True Life: I'm an awkward Peanut farmer

I wonder to myself about a hundred times a day “what the heck am I doing here.” Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I’m having a blast. There are those moments when I’m biking through the bush (15 K this morning….ahh!) that I think to myself, this is exactly what I should be doing. And I know I made the right choice. But in between those few moments of clarity, I just laugh and wonder, where the hell am I?!? For example, during my bucket bath the other afternoon, while washing my hair, my fence started shaking uncontrollably. Startled, I jumped up, dripping with shampoo and took a closer look. A herd of sheep were scratching themselves and bah-ing like crazy. As one poked its head in to see what I was doing, I couldn’t help but start laughing and think…..Sarah this is hilarious. Or then of course there are always the times when I look across the compound at my hut and wonder if that really was a goat/chicken/cat that came out of my room? The answer is always yes. Yes it was. And again, yes that baby goat was sleeping on my pillow. Nice.

My family is great though. My dad, Samba Ba, is really helpful and he is also my counterpart. He has 2 wives, very strange to me still, but I’m getting used to it. Cumba, his first wife is about 35 and has 6 kids. AHHH! And Awa, his second wife is pregnant with her second one. She’s 21, wow. When I don’t have anything to do, I pretty much just follow Cumba around and do whatever she’s doing. Most days that includes going to the fields and being a peanut farmer. I am the MOST awkward peanut farmer of all times! When they give me my bag of peanuts at the end of the afternoon, I don’t really have the heart to tell them that I actually hate peanuts. Oh well. But, in general, my days are boring. I figure that if I’ve said hello and gone through the greetings with half the village each day, its been a successful day. Completely different from American thinking, but whatever.

****Side note*******However, while greeting the village one afternoon, I started talking to the only man who speaks some English. As he came over to sit, I think he was trying to say he was sitting. It didn’t come out that way. Instead, he said “I have semen.” I couldn’t help but bust out laughing so hard that I had to get up an leave with the only reply of “well, yes. Yes you do!” HAHAHAHAHA!

My hut is, well, a hut. Its cute and I’ve definitely put my touch on it (aka pictures of Shia Labeouf, haha thanks Rae). But, considering that there is no screen door or anything to keep the critters out, life has gotten so much more interesting. Duct tape is saving my life to say the least. This being said, I’ve had some interesting nights with the critters inhabiting my house. As we speak, there is a monster size mouse/rat patrolling the top perimeter of my hut. Every time I hear a noise, I’m terrified that 10 pound mouse is going to fall on my head. That would not be a fun moment in my life. Gross. This mouse is not nearly as cute as the ones in Rachel’s place. Oh Tyler.

Anyways, aside from the rat (who has yet to be named), I awoke the other night to the sound of something rummaging through my thatch roof. Hmmm, pitch black and freaking out. Being the genius that I am, I turn on my light and shine it around. Ha! Good call on that one Sar. No sooner do I shine my light does a bat, YES A BAT, start flying frantically around my head. Holy crap, white girl freak out moment. Think John Candy in the Great Outdoors. Not pretty. But I figured as long as he doesn’t eat through my mosquito net, I’ll be ok. Finally, I fall back asleep only to wake up at 6am next to a monster termite mound literally a foot and a half from my head. Again, gross. Until I can get to Nioro and buy termite stuff, I’ve resorted to do it yourself methods. Enter the duct tape.

I heard that 40 percent of Peace Corps is spent sleeping. And after just a few short days in Pakane Toucouleur, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is certainly plausible. I have found that village life embraces my old lady tendencies of going to bed at 9pm or earlier every night along with a 2 hour nap mid-day. In all honesty, I sleep to fight off boredom more than anything else. I can only read so much in one day and use my small amount of pulaar vocab so often. I mean really, how many times does someone want to hear “its hot today” or “you are sitting.” Yes, for the 10^th time today, I am sitting.

Long story short, my life is quite boring. I’m going to Dakar on Thursday for some semi-american style living. I’ll be there till Monday and I’ll have my phone back yay! Feel free to call me anytime, I’m always up for a call. Chris is was good to hear from you the other night. I hope the Praxis went well and I know you did great. I love you and stop stressing about a job. Mom, dad and Rachel, I love you all too and can’t wait to talk to you again soon. I have a new address finally yay so we can start doing mail again! And to all my friends don’t think I’ve forgot about you. For those of you who have sent letters and emails you have no idea how much they mean to me. I’ll be getting back to you as soon as I can!

let me know if you want my address, I don't want to put it on here because there are crazies who will stalk me :)