Pictures

Beach (April 29 - 30, 2006)
Finally, here are the pictures from the second bike trip to the beach
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=7cwno9h.o9elknd&Uy=jb1prn&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Cookout (May 6, 2006)
Here are the pictures from the night I cooked cheeseburgers for my family. The fish pictures are from the next day.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=7cwno9h.tpmm2u9&Uy=gssnh5&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Random
Pictures taken by another volunteer. Range from our time in Philly to now.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=7cwno9h.sr59ajl&Uy=-6s51b9&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Cookout...

Saturday, May 6, 2006

Today was the BIG day…my family and I had been looking forward to it all week. It was the day that I made hamburgers. Being Saturday, we only had a half day at the training center, so after lunch, I hurried home to get my brothers, so we could get everything I needed. It was definitely an adventure…its not like going to Kroger to pick up dinner.

Once at the market, we hunted down salaat – small bushel (lettuce), tomaate (tomato), kerine (coal), hal – 1 (melon), pommes - 3 (apples), and ananas - 5 (bananas). I don’t know if I paid a good price for all of that but it came to 2,600 CFA. That comes out to be around $5 in the States if you want to look at it that way, but living here, you can’t really do that.

After the market, I was in search of the more luxurious items. I was hesitant in going to a local butcher, so I decided to get the viande hache (ground beef) from the Bon Marche (Toubab Grocery Store). You definetly don’t pay the same prices in the store as you do out in the market. At the Bon Marche, I ended up getting 1.5 Kg of ground beef, mangos – 2 (couldn’t find any good ones in the market), American cheese, and ketchup. It was an expensive trip at the grocery, coming to a total of around $12.

After the Bon Marche, we were in search for buns. The grocery store was out, so we had to brainstorm. First, we went to Pamanda (PC hangout) and I asked if I could buy buns from them, but they didn’t do that. So after asking around and traveling to a few bakeries, we found some fresh buns, which had just come out of the oven. They were amazing. Twelve buns ended up costing 1,200 CFA.

Finally, after about 2 hours in the afternoon heat and some wilted lettuce, we headed back to the house. It was about 4 when we returned, so there was no hurry on dinner (we eat around 8:30 – 9:30 every night). I decided to take a short nap before putting the apron on.

Around 5:00, I started on dinner. I don’t know if the kitchen set up would have passed a health inspection, but I had to utilize what I had. Emeril would have been proud. I started with the fruit, since the meat had to thaw. The preparing of the fruit took a good while, but in the end, I had a huge bowl.

After the fruit, I ground some dried pepper and mixed it with salt. Finally, the meat had thawed and I was able to mix in the pepper and salt. I formed the patties and placed them in the freezer section of the refrigerator. I say freezer very loosely.

At that point, another volunteer came over to use my computer and my mom started making fries. I have no clue how to make them, so I asked if she would. I still had work to do, so I started cutting the tomatoes and shredded the lettuce. I was pretty amazed.

Around 7:30, the grill was started up. Once again, I say grill very loosely. I brought my IPOD and ITrip outside and listened to some tunes like at a good ol’ fashioned cook out. My mom and dad came out and watched my cooking techniques that they were unaccustomed to.

I threw the patties on and had to see what would happen. I really had no clue if the grill that I was working with would work, especially since I didn’t have a spatula or anything. The patties shrank tremendously in size, but the first batch turned out fairly well. I put the second batch on, and another volunteer stopped by my house and was amazed at the guy from Georgia. Tunes going, grilling out, and being in Africa…it just has a certain ring to it.

We set up the stools outside and I got everything together. I had one of my brothers secretly go and pick up a litre bottle of Fanta and a litre bottle of Coke as well. There were I believe 10 or 11 of us…my family, two volunteers, and myself. The meal turned out amazing. My family eats really well here, but it sure was good to eat American food. Also, they enjoyed it tremendously, as did I. It definetly was worth it. It was nice to get the vote of confidence. I was nominated to cook dinner every night, but I had to decline. After dinner, we sat around drinking Fanta and Coke.

Finally, after socializing most of the night away, I headed out with some other volunteers to Pamanadas and to a concert…another night of fun it was.

Counterpart Workshop

Thursday/Friday, May 4/5, 2006

The counterpart workshop is finally over. It was a great two days of sessions, but very exhausting. My counterpart, Ababacar Sy Diallo, who works for the Department of Horticulture, came up from Dakar. During the two day workshop, the three programs met individually.

The workshop started at 8:00 on Thursday morning. I ended up getting to the center around 6:30 (about an hour earlier than normal) to take a quick shower, and go over some notes regarding a speech and skit I was supposed to do later in the day. The first session was “General Introduction and Logistics” followed by “Seminar Goals and Objectives & Peace Corps Goals”. The second of these sessions really got me to believe in what I am going to be doing for the next two years. It definitely provided me with a better insight in the Peace Corps’ views and approaches on development.

On that first day, I had to give the opening introduction for the first session requiring it. It was done in French. I was alittle nervous, being the first urban ag trainee to open up a session, especially because it was French. It wasn’t easy, but I definitely had to start practicing it a few days in advance.

Later in the day, I was in a skit with some of the trainers, showing the counterparts how difficult it is to come into a different culture. We definitely had a good time doing it and got some laughs. I spoke mostly in wolof during the skit which was cool. It was interesting being put on the spot in front of an audience having to speak wolof…I can barely do it to myself, yet alone an audience. Just kidding.

The rest of the workshop went really well. At times, it was tough to follow, because it was all in French. Most of the urban aggies don’t know French too well, so we zoned out alittle, or maybe a lot. Fortunately, I had a translator for most of it, and was able to get the important lines.

In the end, we met with our counterparts one on one and discussed our plan of action for the next 3 months at site. After three months, we come back to the training center for more intensive technical training. While I am still working on my personal plan of action (what I need to focus on – language, culture, safety/health, technical, etc), which has to be presented next week, my counterpart and my plan is for me to learn by experience. Doing Red Cross work during Katrina and the whole immersion process here in Senegal, getting thrown into the fire is definitely is the best way to learn for me, but very stressful and nerve-racking at times too, especially when you aren’t familiar with the language. Also, during the first three months, the plan is for me to focus on my main site, Hopital Fann. The project is a garden of the AIDS patients, which I’m excited to work on. In the future, the plan is to try and undertake another project. The one I want to work on is starting a large-scale gardening project at one of Dakar’s high schools to aid in the feeding of the students. This is something that won’t happen for several months, but it is definitely something to look forward too.

Other than that, I don’t have much else to say about the workshop, other than I’m really excited about the potential and possibilities of the next two years.

Crazy Nights...

Friday, May 5, 2006

This one night, early into my senior year of college, I woke up in the middle of the night, wondering who was in my bed. I was very perplexed and in a daze. I tried to recall the nights events, which for that night, only included me studying and watching tv. I was at a stump of who it could be, and alittle scared. I tried moving my feet to see if I could get any movement. I didn’t want to say anything, especially since I didn’t know who it was…I didn’t want to be that guy. I really had no clue what was going on, but I decided the best thing to do was just try and fall back asleep. It took awhile, but finally, I went back to bed. I woke up a few more times during the night, each time, my problem going unsolved.

Well, morning soon came and I was very eager to see who was in my bed. Well, my eagerness turned to disappointment when I realized that girl, atleast that is what I was hoping for, turned out to be a pile of clothes on my bed. I suppose the point of the story is that my senses aren’t always at their best during the middle of the night…that has carried over to Senegal as well.

Twice in the past week, I have woke up in the middle of the night during a dream and did some talking. Being on larium, having a mosquito net over you, dripping with sweat, and being on a bed that could swallow you, really makes these experiences interesting. Because I only remember one of the accounts, Ill try and describe it the best I can, but, its alittle hazy. For some reason, I thought that some friends from home where in my room and so I was talking to them out loud (I don’t think I woke anybody up) and then I started swatting at my mosquito net trying to get out of it because I thought the mouse was going crazy in my room. In reality, I suppose I was the only lunatic. Finally, after about 5 or 10 minutes of talking in my sleep to my friends, which is much cheaper than calls to the states, so I might try to do it more often, I realized that my friends weren’t there and I was in a pitch black room in Africa talking to myself. I am hoping that I can recreate that magical night in Georgia and just think a girl is in my bed because it is much better than knowing mice are starring down at me every breath I take.

Pictures and Loose Ends...

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

I don’t have my new address yet for Dakar. All I need to do is call the guy I am replacing, but with this week’s schedule, I don’t know if I will get around to it. If you were planning to mail anything to me, please wait till I post my new address. Thanks and keep writing.

Also, I was planning to make/receive a few phone calls this past weekend. I just want to apologize for doing neither. While the beach was awesome, it didn’t have cell phone coverage. Sorry.

Here are a bunch of pictures. Apparently, the link to the last set of pictures didn’t work so I will post it again…sorry about that.

Bike Trip to the Beach (April 23, 2006):
Sorry, you can’t really see the monkeys in the pictures that I took.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=7cwno9h.jgc9xf5&Uy=dwlemk&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Urban Ag Field Trip (April 26, 2006):
Includes a picture of my Urban Ag trainer Youssapha
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=7cwno9h.90r39eh&Uy=ad6vf2&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Talent Show and Trip to Dakar (April 27, 2006 / April 28, 2006):
Includes a picture of my Wolof tutor Regina and me. I ended up deleting some pictures because it was taking too long to upload:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=7cwno9h.kcaw9w9&Uy=-bbmwmo&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Beach Trip (April 29, 2006 - April 30, 2006):
Includes a picture of my family. Sorry...these are the best pictures, but I didnt have time to upload them. Ill try and do it on my next visit to the internet.

Crunch Time...

Monday, May 1, 2006

Happy May Day…the Labor Day to the rest of the world, unless you are in Peace Corps Training. Today was just another day of learning, except that in one of my Wolof classes, we went to the market, and there was a May Day Parade going on. We didn’t go to see the parade, but to learn about the workings of the market and how to negotiate prices in Wolof. I ended up buying some warga (Senegelese tea leaves) for my family

It’s been seven weeks since I left Houston. We have less than two weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST) and then, we become Volunteers. It is pretty crazy how fast things have gone. With training concluding in Dakar on May 12 with Swearing In, the next several days are going to be busy and very hectic.

First, we have our counterpart workshop this Thursday and Friday. This is when our counterparts, Senegelese nationals, come to Thies and we get to know each other. Also, they are better prepared on what it is like to be a Volunteer, such as learning the language and adjusting to a new culture. While I am looking forward to meeting my counterpart, there is a lot of preparation for it. I am on the welcome committee and I have to give an introduction (in French) and do a skit with my trainers (in French). Needless to say, my Wolof is much better than my French, so hopefully the counterparts have a good sense of humor, especially mine.

Also this week, my mom is having her birthday on Thursday. I found out nearly a month ago about this and how we are having chicken. The more I think about it, I can’t recall having chicken at my house here, so I’m looking forward to it.

With this kinda being the last real weekend during training, I am planning to stay in Thies and for the most part hangout with my family. They are awesome…I can’t say that enough. Today, my mom asked me if I knew how to make hamburgers. Growing up, learning how to use the grill was engrained deep into my blood. So, I told her I did, but that I didn’t like putting French fries on them. For some reason, they do that here, and I’m just not the fan. So, Saturday after class, I’m gonna go to the market with my mom and one of my brothers and get the things I need to make burgers for my family. I really am excited about this, cooking is one thing I really have wanted to do for my family. I want to make Swedish Pancakes (anybody who knows my mom, knows all about them) sometime, but I think I’m gonna have to wait for IST. I want to be able to practice making them so I don’t give them and my family a bad rap.

The last thing on the agenda is the final language assessment. It is sometime next week and it is something I must do well on…actually everyone. The best way to prepare is to talk/think wolof as much as I can till then. It is one of those things that is very stressful to think about, yet stress only makes you perform and get nervous during language assessments. I’m sure, in the end, everything will pay off.

Pretty soon, I will be off to Dakar…

Bike Beach Trip #2

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Well, I got back from another trip to the beach. Since being in Senegal, I have gotten the chance to see the beach on many occasions, but have actually only gotten to enjoy it on two. I must say that I thought I would miss my days hanging out by the pool swimming and taunting my dog with splashes of water during this past Houston winter, but I haven’t really missed the pool. Although, I do miss Millie, my parents, and the good restaurants they frequent every night. But here, it isn’t all work and no play. My tan is coming along pretty well. In a few weeks, I hope that I won’t look like a toubab, but that of a local.

So, this weekend, about 13 trainees, including myself, biked to Popenguine after class on Saturday. It is the same beach I biked to last week. The weekend, unlike last, we spent the night and were able to unwind and relax, which we did.

Because I live kinda on the outskirts of Thies but on the road to Popenguine, another trainee and I pedaled together. It was nice to get away from the stresses of groups and just zone in on the ride and clear my head. The ride went well though. We didn’t have any mishaps or anything.

Around 4:45, Mandy and I reached Thies. The rest of the trainees were scattered behind us. Because we didn’t know where the house was, we decided to go to the restaurant I went to last weekend and started the weekend off with a Senegelese beer. After a long week of class and 22 miles of biking, it tasted pretty good. The rest of the trainees came in 20 and 40 minutes later.

Around 5:30, we met the guy who we were renting the house from and got settled it. It was absolutely amazing. I’m not going to say a word about it because I couldn’t give it justice. Ok, I’ll say a bit. It was really two houses kinda connected with a total of 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and two kitchens overlooking the ocean. It didn’t have a TV, which is the norm here, but it did have refrigerators (which we eventually fully stocked) and electricity. The view, which I have pictures of, was absolutely amazing.

We had gotten some vegetables prior to leaving Thies at the market, so some of us started cooking up dinner, while the rest of us went to the store to get some $3 bottles of Whiskey, Vodka, Beer, Wine, and mixers. You have to cater to all tastes.

Dinner ended up being amazing. It was a mixture of rice and vegetables. I wish there had been some meat, but I have learned not to be greedy. Also, we had bread. The night carried on. Nothing interesting happened other than all of us having a good time. Some people went to bed early, others stayed up till around 4:30. I was kinda in both groups. I’m not going to go into the details of this one or two hour “nap” time, primarily because according to the number of comments my mom makes on this site, I figure she reads it, but I did rebound and make it through the rest of the evening. I kinda felt like I let myself down and surprised I didn’t have marker all over my face, but I guess something good can be said about those who can pick themselves back up after. In the end, the night was a blast.

On Sunday morning, everyone woke up at different times and some feeling good, others feeling like crap. I felt great, partially due to the knowledge I gained from living at Apt 45 for a few years. I definitely learned and possibly invented a few tricks of the trade there. For breakfast, we fixed eggs, vegetables, and fruit to go along with bread. Once again, it was great.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. It was amazing. I went out to the beach to relax. The water had a strong undertow, so I didn’t spend too much time in it, but did manage to read and listen to some tunes. Along the way, I got a few shades darker.

Around 2:00, we started to clean up everything in order to leave the house by 3:00. Another trainee and I, took the bottles back to the store to get the deposits back. In Senegal, if you take a bottle from the store, you have to pay a deposit. After getting everything straightened up, a few trainees started back to Thies, while the rest of us, caught a late lunch. This lunch took a lot longer than we were expecting. With a two and a half hour ride back to Thies, we got a little antsy. Fortunately, the food came out, but in waves.

I ended up hitting the road around 4:30 or so with another trainee. Like the previous weekend, the conditions weren’t great…a 22 mile uphill ride in the wind. With the exception of getting annoyed by some of the Allhums, in which the passengers yelled at us and the drivers didn’t give us much space on the road, I made it home around 7:30.

Overall, it was a great weekend. It was nice to hang out with a lot of other trainees, but not in a huge group. This beach trip was much more relaxing than the first. Hopefully you enjoy the pictures and maybe you will be even more convinced to come visit Africa.

Trip to Dakar...

Friday, April 28, 2006

As I’m sitting here a few days later writing this, my contacts are alittle dry, so I’m having a hard time seeing the screen, so, hopefully I can crank this post out with no problems.

So today, I went to my future hometown. All the trainees went to the big city of Dakar for a full day of meetings and such. The day started for me half way through the night to the sound of mosquitoes. I really couldn’t fall back asleep. If its not the larium messing with you during your sleep, its those crazy insects and bugs.

There were three vehicles taking everyone to Dakar: the PC bus, a PC land cruiser, and a sept-place. A sept-place is a station wagon taxi and seats 7/sept passengers. I decided to take the sept place. It was a good group in it which was good.

The first place we went to in Dakar was the US Embassy. We met with the Consular General and the Security Officer. It was a brief visit, but it was cool to see the embassy. After the Embassy, we went to the Peace Corps Compound. The Peace Corps offices are not on the Embassy grounds and aren’t really even close to it. We learned more about getting installed at our sites as well as met the remaining Peace Corps/Senegal support staff. Finally, well, kinda, we went to the Police Station. Living in Senegal, we are legally responsible to have Senegelese identification. We were at the police station to sign the paperwork to have the ID cards made. Afterwards, we went and got ice cream. Ice cream is a luxury here, so it was nice. Well, I say it is a luxury, but fortunately for me, I will be living in Dakar, so all the luxuries that many volunteers in Senegal won’t have, I will….ice cream being one of them. So I got asked a lot if I was going to go their everyday….my answer was yes.

Finally, we were on the road back to Thies. We passed by the area that I know I will be living, so that was pretty cool. We returned to Thies close to 7 pm. It was a long day and by the end of it, the lungs were ready for some fresh air. There is a lot of exhaust in Dakar, so it can be tough sometimes. I might have a smoker’s cough or something by the end of two years, without ever picking up a cigarette, hopefully not.

Talent Show

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Tonight is the eve before leaving for a day in Dakar. Because we are to leave at 6:30 from the training center in Thies, some of the trainees convinced the training center staff to let us sleep at the center. They agreed, but we had some rules to follow.

After class ended at 6:30, I played some boules with some other trainees prior to dinner. Normally we don’t eat dinner at the center, but because we were spending the night, tonight was an exception. We had a pretty good meal of salad, chicken, potato wedges, oranges, and bread.

After dinner, we had a talent shoe. Normally I’m not a big fan of these things unless I’m involved in it some sort of way. I mean, this past summer up at Westmont, a few of us got pretty crazy during a few of them. Well, because I figured I couldn’t be one of the masters of the ceremony, I decided to do a comedy act. My original plan was to do a talk about nothing, almost like a Seinfeld episode or anything I’ve written on this site. That was my plan. I was gonna have everyone write a topic they wanted talked about and then draw from the hat. In the past when giving presentations, I have worked my public speaking abilities and dazzled the audience by turning uninteresting topics into entertaining ones.

Unfortunately, my plan didn’t pan through. It wasn’t because the topics were probably gonna be to scandalous but I ended up doing an improv act with another trainee. It was set up kinda like an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyways. Earlier in the day, we had everyone write a one line sentence. During our performance, we were told who we had to be and where we were. For example, during one of the scenarios, I played the role of a drug dealer working at a candy factory. At random moments, we would pull out the sentences written by the trainees and read it. It sounds more complicated and unhumorous than I’m giving it justice, but it went somewhat well. It could have gone a lot better in certain areas.

The show produced some really good performances. One of the acts involved two trainees playing the guitar and violin. They played some bluegrassish type music which was absolutely incredible. Another trainees did standup, making a parody about being a female Peace Corps volunteer here in Africa. She wasn’t afraid to show her leg and arm pit hair during the act. It was quite funny. Some of the girl trainees did a fashion show of Senegalese clothing, which was interesting.

In the end, it was a good evening. It was nice to hang out and relax at the training center with other trainees and our trainers.