So... I apologize it's been a really long time since I've updated this blog. I was actually thinking about deleting my blog, but decided what the hell I'll leave it up and try and write in it every now and then. I was never a "blogger" in the states and don't know why I thought I would keep up with it here... so just bear with me and I'll try to come up with some interesting things to say.
That being said.... damn I can't believe here for over 5 months already! I mean... it seems like just yesterday I was stepping off the plane, getting thrown in a bus bound for the training center, and having absolutely no idea what the hell I was getting myself into.
The cold season is making its escape, as I'm sure those volunteers down south can testify. It is getting hotter every day here, which I guess just happens until it rains for a long time, is still hot, and muggy, and the streets of Dakar are filled with sewage, and you can't grow any vegetables. Sounds.... great?
But, it still gets pretty cold at night here right now, and during the peak of the cold season it would get down to the low 60's where it was too cold to shower every day (sorry, I'm not sorry). And yeah, low 60's is freaking cold... I know you're rolling your eyes... but I'm sorry you don't set your house to 63 degrees and take a cold shower. Especially when you're already used to 80-90-100 degree weather. But yeah, packing my sleeping bag was absolutely necessary, and I still need it at night.
Ok... so whats new you might ask? I just got done with a very busy month involving West-Africa's All Volunteer Conference, WAIST (Softball tournament), and IST (In-Service Training). All volunteer conference was great, as there were elective presentations from volunteers in Senegal and neighboring countries who shared their projects with us. The softball tournament was a nice touch of America: softball, beer, and REAL GRASS (sorry I see a lot of sand here). Our team didn't win or anything, but it was an awesome weekend with various events to really get to know other volunteers from Senegal, Guinea, Gambia, Cameroon, Benin, Burkina-Fasso, etc.
In-Service Training was 2 weeks of nonstop gardening classes (and really pointless nationally required sessions about who knows what?) The gardening stuff was actually really helpful, answered a lot of questions I had, and sent me back to site with some great new ideas for my current gardens. The best part is I got to spend the whole 2 weeks with my awesome 56 stagemates, who are all really great to have around. Sadly, it will be the last time our whole agriculture stage will be in the same place at the same time until next All-Vol Conference. I'll miss everyone, except Urban Ags are obviously the best and I'll see them at our training in May down in Kedougou, the land of monkeys and rivers and waterfalls! Sounds magical compared to my concrete jungle, doesn't it?
Life in Dakar is.... interesting... to say the least. Sometimes I love the place, sometimes I don't want to leave my room, and sometimes I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I definitely take a lot of shit from the other volunteers, because I have running water, electricity, etc. And yes there's ice cream downtown, sure I can go to Chinese, Lebanese, Ethiopian, Cape Verdean, etc restaurants. Sure I can go to the grocery store, or the mall, or bowling. But... in general... I don't. There's not really money for me to be noosing (having fun/spending money) all day every day. Or even every other week for that matter. When other volunteers come to Dakar, they're here to spend money, to eat at restaurants, to go to the beach. I'm here to work, and given if the right group of people come to town and I'm not working that evening I'll go out for a beer after eating dinner with my family.
But... being in the city isn't all amenities at no cost... the trade off? In general, you can find my ginger ass pedaling down the busy streets as fast as I can so as not to get hit by a bus. Or, riding busses smashed in with 50 Senegalese people trying to get to my gardens. I've had two pick pocket attempts (both on busses) on me since I've moved to Dakar 3 months ago. Last time, I pushed the dude onto the ground of the bus, gave him a Wolof "F*ck you!", flipped the bird and went on my way. People are just more agressive here, and that's a fact... sometimes I wonder if I'd be happier in a small town where everyone knows me, I can go for a run without worrying about getting hit by cars, and people are generally nicer. Who knows? I love the city... and more times than not if somebody is bothering me there's enough people around to come to my defense, but it definitely wears on my patience at times.
My family is still absolutely amazing. They are always willing to chat and hang out when I'm around, or let me chill in my room and read if I'm in 'one of those moods'. Sometimes they make fun of me like: "today you don't speak Wolof"... I'm just like: "It's true.. I'm tired today, sorry." But other days I'm complimented on how well I'm speaking. My family always makes sure I've had enough to eat, and is always willing to help out in any way whether it be language, figuring out prices of things, directions, etc. They really make my time worthwhile here, and I think my most important job in the Peace Corps is learning about and sharing cultural differences with Americans, while sharing my own American upbringing and values to minimize stereotypes from both ends. I definitely don't feel like a stranger here anymore, and every day is getting easier (although I need to keep studying language which I've been slacking). I'm sure I'll bring home with me some bizarr behavioral changes that you guys can all laugh at after my service.
Ok... sorry but I've reached my limit of being able to write a blog post. My projects are going well, and I will talk more about them and other side projects in my next post. I've been asked to put more pictures on here, but it's really a pain in the ass so if you look on Facebook you can find them there... or just email me and I'll be happy to send them to you!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The New Boy Dakar
Hello everybody. I suppose I should do another blog post for your entertainment. So what's happened since the last one? Ok... I finished training and moved out of my training site. Then we spent a few days at the training center to have an end of training party and take our language and technical tests. The party was great and I was able to bring my training mother and her granddaughter (the chubby baby in my Facebook picture). After finishing all of that we then went to Dakar for our swearing-in ceremony.
The ceremony took place at the US Ambassador of Senegal's house. It was lead by my Wolof teacher, with speeches from our PC Country Director, the US Ambassador, and others. It was a nice ceremony and my group can now call ourselves volunteers instead of trainees which is nice. Following the ceremony was an appetizer frenzy where we all shoved as many deviled eggs and mini pizzas in our faces as possible like we haven't eaten in weeks. We all wore our traditional Senegalese clothes making for some very colorful photos of our training groups and sectors.
The day of the ceremony we went back to the Training Center to have a party to celebrate ourselves as new volunteers. Over the next few days more and more people began installing to their permanent sites for the next two years. It was definitely bittersweet, as these friends we've made over the two months of training are now scattered in all corners of Senegal. Although in a couple months we will have an all volunteers conference and softball tournament where I'll get to see everybody again.
So other than that... I've spent the last week in Dakar trying to get to know the place. I've ridden busses all over the place learning when to get off for my gardens and which busses go where. My family here is awesome, and I'm really fortunate to be the 5th volunteer that has stayed with them. They are very understanding of Western culture, letting me do my own thing if I want to.. or hanging out with me drinking tea and teaching me new Wolof phrases. The language is definitely a bit different and more hip in the cities so I'm picking up some good sayings. I've got a nice room separate from the main house, in which the person before me left some furniture and a bed so I really didn't need to pick anything up once I moved here. I've really enjoyed my stay in Dakar so far, and everyday I find something new and exciting to try. I've actually just started riding my bike around, which seems dangerous at first but really isn't too bad when you're going just as fast (slow) as all of the traffic around you. Dakar definitely presents it's own challenges when it comes to working here.. but I'm really looking forward to knowing this city well. I've started some work on my gardens already, and look forward to what the next two years will bring.
The ceremony took place at the US Ambassador of Senegal's house. It was lead by my Wolof teacher, with speeches from our PC Country Director, the US Ambassador, and others. It was a nice ceremony and my group can now call ourselves volunteers instead of trainees which is nice. Following the ceremony was an appetizer frenzy where we all shoved as many deviled eggs and mini pizzas in our faces as possible like we haven't eaten in weeks. We all wore our traditional Senegalese clothes making for some very colorful photos of our training groups and sectors.
The day of the ceremony we went back to the Training Center to have a party to celebrate ourselves as new volunteers. Over the next few days more and more people began installing to their permanent sites for the next two years. It was definitely bittersweet, as these friends we've made over the two months of training are now scattered in all corners of Senegal. Although in a couple months we will have an all volunteers conference and softball tournament where I'll get to see everybody again.
So other than that... I've spent the last week in Dakar trying to get to know the place. I've ridden busses all over the place learning when to get off for my gardens and which busses go where. My family here is awesome, and I'm really fortunate to be the 5th volunteer that has stayed with them. They are very understanding of Western culture, letting me do my own thing if I want to.. or hanging out with me drinking tea and teaching me new Wolof phrases. The language is definitely a bit different and more hip in the cities so I'm picking up some good sayings. I've got a nice room separate from the main house, in which the person before me left some furniture and a bed so I really didn't need to pick anything up once I moved here. I've really enjoyed my stay in Dakar so far, and everyday I find something new and exciting to try. I've actually just started riding my bike around, which seems dangerous at first but really isn't too bad when you're going just as fast (slow) as all of the traffic around you. Dakar definitely presents it's own challenges when it comes to working here.. but I'm really looking forward to knowing this city well. I've started some work on my gardens already, and look forward to what the next two years will bring.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Site Announcement: Dakar!
Hey everyone, I know it's been awhile since I've updated this blog... but I've been quite busy the last couple of weeks. I've spent the last month at my training site with a home-stay family in Bayakh, Thies, Senegal. The family I'm staying with is very nice and conducive to studying Wolof. We basically spend every morning studying language, and the afternoons conversing in Wolof with the family or friends while drinking Senegalese tea. My language has really come a long way since starting training, and I need to keep practicing so that I will be proficient by the time I get to site.
And now for the exciting news.... I'll be moving to Dakar in December!! Dakar is the capitol of Senegal, and is a large trading city for all of West Africa. I'm really lucky to be placed there, as not many first year volunteers get the opportunity to live in the city. I'll be living in a neighborhood called Patte d'Oie, which is right next to the national soccer stadium of Senegal. I just got back from visiting the volunteer that I'll be replacing, as he was willing to stay a few extra weeks to give me a tour of the city and show me the urban gardens I'll be taking over.
I'll be working at four different gardens to start. Two of which are at a hospital in the city here: one large garden for the HIV/AIDS patients in the hospital, and another garden in the psychiatric ward. It was funny as we walked into the psychiatric ward garden the first patient we saw goes: "Hi, I'm (can't remember his name) and I want to be a pilot." Immediately we responded with: "That's interesting, do you want to sit in the garden while we water?". It seems like this will be an endless supply of stories and conversations to come. Another garden I'll work on is at a youth prison, where the guards are really friendly and the prisoners seem like they'll be hard and dedicated workers. The final garden is at a high school. All of the gardens are at varying stages of being self-sustained by their workers, so it will be nice to have some gardens to learn from and others to take into my own hands and make my own. Almost all of the gardens I'll have to get to by public transportation, which is going to be a lot of trial and error of me trying to figure out where busses are going, and when to get off.
Overall, I'm really excited to be placed in Dakar... I asked to be in a large city and certainly got just that. I got the chance to meet my new host family, and it sounds like I'll have a nice setup in my neighborhood. Especially with good food all over the place. After volunteer visit we have a few days here in the training center, and I'll be moving back to my training site in Bayakh until the end of November. I'm especially excited to get back into the routine of language learning, as knowing Wolof will certainly build some street credibility in Dakar. It's definitely going to be weird that I left America for the Peace Corps, and will end up living in a larger city than Indianapolis. I cannot be more excited, and I'll try to post some pictures on here since I've obviously been lacking those. Other than that, I've managed to stay healthy and am really enjoying myself over here. Until next post... thanks for reading!
And now for the exciting news.... I'll be moving to Dakar in December!! Dakar is the capitol of Senegal, and is a large trading city for all of West Africa. I'm really lucky to be placed there, as not many first year volunteers get the opportunity to live in the city. I'll be living in a neighborhood called Patte d'Oie, which is right next to the national soccer stadium of Senegal. I just got back from visiting the volunteer that I'll be replacing, as he was willing to stay a few extra weeks to give me a tour of the city and show me the urban gardens I'll be taking over.
I'll be working at four different gardens to start. Two of which are at a hospital in the city here: one large garden for the HIV/AIDS patients in the hospital, and another garden in the psychiatric ward. It was funny as we walked into the psychiatric ward garden the first patient we saw goes: "Hi, I'm (can't remember his name) and I want to be a pilot." Immediately we responded with: "That's interesting, do you want to sit in the garden while we water?". It seems like this will be an endless supply of stories and conversations to come. Another garden I'll work on is at a youth prison, where the guards are really friendly and the prisoners seem like they'll be hard and dedicated workers. The final garden is at a high school. All of the gardens are at varying stages of being self-sustained by their workers, so it will be nice to have some gardens to learn from and others to take into my own hands and make my own. Almost all of the gardens I'll have to get to by public transportation, which is going to be a lot of trial and error of me trying to figure out where busses are going, and when to get off.
Overall, I'm really excited to be placed in Dakar... I asked to be in a large city and certainly got just that. I got the chance to meet my new host family, and it sounds like I'll have a nice setup in my neighborhood. Especially with good food all over the place. After volunteer visit we have a few days here in the training center, and I'll be moving back to my training site in Bayakh until the end of November. I'm especially excited to get back into the routine of language learning, as knowing Wolof will certainly build some street credibility in Dakar. It's definitely going to be weird that I left America for the Peace Corps, and will end up living in a larger city than Indianapolis. I cannot be more excited, and I'll try to post some pictures on here since I've obviously been lacking those. Other than that, I've managed to stay healthy and am really enjoying myself over here. Until next post... thanks for reading!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
I MADE IT!!!
I flew into Dakar on Saturday, as my previous post stated. I didn't get much sleep on the plane, well, I didn't get ANY sleep on the plane. We landed at 6:00 am and bussed it straight to Thies for training. The first day was exhausting and proved hard to stay awake after all 57 of us had pulled an all nighter. Oh well, after two nights sleep I'm feeling much better.
Anyway, Thies is AWESOME. So far, we've taken some basic "survival Wolof" courses and endured safety lectures, medical lectures, culture lessons, and pretty much anything else you could think of while visiting an African country. The Senegalese trainers are some of the kindest people I have ever met, and are really helping to get everyone excited to serve for 2 years in the Peace Corps.
Today, we had an oral French interview... which I surprisingly still know quite a bit since not taking classes since high school. I also had an Urban Agriculture interview, where our superiors begin to decide which post would be the best fit for me after I finish Preservice Training. On Monday, we will find out which of the 8 possible native languages we will begin to learn.
We've spent most of our time inside the compound of the training center. Yesterday was our first day we were allowed to leave the compound, and had the chance to walk through the markets and get a taste of real Senegalese life. This morning I went for a jog around town... ok, it's not a town... 1.5 million people live in Thies. Anyway, it is pretty funny to see the stares that I get.... It's not everyday the locals see a white man with beautiful curly red hair running down the street. Some of the children think it's funny to point and say, "Bonjour, Toubab!" (Hello, white man). I can't help but laugh along because it's just so damn cute. Yesterday, while I was in the market wearing a green shirt and bandana, some kid pointed and said, "Look it's Peter Pan!!". Pretty funny, I just hope the nickname doesn't stick with the other volunteers, haha.
I'm beginning to get to know a lot of the other volunteers pretty well. We spend much of our free time socializing and trying to get to know one another. With over 260 volunteers in all of Senegal, there will be a vast support network in case I ever really need to talk or see someones face. And, the girl-guy ratio is 60-40.... so that works for me. I really enjoy lunches, where we eat on the floor out of large community bowls with about 5 people surrounding each bowl. It really promotes bonding during meals, and I begin to wonder why we don't do this at home. We have a little bar about a five minute walk away from the training center, where I had a beer or two with some of the volunteers and trainees last night. It was nice to relax, and a few of us really got to practice French with some of the locals at the bar. A funny note, Senegal is 90-95% Muslim depending on who you ask... so the bar is run by a Catholic family. That's why when someone asks, "What did you do last night after dinner?"... you can respond, "I went to church."
It's getting to be about dinner time here, so I better wrap up this post. They've been spoiling us with Americanized food to start off our journey (last night we had beef brisket and french fries with ketchup). Hopefully, this gives you some sort of idea of how things are going so far. I haven't gotten the chance to take many pictures as of yet, but I'll be here for 2 years.... they're coming... don't worry.
Anyway, Thies is AWESOME. So far, we've taken some basic "survival Wolof" courses and endured safety lectures, medical lectures, culture lessons, and pretty much anything else you could think of while visiting an African country. The Senegalese trainers are some of the kindest people I have ever met, and are really helping to get everyone excited to serve for 2 years in the Peace Corps.
Today, we had an oral French interview... which I surprisingly still know quite a bit since not taking classes since high school. I also had an Urban Agriculture interview, where our superiors begin to decide which post would be the best fit for me after I finish Preservice Training. On Monday, we will find out which of the 8 possible native languages we will begin to learn.
We've spent most of our time inside the compound of the training center. Yesterday was our first day we were allowed to leave the compound, and had the chance to walk through the markets and get a taste of real Senegalese life. This morning I went for a jog around town... ok, it's not a town... 1.5 million people live in Thies. Anyway, it is pretty funny to see the stares that I get.... It's not everyday the locals see a white man with beautiful curly red hair running down the street. Some of the children think it's funny to point and say, "Bonjour, Toubab!" (Hello, white man). I can't help but laugh along because it's just so damn cute. Yesterday, while I was in the market wearing a green shirt and bandana, some kid pointed and said, "Look it's Peter Pan!!". Pretty funny, I just hope the nickname doesn't stick with the other volunteers, haha.
I'm beginning to get to know a lot of the other volunteers pretty well. We spend much of our free time socializing and trying to get to know one another. With over 260 volunteers in all of Senegal, there will be a vast support network in case I ever really need to talk or see someones face. And, the girl-guy ratio is 60-40.... so that works for me. I really enjoy lunches, where we eat on the floor out of large community bowls with about 5 people surrounding each bowl. It really promotes bonding during meals, and I begin to wonder why we don't do this at home. We have a little bar about a five minute walk away from the training center, where I had a beer or two with some of the volunteers and trainees last night. It was nice to relax, and a few of us really got to practice French with some of the locals at the bar. A funny note, Senegal is 90-95% Muslim depending on who you ask... so the bar is run by a Catholic family. That's why when someone asks, "What did you do last night after dinner?"... you can respond, "I went to church."
It's getting to be about dinner time here, so I better wrap up this post. They've been spoiling us with Americanized food to start off our journey (last night we had beef brisket and french fries with ketchup). Hopefully, this gives you some sort of idea of how things are going so far. I haven't gotten the chance to take many pictures as of yet, but I'll be here for 2 years.... they're coming... don't worry.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
At the airport
Here it is. My last post before I leave for Senegal. Nervous? Excited? Jittery from coffee? All of the above. I'm SO pumped that I have a great group of people with me. Staging proved to be a little boring and drawn out with safety lectures and ice-breaking games, but it was nice to see that so many people have the same anxieties as myself. We have a group of 57 badass Agriculture kids, 14 of which are Urban Ag like myself... I think.
My time spent in Washington D.C. was AWESOME to say the least. Special shout-out to Katie Russell for being so hospitable and letting me sleep on her couch for a few days. I must say I felt pretty damn patriotic touring around D.C. for a few days. I took a tour of the Capital building, National Archives, Monuments, Memorials, Natural History Museum... etc. I cannot feel more proud to serve my country in the Peace Corps, and think that this will be a GREAT experience of a lifetime for me.
So, last night a nice group of us went out for our last dinner in America. I ate a reuben and it was awesome. We stayed and drank beers for awhile and really got to know some cool people that I'll be spending my time with. I couldn't believe how many of us are in this Ag group, which will be a great support group for me while I get settled.
We land in Dakar at 6:10am tomorrow morning after an 8.5 hour flight. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep... why did I just drink so much coffee? We are then shuttled straight to our training center in Thies. There we spend a week all together, and afterwards are broken into small language learning groups where we live with a family for the remainder of training. Should be an exciting time, and hopefully I'll find enough internets to let me continue posting on this blog.
Goodbye, America. I will miss you.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Welcome
Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. I've told many people that I was going to create this blog to share stories, pictures, and anything else I feel like sharing during my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer. This blog was pretty easy to set up, and I plan on staying as active on here as possible during my travels.
This past weekend, my parents threw me a going away party as a last hurrah in America. Friends and family nearby came to celebrate/mourn my departure. It was a great reunion, with many of my best DePauw and other close friends. I thank anyone who was able to make it, and it's great to know that I have so much support from everyone. And after three kegs, I think we successfully raged, or DePauwtied, hard enough that I will need a two year break from drinking anyway.
I have a little over a week until my flight to Senegal, and am making my last preparations before I leave. My staging takes place first in Washington D.C. on the 25th, and I fly to Dakar, Senegal on the 26th. I can't express how excited/nervous I am to leave, and feel like it hasn't really hit me yet that I'll be gone for two years. It's comforting to know that I'll in a training group with others in the same position; and, I'm sure I'll meet some of the greatest people along the way.
Again, welcome to my blog, and I encourage anyone who is interested to subscribe (hopefully there is a way to subscribe I really have no idea) to my blog and follow me in my journey to Senegal. More to come before I depart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)