Ndanke-ndanke

I caution that one should not go lizard hunting in Senegal. Without water. In the middle of the day. When it is 90+ degrees.
There is a saying in Senegal that (translated from Wolof) says "Slowly/Quietly is how to best trap a monkey in the bush". Which we manipulated to trap a lizard.... However, we did not see any lizards. We instead got our pants COVERED in stick-tights and burrs, felt like we were going to die of thirst, got nasty sunburns, and thanked the Lord that "stealing" is not a concept in Senegal when we picked a handful of peanut plants to eat fresh peanuts. :) Really, it was a matter of life and death. I promise.

However, the next day, a guy in the village did catch a lizard. I'm told they taste like chicken. I will never know. Because my host-grandmother was very vehement about the fact that I COULD NOT eat lizard. That lizard was BAD and would make my stomach HURT. And, since I was in a very small village and everyone knows everything, I couldn't sneak and eat lizard. Mam Ami Sow would have known. And I don't think I would like to disappoint her.

(and sorry, since I don't have my Wolof notebook with me, I do not have the full phrase...but it starts out 'Ndanke-ndanke')

I have posted pictures on Facebook, if you want access to them and aren't on FB, email me and let me know, I'll send you the link.

Things have been going great here. The end of training is in sight! We have two weeks until swear-in and 18 days until I am installed at my site. I am going to be in the Kaffrine region of Senegal. Basically, if you look at a map of Senegal and follow the line of The Gambia...when the line jogs north, continue North-Westish for about 15k. Kind of. It is in the heart of the Peanut Basin. However, my techincal trainer tells me that "There is no Peace in Peanuts, therefore, Peace Corps does not extend Peanuts". :) Which is pretty funny. So I will be focusing more on corn, millet, cowpeas, sorghum, and rice. But, since the soil is sandy and poor, I will be focusing on rice and cowpeas most. I suspect easy success with the cowpeas...not so with the rice. :( There is a little bit of sesame being grown in my area as well.

Right now, I'm just excited to get to my site soon. To be able to buy things for my hut. To be able to plant things in my backyard. To be able to do a little bit of cooking by myself. To be able to start integrating into the village that will be my home for two years. Mostly, I think I am excited to be in control of my own life again (well, as in control as one can be while in Senegal), I would like to make to-do lists and follow my own timetable instead of everyone else's.
Of course, nothing is concrete....and if I don't pass my language exam on the 14th, I'll be a little delayed getting to my village :S. So, I should really be studying Wolof right now, not posting on my blog.

I *might* be able to get a blog/pictures up between the 17th and the 21st. If I don't, however, I will likely not have another blog until after Thanksgiving. I apologize in advance.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane!!

If one ever wants to feel like a celebrity:

1) move to a 3rd world country where you are the obvious minority

2) travel in multiples, so your novelty is amplified

3) take a horse-drawn carriage through a city

4) shock everyone by knowing the basics of their language

5) be flattered every time someone yells "Toubab!"...think of it as your celebrity nickname...rather than "white stranger", usually followed by "may ma xaliss" (offer me money).

So things are going well. I will be installed in my village on the 21st. My village is a approximately 250 people. My host father and counterpart (aka: host country co-worker) is pretty cool, we had some great laughs over conversation that neither of us understood well. And I have some ideas for what I want to accomplish in my village. Though, until I actually see my village, I suppose I shouldn't put the cart before the horse. (oh! so punny when I have pictures of my charet ride hopefully uploading...)

I must share the epitome of "I am in Africa" moments. So, a couple of weeks ago was Korite (the end of Ramadan) and the community was cooking communaly. I was told I had to help. So I went over and was pulling fly-covered chunks of meat out of a dirty tub and holding them over another tub, while another woman cut them into smaller chunks with a dull knife (both of us pulling on the meat). In the middle of this, there is another plastic tub full of water and potatoes and onions. Perched on the side of this second tub is a chicken, getting a drink. A young boy literally pushes 8 sheep past the "prep area"--within a foot of the prep area. And the woman cutting the meat lifts her top and her child comes over for lunch...as she cuts meat with a dull knife in a thoroughly unsanitary fashion, with a billion small animals and flies around. I have to share this, because I know that in another 4 months, this won't strike me as out of the ordinary.

Well, and I lie. Because I am quite sure that there are probably about 20 "epitome of Africa" moments that I have had....I really should start taking better notes, otherwise, I'll forget them all, and you'll never get to read a boring blog relaying them. And I couldn't deprive the world of that!