Peace Corps Journals

Lake Taupo Climbing Expedition

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

2012-02-09 21:21:00

Oh yeah!

Swing Bridge Time- Longest in NZ

Dinner

It’s been an interesting week since I last wrote, and by chance I’ve found myself in the same coffee house where I wrote last time- maybe it’s just conducive to finger tapping. By far the most interesting feature of the last week was a trip through the north island for a climbing expedition on Lake Taupo- an extinct Volcanic crater large enough to fit the city-state of Singapore within it, now filled with crystalline blue water. I was invited by a new friend who spent his first year in New Zealand scurrying from one climbing site to another in a beat-up van and thus knew all the best locations.

My host Danelle and I decided to head up a day early in order to do some site-seeing on the eastern coast and camped our first night out of the city at the head of a trail with the longest swing bridge in New Zealand. As you can imagine we had a ball swinging around on it suspended a couple hundred feet from the riverbed below. We continued north in the morning, cruising through the wine-rich region of Hawke’s Bay and the quirky town of Napier, somehow still stuck in the Art-Deco style of the 1930’s. Walking down it’s avenues with swooping neon lights and pastel colored facades is as close to a time warp as you’ll get.

We finally arrived at Lake Taupo and hiked the circumference trail a couple of hours to our base camp, a tent-city of backpackers and climbers all high on the adrenaline of dangling from sheer rock faces with your fingertips. Camping literally 10 feet from the lake’s edge, we could gaze up at the rock formations we would be scrambling up looming over us. I must admit I was initially unnerved. Looking up from our campsite we could see climbers making their way up vertical and overhanging routes on the cliffs we were intending to tackle, and after not climbing at all for 3 years, I doubted myself.

Fortunately we were in capable hands and we spent our first day on a lower rock face with more preparatory climbs we could use to build up our strength and confidence. The next couple of days were a mixed bag of climbing, swimming, falling, climbing, eating, sleeping and more climbing!

It was a thrilling reintroduction to the sport, and it looks as though these climbing trips will become a regular placeholder in my agenda. After peaking out on our last climb, clipped in to the top bolt some 400 feet above the lake’s edge, I gazed out over the blue expanse of Taupo and felt the full weight of my good fortune. I also realized that my ecstasy at that moment would probably be replaced by utter fear by the vast majority of the population- and smiled again!

Sadly the weekend had to come to an end and we turned our headlights back towards Wellington, this time cruising down the western coast, where we traversed an incredible valley on the Wanganui river and camped on the black-sand Turakina beach, strewn with massive driftwood from past floods. Situated at the mouth of a small river, it is growing at a rate of 4 meters(16 feet) per year in places. Strolling down the beach in the bright morning sun, the black sand sparkled like we were walking on the night sky littered with stars. There is scarcely a square kilometer in New Zealand that doesn’t leave you gawking, and I’m told that the South Island is even far more impressive.

That’s why I’ve bought a ferry ticket bound for the South Island tomorrow, and even got an extra seat for the grouch. We’re going to see what the place has to offer for the next couple of weeks until International Orientation starts on the 22nd. Hopefully I’ll be back with some beautiful photos.

A bientot!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Under Senegal Skies

2012-02-09 21:41:00

Is it really 2012? February?? How did that happen? I was never really one of those volunteers who said that time was “just flying” – at the 18-month mark, for example, my thoughts were pretty much, “Yup, that was a pretty long 18-months…” Then my stage (i.e. training group) had our COS (completion-of-service) conference, and we reflected and reminisced and romanticized and sentimentalized and talked about our futures, and all of sudden, I find myself searching desperately for the last 23 months of my life, wondering wistfully where I can find that many more moments with the people of my village. Wondering how I can slow down and return to all the hilarious moments of horse cart debacles and troughs of rice and tubby naked babies underfoot. Where-oh-where did the time go, can anyone tell me that, please?

The idea that this life I’ve embraced – or that, more specifically, has embraced me – will just end is somehow very confusing. I look around my village in average moments and I sense the onset of a bizarre melancholy – preemptive nostalgia, no doubt – where everything seems beautiful and tragic. This is my home, I just can’t help but think. But it’s not. That’s the thing. All the loveliness I see through the rose-colored glasses that have glued themselves to my nose in the last few weeks can’t go on forever. Much as I like to think I could live here forever, I know I can’t. What would be my place? I can’t continue to occupy this exquisite-peculiar-nebulous-androgynous-beautiful-alien role that I’ve enjoyed for the last two years. I don’t belong with the teenagers, nor with the young mothers, nor the old women. Everyone knows their role, except for me. And that’s been more than fine, but it can’t continue indefinitely. When it comes down to it, I just don’t really have a real place here. This African village? Not really my home.

Still, there seems to be some sort of disconnect. How does one live in a place for two years, and then just see herself lifted out it, spontaneously and without really good cause? I’m fully appreciative, by the way, of how ego-maniacal this disposition is, how self-centered it is to coddle this disbelief that life in Ngaraff will roll on without me. But who cares? I enjoy basking in my confusion over the whole issue. I’ll take my wistful befuddlement, now, and spare you the rest of my pontifications. Thanks for listening.

Okay, so obviously I love my people in Ngaraff. How could you not? Check 'em out. Also, can you tell who my favorite babies are? :-)

I can't help but mention that, on top of the people of my little vill, I also love my stage, affectionately known here at PC/Senegal as the "super stage." Not we're all about to scatter to the wind and fulfill our respective dreams and it makes my little heart feel a little overwhelmed, with both pride and sadness. Here are some shots of these fantastic kids:

Super-stagers on the first night of PC/Senegal's All-Volunteer Conference

The four Super-Stagers of Linguere: Ann Marie, myself, Kim, Justin.
I adore these kids; I owe them my life and my sanity for the past two year.

Super-stagers Mika, Wilma, Jillian (plus 3rd year PCV Amanda on the far left) dance their way off the field
at this year's W.A.I.S.T. (West Africa Intramural Softball Tournament). Pure Class.

Them's my super stage ladies - Wilma, Jillian, Kourtney, all dressed up
with some place to go (WAIST Party, final night, that is.

Fields of Glory

I would like to take a minute to brag about the women of my village. At great expense of time and energy, they are cultivating a gorgeous community garden in this desert. But really, it takes enormous amounts of effort. In teams of eight (generally, four “young women” and four “old women,” because that’s how they’ve divided up the space) they each water every fourth day. This entails lugging watering can after watering can over the expansive terrain. They spend at least an hour and a half to two hours both morning and afternoon . . . and that’s just watering! Then there’s everything else that goes into a creating and maintaining a feasible garden – planting, transplanting, weeding, etc. And since they’re gardening in sand – sand, for crying outloud! – every step requires the provision of massive amounts of some sort of manure, scooped up into their trusty plastic buckets and carried on their ever-level (literally! Hehe) heads out to the garden.

When it’s my host mom’s turn to water, I usually go help in the afternoon (and even with me moving constantly, it still takes close to two hours), but I recently found out that that team is out there in the morning, too, before dawn, flashlight-deficient as they always are. I, meanwhile, am sleeping to some ungodly hour, say 8 o’clock, then going for a long leisurely run through the bush. (And then I indulge myself with such internal whiney thoughts such as “my life is so hard,” etc.) Anyway – back to the garden – is it sustainable, all this work and input? They need irrigation, or at least a water basin/reservoir of some sort, if they are going to continue to garden in crummy sand. I’ve tried, twice, to write small specialized grants to bring such a water reservoir into the garden, but due to silly politics and NGO interference that I won’t detail here, it’s obviously ended up not happening. I wonder, with distress, about how this garden will fare in future seasons.

Finally, a Basketball Update:

Awhile back, I posted here about a basketball court project two other PCVs and I were doing and asked for donations. First of all, to all of you that donated – THANK YOU. As things tend to go in the Peace Corps, and in life, things have not quite worked out as we had planned. When Kim, Ann Marie, and I wrote the grant back in June (June!) we had received the good word of folks at the NBA, who promised to fund at least half of the total budget of the our project. Then the execs we were talking to started faltering . . . then the NBA went on strike . . . and long story short, the NBA funding fell through. Yuck. Fo reeeaalll? They couldn’t give us one hundredth of one of their players’ salaries? Anyway, we had to make do with what we had, which was a little more than one third of the funding we had sought. Thus, plans have changed. Instead of building three courts, we can only build one, in Barkedji, the home of my friend Ann Marie. We decided to build it there because it’s the largest village of the three – comprising about 4,000 people – and the only one with a middle school instead of just a primary school.

Had things worked out differently and the NBA had come through on their promises, I would have been really excited to place a court in Ngaraff. But things being as they are, I want no one to be disappointed about the allotment of the funds. The number of youth, and people in general, whose qualities of life will improve due to this one court is great. And that’s what it really comes down to. I hope that all donors out there will be understanding of the malfunction that occurred, and in a way, it’s kind of beautiful in its own right. Our big, corporate-ish funder fell through, so we had to change our goals. But all the little people out there – that’s you guys! – came though! And now all the kids in Barkedji, and all the surrounding villages (of which there are many) will have their first real place to PLAY. So I say again: THANK YOU. (I know who you are, too… we got our list, and good grief, I’m touched. Thank you. )

Family Matters

Oh! And have I mentioned? The Naftalin - Levitt Clan took Senegal by a storm. Truly, having my family here - my mother, my father, my stepmother, my big brother - meant even more to me than I thought it would. Those are MY people, you know? And now my people know my other people. We arrived in my village, the five of us, in an overloaded little Peugot, and as we squeaked through the sand up to the village square, I saw all my women and some men, dressed to the nines, chanting and clapping and dancing. And when I climbed out of the car, they descended upon me, giving me huge hugs and kisses, all the time with the chants in the background: "BI-gue! BI -gue!" Then they all made speeches, about me, mostly, which I awkwardly translated to my family. I got to say, in English and Wolof, "Mom, this is my mom," as I introduced my host mother to my mama originale. It was wondrous, from start to finish. In addition to village time, we saw lots of Dakar, a little of St. Louis (minus Papa and Stepmom, who got bad bouts of the ol' food poisoning), and paradisaical Palmarin.

What can I say? If the world does in 2012, I'll feel lucky to have had this abundance of family - both those of American and of Senegalese descent. :)

Until next time . . .

i'm coming home...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal JT's Adventures

2012-02-09 21:08:00

im a terrible blogger. i blog inconsistently. i barely write anything ever. but i guess that's ok. words are boring to read. the pictures and videos capture it all. winding down my last 3 months in senegal... oh but i forgot to say! i have officially confirmed my last day of service, which is ::drumroll:: april 30th! which means may 1st (or 2nd), i will be finally home. oh home sweet home... how i miss you...

WAIST! i dont know if you remember my waist blog post last year but it's an annual all volunteer softball tournament. it's fun. lots of dancing and partying. and you get to dress up as a region! our theme was SUIT UP! yes, i am literally wearing a velvet / silk suit. awesome.

i think taking part in the garden project was the best idea ive had in senegal. it's just a feel good project. i dont have to do anything and the women are still completely motivated! look at all the semi shade protection as well as protection from aerial pests aka those stupid birds that eat everything you grow.

and theyve managed to grow lettuce! i seriously suck. i should never be allowed to garden ever. i fail at life - or just successfully growing lettuce...

carrots!

granted yes the child is totally stepping on the soil which isnt so great because it's packing down the soil when we want airy soil but hey, baby steps. they manured! and mixed the soil! and added neem leaves and ash as natural pesticides! and there was charcoal for water absorption! pretty much, +1000 for senegal. they actually listened to our lovely agriculture volunteer's advice!

the freshest air in all of senegal. what a beautiful cliff/island...

is this... america?! i thought senegal was considered a third world developing country. and yet you find these glamorous hotels that charge $300-600 US dollars a night smack in the middle of dakar. excuse me. your carpet is too soft. i may just sleep in the corner of your elevator if you dont mind.

it was kinda like paradise. unreal. 200 miles away, you have children in dirty rags eating plain rice, some salt and a few beans. and here, it's royal treatment. i really dont think dakar is a part of senegal.

ahh the senegalese presidential elections! coming in february. things are heating up and looking exciting. riots, protests, demonstrations. granted it's also not so good. destruction of property. deaths. it's getting dangerous... but we'll be ok.

i kinda fail at life again. 23 months in senegal and i finally discover the hip hop underground dancing scene?! shame on me. where have i been the last 2 years?! where have you guys been the last 2 years?! i wish i found this earlier. im starting to really fall in love with dakar...

we're always taught that senegal is very conservative, very religious. boys cant have long hair. boys cant wear earrings. girls cant wear shorts. boys and girls cant touch... and yet... this is everything that is opposite of conservative or religious. it feels so... (sorry for not being pc) normal.

the graffiti at this place was beautiful. the dancers, all talented. i felt at ease. i felt at home. i miss dancing...

senegal has been having some weird weather lately. global warming? perhaps. just super windy, super sandy. it's like a permanent sand storm. my eyes hurt. my nose hurts. i dont want to go outside. im just drugged up on antihistamines.

cha ching! BANK! each of those stacks are 100,000 cfa. or about $200. multiply this by... many stacks. and all of this is only half of what i had in my bank account... i wonder what final project im trying to finish up in the next month... stay tuned.

oh and lastly, my friend goza got "married". well it was a fake wedding but it was super fun! her village will never be the same ever again!

Poop!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Mostly Harmless

2012-02-09 16:10:00

Poop: An enclosed superstructure at the stern of a ship... Oh how I wish I was serving in a country where that definition was the focus of this post, but that is neither here nor there. No let's look at google's number two definition (oddly appropriate): Excrement. Hehe :-). Yes since the time of the dinosaurs poop has been funny. George Carlin has a wonderful rant about it, and Peace Corps volunteers will often bring it up as part of dinner conversation or quite literally show you a sample that they're about to send to the Med Office. We lead strange lives here. Yes we can all agree that poop is very very funny.

Unfortunately the poop in this post is no laughing matter. I'm talking about poop out in the fields, poop outside your front door, poop on the bottom of shoes, on ropes, on animals and eventually in the human digestive system where it causes all sorts of problems most of which lead to more poop! This is what happens when you live in a village where only 30% of the population uses latrines. Where do they poop you may ask? Refer to sentence number 2 of this paragraph. In case you didn't get that, they poop everywhere, and animals end up dragging themselves and ropes through it... they aren't pooping on animals directly... although you probably got that already. They don't mean to eat it either it just kinda gets on hands and.. ok right you get it, moving on. (I've been watching too much West Wing lately so I'm emulating Aaron Sorkin's comedic timing... or at least attempting to. What's next?)

I just so happen to live in said village and it's about time I did something about it. Now lest you think I'm trying to be the big bad westerner changing native culture when its not really necessary let me explain my motives. I'm not doing this because I want to. I don't want to in fact, its a heck of a lot of work and I really have other things I'd much rather be working on... hmmm that makes me sound heartless. I just mean that while I love dealing with other people's sh... stuff, I have quite enough of my own right now. The fact of the matter is, my village has been asking for this project and trying to get it done for 6 years. They're the driving force behind it, I'm just the facilitator.

So what is the project you may ask? Well I considered lessening the food intake of the village by burning down the gardens and thus reducing defecation, but something said that conflicted with my Ag sector work so let's move on to solution #2. We want to build 62 latrines in my and a neighboring village to get universal coverage for the entire population. Is that really so much to ask? They just want a place to poop. No gold toilets, no toilets at all for that matter, just a functioning brick lined latrine with a hole in the cover and a PVC pipe for insulation. Most people in America wouldn't even consider that a latrine, but stick up a few meters of millet stalk fencing around it for privacy and it gets the job done. And that job is important. This is about more than dignity, this is about health and wellness. With a place to poop, and almost more importantly a kettle and bar of soap for afterward, comes a general lessening of poopy bacteria spread out across the village. That means fewer instances of diarrhel diseases, especially among children who can die from them, and a much lower chance of outbreaks of the really bad diseases like cholera. Poop's funny, cholera isn't.

Is a brick lined latrine really better? Yes. The bacteria is contained out of the general food chain and all the poop eventually breaks down. They are slightly elevated to avoid flooding and have mosquito netting over the vent and a removable plug for the hole to prevent flies and mosquito from going in and out and spreading disease as they do. It ain't glamorous by any means but its better than open defecation.

Now that you're thoroughly disgusted and eager to help let my tell you how you can! I have written a Peace Corps partnership grant which is essentially a grant that Peace Corps administers but that folks back home have to fund. The total is a little over $7,000, which is actually pretty reasonable for 62 latrines, and I need all the help I can get. I can be flippant and crack jokes on here but I really do appreciate everyone who reads and I feel a tremendous guilt for asking you all so many times for money. There are a multitude of worthy charities in the world today and everyone is going through hard times, but if there's anything you can spare these folks really need it. It doesn't have to be a lot. If 1,400 give five bucks we're there. If a few people give a little more we're there faster. I'm young and a lot of you reading this are my friends just out of college. Don't give more than you can, but if you can go without the Starbucks for a few days I'd really appreciate it. I mean come on I'm going without Starbucks for two years! That's a lie I have a pile of Starbucks Via packets in my hut courtesy of all your lovely care packages. By the way as much as I love you all giving the USPS 50 bucks a pop for care packages I will be just fine without them. Next time you feel the urge to give me something delicious, donate that money to the project. Believe me you're still helping to make my food in village a little less shitty ;-). Thank you all so much. Here's the link if you're interested, and please pass it on if you can:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-196

24 Days To Go!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Of Life in A Fish Bowl

2012-02-09 15:46:00

24 days until lift off (6am on Sunday March 4) and today I’m off to California to spend some time with my sister and hit Disneyland and Knott’s Berry farm. Never been to Knott’s Berry farm before and I super excited to go.

After that its the sprint to the end with my last day of work on the 24th, giving me 10 days to pack up my room and try to figure out how I can fit everything I think I need into two bags and not go over weight.

Gah!

Will post Disney pictures when I return.

BBC News - Boehner calls for law to stop US contraception rule

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Continually Expanding An Open Mind, Inshallah

2012-02-09 15:10:00

BBC News - Boehner calls for law to stop US contraception rule: "Jan Schakowsky, a Democratic Representative from Illinois, said: "Women's healthcare should not depend on who the boss is.""

'via Blog this'

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=174

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Scattering the Morning Dew

2012-02-09 11:11:05

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=174:

Great article on finding your passion, but I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up…

A Great Start to a New Year

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal It's Time for Africa!

2012-02-09 08:14:15

This blog finds me sitting here at Interservice training back in Thies wondering where the heck January and part of February have gone. For those of you paying very close attention to my first sentence, yes, I did say INTERSERVICE training which means at the end of the extremely short month (or not so short [...]

A taste of home

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Byron Yee's Grand Adventures

2012-02-09 01:41:00

I was walking through a new shopping mall in downtown Shenzhen with my family and stumbled upon America's own Coldstone Creamery. The Chinese shops are exactly the same. Same smells, same colors, same sounds, same greetings and scripted lines (just in Chinese), and same fake smiles.

Being in that shop for the 30 seconds I was there brought back all the horrible memories of working there. It was my first high school job, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. But man, I really hated that job...

--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

A glimpse into some of the events I wrote about in my post,...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Scattering the Morning Dew

2012-02-08 16:05:00

Matar and I at the Artisanal Exposition

Matar speaks with a potential client

Um... Posh Corps?!

Beautiful Toubacouta!

A glimpse into some of the events I wrote about in my post, It’s Official: I am the Worst Blogger Ever - Part 1.

BBC News - Maldives ex-president Mohamed Nasheed was 'forced out'

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Continually Expanding An Open Mind, Inshallah

2012-02-08 15:53:00

BBC News - Maldives ex-president Mohamed Nasheed was 'forced out': "Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has said that he was forced to resign "at gunpoint" by police and army officers in a coup.

He said the move was planned with the knowledge of Vice-President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik, who has replaced him. Mr Hassan denies the claims."

'via Blog this'

It’s Official: I am the Worst Blogger Ever - Part 1

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Scattering the Morning Dew

2012-02-08 15:49:00

Besides stealing catchy photos, quotations, and randomness from others out there in the blogosphere, as of late, I have been an absolutely horrible blogger. I apologize and am very sorry to all of my loyal readers (Hey Mom and Dad!)…

OK I’m over it.

I’m not so great with the whole brevity thing so, in an attempt to be brief, this is going to be one of those lame bulleted essay type entries… sigh. In my last update I wrote a bit about Thanksgiving in Dakar; a lot has happened since then so… here we go:

-My first Artisanal Exhibition with my tailor and work partner Matar Ndiaye:

Peace Corps Volunteers in Senegal have partnered with traditional artisans for a number of years and recently, that partnership turned into a great thing called The Thies Artisan Collective. Since the network was formed in 2008, volunteers have worked alongside their artisans to strive to produce products not only for their local communities, but for the larger international market, as well. Matar is a wonderful work partner and an extremely talented artisan – proof of that can be seen in the numbers… for his 4^th annual exposition in Dakar with the Network, his total revenue increased, yet again! This exposition took place right after Thanksgiving and was a great opportunity for me to work alongside Matar at such an event for the first time. The U.S. Ambassador even bought some of his new Christmas ornaments that we collaborated on this year! Check out his work at www.ndiayecreation.blogspot.com (a work in progress!).

-Moringa Tourney in Diourbel:

My neighbor, April, in Diourbel was kind enough to invite me to her site, and workplace, Baol Environment for my first Moringa Tourney in early December! Moringa, or the “Miracle Plant” as it’s often referred to by Peace Corps Senegal and much of the developmental world, is a powerful tree, the leaves of which can have highly nutritional properties when properly transformed and utilized in every day cooking. This seminar was run by April along with two other volunteers, Andrew and CJ, so I was mainly there to listen and learn and to help out where I could, but it made for a very valuable learning experience. Looking forward to potentially integrating Moringa into my work in the future!

[I just realized this will still be way too long for one post, so I’ve decided to make this a two part series… this is Part 1. Thank you, you may now return to reading.]

-Traveling to the Delta Region – AKA Posh Corps:

After the Moringa tourney, I decided to spend a weekend with my friends who live in the Delta region of Senegal and sure, pictures are one thing, but I can now say I am officially jealous after seeing their sites in Sokone and Toubacouta in person! My friend and training roomie, Casey, was my host at her site in Sokone for the weekend and we spent our Saturday traveling to our stagemate Rob’s site in Toubacouta. From seeing beautiful mangroves, to eating some one of the best cheeseburgers in country at a restaurant called Chez Ass (No, not kidding…), to luxurious hotels with pools and delicious Belgian beers, it was a great and relaxing weekend to say the least! Thanks again, guys! And if you’re ever considering visiting Senegal, these are some places to visit, for sure!

-Last Minute Work Before the Holidays and IST:

With several weeks left in December, I tried to cram in some last-minute work before heading away from site for Christmas, New Year’s, several weeks of training and other conferences, and, last but not least, W.A.I.S.T. (we’ll get to those in the next post)! Among some of the things I was running around trying to get accomplished: setting up partnerships with local schools so that I could begin JA, or Junior Achievement, classes when I returned at the end of January, working with Matar, meeting with my counterpart to give her an update of my work and plans for the future, and searching the large town of Bambey for a place that I could call my “work home,” AKA an office for myself somewhere in town outside of my room… overall several productive weeks before leaving site!

-Dun, dun, dun… Commencing Half-Marathon Training:

So Peace Corps Senegal is doing this awesome event called Senegal’s Race for Education on March 4^th… All of the proceeds raised go toward our Girl’s Scholarship Fund for the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship run and organized by SeneGAD within Peace Corps Senegal. I am crazy and have decided to run the ½ marathon… DOIN’ IT FOR THE GIRLS! Anyway, if you would be interested in donating to my insane cause of running 13.1 miles so that the amazing young girls of Senegal can go to school and get an education, go here and if you decide to donate, make sure you specify “Marathon for Education” in the comment section! THANK YOU!

This ends Part 1 of a two part post series about my adventures in Senegal as of late. Stay tuned for Part 2: coming… soon?

Sincerely,

The Worst Blogger Ever

BBC News - 'Europe is poor so should live within its means'

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Continually Expanding An Open Mind, Inshallah

2012-02-08 15:09:00

BBC News - 'Europe is poor so should live within its means': "For decades the West has lectured the East on how to manage its economies. Not any more.

Now the emerging economies of Asia look like models of steady, consistent policy and sustained growth while Europe, America and Japan are mired in debt and are growing achingly slowly, if at all.

So what can the West learn from the East?"

'via Blog this'

SED Work (for once) and a Centre de Couture

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Tou-blog

2012-02-08 13:50:48

Women’s group activities have taken off! Well, as much as they could, given the sum they have to work with. Of the 25 groups, about 10 are doing petit commerce, which involves buying and reselling various goods or cooking fatayas or tuna sandwiches to sell at schools, in the market, etc. Profits from this seem [...]

Prop 8, California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Declared Unconstitutional

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Continually Expanding An Open Mind, Inshallah

2012-02-08 10:07:00

Prop 8, California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Declared Unconstitutional: "SAN FRANCISCO — Same-sex marriage moved one step closer to the Supreme Court on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled California's ban unconstitutional, saying it serves no purpose other than to "lessen the status and human dignity" of gays.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave gay marriage opponents time to appeal the 2-1 decision before ordering the state to allow same-sex weddings to resume."

'via Blog this'

The Gang and Rat Trap Sandwiches

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal A jaraama Senegal!

2012-02-08 09:37:00

For New Year’s Eve I traveled up to Kaolack to hang out with my best friend Jessica. Over the next week we traveled out to her Wolof village called Keur Madiabel and spent some time there. We also took a boat ride through the mangroves near the Sine Saloum Delta area and camped out near the beach.

Eric and Jessica on the pirogue boat

'The Gang' on the beach trip, Jessica, Kourtney, and Eric

Afterwards we visited our friend Jennie’s Seerer village for a Sabaar, or a drum party. There’s always lots of dancing at a Senegalese drum party such as these, but the ethnic group of Jennie’s village Keur Soce, are Seerers, and they are known for being particularly risqué dancers. Jennie tells me that at wedding ceremonies the women tie a wooden penis to the inside of their skirt and flash it while dancing, unfortunately this was not a wedding party so the photos below (and on my picasa link) are mostly tame.

Jennie dancing at her Sabaar

some of the Keur Soce girls

me and Jessica in our Senegalese clothes and classic Senegalese photo taking fashion

In the middle of January, we had our annual All-Volunteers Conference in Thies, which is held for all of Senegal and other volunteers from all over West Africa where we share ideas about work; it was uneventful for me since I’m leaving so soon. Immediately afterwards we were bussed off to Dakar for WAIST (the West African Invitational Softball Tournament) was held, our team’s theme was ‘baseball’ which I thought was a little boring and didn’t lend easily to an awesome costume such as mine the previous year (refer to that earlier blog post to see the Hamburglar in action), so I went as a hotdog, that was baseball enough I suppose. Afterwards they bussed us back to Thies for my stage’s (or training group) COS (Close of Service) Conference. That was a very sad affair since it was the last time our entire group would be together at once here in Senegal, only a few months left…

Sad things aside, during all that bussing around to-and-from Dakar and Thies, we were able to photo-document the making of something we call “Rat Trap Sandwiches.” My friends Eric, Kourtney, Jessica and I (who we dubbed ourselves ‘the Gang’ because we’ve been watching too much ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, lately) made this sandwich during most of our beach camping trip which I mentioned earlier. Either way it’s called a Rat Trap Sandwich because you make it with pretty much everything you’d put in a trap to catch a rat. Oh, and they’re delicious too!

Start by cutting your bread and spreading cheap "La Vache Qui Rit" cheese, open the can of Chicken Spam (disclaimer, real Spam is like caviar compared to this stuff)

add the slices to the sandwich, with optional mustard if you're feeling fancy

and enjoy! Rat Trap Sandwiches! (also this is the bus that we were on back and forth like 90 times from Thies to Dakar)

and this photo is here just because I like it and wanted to end with something interesting, it's a field where all the grass has seemed to pull pull together like a field of buried trolls. it's actually being prepared to be cut for roofing thatch

2011 Wrap-Up

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal A jaraama Senegal!

2012-02-08 08:48:00

Well I know this is a few weeks late but I guess that’s beenthe running theme of the blog the past couple of months. I finally got back to site after my short(but wonderful) vacation to the States in early December. This is a photo ofhow much stuff I packed on the back of my bike for my first trip back to site.

all my baggage, thank god for Senegalese used inner tube bike straps

I had probably about 30 or so articles of baby clothes andassorted t-shirts for the children and the adults of my family that I broughtback as gifts, along with a bunch of American candy and toys for the kids aswell. The family definitely appreciatedthem. Snapped this photo along the sideof the Dindefelo road on my bike ride back, cotton season is back!

they make these HUGE baskets out of stripped bamboo and then fill them with their cotton until the local cotton company comes to pick it up, it's one of the biggest industries in this area

But seriously the weather here is certainly unique this timeof year. It’s really hot during the days, chilly to the point of needing to usea sleeping bag at night, and everything is extremely dry. Thanks to the 0%humidity or as it seems, there’s a ton of dust, and that leads to the everfamous Jersey-Shore-esque/John-Bohner-Spray-on-Laterite-Road-Tan (see my friendLaRocha’s well documented on-going battle with that tan here, here or here). Butyeah, this was what my ankle tan line looked like afterwards.

ignore how ugly Senegal has made my feet and direct your attention to that beautiful tan line at my ankles

In other news my counterpart, Neene Galle, gave birth to ababy girl the last week in December, her name is Salematou.

Neene Galle and her new-born baby Salematu

And I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite photos from theend of 2011 here in Senegal.

this is a chicken on a goat...unlikely perhaps...amazing yes! my neighbors got a kick out of this one

a version of a Senegalese scarecrow, that silo-like basket is where they keep their corn, similar construction to the cotton basket

well 2011, that's a WRAP (sorry for the pun, I just had to) (also this is me wearing my Mauritanian head wrap to keep the dust out of my face, super effective)

SENEGAL!!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Un Peuple, Un But, Une Foi - Peace Corps Senegal

2012-02-08 07:57:00

I have been waiting for more information from Peace Corps for a while now, but yesterday I finally received an email and my ticket confirmation. I will be arriving to Washington on March 4th and departing to Senegal on March 6th!! I have not been writing anything particularly interesting since I began this blog (and this post is not any different). As I have said before, I do not have any previous experience with blog writing so the whole idea of having my thoughts on the world wide web is quite nerve racking, especially since my major in college was journalism I feel as though I'm expected to write properly and unfortunately this is not the case so please bear with me throughout this process!! With that said, I wanted to let anyone in the PC Senegal 2012 group to know that we have a group on Facebook which has become pretty helpful for me, look us up! I look forward to meeting all of you! I am very excited to start this new chapter in my life and hope to have interesting stories to write on my blog once I get to Senegal.

Peace- Cristina

Gates, Science and Knowledge: The Letter

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal The Front Window

2012-02-07 22:12:00

I'm a few days late on this topic, but that's only because I've been too busy following the whole Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle, catching up on my political tv watching (Up with Chris Hayes can be downloaded, yesssss), researching what sort of mathematical hoops I'll have to jump through if I want to do an Econ or Public Policy Phd, watching documentaries and movies, etc. etc. I need to figure out how to get paid to be a professional politics/information junkie.

The other day, I read (among other things) a blog post at the Center for Global Development called The Epistle of Gates and the Gospel of Agricultural Innovation, and I thought, hey, I have something to say about this!

Bill Gates. At this point, you may as well forget about Microsoft (mainly because Apple and Facebook seem to be hogging all the press anyway) because these days he's famous for giving away so much money that he practically sets the policy related to the causes he's supporting. (Actually that's an interesting question...) His Foundation seems to have two main outreach prongs in the developing world, agricultural development and medicine/health. I haven't done a lot of research into what he does in the health arena, because it's not my thing, but also because I have less qualms about pouring money into vaccine development/increased access to vaccinations/giving away medically necessary tools. (And this makes me think of another topic to blog about--community involvement/investment in projects and in relation to behavior change, something that was discussed our All Vol conference held in January, but that's for another day.)

Every year Gates writes an annual letter outlining his concerns, goals and projects. Here's what bothers me (and a lot of other people--it's not hard to find criticism of the Gates Foundation, especially on websites aimed towards people in the green/organic/sustainable fields): Bill Gates, and his Foundation, subscribes to a view of food security/agricultural development that is not quite right. Basically: he is missing the point, both in identifying the problem and in researching solutions.

Let's look at the letter. He first introduces a young Tanzanian farmer, Christina Mwinjipe, who struggles to feed her children. Then he gets into the facts. Much of his introductory statements are accurate. Many of the hungry people in the developing world are farmers. The current structure of our economy sees goods and money flowing from the poor to the rich, not the other way around. Small scale, subsistence agriculture does not have a lot to offer the people who are in charge of research and development or market prices. As things are now, no one is going to make a lot of money from families trying to feed themselves.

Next Gates starts talking about the Population Bomb, and the Green Revolution, almost as scare tactics. He says, "Supply growth has not kept up, leading to higher prices." While it's true that food prices are higher, it's not due to lack of supply growth. It is more related to how we use/waste calories (everyone could have enough to eat if it was all somehow distributed more equally), how food is priced, and demand on land in other ways like biofuels. The subtext here is that we need a "new" Green Revolution, even though the first is now being regarded much more skeptically as a quick burst solution to a long term problem, that has had lasting environmental and social consequences.

What the Green Revolution did was to take plant breeding (in the form of seed saving year to year) out of the hands and fields of farmers and into the gloves and laboratories of scientists (and seed companies). Then, when the "better," higher-yielding seeds, with their hybrid vigor and strong response to fertilizers, were developed, they were distributed back out to farmers who grew them for a season, reaped large harvests, and had to go back and buy more seeds again the next year.

In a larger sense, though, what the Green Revolution did to agricultural development was to make it a field in which scientific discoveries were to be the solution to what is actually a political, structural and economic problem. The author of the Center for Global Development post, Justin Sandefur, hits the nail on the head: Science and innovation are cool and politically easy, while economic reform and political compromise are messy and tedious.

But Bill Gates can make the point for himself, too.

He discusses what his money will go, agricultural research, a truly neglected field (I'm being serious -- the amounts of money that have been funneled to this topic are pitiful, especially when it comes to crops that are mostly grown in the developing world). He writes:

Because farmers plant seeds that give them the highest yields, the diversity of crop varieties in fields is quite limited. This creates a perfect opportunity for disease to spread. A famous example of this is the potato blight that spread across Europe in the 1840s and led to mass starvation in Ireland. Less well known is the southern corn leaf blight that swept through the United States in the early 1970s. Fortunately, in that case, the United States had sufficient strategic reserves to avert a crisis.

Read this closely. What saved the US from averting a crisis? Was it a seed variety that resisted the southern corn leaf blight? No, it wasn't. It was the fact that the US had the foresight to have strategic food reserves (a political solution).

Now, of course, I'm not saying that science is inherently bad. I believe that when it comes to agricultural development, you have to be so clear about what you believe because this issue is loaded with little bombs, like: if you say you're anti-genetic modification, then you must be against Science. I am not against Science.

But I am against the version of science that removes agency from the farmers, the version of science that separates farmers from their knowledge of their land, crops and needs. In many ways, knowledge is power (cue 1980s after school special..the more you know..anyway..). I can think of so many ways that improved knowledge can help farmers: having a better idea of upcoming weather patterns, being aware of price fluctuations, knowing how to get the most out of their fields, etc. Some of that knowledge will come from scientists. And some of it will come from the farmers themselves. But it's knowledge: they learn it and put it to use.

Here's a quote from the letter describing how Gates wants to do it:

Historically, increasing the productivity of a crop meant finding two seed variants, each with some desirable and undesirable characteristics, and crossing them until you get a combination with mostly the good characteristics of the two parents. This required actually growing tens of thousands of plants to see how they develop in different growing conditions over time—for example, when water is plentiful and when it is not.

Now the process is quite different. Imagine the analogy of a large public library with rooms full of books. We used to have to use the card catalogue and browse through the books to find the information we needed. Now we know the precise page that contains the piece of information we need. In the same way, we can find out precisely which plant contains what gene conferring a specific characteristic. This will make plant breeding happen at a much faster clip. The private sector has moved the fastest to use new approaches, but academic groups, including a Chinese group called BGI that has more sequencing capability than any other group in the world, are catching up.

Who is this We? I'm pretty sure that the We in this letter does not describe the people that the Gates Foundation is trying to help: the very poor, the uneducated, the very rural. I think what he is saying that this great We (in the rich, developed, overfed world) will help Them (the poor, hungry farmer out there in Africa) to do something that they don't have the capacity (because it's so complicated) to do themselves (because the way they'd do it just doesn't work, right?). This is, after all, international development, and this is, after all, how many programs work (We help Them), but it is still so frustrating seeing this come from Gates, because in so many other ways, the Foundation is innovative and forward thinking.

The new process does not seem to be one in which there is much farmer participation. The knowledge is only going in one direction -- we to them. In a strange way, Gates' library analogy fits perfectly, because even though the library is ostensibly public, you still need a library card to get in -- and that library card, instead of costing a couple bucks, takes years of study to acquire. I doubt that his Tanzanian farmer Christina would ever be able to access that library, even if she had something to contribute to it.

Next up: Is the best way to get a poor farmer out of poverty to get her off the farm?

UM, Obama’s Face = AWESOME. thedailywhat: Photo of the...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Scattering the Morning Dew

2012-02-07 20:29:06

UM, Obama’s Face = AWESOME.

thedailywhat:

Photo of the Day: President Obama looks on in amazement as 14-year-old Joey Hudy demonstrates his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon at today’s White House Science Fair.

[think-progress.]

I can feel it coming.

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal A man without a country

2012-02-07 19:34:10

Here it goes everyone. Sorry for the delay in posts. I must get in a better habit of writing – aka New Years Res 2012 (along with read 50 books, which will be a ton easier with my new kindle *thanks mom and dad*). I just got off the phone from scheduling my flight and [...]

Mazel Tov!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal http://mikadoo.tumblr.com/

2012-02-07 10:14:00

Last week I left for Kaolack to attend the Senegalese wedding of Jessica & Armand. I’ll post more photos of the celebration later. But for now, cheers to you two.

(Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz softly playing in the background)

THE TROPHY

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Take Offs and Landings

2012-02-07 15:12:50

What was supposed to be a lazy day at the regional house became an unexpected adventure once the trophy was spotted. Katie, Emilie, and I went to the toubab store to load up on snacks. We’d seen the yard sale on the way and commented on it, but we hadn’t decided to stop in until

BBC News - Gabon: Surfing hippos, lacking tourists

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Continually Expanding An Open Mind, Inshallah

2012-02-07 14:16:00

BBC News - Gabon: Surfing hippos, lacking tourists: "Mr Swanborn tried to bring tourists to Loango by other means, involving a four-hour boat ride down the coast, followed by a car ride on pot-holed roads. But that proved too inconvenient and time-consuming for many tourists. Bookings dried up and the lodge shut down.

Lessons learnt
Continue reading the main story
Gabon facts and figures

Population: 1.5 million
Official language: French
Major religion: Christianity
Main exports: Oil, timber
Ranked by World Bank as upper middle income country
One-third of the population lives in poverty
Transparency International gives the country 3/10 on corruption scale
Sources: UN, US State dept, Transparency International, World Bank

Gabon profile
This may seem a straightforward tale of a well-meaning businessman stymied by alleged African corruption and inefficiency, but others who were involved say it is not that simple."

'via Blog this'

That time Shira came to visit and we met an Angel…

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal A "Peace" of Senegal for LyzzO

2012-02-07 13:16:19

Shira Sternberg, my former boss from the 2008 Obama Campaign, my liberal inspiration, and my friend, came to visit me this past week along with Jennie Davis, a Volunteer who installed in August of last year. We spent most of … Continue reading →

let's do it for the girls!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal peace corps, love & senegal

2012-02-07 13:18:00

The Kaolack region is currently gearing up for our third annual Girls' Leadership Camp this June, and we could use your help! The camp is a week long affair, where girls from all over the region come to participate in empowering and motivational sessions that encourage them the stay in school and become leaders in their communities. Activities like this are so important for girls in Senegal to take part in because cultural restrictions prevent many of them from staying in school past the primary level, and far too many of them are married off at an age when they should still be gossiping with their friends and daydreaming about their futures. The camp is a mix of educational activities, such as career and health panels with successful Senegalese women, and skill building activities, such as sustainable gardening, with a little arts and crafts, dancing, and interactive games thrown in as well.

There is a great website, The Girls Effect, (http://www.girleffect.org/) that talks about the importance of girls' education and empowerment in developing countries today. The gist is, if we can support these girls through their education, they can help to break the cycle of poverty that their families, communities, and countries are stuck in. By staying in school, girls reduce their risk of HIV/AIDS, are more likely to marry at an appropriate age, and raise healthy children that repeat the process, helping to raise standards of living across the world. The Girl Effect has some great videos on their site that you should all check out.

We would love your help in making this camp a reality, and reaching out to the girls of Kaolack! There is a link to donate posted below, where you can also read more about the camp.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-198

Dethroning Nature–A Battle of Property Rights

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Ben in Senegal

2012-02-06 17:46:30

One day, after confirming the number of mosquito nets in a nearby compound, I walked by a group of my young brothers and sisters—some of whom are actually cousins or distant relatives who live in one of my mothers’ two … Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Mohammed

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Sarah l'égaré en Afrique

2012-02-06 11:32:00

Saturday was a party all around Senegal to celebrate the Muslim prophet Mohammed's birthday. I biked in to Linguere to go to the get-together (gamou) at my aunt's house. The main idea is to sit around, cook and eat an incredible amount of food, listen to music, then go to an all-night singing/praying fest under a big tent with lots of lights, dressed to the nines. I skipped the night part this time, but spent the day cutting kilos and kilos of onions, then chatting with family, neighbors, and no shortage of precocious children.

The men killed and processed 2 cows in the morning

Then the women cooked the meat with more rice than I have ever seen in my life.

The lunch serving process was quite a production- complete with a parade of boys carrying platters upon platters of food to their recipients. This is my cousin's wife Yacine getting things organized.

A few of the plates

... after lunch, the women cooked another unbelievable amount of food- macaroni with meat and onion sauce for dinner.


A few of my new friends- two of my cousin's kids and a neighbor.

2012-02-05 18:05:00

Last week I returned to town in time for an exciting night of traditional Senegalese wrestling, aka "sipiro." Fences were commandeered from nearby houses to create an arena, while 250 cfa - about 50 cents - bought an all access pass.

I arrive around 6:30pm to find pre-event drumming accompanied by the requisite circle of women dancing. The style of dance involves bending 45 degrees at the waist, sticking your butt out and stamping the ground with the apparent objective of kicking up as much dust as possible. Arms are either held straight out to the side or bent at the elbow like a scarecrow. Of course, I am lured into the center to make a fool of myself in yet another activity that everyone else can do with style. Thankfully, I am saved from a second round of ground stomping when the main event begins.

Sipiro is equal parts skill, showmanship and silly outfits. Amateur wrestlers, unlike their overpaid and overfed professional counterparts, are extremely fit young men with a penchant for spandex and pom pom adorned kilts. Given Sare Sara's lack of electricity, I assumed the festivities would be over by sundown. Oh how wrong I was. As the sun melted below the horizon the fun had only just begun. The first wrestler to appear could only be described as spritely as he pranced around the makeshift ring "warming up" with dramatic lunges, hops and sprints. Others followed suit until 10 or so beefy young men were circling the ring trailed by "handlers" and a whistling trio of drummers.

With no pre-arranged round robbin schedule, pairs of wrestlers began to match up seemingly at random. A bout begins with the opponents swinging their arms at each other - a sort of windmill mixed with fly swatting and bitch slapping. Then they take each other in a bent over head lock/double half nelson. This position is held for minutes at a time - what they're waiting for I couldn't tell you - until one makes a move to grab the leg/belt/skirt/neck of the other. This is when it gets exciting. Unlike professional matches which end after a few seconds (why bother fighting when the outcome is rigged anyway?), these fights went on for many minutes as the pairs attempted to trip, flip and pin each other. With no designated ring the tussling pairs frequently sent spectators leaping from their benches to avoid a rogue elbow or clod of dirt in the face. The winner need only get his opponent down for a second before taking a well deserved victory lap. With 2-3 pairs wrestling at a time it's important to keep an eye out in all directions. With the sunlight gone, a roaring bonfire was built in a corner opposite the ring from where I sat. Dust swirling in the firelight looked like mist rising from the ground and illuminated the athletes and onlookers with an eery, infernal glow. Of course, this is when I wished I had my camera.

Due to another transit strike, the merry band of wrestlers was stuck in town for a few extra days. They eyed me with obvious confusion and I wondered the physics involved in growing necks so thick.

Coming up Next...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal KP In The PC

2012-02-05 20:26:00

It seems like forever ago that I wrote my last "coming soon" entry about my plans through new years (I should go back and see if I actually did it all...) but here's what's coming up through the spring:

-Finish construction on the wells

-USAID training in Tamba on behavior change and Community Lead Total Sanitation

-Begin a latrine building project with the help of USAID

-Continue monthly growth monitoring

-Initiate a Care Group to train a group of health workers in my village

-Begin a bed net education campaign before a universal bed net distribution project

-Potential Kolda-wide malaria tournee

-GAD Games: Olympics to promote gender and development

-Continue promoting homemade enriched flour and porridge

-Midservice medical appointments and assisting at training for new health volunteers in early April

-My brother comes to visit in mid-May!

At times I've felt like 2 years is an eternity, while at others it seems impossibly short. I believe the next few months will be dominated by the latter feeling.

Extension, quoi?

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Senegal Dreamer.

2012-02-05 19:51:00

I’m back in Ourosogui after a nice weekend trip to Saint Louis. It was great timing for the trip, because I was just coming out of my weird awkward funk and Saint Louis just shoved me out of it even more. During my time in Saint Louis, Kate and I went to her office, which is my future office and did our meet and greet. It was such an eye opening experience of the next year of my life. I remember when I demysted with my ancienne in Aram and afterwards all I thought was “wow this is the next 2 years of my life, I love it!” during the time of my demyst the women in Aram were burning really intoxicating incense (a specific grass) . The village vibe felt like open arms embracing me. The vibe in Saint Louis didn’t necessarily feel like a warm embrace from the others, but it definitely felt like I was giving this opportunity a warm embrace. I’m really excited to start this position, and begin working with the Talibes. I know I’ve got a lot to prepare for this (oh like learn Wolof and French), thankfully the Talibes speak Pulaar so I’m already golden in that department. They might end up being the only people I end up communicating with during my time… kidding!

Also, I don’t know if this is already known to those who read this blog but I’m extending my 2 year peace corps service for another year. Meaning I’m once again changing my work here to another area (physically and work wise). I’ll be working at an NGO in Saint Louis called Clare Enfance, taking over a 3^rd year volunteer Kate. Kate is on her way out of Senegal right now, but I won’t be moving to Saint Louis until April/May – I believe I’ll be moving my stuff to Saint Louis frequently over the next few months, but I won’t actually start my work until I return from America. That way I will be in the complete swing of things.

I’m still in Ourosogui and today while riding around the town I just thought to myself how much I enjoy Ourosogui, it took me a few weeks to feel really comfortable in Ourosogui, and what I was doing here but I’m definitely over that. Towns are hard for volunteers, there isn’t a close sense of community like there was in my village. I definitely walk these streets alone, it doesn’t have to be that way – but it is, whether that’s because of me or being a town I’m not positive. In village though I never ended up walking the paths alone, children walked with me or I would just stop at every compound and greet people along the way. It’s not like that here, people are going about their own way as well, don’t get me wrong I definitely greet people along the way but I think I just won’t necessarily feel like I’m an Ourosoguian – I will consider myself an Aram-ian. I think this will definitely continue into Saint Louis. I feel for volunteers in larger towns during their whole service, it is much more difficult connecting with the town and being able to walk the streets and truly feeling like people take ownership over you, Aram protected me. Ourosogui is unsure about me, but also, Ourosogui gives me a bit more of a sense of independence, which is nice. I can go to boutiques and buy whatever I want and people don’t comment on it through the village, I can be anonymous on the streets – not much but more so. Towns are just harder for integration, this isn't true for everybody of course I'm just generalizing. Cities must be much more difficult.

I'll hopefully be returning to Aram to visit sometime this month. I'm nervous to return because I don't want people to be mean about me moving, but I'm soooo excited to see the kids again. God, I miss them so much! The kids in the household were always so good to me, I miss the people in the village, and my host mom! It's going to be a really good return, I think I just have a hard time thinking I need to meet people's expectations of my return.

Anyways, I'm going to keep this short.

Kate have a safe return to the states, and your going away party was spectacular.

Saint Louis, I think I'm ready for you.

Ourosogui, this has been an intense learning experience in such a short period.

Aram, you will always be my true love.