Trip to Ndiom

The girl to guy ratio in Peace Corps Senegal, as well as from what I've heard throughout Peace Corps, is quite high. There are a lot of girls here. In most PC regions in Senegal, there are atleast a few guys. Dakar region actually seems close to a 50 - 50 ratio. In the Matam region, things are far different. From my stage, one guy was sent there to watch after about 8 or 9 girls. I don't know if I could do it.



As a result, the girls of the Matam region through Kris a suprise birthday party, inviting some of the guys from my stage up. So, this past Friday, myself and 4 others met in Thies, rented a sept-place (7 seat car), and began the long trip to Ndiom. It was an awesome trip up there. We drove from Thies to St. Louis, which I've been to before, then went from St. Louis to Ndiom, where I have never been before. It was really cool to see the vast change in landscape and temperature. When I left the Dakar region, it was very green, hot and humid, and people around. On the way to the north, it quickly grew less green, a lot hotter and drier, and few signs of life. About 7 hours after leaving Thies, we arrived at the small garage in Ndiom; a town no bigger than the size of my pinky.

The partying began the minute we arrived. Kris was pretty suprised. It isn't easy to get everybody together like that, but somehow it was pulled off flawlessly. The girls did a great job. They took care of all the food and drinks. While there, we had chilli, spaghetti, french toast, chips and bean dip, and a good time. For some reason, my stomach started bothering me late in the day Saturday, so my eating and drinking were curtailed to starvation, thirst, and running to the bathroom. The only thing they couldn't really figure out where the power outages and heat, both things that are difficult to solve.

Saturday night, we ended up having a pretty impressive game of kickball. Apparently kickball is coming back in the States right now (that is what rumor is), so logically, Senegal is the next place on the map for these trends to hit.

Sunday morning rolled around, and it was time for some of us to head back to our sites. Five of us went to the garage and got into an allhum supposedly headed to Dakar (but we were just taking it to Thies). The minute we got onto the road, we knew we had made a mistake. This was not going to be a quick trip. While it was only 10 am, I was hoping to be in Dakar at a house that I am currently housesitting at 8pm, including a quick stop at my house.

Six hours into the trip, we finally reached the garage in St. Louis. The five of us dove off the Allhum realizing there was no reason to take it to Thies, because it would be another 5 hours or so. The other guys rented a sept place and headed to Thies and I jumped into a sept-place headed to Dakar. Around 9 pm, I managed to reach Patte D'Oie. Because I had no time, I avoided stopping by my house, jumped into a cab, and headed for the middle part of town to house, dog, and cat sit. I was pooped.

What a good weekend, minus having an upset stomach for part of it. The coolest part of the trip was to see another part of the country and see how the volunteers interact there. You might think that all volunteers and regions are the same, but the Dakar region is far different...it was neat to see another side to things.