A senegalese filling....OUCH!

March seems to have flown by, I cant believe that tomorrow will be April already! yikes! The 7 month mark is already here! However, I can't help but feel like I did nothing but travel this month. Unfortunately, the excitement in March was minimal, no one proposing on alhums or telling me their name is Usher Raymond then proceeding to sing (very badly mind you) Let it Burn. I'm both happy about this and a bit disappointed, as much as it sucks and the men are sleezy, it does make for a great story to put on the blog.

I started off the month with a trip to the dentist....in Dakar. Granted, the guy was Lebanese or French or something so it wasn't like I went into a hole in the wall, dark and dirty rip out your teeth and put in Razorblades kind of dentist. (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1573625485.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg) That would seriously have sucked. But none the less, I would not recommend getting a filling removed/put in here. So, about a month into service, I broke a filling and just figured, whatever no big deal. Go figure, I got a cavity underneath. FUUUUUNNNNN! A night in Dakar eating waaaay to much later, I'm gripping the chair, white-knuckled and trying not to bite the guys damn hands off. Really, if you're going to rip out a filling, scrape out a cavity and put in a new filling, at least give me some novicaine! And quit asking "ca c'est sensitive?" Yes, that is sensitive, you're ripping my face off you jerk. And then thep power went out. Go figure. Senegal, you really know how to make a girls day. Haha! Needless to say my back tooth is just as beautiful as it was before I came here.

On the other hand, I took a lovely 9 hour drive down to the waterfalls for some more AgFo training. Alhumdilillah! We learned everything that we should have at PST and IST. I am actually somewhat comfortable planting some trees now. We also recieved our seeds and sacks which is wonderful, my villagers have been bugging me for weeks. I was stressing out about it more than I think is normal. Apparently they wanted 13,500 Eucalyptus seeds and 1,000 Cashew and Mango seeds. Not to mention all of the ones for live fencing and ornamental trees. A little excessive, in my opinion, considering this is a village of 250. Dude, where they hell are we going to plant all of these? Redic! And I must say, warthog sandwiches are tasty.

Upon returning to Kaolack, I went out to buy my tools and get everything ready. I am now the proud owner of a freshly sharpened Machete. I swear to god goats, if you get in my nursery, I will use it......and then eat you. Muahahahhaha! (evil laughing and a creepy look). But, considering all of these sacks and seeds (not to mention the damn gift I have to buy for the family everytime I come back to the village, stupid cultural norms....what the hell, why dont I ever get a gift?) weigh more about the same as I do, I have no idea how I will manage to drag everything back to the ville. And yes, I was curious and actually weighed my bags. I have too much time on my hands. I'm on my way out though, so Ill have a more interesting blog when i come back in to kaolack on the 16th or 17th.

Kaolack in all of its glory, burning tires and all. I'm heading to Dakar tomorrow just in time for elections. Riots are expected so lets hope I stay alive!

Did you know....

So its been almost 7 months since I arrived in Senegal. Its really hard to believe but here I am, full-fledged, pulaar speaking dirty peace corps volunteer. Just today, when I came in to Kaolack, even the other volunteers were so impressed by how dirty I managed to get on the way in today that they wouldn't even give me a hug. Needless to say, I showered immediately. Thank god we had water today.

With 6 1/2 months under my belt/ bin bin (senegalese lingerie) I feel like now is an excellent time to reflect on the things I've learned or discovered, for better or for worse, while in country. Mind you, some of these things may seem insignificant, but they are a big part of my life here.

1.) Quiet as a mouse my ass. Mice are NOT quite. They have made themselves known many times in my hut over the past few months. Living with an obnoxious cat, throwing down poison/glue and smashing them or sleeping with your ipod full blast the damn things do not die! Now, not only have they taken to keeping me awake until 5AM, making little Sira Ba quite the grumpy pulaar, but now they've gotten so bold as to run up and down my mosquito net. Thank god I keep that thing tucked into the bottom of my mattress or they would be climbing up and down my body while I slept. GREEEEAAATTT....

2.) The warning on batteries about not keeping them in settings where the temperature rises above a certain temperature......yea its true. Last night as I slept/ lay awake waiting to shine my head lamp on the mice to make them run out the door, the headlamp that lay on my stomach basically exploded. No actually the batteries inside exploded. Apparently that does happen. Battery acid on your stomach, well....not the most pleasant of experiences let me tell you. Every swear word (English, French and Pulaar) that could be imagined EVER came out of my mouth. My family thinks I'm even more crazy than before.

3.) There is such a thing as a Toubab collector.
Toubab: a racist term used in reference to white people. I hear it every day. Its lovely.
Some people in Senegal really like to show off the fact that they know white people. They pretend we are their friends and take pictures with us to show their friends. In America this would be really weird and why the hell would you ever do it. But, before they actually take your picture, they make sure to show you all of the other pictures with white people that they have taken to show that they have white friends. Really? In my opinion, this is weird.

4.) You can actually strap a full grown 22 year old girl onto a persons back. I know this because I was strapped onto my friends back and carried around earlier this evening. We'll see how this goes over when I ask my host mom in the village. Just add 100lbs to whatever that infant on your back weighs and its practically the same thing! Swear to god mom....

5.) Baby goats are called kids for a reason. Sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up to the glorious sound of a baby goat calling for its mother. Or, is that an actual kid calling for its mother. Really, I can't tell the difference 90 percent of the time. Its pretty strange. Even worse, during the day when a kid (human kid) is crying, but you cant see them. All you see is a goat...... with its mouth open..... is it a baby or a goat making the noise. 30 minutes of boredom are cured each day in response to this question. The answer on most days is not observed. The goat gets bored and runs away. Damn lucky goat.

6.) Your hand is just as good as an eating utensil.

7.) If you gain weight after going to Kaolack, your family WILL call you out. Thanks fam, first I'm too small now im too big? what the hell make up your mind. At least they didn't call me pretty. I would ET

8.) Peace Corps is said to take 15 years off your life. I believe it. I have started to develop smokers cough....but instead of smoke, my lungs are filled with Sand. All of the things that go wrong with our health here, plus the stress and all of the possible things that could go wrong even after we get back to the states, its a wonder we even make it home alive. It should take about 50 years off our lives! Not to mention all of the random medicines we take, plus the 3 shots twice a week we got during training. God knows a shot filled with rabies can not make me healthy. come to think of it, my spit was a little foamy yesterday....hmmm.....

9.) Even with my language skills improving, some words are still ridiculous. There is actually a word for the action of digging peanuts out of the ground. It is "kissy-kissy." Again, really? I tried to explain what kiss means in English and I think they took it to another level. Its quite disturbing. Especially since they think I'm married, the women make it their mission in life to make me blush. They find it hilarious. I on the other hand, do not. Well....in all honesty, it is pretty funny, who knew that was what African women talked about most. So bizarre!

10.) So I've been living in Pakane for 4 months. Yet, some of the children still burst into tears as soon as they see me. Am I really that scary looking? Its a real self esteem booster when children cry as soon as you leave your hut in the morning. Oh Africa, you're starting to grow on me.

I will keep adding to this list....but right now its st patty's and the other volunteers are upstairs....I'm done being anti-social for now. I'm sending kissy-kissy's your way!

riots and tear gas. always fun

Alhum confessions

Alhums. What can I say. They are source of constant frustration as well as hilarity in my life these days. Today, as it seems, is no exception. My one and a half hour ride to Kaolack, holding true to African ideals of time management, took four and a half hours. When we ran out of gas no more than 5k from my road town, I knew it was doomed. On a normal day, I would just chalk up the two dollars and find a new car. However, fate had it out for me and as it turned out, I only had 800cfa (a little more than a dollar) in my wallet. Damn! So I sat. and sat. and then, I sat some more. About two hours later, and about a gallon of gas, diluted with water mind you, in the the tank, we were off! I could still make it by noon. Tacos here I come (I swear the prenatal vitamins give me preggo cravings)! Regardless, I was ecstatic.

Well, was being the key word. Go figure, the damn wheel fell off! Its a car! how the hell does a wheel just "fall" off?!? Great, I thought, so much for "tacos at twelve." In my excitement to go to the city, I forgot to eat breakfast and now felt the need to give clever names to my mealtimes. Hunger dilusions is my guess. So, as they open the side door of the creepy monster van/alhum, to my amusement, the other passengers seemed to have forgotten that the wheel fell off and we were now sitting at an angle right above a ditch. Much to my amusement and the dismay of the senegalese, they fell right out the door and into the ditch. That did it. I lost it! Im telling you, tears streaming, clutching your heart and snorting kind of laughter. Apparently, I was the only one who found it so amusing. Pssshhh, whatever lighten up people.

Another hour later, still laughing, I was back on the road. Screeching to a halt, I think holy crap what now? Oh yea the police want us to pay a bribe, I should have expected this much. But, since there have been student protests and rioting in Kaolack, they felt the need to search everyones bags, buckets and even pockets. Lucky for me, I was wearing a skirt. As he searched my bookbag, I gave him my best "go ahead, pull my underwear out of the bag and see what happens" look. I don't know how intimidating a skinny little white girl in a Dr Seuss shirt and pigtails looked to a big burly black police officer, but needless to say no underwear left the premises. Just gonna throw this out there, I must have been pretty damn intimidating. Yertle the turtle, you do not steer me wrong when it comes to intimidation. 2 more bribes and 3 more gas refills later, I made it to my tacos. THANK GOD! I was starving.

All the time this is going on though, you cannot forget about the sleezeball africans that will ruin even the best of days for a female peace corps volunteer. And yes, they are ALWAYS sleezeballs, and they ALWAYS ruin your day. Unfortunately, subtleties do not make an impact on them, nor does sarcasm. But, it does help to make the situation more enjoyable for me. Now if you will, sit back in your alhum (aka your comfy american chair) and pretend you're in my shoes. This was my conversation this afternoon.

Me: minding my own business, listening to my ipod and trying, very unsuccesfully, to touch as few people as possible
Unattractive, over confident, testosterone-driven creepy african man: "La di da, I think Ill go to Kaolack today. Oh look, a toubab! Just wait until she meets me, I am in fact god's gift to women"

And so it begins

Creeper: Bonjour madame
Me: Ignoring him
Creeper: Hello my sister
Me: Insert dirty look here, turn up Ipod volume
Creeper: After a few moments of silence, he scooches closer and squishes me against the wall. I said hello my sister. I speak very good english.
Me: Wow! Thats really good for you! (I know you can sense the sarcasm. He could not) Insert eye roll here
Creeper: Yes! I am an educated man
Me: I am soooo happy for you
get ready for it.....
Creeper: Me, I want a white wife

Me: Ugh, good for you. I have a husband
Creeper: I want to go to America.
Me: Great, um....do you think you could not pick your nose right now. Its pretty gross. And Im afraid that the booger that you're playing with in your fingers will, ooohhh, yea there it went, right on my skirt. Thank you
Creeper: Yes, I work in Dakar.
Me: What?
10 minute silence
Creeper: Do you love me?
Me: Ew, you're gross.
Creeper: You don't love me? Why not
Me: You're ugly, now go away (ipod turns up to full volume)
Creeper: let me listen
Me: Go away

He makes his move

Me: SMACK!!! I think you mistook your knee for mine. I see how they're easily confused. Ass. Again, insert dirty look here.
Creeper: Oh haha I am sorry. You are very nice.
Me: Touch me again and you may never make babies
Creeper: You want to make babies yes?
Me: UGH!!!!
We arrive in Kaolack thank god!!
Creeper: Give me money now.

*As you can see, the men here are scum* This is what we have to deal with every day of our lives. So, ladies, appreciate the ability to walk down the street with out getting harrassed, hissed at or followed.


- Even though this is a 3 month old picture, I think it captures my reaction to this day perfectly!