Almost there

Finally changed the background of my blog! So now instead of some random road picture that google provides as a template, you can see an actual African scene- taken by yours truly behind my homestay house. Enjoy it.

So I swear in as a full PCV next Friday. There are parts of training that went by incredibly slowly, and heaven knows I'm ready to get to site and start to gain my independence back, but at the same time I almost can't believe that I've been in country almost 2 months now. I can only imagine how fast time will go by once I'm at site, into the swing of things, comfortable with my family and language and have regular projects going. That may be a stretch to think of now, but one can always dream...

For the time being it's back to homestay today for the last time. I am actually excited this time- I love my family and I know it will go by super fast; I am now comfortable in the village and we will plan a really nice going away dinner or something with the other PCTs in the village. I think we might buy some chickens and kill them for a final night or something- that's pretty special for people there because chickens are expensive. I'll also be pretty busy wrapping up our garden; we have to figure out who will continue it and maybe train a few people on watering or making a fence around it. First experience with really training people in country. That's not to say that I actually really know what I'm doing yet, but it's a start. Keur Madaro has survived without us for a long time and will continue to survive without us after we leave, so I'm not that worried. Not to mention we'll be back- IST is at the beginning of December, which is not that long away. It seems like a long time, but in the life of many plants and trees, it's just a drop in the bucket.

At any rate, the beach was fun. We took two Alhums (the big white van-like busses) down to Poupenguie (not sure how to spell that) where Kelsey's site will be. It was gorgeous, and it was a welcome break from the normal day-to-day that is class, translating every thought I have into Wolof, and digging in the dirt. The occasional beach vacation can do a world of good. I posted pics too- they should be under the PST album if you're curious. Since I'm bad at putting captions up, you'll see the cliffs and some other rock formations. Some artist carved random statue figures into one of the formations and you can see a picture of this face that greets you when you go to climb on the rocks. It's pretty cool actually. You can climb up to the top of the little island and look out at the ocean too, so Garrison and I went exploring there. Lauren and Rachel hung back, but me, being the natural rock climber/lover of heights, I climbed up the rock wall and checked it out. The other cool thing- the water here has plankton with bioluminescent proteins. We learned about them in school, and I remember all sorts of research and biological advantages to them, but nothing compares to how cool they are when you go swimming in the middle of the night and all the water sparkles white around you as you move your arms. Definitely up there with the coolest things ever. I'm a geek and I'm aware of that fact, so I will probably research what type of protein they produce and what biological function it performs.

We also had Dakar day yesterday. All of us piled into some PC cars in the morning and shipped out to downtown Dakar, which is a very bizarre experience after living in the village on and off for a while. In the nicer areas of Dakar, it feels like you are in a French version of NYC. Street vendors are everywhere, expensive brand name stores line the streets, and it is easy to go to a fancy restaurant and spend all your money on one meal. There are also a lot of white people in parts of it- you never know what nationality, but along the road of embassies you suddenly feel like you are no longer in Africa. This further emphasizes the separation of upper and lower classes in this country. Most of the wealth is located from Thies and west into Dakar, but as you move in any other direction from here, the landscape and overall socio-economic status changes dramatically. I guess that's where we come in.

Ok I've been rambling now so I'll leave it here. I'll be back in Thies next Tuesday night, and then stay tuned for swear-in! I'll have plenty more to share soon.

Love from Senegal,

~E