Happy Birthday Dad!

The first 2 weeks in the village have been really hard. I went from the high of being in training, with lots to do and living in a relatively comfortable environment to the slow life of a village and no ammenities. It has been really difficult for me to adjust. My town only speaks Wolof and the have a funny accent hat at first was hard for me to understand. There isnt a whole lot to do and They wont let me tag along to the fields to help them pick peanuts. I have had plenty of time to contemplate everything...life in general, the goal of development, if the 43 years the PC has been in Senegal has done absolutely anything, if this is really what I want to be doing. Havent come to any real conclusions except for the fact that I have to stick with it to see what happens and what conclusions I will develop. I cannot tell you how much your support means to me. Knowing that you believe in me even when i dont believe in myself really helps me get though.

Ok so now onto the interesting stuff in my village. Here is how a typical day goes for me. I get up around 7. I am awake much earlier because the women are up pounding millet or the donkeys are heehawing. I go out of my hut and say hi to my family. I have started making breakfast in my hut because they eat millet for breakfast and i cant stomach it 2 times a day. We have it for dinner too. I usually eat a banana, 2 cookies/bisket things with peanutbutter and a handfull of dried fruit and nuts so kindly sent to me from the states. I have also started drinking coffee. It is the only way I can drink the powered milk...have to add coffee and sugar. The powerded milk is good because it has some protein. After I eat I sweep out my hut. It gets really dusty everyday. Then I go outside of my family compound and chat with the ladies as they gater water from the one tap that the village shares.

The water is very interesting. The tap is locked up most of the time and one lady has a key (I try not to think about what happens if there is a fire in the village). she comes in the morning and in the evening for a couple hours each time. all the women in the village have to load up on water for the day. And it isnt cheap, it costs 10cfa for one pan. my guess is the pan holds about 5 gallons of water. I go through one pan a day. After the bucket us loaded up with water they lift it up on their heads and take it back to their compounds. Once in the compound they pour the water into another bucket or a clay pot right from thier heads. The whole thing takes talent. I cant do it yet but i think i am going to start trying half a bucket at a time. They are going to laugh at me but maybe one day i will be able to do it like them. Right now my mom brings me my water. My big accomplishment yesterday was to help one of the ladies get the bucket from the ground to her head. all the women around the tap didnt think i would be able to but I did and I was proud of myself. Everything in baby steps.

Around 10am the women go out and harvest peanuts. I dont go because they think it is too hot for me blah blah. I dont really do much until lunch, take a nap, read, study Wolof, meet with my tutor. He speaks english so thats a good escape sometimes. Around noon the women come back from the fields with a bowl of peanuts on their heads. They prepare lunch and we eat around 2. We have been having rice with some peanut/dried fish sauce. Not the best thing in the world but what ever. Some times we get fresh fish and have that with our rice. After lunch I take a nap. Then I go sit outside our compound and shell peanuts with the women. They let me do this but often tell me to stop because it will hurt my fingers. The honest truth is that it does hurt my fingers (i am developing calases) but i need the busy work, i need to do something with my hands or I will lose my mind. Plus I am out being social which is good.

A quick side note about peanuts: 100 kilo or 220 lbs sells in the market for 10,000cfa or 20usd. Bottom line that is a lot of peanuts for not a lot of money and it is the only cash crop that my villagers have.

I take a bucket bath before it gets dark and then we eat a millet and sauce dinner around 7-730. I dont eat a ton of it cause it isnt very tasty. I usually go to bed and read for a bit around 830. I know it isnt very exciting. Village life is very slow not only for me but really for all the villagers. There is alot of time to do nothing.

I have started going on short bike rides in the bush. The closest village is about 2k away. There is a lot of sand and biking isnt easy but i hate running and I need to do a little physical activity. I have also started to think more about what work I want to do. I have read through some of my paperwork and am starting to understand that everything I want to do will have to be done in baby steps. One day at a time or ndank ndank in wolof. I am trying really hard to settle into this mentality. It is hard and will take me a while to get used to. I have 2 more months left until I am back in Thies for training and I am hoping that I will adapt to my village and life will get a little easier.

Since I have been in my village I have made it up to Kaffrine a couple of times. It is about 7k north and there are 2 PCVs who live there. It is definitely nice to go up there because they have stores and electricity. Good to get away from the village. I am going to have to go up there a couple times a week just to buy food to supplement my diet and to charge my cell phone. I do have some cell reception in my village. Actually it is out in the bush by a big tree where i get the best reception. I dont have any in my hut so my phone is turned off most of the time.

Right now I am in Kaolack. I will be here all day and most of the day tomorrow (if anyone wants to call I will be in range). It is nice to be here to use the internet and I am going to eat a hamburger after we are done here. After a millet and rice diet everything tastes so great. I am excited! i might even get 2! Ok well thats about all for now. I dont really know what to tell you so if you have questions let me know and I would love to talk about life here. I will try to get back here tomorrow before I leave but there are no gaurentees. I love you all a lot and miss you tons. Keep the emails, letters etc coming.