Tales of a Thirty-Something

525,600 moments so dear. So, I’ve passed the year mark now, and I’m having trouble pinpointing where the time has gone.  It seems that the days here are long, but the weeks and months speed by.  I’m sure most of ya’ll are wondering what it is exactly that I’ve done since being here, especially since all my photos seem to be either at parties with a hundred other Americans, or they comprise of several upset-looking villagers huddled into one large ball of Pulaar.  As for a heads up, here are a few of the pictures I took while trying to be sneaky, but as for the rest, uploading pictures here takes about a year and a half, so most of my pictures I have taken, I am waiting to upload for when I come home to AMERIK. First let me explain as to why most of my pictures  are of expressionless villagers- mostly in large groups, and usually sitting on a bed.  My villagers LOVE getting their photos taken, but their version of a picture, and mine are not exactly one in the...

My Dad just came!! I feel like I was preparing for his visit for so long, and then it just happened so fast. He came in to help with an eye clinic Peace Corps was putting on in my regional capital. Dad at Work We had a group of American doctors come over to perform surgeries/consultations and to teach the Senegalese doctors an appropriate method for removing cataracts. We got my Dad involved, and bing, bang, boom…Poppa Brooks comes to town. It was so cool to not only just see him but to also work with him.  Ya’ll should have seen him.   Patients gathered early and they stayed late.   He was like robot-seeing patients from sun-up to sundown. It was a task just to get him to take a lunch break. I was so proud.   His equipment was old, and his patients were anything but normal, but he tirelessly checked eye after eye, and set them up for surgery.   I mainly translated or filled prescriptions for glasses, but I did get to see a couple surgeries, and I even to...

What’d you do for New Years?   It’s a pretty standard (almost obligatory) question for people my age.   In America it usually involves getting dressed up, maybe dinner, and a nighttime of fun.   While I love all those things, my New Years here probably trumps any and all New Years I’ve had at home.   To begin, as most holidays here tend to do, it got stretched from a single night into a solid week.   I guess I should also preface this with the fact that most of the wonderfulness that was my holiday came from the fact that I was out of my village.    In the past couple of months, for one reason or another, Saare Boyli has handed me mountain after mountain of frustration.   Now, I don’t say this to evoke a pity-party or demand sympathy, but merely to lay the foundation down of why it was so awesome to be out of “Penda Sow”-mode. So the week starts with an evening in Dakar….and Youssou Ndor! We happened to arrive in the middle of the African Art...

So as ya’ll are all gearing up for Holiday Season 2K10, I celebrated yet another Islamic parade of apologizing, macaroni, and sheep.   Last Wednesday was “Tobaski.” It is the celebration of the story of Abraham almost sacrificing his son to God in the Old Testament.   Because, Abraham is finally told to spare his son and instead kill a sheep, the Islamic faith celebrates this day in the same fashion.   The morning was spent in the same fasion as Korite (the celebration after Ramadan).   Everyone donned new clothes, new braids, and new shoes (all of which will last approximately one to two months).   We then went to the praying field for a quick session with Allah and, of course, to show off our new clothes.   After the prayers, we headed home apologizing to everyone we saw, removed our new clothes, and proceeded to dismember the sheep.   If I wasn’t so grossed out by the whole process of it, I think I could have found a new calling in life.   ...

Fatimata- I have to write about her.    She is one of my nieces, as well as one of my favorite girls.    She just has so many wonderful characteristics that most 4(ish) year olds don’t have.    She is so loving to me, babies, animals, and the other kids (most of the time). At the same time, she strives to always get whatever it is that she wants, and she’s not afraid to fight for it.    She knows what she wants, and despite her small size, she’ll force her way into it.  She’s kind to animals (which is abnormal here), but she doesn’t stop just because of other people. She eats dirt/rocks (which actually might just be a sign of iron deficiency), but she does so with zest. So much spunk, in such a small package.   My favorite quality about her, though, is her “I-don’t- care-what-anybody-thinks-of-me,- I’ll-do-what-I-want” attitude.   Most of the time, she’s just plain weird, but I love it. The other day, I saw her spinning in circle...

First off, here is a list of things I miss from America (outside my friends and family of course): Parks Live music Taking a shower and putting on pajamas Real toiletries Mountains Being able to go anywhere on a moment’s notice (aka the ease of transportation) Clean feeling/smelling sheets Going out to breakfast Good beer Alas, I have conquered my first Ramadan!   Not an easy feat, I’ll let you know.   Now, I didn’t know much about this “holiday” until I experienced it.   It’s a month-long, fast that ends with a day of big eating.   Those who are fasting are not to eat or drink anything from sun-up to sundown.   I’ll be honest; I only did it for about 4 days…2 of which I was sick.   Also, I cheated…I drank water.   For the most part, though, nothing happens during this month.   My villagers pretty much just sat around and spat all day (apparently, they avoid even swallowing their own saliva).   The eve of the first day was so funny.   T...

Due to the wonders of nature, I have come to find out that Saare Boyli IS beautiful.  All it needed was just a bit of water.  Here are some pictures of my personal oasis within the desert compliments of my friend Corka Djekitay (Jillian). My rainy season lake Just our village rainbow... Road out to the fields View from my hut, post-rainstorm. Notice the red onesie...compliments of my friends from Sweden and Norway. We even have grass now!  Lots of grass.