Chalk It Up

The wall of the Kedougou Regional House's kitchen hut features a large calendar, painted with blackboard paint and outlined in white house paint. Every month someone wipes it down and chalks in all the important upcoming events - birthdays, trainings, vacation dates, and holidays real and imagined. 

The House Calendar for April 2013

I like to do the calendar, and this is my last one, so I tried to make it count.

A few notes: COS = Close of Service, when people leave; VV = Volunteer Visit, when the new arrivals come to check out their sites; UAG = Urban Agriculture; AgFo = Agroforestry; True American Rainbow Party = We've been watching too many New Girl episodes lately.

Merry Happy!

Ahh, the holidays. We decided that last year's Christmas in Popenguine just really could not be topped, so we settled down for a pleasant, low-key Christmas and it has been very, very nice. We've been staying at my friends' place, where there are two cats, a washing machine, and a little Christmas tree decorated with small gourd ornaments. It's lovely. Marielle baked pumpkin muffins and Marie and Sarah L. just came over for Christmas breakfast. We're all up in Dakar to meet family and friends who are flying over to visit. At this point we're all counting down the hours and looking forward to (and fretting slightly about) showing our guests around and introducing our American families to our Senegalese ones. 

Merry Christmas from West Africa!

So, whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Yuletide, Christmas,  Hanukkah, Chrishaunakwanstice, or abstain entirely from all the of the many winter festivals that there are out there, I hope you're well and having a lovely day, wherever you are. 

ThanksGouving 2012

This year more people than usual opted to stay in Kedougou for Thanksgiving and we were lucky to have a really good group at the house. I had the great honor (no one else wanted to do it) of coordinating the menu (which was ambitious) and market run, and - with help from Jess, Camille, and a whole host of other PCVs - it all went swimmingly. Except for the grease fire. But no one got hurt, not even the casseroles, so all's well that ends well, I suppose.

Some people cooked up a storm, others formed a house band and kept everyone entertained, and Ashleigh and Jackie spearheaded the Decoration Committee. (Many thanks to Ashleigh's Mom and Ilana's Mom for sending decorations and ingredients!)

 We didn't have real turkeys (chickens are much easier to come by around here) but we did have hand turkeys and everyone was pretty happy about that. There were so many appetizers, chickens, sides, salads, rolls, breads, gravy pots, pies, cakes, and fancy caramel apple cider drinks that everyone had more than enough to eat. Even Marie Christine and Pascale, our wonderful housekeepers, were impressed with how much we cooked and how well it turned out, so we all feel like we were pretty successful at hosting a good Thanksgiving party.

  

Gou Crew & Friends! 

Patrick and Annē, Dish Crew Extraordinaire 

American Tabaski

This year Tabaski fell on October 26th, and it was the first time I haven't been with my host family for a major Senegalese holiday. I wanted to make it back to my village in time for the celebrations, but between the trial in Tamba, working with peacecare, and a tenacious-and-unbelievably-itchy fungal infection on my legs, it just wasn't in the cards. 

With everyone else back at site for Tabaski in their villages, Marielle and I were the only volunteers left at the Regional House - it was a little like being the only kids left in the dorms over Thanksgiving Break - and we made the most of it.

 We were joined by Casey, a Mali RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) here to make a documentray about West African music, and the three of us had a really pleasant time. (Having a few extra days to hang out in running shorts and shower twice a day really helped with the rash recovery, too.) We cooked super-fancy little eggplant pizzas (thanks Meghan!), baked amazingly delicious pumpkin spice cupcakes with caramel frosting (thanks Marielle's mom and Ashleigh!), called to greet our friends and host relatives, watched new New Girl episodes (thanks internet!) and laughed about Senegal's recent American Idol-style sheep competition (thanks, Sally!). 

 It wasn't a traditional Senegalese Tabaski (no sacrificial ram, no shiny new clothes) but it was quite delicious and I wouldn't have traded it for all the mutton in town.