Another random reflection on life

Yesterday, I used cashed in the grant money I got for two school gardens that I am in charge of, and put down about $300 dollars at a local hardware store on chicken wire, watering cans, rakes, shovels, and gardening picks that will be used by students to create their very own little vegetable plots. Well try to, anyway. The process involved biking over to another larger village about 40 minutes away, negotiating prices, waiting for the car to come that goes each day between Saloum Diane and Kaolack, and getting all the materials and me and my bike onto that car to take back to Saloum Diane and unload at my friend Mbaye’s house there. Considering the general lack of organization and quality transport in this country, I’d consider it a pretty successful day.

It got me thinking how much harder that whole process would have been even a couple of months ago before I had the same relationships with everyone in the area that I did. Knowing the owner of the hardware store, the car driver, and the people over in Saloum Diane really expediated a process that could have been much harder had I not known all of these people. This, in turn, got me thinking about where I live now. I don’t think of myself as living in Africa so much as living in Keur Andallah and being a part of the Kaolack region in Senegal. I don’t spend every day now thinking “Wow, I’m in Africa” just as we don’t think every day in the states “Wow, I live in North America. Isn’t that special?”

I guess this just happens naturally over time, and speaking of time, it has now been a year since swear-in, and a year ago tomorrow was the day that I first set foot in Keur Andallah. So congratulations to anyone in my stage reading this, and let this be my own personal “yay for me” moment. With a little bit of perspective, it’s been a really rewarding experience thus far, and it just made me realize how little time I have left here. If I’ve already been here half my total time, that means I have that same amount of time to accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish in Senegal before I’m out. I took a little while the other morning to write down a short list of goals that I’d like to at least attempt before I leave here so I can start planning now. Time, just as it does anywhere, slips by when you’re not looking, and before you know it your time’s up. I wrote down mostly projects I’d like to try: painting a mural, grafting some mango and ziziphus trees, establishing a couple more live fences, etc. Then I still have to consider the places I want to visit before I leave…

Sort of a weird analogy I came up with while making my list is that your service in Peace Corps is like a whole human life cycle condensed into 2 years. You get here ,and you are an infant who does not know anything about anything- the language barrier is obvious, but how do you feel when you look at the hole in the floor where you’re expected to do your business and realize that your really are back at square one. Then a few months go by and you’re an infant- blabbing in baby language and learning how to eat or greet properly, and after that you are swearing in- more like your high school graduation- and off on your own learning how to be an independent human being. Over time you pick up the language, make friends, find a purpose (even if it is just to water a couple of seeds you planted). Then a year in, you have your mid-life crisis. Believe me, every volunteer I’ve talked to has had a mid-service crisis, which usually comes just before your actually halfway point. You struggle to find meaning in what you’ve done so far and how to make the best use of your remaining time here. Time goes on, and you start to realize that your time really is limited here, and you should see all those places that you never got to see and spend time with people you became friends with. By the time you leave, you have to accept what you’ve accomplished, knowing your time’s run out, and you’re going to say goodbye to all your friends and your host family knowing you probably won’t see any of them again. By Peace Corps life-cycle standards, that makes me about 50 years old right now. Got through my mid-life crisis, and now it’s time to buckle down and start seeing places, spending time with friends and getting projects done that I want to accomplish before I leave.

Time to get to it. I’m starting with a new herb garden. Wish me luck.

~E

Just a cute anecdote for the day:

As I was walking out to the field this morning, I said good morning to one of my elderly male neighbors and greeted him as usual. He said that there was a lot of grass now and if you walk in it there’s laeye. I looked at him slightly confused since I had not heard that word before, and after he confirmed that I did not know what it meant, he went on to explain that it is water in the grass in the mornings. I exclaimed,

“Oh, dew! Yeah I know what that is.”

He replied that yes- it’s water, and it must come from up above in the trees at night or maybe it comes from the ground, but either way, it goes away each day when the sun comes out and gets hot, then comes back again at night.

Helpless without the vocabulary to explain the concept of condensation and temperature difference in Wolof, I just smiled and agreed with him and went on my way. Sometimes Senegal amuses me.

~E

English in Dakar

So I've been to Dakar a couple of times, but never for such a long time. I made the trip to participate in the Access English Camps sponsored by the US Embassy, and it was a really fun and rewarding experience. We worked with middle school-aged students and put together a typical American summer day camp for a week, conducting activities in English and teaching them about our culture. We had them sing camp songs, participate in field day activities like the 3-legged race and tug of war, played basketball and ultimate frisbee, taught them capture the flag, and let them organize little skits in English to perform to the group. We also had a few classroom based activities involving a geography game show ("who can point to New York on this map?") and American music history ("Anyone ever hear of B.B. King?") At least now they know that American music does not consist solely of Beyonce and Rhianna. Oh, and you can't forget Justin Beiber. When we had the kids translating lyrics to their favorite songs, a couple of them could recite all of Beiber's "Baby." Keep in mind, English is the 3rd or 4th language many of these kids are learning.

It was a bit difficult to put together a week's worth of educational and fun activities in the spur of the moment, but between six of us, I think we did a pretty good job. In fact, the local TV station came and interviewed us on the day the US Ambassador made an appearance. I was apparently on national TV speaking in Wolof for an interview, though I haven't had the opportunity to watch myself. It's probably better that way.

After the camp was over, I stuck around in Dakar for my mid-service medical exam and to say goodbye to one of my good friends who finished her service and left. Now I will go back to Kaolack tomorrow with a clean bill of health (woot woot!) and as an official second-year volunteer to welcome the new trainees of the agriculture stage that is scheduled to swear in a the beginning of November. Then it's back to the usual grind, but this time with schools! Finally, school will be starting sessions again, which means that I get to return to my favorite project of school gardens and my Senegalese friends will all return to the villages. Time is really flying now. I'll be home on vacation for the holidays before I know it!

~E