Hey all,
I'm new to this blogging thing, so bear with me for a little bit. Also, sorry it's taken so long for me to make this blog, I've been super busy, and when I haven't been busy I've just been super lazy. Anyway, this is about my second week in Senegal and I am sitting here in the Thies training center. So where do I begin?
I guess I'll just talk about what I'm up to now. The majority of my time in Senegal so far has been language training. In order to do this we are placed in a CBT (community based training) homestay site. This basically means that they gave us a two hour crash-course class in the language we are going to learn and then shipped us off to a host family that will facilitate our education in that language. As you might imagine, this can be pretty intimidating. In Senegal I am learning the Pullo Fuuta language. This is a dialect of a broader Pulaar language, that which is spoken by the former theocratic kingdom of the Fulbe Jallon. In Senegal the language is mainly spoken the the South-Eastern provence of Kedougou, but there are a few sites in Tambacounda and Kolda (of course, if I were to be placed there I'd have to be near those wily Fundakundas). I hear that Pullo Fuuta is the most melodic of the Pulaar dialects though, people say that it rolls off the tongue. Also, I hear that Kedougou is a beautiful area with rivers and waterfalls and whatnot (and of course large insects, mosquitoes, and fungal infections). The first week I was here a current volunteer just entering his second year was in Thies for an assessment and he talked a lot about life in Kedougou (apparently the 4th of July party there is a lot of fun). Of course, I might not end up in this region, but from all the good things I've heard about it, I hope I am.
As I was saying, with nothing but a 2 hour introduction to Pulaar I was sent off to join a Pullo Fuuta family living in the nearby city of Ngekhokh. I was frankly terrified. The first day was rather akward. My host family is really nice and inviting, but the language barrier made things rather difficult. My host mother is fluent in French, and my host uncles studied a bit of English, but our communication is broken at best. It is a weird synthesis of Pulaar, French, and English. My host family is a bit unique compared to other volunteers in this there are no children in the household. My fellow PCVs talk about how great it is to have kids in their compound because they are fascinated with Americans and continuously try to engage them in conversation and try to teach them the language. I, on the other hand, have a little baby brother who is one year old and can't talk yet. The rest of the compound are my host mother, father, and my host father's 5-6 brothers and 2 sisters. My uncles and aunts are my age or older, around mid 20-30s. This makes it further intimidating because since they are adults they will talk to me until I can't understand them anymore, then give up and continue conversing amongst themselves. I know that they have really interesting conversations, I just wish that I had the language skills to contribute.
This has been the aspect of the Peace Corps that has caused me the most stress, but otherwise I have had a great time. The staff here are amazing and my LCF (language and culture facilitator, basically my Pulaar teacher) is patient and overall a good tutor. I have gotten to know the other Peace Corps Volunteers pretty well, and I often look forward to returning to Thies just to hang out with Americans. I've been spending about half of my time in CBT and the other half in the Thies training center. By the way, the training center is beautiful. I've been playing a lot of basketball, specifically playing fass (the wolof word for horse) and soccer. Also bananagrams. I'll try to remember more.
Africa is really hot. Like, really hot. You have to drink a lot of water, all the time.
Some interesting facts about Senegalese culture I've learned so far: The traditional noble families have a joking relationships between each other. For instance, my Senegalese name is Ibrahima Diallo, and being a Diallo my rival family are the Baas. When I see a Baa I am supposed to say that they eat a lot of beans. Something like "hey, I hear there's a bean shortage in Africa, you must have eaten all of them". It's pretty ridiculous, but also really funny. Some of the other PCVs are Baas so we have a fun time making fun of each other pertaining to the quantity of beans we eat. Also, being a Pulaar, apparently I am supposed to joke with the Serer people saying that I am their king and that they are my slaves. This is not politically incorrect in any way and everyone gets a kick out of it. I suppose there's a historical context, but I don't know it. Another interesting part of Senegalese culture is how they eat. Everyone sits down around a large bowl/plate and eat from it either with their hands of a spoon (always with the right hand). The staple grain is rice, and I've eaten rice for every mean. Usually there is some other sauce and meat on top of it. The meals are generally tasty, but they do it fish a lot. The main fish dish is called Ceeb bu jeen (thieboudienne), and though I've been mostly spared from it in my CBT family, many other PCVs only eat fish.
There's a lot more to talk about, like the restroom situation, but I'm getting tired.
Chris
