SENEGAL MEETS RICK

If you’ve ever wanted to make a celebrity, all you need to do is put a white person on a black continent.  From the second I got off the plane, I have gotten more attention than I ever could have wanted.  The villagers truly treat me like I’m Paris Hilton-- everyone thinks I am super rich (since I’m an American), as well as stupid (probably due to the fact that I have the language proficiency of a 2 year old).

 So, I’ve been in Senegal for almost a month now, and things are just as crazy as the day I arrived.  First of all, this is nothing like South Africa.  South Africa, despite its internal problems, was physically beautiful.   Mountains and vineyards were everywhere I turned (except for in the townships).   Here in Senegal, it’s trash and cinderblocks that beckon me everywhere I turn.   I’m sure it is beautiful in its own way, and I can only hope that I will soon begin to be to love Senegal as much as I will always love South Africa.

The first week here, I lived in Thies (pronounces Chess) at the Peace Corps Training Center.  Here, they bombard all of us with seminars and sessions on technical skills (like water sanitation, gardening, mud-stove building).  It’s a pretty intense process, and we don’t get much free time.  We even get tested on the things we learn.  I actually have to study again, which is a bit difficult, due to the fact that I am usually constantly dripping in sweat (and it’s the cold season).    

The last three weeks or so, I’ve lived with a host family in a little town called Nguecko.   Here, I have intense language sessions and cultural experiences to prepare me for my real/permanent site.  The days are pretty long, and hot.   I have language class for 3-4 hours in the morning at my teacher’s house in the village.  We usually break for lunch around 12 or 1, when I go home to hang out with my family and eat and sometimes sleep.   Then, at 4 or 5, I’ll meet my teacher and fellow classmates (there are 4 of us), and we’ll go garden or do technical practices (like building a mud stove or surveying a school).  Afterwards, my class and I will usually go to get God’s greatest gift to Senegal:  frozen bissap.

Frozen bissap singlehandedly has kept me sane during my weeks in the village.  It is a wonderful blend of frozen juices that they stick into small Ziploc-like bags.  You bite off a corner and slurp out the rest through the hole.  It’s actually really hard to find, due to the fact that freezers are especially hard to come by in Nguecko.   

Each morning I start my walk to class and the second I leave my compound, kids and teenagers will no doubt call out “two-baab.” (Whitey)  One day, I arrived at the school where we garden, and a huge group of kids were waiting to greet me.  They all wanted to just touch me and hear me speak (which can be very humorous for them).  They also love calling out my name, “Panda” just to show their friends they know a two-baab.  It’s pretty much just name dropping at its finest.  

The Dramas (and a Two-Baab)

So I am now known as Panda Drama (pronounced “dra-may”) I live with a family of 1 mom, 2 sisters, and 4 brothers.  My father is a construction worker in St. Louis, and I haven’t yet met him, but I’ve talked to him on the phone a few times in my broken Pulsar-French mixture of language.  It’s a pretty comical situation. 

The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty intense, as well.  I just found out my permanent site, Sara Bollyi.  It’s in the middle of the country, and I’ll move there in the middle of May.   I’m not close to any of my closest friends here, but I’m still really exited about what experiences it might bring.  I go to visit it next week, and I’m super pumped to see exactly what it will look like.

That’s about it for now.  I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch, but I’ll try to get better with the whole “blog thing” soon.  Hope all is well!  Bonne chance!