Ntoxo mu Fanta le ti. Translation from Jaxanke: My name is Fanta. That is the name that was given to me by our training host family within the first thirty seconds of us walking in the door. (Pat's name is Salouma.) I love it. The hoards of kids who yell "Toubab Waaaaaaaazzooooo" (Toubab is the Senegalese word for foreigner and Wazzoo is what their rendition of Bonjour sounds like) at us every time we leave the house follow that greeting by asking our names, either in Wolof or French. Now, most of the kids that live in my neighborhood call me Fanta. I've even been walking quite a ways from my house and heard "Fanta!". One of those instances, my name was followed by them singing Waka Waka to me...I may have made a fool of myself dancing at a baptism with a bunch of kids, but everyone loved it.
Our host family is really great. We have been living with them for nearly two weeks now, with a brief time back at the training center in Thies. Until today, we were the oldest people in our family, as our mom was traveling in Kedougou, the region where we will most likely be heading for our two years of service. Our 22 year old sister took on the role of our mom though, mostly in sternly telling us to eat more. (Her name is actually Mami, which was fitting. Her son's name is Papa--those were the two easiest names to learn of the 11 people living in the house with us.) Most of them speak at least some French, so we have been able to communicate enough to establish a relationship, but I'm trying to wean myself off the French and really rely on Jaxanke. It's hard though, since there are always friends over that don't speak Jaxanke, and since I don't speak Wolof apart from the mandatory greetings...
Our house actually has electricity and running water, so we are pretty fortunate. I've actually never watched so much TV in my life...Senegalese life has a big emphasis on sitting together, and since they have a TV, that's where everyone sits together. The word for "to live" in Jaxanke is the same as the word "to sit". We have a pit latrine, which has been a bit of an adjustment but not too bad. My quads will be strong after squatting for two years. Mbour itself is a pretty big city by Montana standards--my guidebook says 150,000 people. The city made of sand. It takes forever to get anywhere because it's like walking on the beach. You don't see too many cars in our neighborhood because they always get stuck in the sand. As part of our technical training we are learning about improved gardening techniques for West Africa, and it has been an interesting experiment to grow things in the sand. The first week we were here was the hottest I have ever been in my life, nand they say that that was NOTHING compared to hot season in Kedougou. Note for anyone who has been considering visiting in the summer--we might want to reconsider that timing for a more pleasant trip. Everyone we have talked to has recommended November-February, and we have heard of temperatures reaching 130-140 degrees.
The food...it hasn't been bad per say, but it's very repitious. Rice for every meal, usually with fish. Peace Corps tells us to supplement our meals privately in our rooms to make sure that we get enough protein and roughage, but it's hard to be hungry enough to eat supplemental food when even my 11 year old brother is telling me to eat more. Both Pat and I did get sick on Sunday (which ended up being a good time to be sick, since we were confined to our houses for election day). We are both feeling much better now, and we think that the illness might have been related to food we ate at a baptism we went to in the community.
Vomiting in a pit latrine was a new experience, however. Other new experiences: having a lizard run up my back (apparently that means that I will not die within the next year), feeling awkward about brushing my teeth (most Senegalese chew on a stick to accomplish the task), drenching a bandana in water and wearing that as a blanket to try to cool off at night, and having someone ask if Pat was our friend Karin's husband right after I had said he was my husband (about 50% of marriages here are polygamist).
The other notable events of the past few weeks were spending my 26th birthday in a culture that really does not put any kind of emphasis on age (most people have to do a lot of calculations before they can say how old they are), and the run-off presidential election. Macky Sall, the opposition candiate, received 65% of the vote, and President Wade called him to congratulate him, which means that Senegal continues to be a bastion of democracy in West Africa. It was exciting to see (from our rooftop, where we watched the goings on at the school across the street where people went to vote and then spent the rest of the day sitting in the road between our house and the school).
Well, it's quite a walk from our house to the restaurant that has internet, so I better end this post. Thanks for reading and keep in touch.
Mbe saayin!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
First post from Senegal
Greetings from Senegal! Finally! After all this time (2.5 years since submitting my application), I can finally call my self a Peace Corps Trainee. We arrived in Dakar Wednesday morning and came immediately to Thies, where Peace Corps has a training center. I was exhausted and didn't really see much once we left Dakar. I think there are about 48 trainees for Senegal, plus we are joined by another 19 or so who will be serving in the Gambia. It has been a whirlwind so far. I have traveled a lot of places, and this is the most different from any place I have ever been...and I LOVE that. Almost all of our time has been spent in the training center, where we are trained by current volunteers, Senegalese locals, and other American staff. It felt a little strange at first to be locked inside this compound, which is actually really nice--it's an old French military compound, but I didn't feel like I was actually in Africa for the first few days! We could hear singing and drumming outside all the time, but couldn't experience it! We have been getting plenty of exposure to Senegalese culture from the Senegalese staff, but still. We had to do a bunch of safety and security trainings first.
The big moments came when a) we finally got to leave the compound and walk around Thies, and b) finding out what language we will be learning, and where we will go for our community based training. The walk around Thies was great--really eye opening for me, even having traveled in Africa before. (I was told that Namibia can be known as Africa Light, and I can see why a little bit.) The thing that shocked me the most was the trash. It was EVERYWHERE. Then, the current volunteer I was with bought me a snack in the market that was wrapped in newspaper. I ate it, it was delicious (like most of the food here), and then I noticed the volunteer smirking at me when I finished. He said "My favorite part is seeing what the new trainees will do with the newspaper." I looked around for a trash can, and he explained how there is no waste management system in Senegal (apparently there is an incinerator at the training center), and that it would be impractical to carry two years worth of trash around with me. It made me feel sick to my stomach, but I consciously littered for what I think must be the first time in my life! Pat had a much better walk around Thies, and even got to go to a baptism/naming ceremony. Other things of note were the beautiful clothes (I can't wait to get my African clothes made!) the adorable children yelling Bonjour, and the realization that no matter how worldly I thought I was, I could still be overwhelmed.
We found out yesterday that we will be learning...drumroll...Jaxanke/Malinke (they are the same language basically--our teacher calls it Jaxanke, but I think when we actually go to our site it will be referred to as Malinke--for this post, I'll just call it Jaxanke). This is a really big deal, because as a volunteer learning a language (there were seven different options for Senegalese volunteers) determines where in the country you will be placed, as well as what ethnic group you take on as your own during your service. When we meet our host families, we are given a Senegalese name and are considered to be a part of the ethnic group of the family. So the staff have now been referring to Pat and I as Jaxankes, which is fun. It is especially fun because of a cultural thing called "Joking Cousins". Each ethnic group has another group or two that is its "cousins". So, as Jaxanke, my cousins are the Bambara and the Pulafuuta. This means that the groups tease each other endlessly. This is perceived as hilarious and not at all racist or anything like that. They love to insult each other. From what I can tell, most groups insult each other by saying something like, "Oh you are a Bambara. You eat all the food. I am Jaxanke and I work so hard." From what I can tell, every group gets accused of eating a lot. Some groups apparently eat a lot of beans? Also, the Pulaars call the Serers cats and hyenas. Then when we figure out our last names, we will also have joking cousins of certain last names within our group. So much to figure out, but it has been fun to take part in this. Like I said, so different.
We go to Mbour (on the coast!) for training on Wednesday, which is actually a Wolof speaking community. The Jaxanke live in the South, but that's really far away, and we will be going back and forth from our community site to the training center for the next two months, so we are going to a bigger town that just has some Jaxanke families living there. With our family, we will do as the Senegalese: eat out of a community bowl for meals with our hands (right hand only--left is for wiping), take bucket baths, and hopefully learn a lot of Jaxanke. Pat and I had actually requested separate homestays for language learning purposes, but since it is such a minority language, they didn't have enough families for us to each have our own, so we will just have to be really good about avoiding speaking English with each other. I am so excited!
Important note: we got cell phones, which you can call from Skype or with a calling card. My number is 011-221-77-883-8434 (from a calling card--from Skype I think you can just select Senegal and then start with the 77. Thanks for the emails to those who have sent them. I don't have time tonight to respond individually, but I'll try to soon. My snail mail address for the next two months is on the side bar of this blog. Keep in touch!
The big moments came when a) we finally got to leave the compound and walk around Thies, and b) finding out what language we will be learning, and where we will go for our community based training. The walk around Thies was great--really eye opening for me, even having traveled in Africa before. (I was told that Namibia can be known as Africa Light, and I can see why a little bit.) The thing that shocked me the most was the trash. It was EVERYWHERE. Then, the current volunteer I was with bought me a snack in the market that was wrapped in newspaper. I ate it, it was delicious (like most of the food here), and then I noticed the volunteer smirking at me when I finished. He said "My favorite part is seeing what the new trainees will do with the newspaper." I looked around for a trash can, and he explained how there is no waste management system in Senegal (apparently there is an incinerator at the training center), and that it would be impractical to carry two years worth of trash around with me. It made me feel sick to my stomach, but I consciously littered for what I think must be the first time in my life! Pat had a much better walk around Thies, and even got to go to a baptism/naming ceremony. Other things of note were the beautiful clothes (I can't wait to get my African clothes made!) the adorable children yelling Bonjour, and the realization that no matter how worldly I thought I was, I could still be overwhelmed.
We found out yesterday that we will be learning...drumroll...Jaxanke/Malinke (they are the same language basically--our teacher calls it Jaxanke, but I think when we actually go to our site it will be referred to as Malinke--for this post, I'll just call it Jaxanke). This is a really big deal, because as a volunteer learning a language (there were seven different options for Senegalese volunteers) determines where in the country you will be placed, as well as what ethnic group you take on as your own during your service. When we meet our host families, we are given a Senegalese name and are considered to be a part of the ethnic group of the family. So the staff have now been referring to Pat and I as Jaxankes, which is fun. It is especially fun because of a cultural thing called "Joking Cousins". Each ethnic group has another group or two that is its "cousins". So, as Jaxanke, my cousins are the Bambara and the Pulafuuta. This means that the groups tease each other endlessly. This is perceived as hilarious and not at all racist or anything like that. They love to insult each other. From what I can tell, most groups insult each other by saying something like, "Oh you are a Bambara. You eat all the food. I am Jaxanke and I work so hard." From what I can tell, every group gets accused of eating a lot. Some groups apparently eat a lot of beans? Also, the Pulaars call the Serers cats and hyenas. Then when we figure out our last names, we will also have joking cousins of certain last names within our group. So much to figure out, but it has been fun to take part in this. Like I said, so different.
We go to Mbour (on the coast!) for training on Wednesday, which is actually a Wolof speaking community. The Jaxanke live in the South, but that's really far away, and we will be going back and forth from our community site to the training center for the next two months, so we are going to a bigger town that just has some Jaxanke families living there. With our family, we will do as the Senegalese: eat out of a community bowl for meals with our hands (right hand only--left is for wiping), take bucket baths, and hopefully learn a lot of Jaxanke. Pat and I had actually requested separate homestays for language learning purposes, but since it is such a minority language, they didn't have enough families for us to each have our own, so we will just have to be really good about avoiding speaking English with each other. I am so excited!
Important note: we got cell phones, which you can call from Skype or with a calling card. My number is 011-221-77-883-8434 (from a calling card--from Skype I think you can just select Senegal and then start with the 77. Thanks for the emails to those who have sent them. I don't have time tonight to respond individually, but I'll try to soon. My snail mail address for the next two months is on the side bar of this blog. Keep in touch!
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