I've been in Senegal for 12 days now and what a whirlwind it has been. Time is elastic here. I feel like it's been a month at the very least. I flew into Washington DC March 8th for Peace Corps Senegal staging and met 40+ new amazing friends! We talked about our fears, anxieties, excitement and realized we are all in the same boat, which was a lovely feeling! After orientation some of us went out for a delicious last dinner of SUSHI in America and to a piano bar to get our fill of Miley Cyrus and such before leaving the states.
March 9th we got immunizations and hopped a plane to AFRICA! The plane was pretty pimped out with all kinds of tv shows, movies, games and even a video of take off. We flew over night and arrived in SENEGAL March 10th and promptly took a van to our training center in Thies (pronounced Chez).
Since then we have had a slew of trainings ranging from professional development to "how to poop in Senegal." We have planted gardens, learned about culture, religion, language, etc. We have also had a good amount of fun. I have the most diverse group of Americans possible. We enjoy random dance parties, volleyball games, yoga, and other fun activities. Every day of the first week was packed full of learning and fun.
March 15th we all left the training center for home stays. Everyone is placed in a different family that speaks the local language that they are learning. I am learning Puula Fuuta but others in my group are learning Seerer, Mandinka, Wolof, Puular du Norde, and Fuuta Kuunda. We are all placed in small language groups that meet in our village daily with a Senegalese language instructor. My family is small in Senegalese standards. I have a dad, two brothers, two sisters, an aunt and uncle, a niece and nephew and cousin living in my compound. They gave me the name Kanni, last name BA. We went to our homestays with only one language session under our belt which was akward and intimidating when placed with a family that speaks no English, but like children we are slowly improving.
In addition to daily language training I have been attempting to keep my sanity while eating around a bowl with 10-12 other people (many non-handwashers and snotty children included). Other new adventures are using a latrine, aka hole in the ground, for a potty, running in sand, and bucket bathing...oh the joy of it all! I have however picked up a radi addiction. Radi is frozen fruit juice bought in a ziplock back and it is delightful and unsanitary at the same time...I make a habit of eating several a day.
Yesterday, March 21, we returned to the training center for a few days of technical training and leave for our homestays again on Wednesday. We will be spending the majority of training at our homestays. This is a curse and a blessing at the same time because I love our group and it is sad for us to be seperated, but it will force us to learn the language and culture much faster. I am elated to be back at the training center eating good food and taking actual showers. I suddenly feel like I'm staying at the Hyatt, when day one I thought it might pass for nasty camp dorm. My feet are hardly even dirty in this heavenly cloud called the peace corps training center.
I will try to update my blog more often, but our access to internet is limited and time to ourselves barely exsists. I love and miss you all so much! Thanks for all love, thoughts and prayers from home!
