Neem is a tree that grows all over the place here, and you can make a natural mosquito repellent from it's leaves. I helped with a How-To mural, and here are the photos!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sick Day.
I was sick yesterday. Also the internet went down, then the power went out, and I spent the entire day at the Regional House, looking green and lying on a mat while my fellow Volunteers brought me juice and ORS and checked on my (mild) fever.
I'm feeling much better today, and will most likely go back to village tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Meet the Family
My host mother Mariama, my neighbor and tokora (person with a same name) Adama, my host mother Saliou Njai, and baby Diabou shelling karite (shea) nuts to be punded and boiled into oil and shea butter.
Sajou Ba and Makaba, two of my many host brothers. They like me a lot.
Especially Sajou. He like to follow me around singing "Adama... Adama... Adama..." (That is my name.)
Mankaba and Diabou, my youngest host sibling. Over the last few weeks she's gone from being totally terrified of me to just sort of not liking it very much when I'm near her.
My host sister Mariama Gaulo. She's really smart, very responsible, and remarkably patient with me.
My host sister Fatimatou.
Alaji, one of my host cousins. I'm pretty sure. He has a fancy moto and often comes over and eats at the bowl I share with my two oldest host sisters at dinnertime.
My host mother Saliou Njai, all dressed up in a complet for going out into the village.
Samba Diallo, a really nice neighbor. He, like many older people in village, is pretty much blind.
My host father and traditional chief, Sadat Souare. He teaches Koranic classes (kids come to learn about Islam and memorize verses from the Koran) most mornings, has a good sense of humor, and is just generally pleasant to hang out with.
This is my host grandmother. I think she's nice; I don't really understand about 90% of the things she tells me.
This is Diame, my youngest host mom's daughter from a previous relationship. She came back from a trip to another village with those nasty sores, and they've been steadily getting better over the last few days.
This is Sarif, my host dad's older brother, who is sweet but difficult to understand, both in French and Pulaar, and is also blind. He lives one hut over from me on the family compound, and we chat most evenings before dinner.
For anyone who didn't go to Camp Unalayee, this is what I look like when it's hot hot hot out, I'm wearing two layers of sunblock, and I haven't washed my hair in 12 days.
This is Bineta. I like her (and her 5-year-old daughter Diouma) a lot. I think she is my host cousin.
Mankaba, Sajou, Diame, and a neighbor kid hanging around before dinnertime.
One of my host brothers playing in front of the satellite dish. We watch TV a few nights a week, usually when there's power and also a soccer game, traditional wrestling match, and/or an Indian soap opera on.
Diouma and her mom (my host mom) Kadje.
The view from the side of my hut at sunset.
Grinding up peanuts in the afternoon. (It is very fancy that my family has a grinder.) I'm lucky that all three of my host moms, my host sisters, and my host sister-in-law who also makes dinner, are all good cooks. I' also lucky that the family has enough money to buy onions, spices, and occasionally fish for the sauces that go over the rice at lunch and the couscous at dinner.
Ablaye is a cousin, I think, from the city of Tamba. I'm not sue why he lives with us right now.
This is my shadow on the karite/shea nuts drying in the sun.
Next up: How (and why) to make lotion out of Neem leaves!
Sajou Ba and Makaba, two of my many host brothers. They like me a lot.
Especially Sajou. He like to follow me around singing "Adama... Adama... Adama..." (That is my name.)
Mankaba and Diabou, my youngest host sibling. Over the last few weeks she's gone from being totally terrified of me to just sort of not liking it very much when I'm near her.
My host sister Mariama Gaulo. She's really smart, very responsible, and remarkably patient with me.
My host brother Mamadou. He's Mankaba's older brother, and a very good kid.
My host sister Fatimatou.
Alaji, one of my host cousins. I'm pretty sure. He has a fancy moto and often comes over and eats at the bowl I share with my two oldest host sisters at dinnertime.
Samba Diallo, a really nice neighbor. He, like many older people in village, is pretty much blind.
My host father and traditional chief, Sadat Souare. He teaches Koranic classes (kids come to learn about Islam and memorize verses from the Koran) most mornings, has a good sense of humor, and is just generally pleasant to hang out with.
This is my host grandmother. I think she's nice; I don't really understand about 90% of the things she tells me.
This is Diame, my youngest host mom's daughter from a previous relationship. She came back from a trip to another village with those nasty sores, and they've been steadily getting better over the last few days.
This is Sarif, my host dad's older brother, who is sweet but difficult to understand, both in French and Pulaar, and is also blind. He lives one hut over from me on the family compound, and we chat most evenings before dinner.
For anyone who didn't go to Camp Unalayee, this is what I look like when it's hot hot hot out, I'm wearing two layers of sunblock, and I haven't washed my hair in 12 days.
This is Bineta. I like her (and her 5-year-old daughter Diouma) a lot. I think she is my host cousin.
Mankaba, Sajou, Diame, and a neighbor kid hanging around before dinnertime.
One of my host brothers playing in front of the satellite dish. We watch TV a few nights a week, usually when there's power and also a soccer game, traditional wrestling match, and/or an Indian soap opera on.
Diouma and her mom (my host mom) Kadje.
The view from the side of my hut at sunset.
Grinding up peanuts in the afternoon. (It is very fancy that my family has a grinder.) I'm lucky that all three of my host moms, my host sisters, and my host sister-in-law who also makes dinner, are all good cooks. I' also lucky that the family has enough money to buy onions, spices, and occasionally fish for the sauces that go over the rice at lunch and the couscous at dinner.
Ablaye is a cousin, I think, from the city of Tamba. I'm not sue why he lives with us right now.
This is my shadow on the karite/shea nuts drying in the sun.
One of the many chickens and a few of the adorrrable new chicks running around...
One of the goats and adorrrrable little kids...
Next up: How (and why) to make lotion out of Neem leaves!
Trouble with the Interwebs
Bad news.
This isn't actually my laptop, but you get the idea. Thanks to Senegal's wildly unreliable power grid and all the recent lightning storms something went horribly wrong while I was charging my computer and now it doesn't so much turn on anymore. *sigh*
Luckily there is a somewhat-clunky-but-totally-functional house computer at the regional house, and other volunteers (especially Sully) have been unnecessarily gracious about letting me monopolize their laptops to upload photos and e-mail and everything.
This trip into town has had pretty sparse internet access for everyone, though. The wifi at the house has been sluggish and choppy (slower then cold molasses, one might say...) and frequently unplugged, due to the thunderstorms and lightning strikes that come with the onset of the rainy season.
So, until I can get a replacement laptop or netbook sent over (in a Diplomatic Pouch, doesn't that sound fancy and important?) I will not be able to Skype/e-mail/etc as much as I would like. O well, I suppose.
This isn't actually my laptop, but you get the idea. Thanks to Senegal's wildly unreliable power grid and all the recent lightning storms something went horribly wrong while I was charging my computer and now it doesn't so much turn on anymore. *sigh*
Luckily there is a somewhat-clunky-but-totally-functional house computer at the regional house, and other volunteers (especially Sully) have been unnecessarily gracious about letting me monopolize their laptops to upload photos and e-mail and everything.
This trip into town has had pretty sparse internet access for everyone, though. The wifi at the house has been sluggish and choppy (slower then cold molasses, one might say...) and frequently unplugged, due to the thunderstorms and lightning strikes that come with the onset of the rainy season.
So, until I can get a replacement laptop or netbook sent over (in a Diplomatic Pouch, doesn't that sound fancy and important?) I will not be able to Skype/e-mail/etc as much as I would like. O well, I suppose.
I Love Panoramas.
This is the view of the main cooking/eating/lounging area of the Souaré compound. My hut is off to the right. I spend a lot of time sitting around under this mango tree, smiling at people and trying to keep up with conversations. (Which is still really hard, and pretty tiring mentally, so I also tend to spend a lot of time zoning out and watching the chickens and goats running around getting into things.) For the first week or so I would sit around here with my host moms and drink the super-sweet tea that is so popular in Senegal, but I started to worry about my teeth melting from so much exposure to what is basically hot sugar syrup (also it kinda gives me a stomachache most of the time) so now I just sit around, shelling peanuts and pointing at the goats and saying goats! and so on.
Below is the closest well to my house. I am not so great at sloshing the bucket around to get it to fill up in an efficient way (also I don't have my own bucket on a rope and don't like having to go around asking to borrow one even though no one would mind at all) so I walk to the forage pump on other side of the field, at the elementary school, and pump my water there.
I generally pump one or two 15-liter buckets of water every day in village. I use a bucket with a lid, and I fill it up, strap it to the back of my bike, and ride/walk it back across the field and up the little hill to my hut. Even though most women (and many children) pull and haul a lot more water than that, a lot farther than that, and without the assistance of a bike, everyone clucks and says I am très brave to be fetching water all by myself.
Below is the closest well to my house. I am not so great at sloshing the bucket around to get it to fill up in an efficient way (also I don't have my own bucket on a rope and don't like having to go around asking to borrow one even though no one would mind at all) so I walk to the forage pump on other side of the field, at the elementary school, and pump my water there.
I generally pump one or two 15-liter buckets of water every day in village. I use a bucket with a lid, and I fill it up, strap it to the back of my bike, and ride/walk it back across the field and up the little hill to my hut. Even though most women (and many children) pull and haul a lot more water than that, a lot farther than that, and without the assistance of a bike, everyone clucks and says I am très brave to be fetching water all by myself.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Back to Salémata
It's been a busy morning, but I got all my paperwork printed off, picked up most of the stuff on my shopping list, and am ready to head back out to village for a few weeks.
Other than some serious laptop issues, it's been a very nice little visit to town. It was good to have a change of scenery, eat some pasta and ice-cold pineapple soda, and I had a good time staying with Melanie, one of the volunteers who lives right right near the Kédougou Regional House. Now a couple of us are just hanging out for a few hours, waiting for the next car back to Salémata to round up enough people to justify making the trip out to village.
I'll be back in wifi-territory by the end of the month, take care 'til then ~
Other than some serious laptop issues, it's been a very nice little visit to town. It was good to have a change of scenery, eat some pasta and ice-cold pineapple soda, and I had a good time staying with Melanie, one of the volunteers who lives right right near the Kédougou Regional House. Now a couple of us are just hanging out for a few hours, waiting for the next car back to Salémata to round up enough people to justify making the trip out to village.
I'll be back in wifi-territory by the end of the month, take care 'til then ~
Monday, June 6, 2011
Life in the Village
So. I have been living in Salémata for almost three weeks now, and things are going pretty well. I have one host father, three host mothers, and an entire fleet of host siblings, cousins, and I'm-not-sure-if-I-really-understand-how-we're-related-but-sure-yea-thanks-type relations. My host family is nice, and other than the to-be-expected awkwardness of moving in with a family of strangers, there haven't been any real problems. They've already hosted one volunteer, so they know about Peace Corps, and generally what to expect. However, specifics are sometimes tricky. For instance, the two oldest teenage girls expected to eat their meals with me. Just me. In my hut. While all of the other women and children ate together in the courtyard area. Which felt profoundly weird. I felt a little bit bad explaining that while I knew they meant well, I just didn't want to do that. They were mildly confused as to why I wouldn't want to eat in the comfort of my own room, but respected my wishes nonetheless.
I'm currently in my Observation Period, so I'm not supposed to be starting any big projects or anything like that yet. I'm supposed to use this time to get to know my way around, start to integrate into the community, and get a sense of how things work in the village. I've been working on my Pulaar language, getting furniture and things for my hut, reading under the mango tree during the heat of the day, fetching water, helping women shell peanuts in the courtyard, riding my bike around, and doing some prep work for my Baseline Survey. I also bought some house paint and color tints, and over the next few weeks I'm thinking of doing some small painting projects, maybe a World Map Mural at the nearby elementary school.
The staff at the Salémata Health Center (recently upgraded from being just a Health Post) seems really great and I've spent a few mornings just chillin' in the Health Center waiting room, introducing myself over and over again and feeling really weird about being invited to sit in on people's medical consultations. (It did turn out to be quite informative, though.) I also came for the monthly Vaccination Day and got to sit at a little table, helping the pharmacist fill out the vaccination ledger, and for a "causerie" meeting, where people from the Health Center and local NGOs got together with one of the local women's groups to talk about
I've posted some photos of my hut, and when I come back to town in a few weeks I'm planning on posting an album of my host family and some of the things I do around the village. And, of course, the castle.
I'm currently in my Observation Period, so I'm not supposed to be starting any big projects or anything like that yet. I'm supposed to use this time to get to know my way around, start to integrate into the community, and get a sense of how things work in the village. I've been working on my Pulaar language, getting furniture and things for my hut, reading under the mango tree during the heat of the day, fetching water, helping women shell peanuts in the courtyard, riding my bike around, and doing some prep work for my Baseline Survey. I also bought some house paint and color tints, and over the next few weeks I'm thinking of doing some small painting projects, maybe a World Map Mural at the nearby elementary school.
The staff at the Salémata Health Center (recently upgraded from being just a Health Post) seems really great and I've spent a few mornings just chillin' in the Health Center waiting room, introducing myself over and over again and feeling really weird about being invited to sit in on people's medical consultations. (It did turn out to be quite informative, though.) I also came for the monthly Vaccination Day and got to sit at a little table, helping the pharmacist fill out the vaccination ledger, and for a "causerie" meeting, where people from the Health Center and local NGOs got together with one of the local women's groups to talk about
I've posted some photos of my hut, and when I come back to town in a few weeks I'm planning on posting an album of my host family and some of the things I do around the village. And, of course, the castle.
Lessons Learned
In no particular order, here are a few of the things I have learned so far:
1. I've been told that the giant, scorpion-looking spider things (which are attracted to light and come skittering in around my feet when I turn on my headlamp at night) are harmless, but the caterpillar-ish centipede things (which I have not seen yet) have a nasty, poisonous bite.
2. My neighbor Sully was right about the Salémata Health Center having fantastic food. Last week (when I came to observe a 10:00am sanitation presentation that didn't wind up starting until 2:30pm) they invited me to have lunch with them and they served delicious rice and fish and vegetables.
3. You really can't buy vegetables in Salémata. Aside from a few sad little tomatoes and onions that sometimes show up at the weekly lumo market, you have to go 80 km (50 miles) to buy them at the market in Kédougou. Or plant a garden yourself.
4. Pulaar grammar and vocabulary is all sorts of fun. Jangugol means "to read," "to study," and "to learn." So no one really has any idea when I'm being a serious student and when I'm relaxing with a good book. Which and be both good and bad. Also, Pullo Fuuta has 24 classes of articles, meaning that there are 24 ways to say "the." It gets even better when you throw "these" and "that" and "this" into the mix...
5. I have come to think of 'cold' as a flavor. As Cady knows, it it currently my favorite flavor. Along with 'Snickers.' (I was not a huge fan of Snickers before, but I have recently realized that they are fantastic. And also almost entirely unavailable outside Dakar.)
4. My host brother was right about how much easier it is to fetch water by strapping the covered bucket on the back of my bike than it is to carry it on my head.
5. It was maybe not the best idea to read As I Lay Dying straight through in one ungodly hot afternoon. It put me in a strange mood and set me up for a series of extra-strange social interactions.
6. According to some people, my life here sounds just like Little House on the Prairie, except with a hut, and in the hills, and in Africa, and with texting. (I never actually read Little House on the Prairie, so I will have to take their word for it.)
7. Infinite Jest is long.1
8. I am really lucky to live in a village (almost more of a town, really) that has a bean sandwich lady. And extra-extra lucky that the beans are pretty tasty.
9. I can be needlessly difficult and contrarian at times. Particularly when I am hot and/or hungry. (This isn't so much something I have learned so much as been made more vividly aware of over the last few weeks...)
10. If everything goes well it takes three hours (squished in between a girl with two live chickens and a man holding a very small baby) in a van-type vehicle for me to get from Salémata to Kédougou. Yesterday everything went well, alhamdoulilaye.
________
1. In Senegalese culture it's really incredibly offensive to eat things in front of others without sharing (but serious nose-picking is ok) and people will not decline to eat half your Clif bar, bean sandwich, etc, if given the opportunity. If people have something they want to eat then they do it in their rooms or in some other non-public space, and so I frequently do the same, holing up in my hut to eat a secret apple or packet of Biskrem,a especially since lunch is often not until 2:00pm. Also, I don't yet feel comfortable openly using my laptop or iPod in village, so I only listen to music and podcasts at night and at naptime, and pretty much hide in my room whenever I have laptop-based work to do. Given all this daily pseudo-secrecy, combined with the fact that I have an assumed Senegalese name (Adama Hawa Souaré) and often pretend to be married or engaged, Infinite Jest is maybe not the worst book to be reading at this particular time in my life.b
________
a. Biskrem is an extremely tasty chocolate-creme filled cookie, produced by Ülker (a Turkish brand owned by the Yıldız Holding group) and wildly popular in Senegal, West Africa.
b. Apologies for all this footnote business to everyone except for the three of you who I am mostly sure will find it amusing.
1. I've been told that the giant, scorpion-looking spider things (which are attracted to light and come skittering in around my feet when I turn on my headlamp at night) are harmless, but the caterpillar-ish centipede things (which I have not seen yet) have a nasty, poisonous bite.
2. My neighbor Sully was right about the Salémata Health Center having fantastic food. Last week (when I came to observe a 10:00am sanitation presentation that didn't wind up starting until 2:30pm) they invited me to have lunch with them and they served delicious rice and fish and vegetables.
3. You really can't buy vegetables in Salémata. Aside from a few sad little tomatoes and onions that sometimes show up at the weekly lumo market, you have to go 80 km (50 miles) to buy them at the market in Kédougou. Or plant a garden yourself.
4. Pulaar grammar and vocabulary is all sorts of fun. Jangugol means "to read," "to study," and "to learn." So no one really has any idea when I'm being a serious student and when I'm relaxing with a good book. Which and be both good and bad. Also, Pullo Fuuta has 24 classes of articles, meaning that there are 24 ways to say "the." It gets even better when you throw "these" and "that" and "this" into the mix...
5. I have come to think of 'cold' as a flavor. As Cady knows, it it currently my favorite flavor. Along with 'Snickers.' (I was not a huge fan of Snickers before, but I have recently realized that they are fantastic. And also almost entirely unavailable outside Dakar.)
4. My host brother was right about how much easier it is to fetch water by strapping the covered bucket on the back of my bike than it is to carry it on my head.
5. It was maybe not the best idea to read As I Lay Dying straight through in one ungodly hot afternoon. It put me in a strange mood and set me up for a series of extra-strange social interactions.
6. According to some people, my life here sounds just like Little House on the Prairie, except with a hut, and in the hills, and in Africa, and with texting. (I never actually read Little House on the Prairie, so I will have to take their word for it.)
7. Infinite Jest is long.1
8. I am really lucky to live in a village (almost more of a town, really) that has a bean sandwich lady. And extra-extra lucky that the beans are pretty tasty.
9. I can be needlessly difficult and contrarian at times. Particularly when I am hot and/or hungry. (This isn't so much something I have learned so much as been made more vividly aware of over the last few weeks...)
10. If everything goes well it takes three hours (squished in between a girl with two live chickens and a man holding a very small baby) in a van-type vehicle for me to get from Salémata to Kédougou. Yesterday everything went well, alhamdoulilaye.
________
1. In Senegalese culture it's really incredibly offensive to eat things in front of others without sharing (but serious nose-picking is ok) and people will not decline to eat half your Clif bar, bean sandwich, etc, if given the opportunity. If people have something they want to eat then they do it in their rooms or in some other non-public space, and so I frequently do the same, holing up in my hut to eat a secret apple or packet of Biskrem,a especially since lunch is often not until 2:00pm. Also, I don't yet feel comfortable openly using my laptop or iPod in village, so I only listen to music and podcasts at night and at naptime, and pretty much hide in my room whenever I have laptop-based work to do. Given all this daily pseudo-secrecy, combined with the fact that I have an assumed Senegalese name (Adama Hawa Souaré) and often pretend to be married or engaged, Infinite Jest is maybe not the worst book to be reading at this particular time in my life.b
________
a. Biskrem is an extremely tasty chocolate-creme filled cookie, produced by Ülker (a Turkish brand owned by the Yıldız Holding group) and wildly popular in Senegal, West Africa.
b. Apologies for all this footnote business to everyone except for the three of you who I am mostly sure will find it amusing.
Slightly Famous
 |
| This is pretty much everything I own. |
So, about three weeks ago, as I was loading this pile of gear into the Land Cruiser to go out and get installed in Salémata, the village where I will live for the next two years, and the driver says "Hey, Adama! I saw you on TV!"
It turns out that RTS, a very popular Senegalese television network, had aired a bit on the Peace Corps and included a short French interview with me from our swearing-in ceremony the week before, and even though there aren't very many TVs in Salémata, it seemed like everyone had seen it. The Peace Corps driver, my host family, the neighbors, my counterparts, the entire Salémata Health Center staff...
It is a singular and mildly surreal thing to spend the same morning moving into a little hut and having a dozen little conversations about how yes, that was me on television last night.
Flashback: Site Assignments
I just came across these photos from our site assignments, during Pre-Service Training. They gave us blindfolds and had us line up...
... and then, while blindfolded, lead us out onto a giant map of Senegal, stood us each on our respective villages, and then told us all to take off our blindfolds at the same time, so we could see who our neighbors would be.
It was a fun, very summer-camp-ish way of going about the whole site announcement thing.
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