W.A.I.S.T. 2013: Get off of our lawn!

The January 2013 West Africa Invitational Softball Tournament in Dakar was a great success for the Kédougou team. Not so much for winning games, but we lead the league for style and team spirit. 

Each year each region comes with a theme (Superheros, South of the Border, Beach Core, etc) and the costumes are generally intended to be flattering, not unlike Halloween on any given college campus. With that in mind, this year Kédougou's theme was Geriatrics. We pulled our pants up as high as they would go, baby-powdered our hair, filled our pockets with hard candy, and went searching for sweater vests. 

 We didn't have very many throwing or catching skills, and we weren't super clear on all the rules and positions, but had a lot of good cheers and we did our best. Jubal played Outfield Guitar, Katie O. and I covered Third Base from time to time, and Kyle pitched, with some help from Karen. We made the most of the element of surprise when Country Director Chris Hedrick got a solid hit and we all ran to first base, and we got a semi-standing ovation (and Captain America came over from the sidelines) for our mid-game rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

We ate hot dogs, drank cold Cokes, watched the other games, just generally had a good time, and all too soon the tournament was over. 

Most of the Geriatric 'Gou Crew 

Fancy Ladies

There have been several very fancy things in my life this past week. The first one was Tambaween, which is like Halloween but is hosted by the gracious PCVs in the region of Tamba. Being so busy with work stuff lately I wasn't sure that I was going to go to Tambaween this year, but a group of Kédougou volunteers arranged for transport and decided to dress up like princesses, so I got a tailor to help me throw together a last-minute Snow White outfit and packed an overnight bag. 

Our Private Car and Chauffeur. And a street cow.

The drive from Kédougou up to Tamba is usually about four hours, barring flat tires, break-downs, and inclement weather. It can be a grueling ride on public transport if you happen to get squeezed into a sheep-laden mini-bus or have to perch awkwardly on a seat made mostly of metal bars and sharp edges, but we were in luck. PCV Ashleigh made some phone calls and hired us a driver and a mini-van, for the same price as a seat in a seven-seat station wagon at the public garage, and so we all got to travel in style and relative comfort.  

The Region that makes team
costumes together stays together.

The Ladies of Kedougou

As you can see, our costumes were pretty great individually and even better collectively. We had a great time the whole time -- getting ready, going to the party, hanging out, and going back down to Kédougou the next day. 

And, when we got back to the Regional House there was internet. Wireless internet. It's been weeks and weeks and weeks since a particularly fierce lightning storm took out our house router, so we're all pretty thrilled to have wifi again. Fancy!