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!