more info https://www.counterpart.org. now that the new stage is coming (this september) the "newbie" feeling of being a volunteer is pretty much past and now i feel like i can start to do some major work. it's an exciting time.

ramadan is also approaching. some volunteers fast with their families while others don't. i'm not quite sure if i wil fast or not. i want to so that i can show my family and village i respect their religion and am a part of their community but on the other hand i'm afraid fasting will wipe me out. my plan is to try it for a week to see how it goes and if all is well i may try to do the whole four weeks.

well dakar has been nice, but i'm a small town girl by heart and very ready to get back to the village. inshallah(god willing) my hut is still standing and the termites haven't eaten it all.

cheers,

jaime

so as most of you know this past week kicked my butt. ist started and the beginning of the week went awesome. i even got to do some gardening again which was therapeutic. i'm told that my garden at the regional house is sprouting. good news all around. i settled in with the new host family- they're great and have given me a lot of freedom which i appreciate. i have been enjoying my bike ride to the center and back, talking with people i haven't seen for a while...

then came wednesday.

i woke up wednesday feeling a little puffy but figured they were the sleep puffies. i get them when i actually get some sleep which i did the night before. by noon the puffies grew to include my forehead and nose. by the afternoon the swelling had become extremely noticable. i took some benadryl thinking that it was an allergic reaction and some more again when i went to bed.

thursday.

i woke up and not only had the swelling gotten worse, but it was red and warm to the touch. i called the pc med office right away and they felt it was serious enough that i needed to go to dakar.

friday.

had my doctor's appointment in the morning. when i went to so see him he immediately told me i had to be admitted. so within the hour i was wisked downstairs and put on iv antibiotics. i had an infection in my face from a bite that had started to go to my blood. for me that was the scariest part- everything happening so fast and only understanding a little of rapid french/wolof. so i stayed in the hospital (the best one in senegal i'm told) for three days. i was on iv the whole time plus the occasional anti-inflamitory shot in the butt. (not pleasant). by the second day the swelling had gone down considerably and i was released this afternoon. i'm on anti-biotics for a week yet, but i am looking forward to going back to thies.

no worries, i had great care while i was here. the hospital staff was amazing and very kind and pc was awesome about taking care of me. i'm better now which is the most important thing. hopefully this will be my only hospital visit while i'm here. i have yet to talk to pc doctors (they weren't in when i got back to the pc office) and once they clear me i can go back to saving the world.

cheers!

jaime

not much new here to post...it's in-service training at the moment and so i am back in thies for the month. just found out that i won't be living with my keur issa host family this time around which bites, but now i'll be living in thies so i get to do more stuff and have a bit more freedom...we'll see how it all goes.

so i've decided to dedicate this post to my family in diambo who are awesome and fabulous and i actually miss quite a bit. i left on tuesday so that i could make a garden at the regional house. there was kinda a garden already there so we first attempted to fix it up, but me and colleen (who lives about 20km from me) ran into not one but two snakes (gray in color....MAMBAS?!) and so decided to make our garden out of trash receptacles and coffee cans. i think it looks extremeley cute. now it just has to grow.

a bunch of us spent this past weekend in st. louis....and let me tell you, this city rocks. soo much fun, i even got to eat ice cream and steak in the same day. soo good. we stayed at a great little auberge for really cheap, swam at a pool and he beach all day, and just had a great time relaxing. i'm so happy that i live close enough to saint-louis where i can go for the weekend. this will definitely be a place i will go to again and again.

so to the real purpose of this post; i've decided to give you all a little more detail about my family so here goes. i live with about 30 other people in three compounds that open up into a area (the youtube video shows this a little better.) anyways, my immediate family is my father, his two wives, and their kids. plus i got an uncle, his wife and their kids, another uncle family and then a cousin and his family. okay, here goes...

sille mall: this is my host father. he is about 55 years old and spends most of the day in the fields. he's about 5'2'' and maybe 110. i feel like an ogre next to him. he doesn't talk a lot but i feel that i can talk to him about anything and he really enjoys the fact that i love our families cows.

banel wade: this is my tocora or namesake as well as my father's first wife. she is from a village about 11 km from diambo. because she is the first wife she runs the household and is consantly trying to make me sit and do nothing while everyone gets my water, etc for me. at first this really bothered me but now i realize that she really wants to take care of me and make sure that i go home well fed and happy. (don't worry i'm both).

hawa soh: this is my father's second wife and my favorite. she's from mauritania which i think is really cool. she let's me do what i want but still makes sure i am taken care of. she also is one of the few people who is willing to sit down and help me understand what's going on which is always appreciated.

binta mall: my 16 year old sister. very cool girl, is smart and hardwoking and loves asking me questions about america.

miiye mal: my 15 year old sister. she spends most of the time working in the fields or doing other chores but she is also really nice, although she is usually the one to put my brothers in line which involves hitting them.

gaycire mall: 12 year olf sister. she is the best cook in the family so i always love it when she makes lunch. she's quiet but will come listen to me if she isn't doing chores.

hamadel mall: my 11 year old brother. he is usually very quiet and spends the day making traps for animals and playing by the river.

moussa mall: 10 year old brother. he looks just like hamadel and follows him everywhere. he still blushes when i talk to him.

djibbi mall: 10 year old brother. he is kind of a bully in the family and like to beat up the other kids but he also does what he's told and makes sure everyone follows the rules.

penda mall: 9 year old sister. she's really little like her dad and reminds me of a gymnast. she is usually helping cook but also will sit and talk to me. she also usually directs me to someplace if i get lost.

demba mall: 7 year old brother. he's kind of a drama queen and a wimp but loves any game i invent for the kids to do. he also follows me around everywhere.

camou mall: 6 year old brother and the baby of the family. spoiled beyond belief but once he stops acting like a baby is a lot of fun to play with.

demba mall: my uncle. he is a farmer and is really funny and quiet. he's the uncle all the kids run to when they did something they should be punished for. he also thinks it's funny that i like the animals so much.

manne mall: my aunt who is the coolest woman...she is a proponent of "tough" love but can also be really affectionate. she also got really excited when i started doing my chores and called me senegalese.

sinthan mall: my 16 year old cousin. he is a typical teenager and likes to boss everyone around. i like to put him in his place which the family thinks is hilarious and he likes because he gete the attention.

fati mall: my 14 year old cousin. she is totally boy crazy which in turn drives me and all the other young kids crazy. but she's firey which i like.

alage mall: my 12 year old cousin. he makes the best tea and is really shy. i like to talk to him because i know he won't try to confuse me or screw me up.

hamady mall: my 10 year old cousin. he killed a giant lizard with a machete and they gutted, cooked and ate it. he's hard core, plus a wicked soccer player.

dadi mall: hamady's twin. she's super smart 9smartest in her family) and a huge tom boy which i love. she also puts up with nothing her brothers or cousin's dish out. she's one of my favorite.

seydou mall: 6 year old cousin. he has the voice of a little girl and loves to try to beat up anyone older than him. he also loves to tease me which i tease back then pick him up and carry him to the river and dunk him.

alage mall: my other uncle who i stayed with while my hut was being built. kinda of snoopy and patronizing, but dotes on his kids which is nice.

awa jaan; my aunt who works in a neighboring city as a tailor. she's not around a whole lot but i love the fact aht she's a working woman in the village.

banel mall: my 7 year old tocara and cousin. she's a sassy little girl who swims like a fish. i love having her around and she loves mimicking me.

ramata mall: my 3 year old cousin. she is kind of homely (looks like a tim burton character) but is really funny and adventurous. she also has her dad wrapped around her finger which i think is hilarious.

moussa mall: my oldest cousin. his father drowned about two months ago in the river which was a really intense and overswhelming experience. moussa is the town's imam or koranic teacher. he speaks pulaar, wolof, arabic, french and a little english and has the best sense of humor. he's by far my faovrite male in the village and i love spending afternoons at his house cracking jokes with him.

fati mall: my older sister and moussa's wife. she's also really small like her dad but she's sassy and affectionate. she also refused to ride in a car because the driver wouldn't give me a ride. she told her we were family and if i didn't ride she didn't. she then got two other people to get out of the car. i think she's awesome. she also loves her two boyus to death and still calls them bebe "baby" even though they are little monsters.

amadou mall: my four year old husband/cousin. he started following me around in the village and would greet me every morning with a huge hug so i started telling everyone that his is my husband and it has stuck. i think he has cerebral palsy, but it doesn't slow him down at all. he's a little punk in that he eggs people on, slaps his mom's butt and then runs away. he also runs to me if one of the older kids is going to hit him because he knows i'm safe territory. i'm also teaching him english phrases such as "what up homeslice, and to the batcave!" as an effort to keep me entertained. it works.

sille mall: my 2 year old cousin and amadou's little big brother. he's the same size as amadou and totally wails on him and takes him down whenever they wrestle. he's a gentle giant though and loves to cuddle. i've started calling him my second husband which cracks the village up.

so that my family...i think they're great and i'm glad i get to be a part of their's for two years. alright, computer time is almost gone...signing off...more to follow.

peace!

jaime

so the rainy season has arrived, however unlike the 500 year flood so many of you got to experience this year it has rained twice. and drizzled three other times. rain here is scarce and i've been told that even this year it is wetter than average. but it is amazing how green everything has become with the little rain we've gotten. there is a greenish fuzz everywhere that the animals have gone crazy for and the trees seem a little fuller. even the people, though they are working very hard in the field everyday- seem happier now that the rain has come. but with the rain comes sandstorms and they are not fun. the sand pelts you like little needles and gets everywhere...i can't stand it and spend more time that i want to sweeping out my hut. but if this is the only rain the fuuta gets and everything depends on a good rainfall...i'm happy for any precipitation. even if it brings bugs and humidity.

the fourth of july was such a great time. the south of senegal is completely different than the fuuta...green, mountainous, jungle-like even. it was so cool seeing the different landscapes on the way down, and even better seeing all the other volunteers again and meeting new ones. it sounds like everyone is doind good...having similar experiences adjusting which is reassuring that i'm not going crazy. the trip took us two days down there, three back...totalling about 20 hours of traveling in a crowed car/bus/van. not the most comfortable way to travel but it gets you from place to place. we stayed at a hotel...i got to sleep in AC!! it never felt so good. there was also a pool where i spent the better of two days near or in. an awesome vacation with a much deserved rest.

we got about a week left in the village before we go to thies for IST. since everyone is in the rice fields working, i've mostly been hanging out at a couple of people's homes talking with a few of the women who stay at home. this is good-i've been practicing my pulaar with them and learning a lot of new things about the village. i'm excited to go back to thies; see and talk with the other stagers, get more health training, take a coupld of weekends to the beach, live with my keur issa host-family again. i've been able to stay in touch with them and they are just as excited to see me as i am...i miss them a lot too.

a quick cultural exchange that happened the other day and i had no idea what was going on:

my family and i were sitting around waiting for dinner when a few kids came running up from the river shouting and pointing. my family and the rest of the village quickly found out what was wrong and and ran down to the river. i was told "nake" as the quizzical face i was making showed them that i didn't get what was happening. in response to "nake" i nodded my head and followed everyone to the river. i had no idea what "nake" meant. i thought i misheard and they meant "nage" which is cows. maybe the cows were crossing the river again. once we were at the river, i followed everyone's gaze to the island where a bunch of people, an older woman, two men, and some children, were chasing and beating each other with branches. the older woman chased a girl into the river. other children followed her and kept hitting her. the two men took off running towards the boat. once in the boat, one stood and continued hitting himself and the paddler. suddenly he jumped into the water, got back in the boat and continued the beating. they arrived at the other people, picked them up and then proceeded to paddle across the river to our bank. suddenly another man came running from the fields, into the river, and climbed int he boat. as initiation everyone beat him too. then as if nothing happened they stopped. as they got closer to the back i realized that the two men were my uncles, demba and moussa, the woman a great aunt. everyone crowded around them and all were talking noisily and with big gestures. finally, my second host-mother noticed that i still didn't know what was going on and took me aside. "nake" she repeated and then started pinching her arm. "like a mosquito?" i asked. "yes, like a mosquito but they --------" then she stuck out her tongue and said "it is delicious". ahhh, lightbulb. "you mean honey?" "yes!!!!" "nake makes honey." "yes, now you understand." "yes, now i understand." BEES. nake = bees. they opened a bee hive in the field and were fighting off bees. eureka!

just an example of how a typical day for me goes.

cheers!

i greet you all and your last names. (a common way to say hello to a large group of people here.)

sorry for the time lapse in blog postings...it's been a busy month and i've been here, there and everywhere overhere. i'm happy to report that i am all moved into my hut; unpacked, arranged and have started the unending process of killing termites and ants. it's been so nice to finally have my hut and my own space; i was starting to feel like a guest on vacation in the village who was being pampered. now that i've established my "galle banel" i feel much more like a member of the community. there was a slight crisis with my hut; my counterpart told me it would take a week to get done but after four it still wasn't. i was getting frustrated mostly because the lack of work on my hut made me feel that i wasn't really wanted in the village and so after talking with peace corps it was decided that i would go to the regional house until my hut was done. it took two more weeks. finally i was able to go back home and was a little nervous to at first because i figured the village would be angry at the fact that i had left, but it wasn't the case at all. i was truely missed and the village felt awful that i had to be gone for so long. i was really glad to be back as well--as much as the regional house is awesome (movies galore, electricity, fans...american food and showers) i was really bored there couldn't talk with anyone and had nothing to really do for two weeks. so the hut crisis is finally resolved and over- allhamdililah!!

despite the village hiatus i've still been relatively busy. i greet the village every morning which can take anywhere from an hour to four depending on who is at home and how many cups of ataya i have to drink. then i go to the fields to greet everyone there. well not anymore because the growing season is done, but i used to do that. during the hot time of the day, 12-5 or so i usually sit and study pulaar or read or do some pc health stuff. after that i usually go to diambo soubalou (or diambo proper as emily and i call it) and chat at the health post and then go paint at the school. on sundays i bike into tareji which is a road town seven km from me. the weekly lumo or market is then. i meet up with emily and we get frozen banana flavored milk, hard boiled eggs and then buy food for our families. it's a fun morning and i enjoy the bike ride and i like picking out food my family normally doesn't get like coconuts or now since it's in season, watermelon. at the end of every month our health post has vaccination day where babies get vaccinated for polio, measles, yellow fever, tetanus, diptheria, hepatitis B and two others i forget. emily and i get to weigh the babies that come in. this past time we weighed 36. there has only been a few in the "yellow" category for malnutrition and the rest have been in the green which is a great sign. however, i've noticed that malnourishment really starts once the child has been weened and eats from the bowl with everyone else. so the babies are all healthy but the kids from 2 to 5 are malnourished. this past vaccination day we also did a mini causery of the different food groups and why it is important to eat from each group, especially for children and pregnant women. we then made a porridge concoction of millet flour, peanut butter and bananas for the women to take home and give to their kids when they are hungry inbetween meals. it went okay, but i think we will be more prepared the next time.

right now i've stopped swimmin in the river because the rains have started and the river is cloudy. no one swims now and all the bathing/washing is done as quickly as possible because you can't see what's in the river. i'm told right now snakes (like basilisk size) and crocs are in it right now too which i don't know it true or not but i take for absolute truth. so i'm too scared to even go near it. the other day when i was walking to the fields a huge lizard, like four feet long, ran across in front of me. i immediately thought croc and ran home. the village still makes fun of me for it. it's been hard not being able to swim--it was the best way to cool off after lunch and sooo much fun playing with the kids. hopefully in a month or two the river will clear up again and we can resume our games.

this past month has also been the emotional rollercoaster peace corps promises it will be. i've gone from absolute rage to pure happy joy in about five minutes as well as everything in between. it's so easy to get frustrated here--not being able to speak clearly or make sense half the time nor understand what most people are saying, dealing with apathy on the part of a lot of people, trying in vain to motivate people, been asked for money about twenty times a day, having people say "give me give me give me" about anything i may or not have, seeing the kids get hit over little trivial stuff... it's really easy to get more and more angry until you literally scream. however, there are also moments that are absolutley the greatest; telling a joke to my family, outgreeting someone, playing games with the kids, having someone tell you how much they missed you, actually having a decent conversation, walking along the river, talking to a mother about breastfeeding and having her understand. these things and so many others can completely change my pissy mood into a good one. it's weird dealing with the emotions...i've never been one to be overly emotional, but here they just seem to come out at any given time. don't think that i'm not happy though either...i knew that it would be challenging when i came over here and for every bad day or moment i have the good ones make up for it tenfold. i just want to be able to explain that it isn't just daisies and sunshine overhere. although there is plenty of the latter. it's life just like anywhere else; there's ups and downs and a big paret of the past month has been learning to deal with them.

on the more pleasent topics...i really really really want a goat here. i'm planning on buying one after we come back from thiès. we have to go back in august for more training...and as soon as i get back a goat will be purchased. i want to be able to show my family:village the many uses of goats. livestock here is much different from home; it's a form of capital where one just has cows or goats and will occasionally kill one for the meat. however there is no population control or use of them for milk or anything. my big plan is to get a girl goat and after she has a baby or two start milking her and give the milk to my family teach them about how milk is like nectar from the gods. i may even attempt goat cheese....mmmm.... so yea, a goat is in my future.

i am also planning on painting my hut doors and windows soon. i'm thinking blue and green to match my awesome curtains. maybe even a daisy on the door for old times sake. it would be legendary.

there's a big pc party down south in kedegou for the fourth of july (happy i-day everyone!) that a bunchof us are going to. it really couldn't be any farther from my site. i'm estimating it taking two days to get there. but from what i hear kedegou is absolutely beautiful--a totally different landscape from the futa which trees and folliage everywhere. volunteers down there get machetes to hack their way through the jungle. there are also monkeys down there. and snakes. and bugs, BIG bugs. like dinner plate size bugs. but there are also waterfalls and i am really looking forward to the trip. should be a good time.

okay, well i think this post is long enough. many many thanks to lyne for putting the rest of my pictures online. you can check them out with the link on the side labled my pictures. also there is a video on youtube of my village that my family was able to put up. it's under jaime bodden in senegal should youtube be your thing. enjoy!

love to you all, miss you oodles!

peace,

jaime

i feel like these past three weeks have been the busiest yet most fulfilling in senegal. when things happen they happen at all once. first off, we officially swore in as volunteers may 9th at the us ambassodor's house. it was a nice ceremony as far as ceremonies go and we got to meet other volunteers from korea and japan who are in similar programs as the peace corps. after the ceremony we were able to go to the american club and hang out by a pool for a few hours. next we rocketed back to thies for a party with our host-families. it was really really really great to see my family one last time before i moved out. they even gave me a going away present of mangoes and an african outfit. i can't wait to go back to thies to visit them.

the next day, dark and early we set off for our sites. we got to ndioum which is my area's regional house that afternoon and had a few days there to rest, get much needed supplies for our new homes and meet volunteers who are currently in the area. i think that the futa folks are such a great group of people. i'm very excited to work with them and spend the next few years with them. most are health volunteers like myself although there are also environmental education, urban agriculture, and small enterprise development. there are a few projects like a health oriented radio show that i'm excited to take over in the podor area...it's really really excited to be able to start on projects and get involved in the community.

the install at my village was great...they had a little party for me the night i arrived and there is was given my senegalese name, banel maal (bah-nelle). it's a little bit unfotunate that my hut wasn't/isn't done yet so i've been staying with a family. i have such a huge urge to nest and make a home that it's driving me mildly crazy i can't do that. but my village is great. they've never had a volunteer before and are really really really excited to have one. there are about 350 people in my village which is in the middle of two others. emily is in the largest village and is like than a kilometer from me. if we stand outside our huts we can see each other. there is about 1000 people total in the three villages. i personally think mine is the best (not biased at all). it's small, everyone is super friendly, it's shady which allows for a slightly coller breeze than the sun (all relative because it's still hoooootttt) and the door to my hut is only about 200 yards from the river! thankfully there are no crocodiles or hippos or anything bigger than a fish in the river so i've been swimming everyday with the village kids. it's quite a site; none of the adults swim and because it's culturally inappropriate to wear a swim suit i go swimming fully clothed but am surrounded by a bunch of little naked african children. they love the fact that i swim with them and have been able to form a lot of great bonds with the kids.

right now for the next three months or so we are just supposed to adjust to village life and focus on learning the language. however, emily and i are both antsy and we've started murals at the elementary school. we figured it was a good project to start out with because it will take a long time and it allows us to do something within our limited volcabulary. the village seems excited that we've started this and i think they will like the murals once they are done. other than that, for the most part everyday i just chill out with my family. i actually live with one great big extended family that is three different houses. there are about 30 people total in my family although i "live" with only about 10. however, we eat all our meals as one big unit and the children go from house to house. since family is more loosely translated here i just consider everyone in the area of my hut my family. it seems to work out fine. i've also been brainstorming other ideas for projects i want to do; nutrition is the biggest for me...there are a lot of malnourished children in the village and the food that is grown here is misused. i also think that i will be able to do a lot of work with the health post and women's groups in the village as well. the nurse in charge of the post is absolutely amazing and so excited that we're there i think we'll have a lot of freedom in the projects we choose to do.

it's been such an emotional three weeks. i'm so glad to finally be in my village and my reception has been so great. but the language barrier as well as cultural barriers have been tough. the lack of privacy and the american sense of "me time" has been hard getting used to. i think that is also in part to not having my own space to escape to. also, the language is much more difficult to understand locally than the formal classroom setting and i get easily frustrated. it's been an emotional rollercoaster from being really happy/enthusiastic/excited to frustrated/tired/overwhelmed. luckily emily and i are able to vent to each other and keep each other sane. she also comes over everyday to swim with me.

the other day we went to taredji which is a depot town 7 km from us to check out the lumo, a weekly market. it was a nice escape and we were also able to get cold beverages to drink as well as buy fruits/veggies/and EGGS! it was only our second time taking public transportation and we ended up hitching a ride with a truck that was meant to hold ten people and actually held about 20. we got two flat tires within two km of each other. such is the life of a volunteer. today we're in podor, enjoying the cyber cafe, electricity (phone charging), post office, and visiting lauren, the other volutneer who lives here. it's only 17 km from our village, about a twenty minute ride. i think that my site is in the perfect location; i've been able to get the village life (and an amazing village life) but i'm close enough to charge my phone and check mail every ten days or so. most volunteers don't have that luxury so i consider myself spoiled. plus podor is a fabulous city. there's sidewalks and streetlamps and has the feel of a wild west town. in fact the last time we were in podor we were walking down the middle of the street and we looked like we were headed for a shoot out. the good the bad and the ugly came to mind.

as of right now, i'm still struggling with posting photos. i've been online for about two hours right now and have been able to get a handful online....slow go but i think i will screen my pictues in my camera and post my favorites. i've created a collection of albums that i will hopefully be able to add more to. http://jaimeinsenegal.shutterfly.com is the link. i hope you all enjoy!

that's all for now...miss everyone and love to you all!

peace,

jaime

sometimes the little things just make your day. like the fact that i can listen to kenny g in the middle of africa for an hour. okay, now there is a michael bolton duet with him on...i want you all to appreciate how awesome and hilarious this is. i lust look like a crazy person right now because i have a huge smile on my face.

this past week was jam packed. monday we went to dakar to register at the embassy. i also had the best ice cream i've eaten in country at a place called n'ice cream. i also giggled at the pun. tuesday and wednesday we had classes, thursday was the start of our counterpart workshop. the workshop was an oppurtunity for us trainees to meet the one, two and sometimes three people we will be working closely with once we et to our sites. they act as mentors, cultural guides, and professional team members. mine came all the way from sinthiou diambo and diambo soubalou (the neighboring village that has a health post) one of my counterparts is a french teacher at the school there and the other is a nurse at the health post. both seemed really really nice and were excited by my few ideas of projects. we spent all day friday and saturday with them; teaching them about peace corps, our role as volunteers, their role as counterparts. it was a very valuable time for the three of us to discuss what the next two years will be like.

i was also able to get my first senegalese outfit made. i went to the market with emily and daniel, emily is my site mate and daniel is my biking partner. (we have a biker gang and our theme song may be "final countdown". yea, we're hard core). so back to the market...we got fabric from a store of ladies who happened to speak pulaar and we more than thrilled that we spoke it back, allbeit in broken chunks. then we went to the taylor; got measured, and described what we wanted. two days later we picked it up. let me just say...i look pretty sweet. we're going to wear our outfits next week when we swear in as volunteers (hopefully, fingers crossed i pass my language class so i can). for the ceremony we go to dakar to the american club. once there we will have a ceremony with a korean and japanese volunteer group (their equivalent to peace corps) followed by a cocktail hour and swimming. it's the bright light at the end of the training tunnel and we're nearly there. the following day we will all be heading out to our sites.

tuesday night we came back to our host families and my reception was unbelievable...i've never felt more missed. i know i've said it before but i have to say it again...my family here has been remarkable and is one of the main reasons i have been able to stay so positive. not every volunteer has had the same experience...and i am so so so thankful i'm so lucky. they were most surprised at my feet because i got them decorated with henna as well as my awesome farmer tan. they are convinced after two years i will look just like them and they tell me everyday how african i am. if only i could be so lucky. this morning my host-mother surprised me with the news of a party for me and the other three volunteers who live in keur issa at our house. it's going to be a great time. we've spent the past few days discussing who will miss who more once i leave. they say they will and i counter with i will more and so the argument goes.

well that's about all for today...this will probably be my last post for awhile as i won't be around internet access for a few weeks. in an effort to provide you with as much info about senegal as possible i'll leave it up to you to discuss what topics i should cover in my next post. some ideas... food culture, greetings, the many uses of duct tape, village life, the trouble with french keyboards, why donkeys are the worst animal in the world, talibes...let me know through comments and i will prepare a nice and long post for you all.

kenny g is no longer playing and i'm a little disappointed...hope all is well in the states. miss you all tons! lotsa love!!

peace,

jaime

oops...forgot to include this in the last post. my new address is below. i'll have this address for the rest of my service. use this one instead of the other one because after may ninth i won't have access to it. i also updated it on the side link.

PCV Jaime Bodden

B. P. 79

Podor, Sénégal

West Africa

also, if you check out the link to other volunteers blogs you can find caitlyn's. it's a great blog so check it out, she got a few amazing stories as well as some great pictures. okay, bye!

well folks, i'm pleased to announce that i successfully made it back from demyst alive and well. we left the 16th at seven in the morning and drove all day for twelve hours to get to kanel, where we were staying with caitlyn, a current health volunteer, and her family. it was a long trip and once we got past saint-louis it really started heating up. i thought thiès was hot...silly silly girl. each day we, my language class, spent about three hours in the morning having class and then taking a six hour rest before having class for two more hours. why the long break you may ask? because between the hours of 11 and 5 one literally cannot do anything because it is so hot. one day it got up to 57°C. i won't even convert that for you... just know that we boiled water without using any sort of fuel source, steeped tea, and made applesauce in a nalgene just by putting it out in the sun. i resorted to dunking my shirt in water and adopting the holy mary head shawl to stay cool. i looked pretty ridiculous but stayed cooler. even the senegalese don't do anything during that time... and the sad part is that the hottest of the hot season is still a month away. cheers!

despite the heat our road trip was a lot of fun. it was such a great experience to see a volunteer in action actually doing work and interacting with the local community. it also gave me ideas as to what kind of projects i can do once we install at our site. she also made me and the rest of the the volunteers headed to the fouta really excited to start. it sounds like everyone up there is an amazing gourp of people and it sounds like we're going to have a lot of fun together. just a heads up... the fouta region does thanksgiving for all the volunteers so it would be awesome to get the makings for pumpkin pie, etc in the mail. just a little subtle hint. we even had a fluke rainstorm one night which caused all the toubabs (aka americans) to dance around like crazy people while the senegalese watched from a porch. for a brief while we actually were cold and then the scorpions came out and made us all scared to go to sleep.

i wasn't able to go to my site since it is a little bit of the main path, but we did stop and have lunch at the market town me and emily will be using. it is only about 7km from us and it will be a great way to get veggies and fruit. the road to my site is also paved which means i will be doing a lot of biking.

we got back to thiès yesterday after a ten hour car ride. we were so happy that it went faster than the ride out because we were all pretty anxious to get back to thiès. the change in temperature once we hit saint-louis was amazing... it felt like we crossed a invisible barrier because all at once we hit the sea breeze and it felt amazing. then we all overdosed on ice cream. right now we have the day off before we head to dakar tomorrow for some administrative stuff. i'm excited to see dakar... we haven't been there at all yet, and the only time we saw it was at midnight when we drove through it our first night here. it'll be fun to see it during the day and walk around. we only have about ten days before we officially swear-in as volunteers so things are starting to get busy. we have a big language test coming up as well as our counterpart workshop where we get to meet the local partners we'll be working with during our two years. emily and i will have the same counterpart since we're practically in the same village. we've heard nothing but good things about her and we're excited to start a few projects right away. we swear in the ninth of may and immediately after head back to the fouta to install into our site. the installation process takes a while, we have to get things for our huts and everything so we'll have a little break after pst to rest. at least i hope we do.

well that's all for now, take care everyone!

peace, jaime

so this past week we learned our site assignments aka where we will be spending the next two years of our life. i have the most fantastic site imaginable and will be in the north, near podor in a little village called santhiou diambo. (i'm going from memory on the spelling because i don't have my sheet with me). i'm about 20 km from podor which is just a spit from mauritania and about 30 km from our regional housein ndioum. i'll be serving my village, about 400 people and the village right next to it, about 200 people. what makes me most excited is the fact that i am only a kilometer away from emily, another volunteer here and one of my best friends here. we're super excited to do a lot of projects together and hang out and cook. i really couldn't have asked for a better placement. we even met the girl we are replacing, kiersten, and she gave us so much info on the place and was awesome. needless to say it is gonig to be legendary! (quick shout out to renée, how cool is it that i can put accent marks in right away because of the french keyboards?)

a little more infor about my village, it's right on the senegal river..i will be able to actually see the river from my hut. my village is a fishing caste village and the other village is herding, so it will be interesting to work within the different castes and to see the interaction between them. i will be living the the village chief's brother and they seem to be excited to have me live with them. i will be able to have internet access in podor but no electricity in the village so hopefully be able to update this thing often.

this past weekend the whole lot of us went to the beach to relax. it was awesome swimming in the ocean, in april, and not getting burnt. the beach was so clean (lake michigan is was NOT) and there were seashells everywhere which i of course had to pick up. i had a great time and even helped make sunday brunch for everyone. yes, the family tradition continues... it was a much deserved break and worth the crowded hour long bus ride. some even had enough balls to ride the 35km there. it might not sound too ar, but in 110 degree heat and the sahara winds blowing in your face, you'll have enough admiration for those guys as i do.

training is finally taking off; we're beginning to get more involved with the technical aspects which has given me renewed purpose of being here. in two days (thursday) we are leaving for our "demystification" or our visit to see what being a volunteer is really like. my language class is heading to the west near matam but in the desert for ten days. it's about a fourteen hour car ride and our site has been registered the hottest place on earth more than once. i was able to catch the weather last night and saw that it was 44 degrees C. i don't evenwant to know what that is in farthenheit, it's just plain hot. my site will also be hot and i'm told i will just walk into the river with all my clothes on as a act of desperation, but it won't get as hot because of the river. mind you, i have no idea what AS hot means. we're all pretty pumped to be taking off for ten days. our language teachers are the best and i know they'll have a great time with us as well.

okay, i have to get back to the center in order to make it home before dark...take care everyone and be safe...think about you all the time!

oh- quick shout out to the gore's for the awesome package. wet wipes and peanut butter and pretty much everything will be taken with me for the road trip....you guys are awesome...kathy, i won't even describe to you wear i go to the bathroom... also a huge thanks for all the e-mails, letters, and comments you guys have made. it's good to know that i'm in your thoughts and they're always a great pick-me up even if i'm not able to reply right away. love you all!

peace,

jaime

points to whoever gets the reference, joey i expect you to so don't dissapoint me. it's the end of my third week here in senegal and things have finally started heating up. it is about 95 degrees today and we are only just getting into the hot season. feel free to send any cold weather my way. two days ago i actually woke up with the fan i used for fanning myself still in my hand.

other than the heat, things are great. sorry for the small rant in the beginning but i've been sweating continuously for five days. my family is really truely the best of senegal. i feel completely at home with them and a part of the family. they are fantastic about teaching me the language and i'm picking up more and more pulaar each day. yesterday my language class got to visit with them which was really fun for everyone. not only did my family get to meet some other volunteers, but the volunteers got to see how awesome my family was. yea, i was showing them off, but they show me off everyday too so i thought i'd return it.

today is senegal's independence day. (from the french in 1960) in case you were wondering. all of the volunteers got the day off and to celebrate we were able to go out last night for the first time. it was such a relief to be able to do that and i think we were all ready for a little break from language and everything for the moment. today was really a rest and relax day for me which has made me feel great. it's been pretty tiring gonig to class for so long everyday and i was wiped out. so sleep is good.

tried uploading pictures but i havenùt even gotten one to load and my time is nearly up on my computer so i will have to firgure out a different way. i do have some great pics of the kids in my family playing in the garden.

miss you all. stay cool.

peace,

jaime

asalaam mallecum [peace be with you]

i moved into my homestay tuesday night and so far things are going really well. i live in a small village called keur issa which is about a mile out of thiès. this means i get to bike everyday to the training center and bike home. i was pretty pumped when we got bikes because they are nifty trek bikes...no 1920 schwinn. i also have a bell on it which i plan on using the whole time.

my family is amazing, very big and very lively. i live with one extended family and i think, but because people come and go like nobody's business i can't say for sure, that about 20 people live there. unlike most of the volunteers, my family speaks french as well as pulaar so i have been lucky to learn a lot of the language. my uncle is teaching me how to say my morning routine, my mother is teaching me my body parts, a few nephews are teaching me how to spell everything and how to say important phrases and my sisters just talk to me in pulaar and laugh. i'm starting to understand much more than i thought i would after four days and i hope that during this stay i can pick up as much language as i can. this weekend is our first time we spend the whole day with our family. i think i am going for a walk around the crop fields where my uncle works, if i translated the pulaar/french correctly. i may also have agreed to a marriage proposal. we'll see what the weekend brings.

it's been a crazy two weeks in sénégal. we've been so so so busy that it feels like i've been here for a month at least. my days consist of about ten hours at the training center plus about four hours spent with the family. by the end of the night i am just exhausted, but the training especially the language is absolutely necessary.

the days are getting a bit hotter...we're enterning the dry season and it will only get hotter until june/july. i've heard from current volunteers that it can get over 120 here. hard to believe there was still snow in wisconsin when i left.

i haven't heard anything else about where i will be assigned. word on the street is that most pulaar health volunteers will be near the mauritana and mali borders, about as far from dakar as you can be. i won't know anything more until later in training and then i will begin my post a few days after i swear in as a volunteer which will be may 9th. i'll keep you posted.

hope you all have a great easter. feel free to send me news clippsing or anything you may find entertaining...we feel kinda like we're in a bubble away from the world right now and are dying for news from outside the training center. miss you and love to you all.

peace,

jaime

ps i've taken a few pictures but have't quite figured out how i will post them online. once i do however, i will post a link on here for your viewing pleasure.

asalaam malaacum everyone i'm currently in thiés sénégal. we arrived here last monday night at about midnight following a 36 hour flight from new york to brussels to dakar. the city is prounouced chi-es kinda like the game chess. it's super hot here...probably around 85 degrees or so. the great news is that i am not burnt yet. i know, i'm surprised too. we've started our official peace corps training here, taking classes in safety, health, language, etc. so far i've learned a few phrases in wolof, the second official language. today i learned that i will be speaking pulaar and will most likely be put somewhere in the nord to eastern part of sénégal.

so far, i'm having a great time. the staff here is amazing and very helpful. we are in incredibly good hands here, so no need for excessive worry. the food has been great as well. i've even managed to eat fish whiwh was made with a lot of spices which in turn made it tasty. the days here are realy long and though we don't do a ton during the day, the heat really takes a lot out of you. we nap during the hottest hours of the day, which i think i can really get into.

tomorrow we head out to our homestay during the first two months of training. my family will be in the surrounding thiés area, but my address won't change. we'll live with the family until we're sworn in as peace corps volunteers and then begin our two years of service. during our homestay we still go to the training center for classes and everything too. from the schedule they gave us it sounds like we will be very busy for awhile.

dinner is about ready for us and so i've got to head back to the training center. miss you all, but i'm having a great time and know this is where i am meant to be.

peace,

jaime

i've arrived in philly safe and sound. staging started almost immediately and has been really helpful and not as boring as i originally thought it would be. there are 39 new volunteers total from all over the country. it's been amazing getting to know each person. most are rural health volunteers like me although some others are urban agriculture and environmental education. it should be a great group of people.

today we went to the health clinic where i got my yellow fever vaccine as well as my malaria medicine. i'm on the pill that you take once a week instead of daily. i don't know if that's the one that makes you have trippy dreams or not, but i will let you all know if they happen. my roommate lauren said i talked in my sleep last night so maybe i won't be able to tell!

tomorrow we leave for senegal. we check out of the hotel at 9:30, take a bus to new york, fly over to brussells, have a seven hour lay-over there and arrive in dakar at 10pm thursday. it is going to be a long day(s) of traveling and should be interesting to see how it all goes.

well, that's all for now. our second staging session for the day is starting in a few minutes so i have to dash. next time i post i will be in africa!

peace,

jaime

so in a few hours i will be hopping on a plane in madison, flying to milwaukee, and ending up in philadephia where i will have staging for two days. i can't believe the time is already here for me to leave...it went by way to fast yet it seemed to take forever to actually happen.

to start at the very beginning...i first started applying to the peace corps in february of last year. i filled out an online application which took about two hours. i was then called for a one on one interview which was late march. after the interview i found out that i really didn't fit any of the programs the peace corps was involved in. i wanted to do a health extension program so i had to volunteer for at least thirty hours to qualify for the program i wanted. this proved much, much harder than it would appear as i struggled to find an agency in milwaukee that fit within my school schedule. turns out, it didn't work.

so graduation came and went, i moved back home to save money-not my sanity-(just kidding mom and dad) and got hooked up with the best group of volunteers ever. every tuesday and thursday i took the 25.8 minute drive to dodgeville (if going 73mph) and volunteered at the free clinic there. the experience was absolutely amazing and the other volunteers really made me believe that serving others was what i was meant to do with the next few years of my life. so i quickly got my hours needed for the peace corps but continued with the clinic....with such a amazing group of people who wouldn't?

after sending in my hours to the peace corps regional office i finally got my nomination into the corps. didn't mean i was in, just that i was a candidate for the program. it was now mid-august. then in october i got my letter of acceptance into the peace corps and a few days later got my assignment-senegal. i was pumped. not only because it was in africa and a health program, but because my friends and i kidded around that senegal is where i would be assigned and then i would marry one of marquette's star basketball players who happens to be from senegal and then we would raise a bunch of goats together. it could still happen. i'm really holding out for the goats.

after being invited into the program i formally accepted the invitation, and then proceeded to fill out a novel size book of medical forms, dental forms, and other paperwork that i guess has a point of existing. i also ended up getting my one wisdom tooth removed in the process. after being medically, legally, and dentally cleared nothing happened until february when i got to book my tickets to staging (which was supposed to be atlanta but got switched at the last minute), filled out more papers, and finished packing (which was done about three hours ago tonight). all in all, my experience seemed pretty par for the course in terms of taking as long as it did and having to deal with the process. i hope that my service will be worth the wait.

so that was the past year in a peace corps nut shell for me. thank you to all the friends and family who gave me such wonderful support through the whole ordeal and especially in the last few weeks in the states. i can't believe the number of people i am surrounded with who have given me so much love, inspiration and strength. i'm truly the luckiest person alive to have you all in my life. take care, stay in touch, and keep spreading the love around.

peace,

jaime

ps- hope you enjoy the blog, and the links i have. if you find any other sites, video, etc about senegal that you think others would enjoy let me know and i will post them here for everyone.

ok, now i'm off to my last shower for two years...au revoir mes amis!