Don't ya wanna...wanna Fanta?

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!