VIllage Views

"Always there has been an adventure just around the corner - and the world is still full of corners!" -Roy Chapman Andrews, quoted in Remarkable Creatures

Ive fallen into a comfortable village routine that leaves me feeling humbly accomplished as the sun ties the day off.

Now that Ive got a loose plan with a penciled in calendar, Ive shifted my thoughts to what goes on beside the daily tasks. Im tempted to Google the population count of people with this lifestyle that is new and still regularly surprising to me. I live in a town of less than 500 people that is a nice 2 hour bike ride from my bank and post office. Mind you, it does take just as long on public transportation due to tip-toeing along the poorly managed roads, stopping at every village to deposit passengers.

My area is not exactly a tourist attraction, so most of the munchkins in my village and those without reason to travel have never seen an American/white person a.k.a. “Toubob.” This makes everyone very curious and interested in me. Perhaps with little luck, I’ll be able to break some of the American stereotypes. From what I understand, they think that we are all rich, don’t or cant work hard, don’t have a worry in the world, own weapons, and are aware that we only marry one person, but some seem convinced that we can become one of their wives. In short, I’m the shiny new toy.

This attention is appreciated when it results in more cabbage on my side of the bowl or a full bucket of bath water, fresh from the well, but this is nearly a fascination that leaves me with little privacy. My name (Homa J.) is chanted when I walk through vil, everyone wants to greet me or have a look around my room, and they even ask for my clothing or to take them to America.

Ive become this person that I do not recognize sometimes. If any of my friends (or their families) were asked how long it took me to warm up and spat out what was on my mind, they would probably reveal that I was annoyingly shy for the first year. Being under the microscope has expedited that process, which may correlate with my stress level. Although I previously would have considered myself a morning person, I do not want to shake the hand of every person and ask three versions of “Did you wake up?” to know that they are going to say “Peace Only.”

–frazzled—I do it anyways because it is part of the culture, but only after I have adequate wake-up time behind my locked door. After lunch is an opportune time to sit in my thoughts and do what I please as everyone seems to retreat to their huts to nap or get out of the heat. Did I say everyone… I meant everyone except the children that are then somehow satisfyily stuffed with rice and playing. I take this time to read or study. I would like to sit visibly outside under the mango tree instead of closing myself into my room, but herds of kids staring and whispering are rather distracting no matter how frivolous my thoughts. Sometimes I just want to be in a quite (and perhaps air-conditioned) room with a sizeable desk. Don’t jump to hasty conclusions, Im in no way being unsociable or “cushioned in cotton.” This aspect of solitude is more important than I realized. How much time do you spend with your computer, phone, or books?

So, Ive found a little comfort in my schedule that now has time for those things important to me that they will not understand here. The word “integrate” is overused among volunteers, like we are going to actually blend in with our 4 year old language level, pigment-lacking skin, and the privileged, but incompetent persona.
I am here learning and hopefully teaching a little in return, living in what sometimes feels like a different world, and I am (maybe most importantly) enjoying this experience.

"Every traveller must remember the glowing sense of happiness, from the simple consciousness of breathing in a foreign clime," Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle

Welcoming committee

After being away from site for 3 whopping weeks, I finally returned to my sweet, chanting kids. I do mean that sincerely. They sing "Homa J, ay!" over and over while clapping and frolicking around for me, even if I only spend a couple nights elsewhere. At least they like me. Ive been trying to upload the video with no success, but maybe Ill get a better connection at some point. Im told that Im lucky that they seem to care about me so much because the families of some volunteers hardly turn after their time away.

I started a tree nursery with my counterpart/brother, Tijane, in our compound. He is really thoughtful and makes sure Im taken care of. The prep work of even the most simple tasks make themso much more tedious. Prior to planting, we had to collect sand and manure, build a protective fence to keep all of the little e-i-e-o farm animals out, dig a trench to sink the tree sacks into the ground, and finally sink our hands into the sand-manure cocktail to fill our first 100 sacks!
They actually brought us breakfast as we were packing in the soil... I promise I really dont want rice porridge that badly.

The bird is not in its ounces and inches, but in its relations to Nature –Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was presented a gift from my family the other day for my share of cotton picking! I found it difficult to accept a gift from them, but rejection was even more inappropriate. They gave me material to make a "complet" dress set and explained that we would all wear our matching tie-dye clothing together for the next party, baptism, or wedding. See, surely like me.

Contact: I lost my phone 2 weeks ago, but was surprisingly content in village without having any outside contact. I just took a step further off of the grid...
Dont worry nana, I cant stay out here without a phone (temp number: 77 214 1018) . The best part is that someone found it! And the cheery Senegalese man refuses to return it.

Health update!

So I may have a inflamed ligament along my lumbar spine. If you look at my back, however, it looks like a vertebrae has been plucked out and slightly shifted over to the right. I noticed gradual discomfort as I stretched and did yoga that finally became a very focused pain present even when I lay down. This was not okay.
I got Xrays that only concluded that I have an abnormally small lumbar spinal canal. While odd, this is my normal. To cover all bases we also drew some blood for standard tests. Im a nutty cookie, I actually like watching the doctor administer shots, extract blood, and prick me in general. Its not totally in left field since my mom is a phlebotomist and has stuck me several times without warning. Hmm, Id rather not pull this through further analysis. With hopes of my back aches being muscular, the doc prescribed a sheet of muscle relaxers and 2 labor-free weeks in village. The only result was a loopy Jessica that went to bed even earlier than usual. Two and a half months and no resolution meant another doctor visit. This time they wanted to look at my bones! So I got a CT Scan. The results came on an ordinary sheet and high resolution cd, which was the coolest 3 dimensional trip through my body. I could build a clay mold of myself based on this thing, batteries organs included!
Today I started Physical Therapy (ESTIM, Ultrasound, and massage). I think the ultrasound it really interesting because it feels like a timid massage when it is actually sending alternating compressing and refracting sound waves into my connective tissue! My ligaments and tendons are a little happier this evening.
Side note: nudity is not a touchy issue in doctors' offices in Senegal
The problem is that tendons are slow healers that take months to make new collogen. This country is testing my patience in several ways.

More Training

After a 2 month crash course in language followed by 3 months at site, its time again to return to the Thies Training Center for IST (in service training) to get down and dirty (literally) with the real technical work we’ll be doing in village.

--giddy happy dance--

"I feel like a bunch of spiders are going to come out and insneer my body” - Frank slicing open a found caterpillar cocoon.

Tree walk: Since I am in the best sector, Agroforestry, we got out of drooling in front of powerpoints all day and went to collect seeds. Over the span of a couple hours, we collected about 8 tree species. We exhausted all means of gathering seed pods, including crouching through thorny tangles of Acacia, whacking pods down to the ground and onto our heads with rakes, and most excitingly, climbing in the tree and shaking it vigorously (see above photo of Justin Ross).

We dont stop there. All 20 of us found too much enjoyment in mixing sand, manure, and water to fill baby tree sacks! Im going to have to accomplish the same task in villages, but with less people, coordination, and general understanding. People are definitely willing to work, the trick is getting the ball rolling.

We planted about 150 trees into the small plastic sacks to the left. Again, I'm hopefully going to extend about 500 trees to three different gardens and a Moringa miracle tree to each house in my village.
Training is going to put me out of village for about 2 weeks, which seems like such a stretch, but it has thankfully been useful at least 2/3 of the time.

We were able to map out a calendar, which might be most important for our Ag group because all of our work is dependent on the seasons. We have a small crunch between now and when the "rains come" in June or July (depending on the region) because the rainy season marks the beginning of tree outplanting! Im excited for all of my potential work and all of the obstacles that are going to come along.

This and That

“MA!”

It has taken 2 months for me to earn the trust of this nearly two year old "niece" of mine, Janabo. I am the first PC Volunteer in Saare Meta.That leaves me wondering how long it is going to take the rest of the village to trust me or to even lose some of their fresh out of the oven curiosity of the well-meaning American, desperately trying to adjust to their lifestyle and culture.

This is where I sit for several hours of my daily routine, writing in my journal or to friends at home, reading the hopeful novels I’ve inherited from other volunteers, or studying this new language of mine, Pulaar. Common greetings that I get because of these actions are, “You’re writing?” and “You’re reading/studying (they are the same word)?”. Why, yes, I am. There is sometimes something beautiful in the simplicity of the language, which reflects how the majority of needs are still on a basic level. On a lighter note, this also makes for difficult translation of their favorite Senegalese star, Akon, who does not have the most romantic language. In translating only every few lines, the song meaning shifts enough to make the Pulaar words leaving my mouth comfortable.

Since early training, I have tried to translate several English sayings into Pulaar with limited success. My latest was when I told my “sister” that you can say “My nose is running” in English. With little amusement (as Im often showed when I expect something to be funny) she said you can’t say that, I have a cold. Hmmmf.

Travelling Back to My Vil:

During my car ride back to vil today, I decided to make a list of TYPICAL things that I see because I realized that I tend to only take photos of new things.

1.Bean Sandwich Shacks: The lovely ladies in these partially enclosed (by any kind of found material, tin, cloth, etc.) shacks cook a variety of sandwiches toppered with beans, petite pois, onion sauce, macaroni noodles, tuna, and eggs. I love bean sandwiches and may miss them in America.

2. Taxis & "Alhams" are chaotically scattered in every direction like ants. Don't let this fool you, however, they are the most perceptive drivers. There are roundabouts, no red lights, any side of the road is appropriate depending on the location of the heaping holes, and pedestrians better watch out! I hear that many people start driving before they are teenagers.

3.People:
-Talibe kids beg for kalis/money (I only give them food and in this case half of my pear)
-Street vendors usually sell food items along heavily travelled roads and they come in packs!
-Squatters- (n) people in a baseball catchers stance, that cam be found relaxing under shade trees to avoid standing or getting covered in dust on the floor.

4.The Road, from excellent and new to pothole infested, in conjunction with dinosaur cars, makes travelling an adventure every time. I saw a cross walk, but I couldn't identify why it was needed to go from a small village to the bush on the other side.
5. Termite mounds. They are like Barbies mountains.

6. Head carrying, usually performed by women with any imaginable object!
7. Roadside villages
8. Random little monkeys running across the road and into a tree.
9. 3 herds of cattle that we successfully meandered through
10.Mud brick construction sites or lonely standing walls (because they ran out of money before completion)

WAIST 2012

After a few days crammed in the Thies Training Center with all of the surrounding volunteers (from Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Togo), we loaded up the PC bus to head towards Dakar for WAIST (the West African Invitational Softball Tournament). The event includes teams outside of Peace Corps, like ex-pats and embassy employees that take the games quite seriously. PC teams forfeited nearly all of the games with the reasoning of having fun without irritating the other team completely. The acronym for WAIST is quite suitable for the event.
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For volunteers, on the other hand, the more important detail seems to be the region themed costumes. My region, Kolda was “South of the Border/Wild West.” Naturally, I took on the role of Jessi from Toy Story with my friend Mary dressed as my partner in crime, Woody. The theme of Dakar was "French," Kaolack was "Boy Scouts and Girlscouts," St. Louis was "the Scuba Corps," Linguere was "Suits," and Tamba/Kedegou was simply "Baseball." Thank you, Thierno, our local tailor who is a wonder worker of fabric and wild ideas.
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Going to Dakar is like stepping through Narnia’s closet. During the last week, we were able to truly experience Dakar, which I like to view as a bubble completely detached from the Africa that I now live in. As the week progressed, I couldn’t help but wonder if the American families living in Dakar had any idea about the true living conditions and culture outside of this heavily western influenced city.
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It is here that I have experienced homemade chili & cornbread, Korean soup, French cuisine, and a grocery store with cheese and ice cream! I cannot begin to put into words how volunteers are drawn into this overwhelming American grocery store… if only our pay could support their prices.

Talent Show: I almost didn’t go because of our tiring journey into Dakar that evening, but Im glad that I did because the charming photo that I entered into a contest won! Thank you my dear Frank for fulfilling the Humor requirements.
----Frank
Prom: Although I first rolled my eyes at the thought of having a masquerade PC Prom, it was a success
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