Il faut metriser le dialogue!

Sunday was move into training homestay day and I was really nervous. I had no idea what to expect, not to mention that I couldn't speak Pullo Fuuta. My LCF, language and crosscultural facilitator Pape, my two classmates and four other trainees were dropped off in Sangalkam. Sangalkam is a small village with a market, tailors, a mosque and few stores. ALl I remember seeing immediately after getting off the bus was sand and children. I got dropped off at my compound which had three buildings. I met my host mom, neene. Neene is a 50 year old woman who is a host mom for the first time! When i arrived she was sweeping the sand on my compound. Yes they sweep the sand all day long!Neene is pullar for mom and she gave me my senegalese name, Anta Sow. I had no clue that's what was happening but luckily my neene speaks a bit of french. After that I met all the women on my compound. I believe there are 10 including my host mom and my two host cousin children, neenee galle and oumo, who are sisters and 4 and 2. They're really cute! Neenee gallee is so smart and helps me filter my water everyday. she's been picking up french and repeating "bonjour" in my ear while I try to nap in the heat of the day. Unfourtunately, "sa suffit" has not entered in her french vocab yet.

Senegalese families are interesting and confusing because they're very big. My host family consist of either 17-19 people and my mom is the oldest sibling and the matriarch of the family. She lives with her four brothers, their families and some other nieces and nephews. She only lives with her "real" siblings, same mother same father. She has the nicest room because she is the head of the family.Her room has a fan and nice tv. I have a bunch of cousins on the compound and I still haven't figured out whose children they are. My cousin, Hali Matu, is awesome and speaks french...She is fascinated by all the Toubabs, wolof word for foreigner in town. She seems really funny. So, that's who I communicate with mainly. She's in a great position since she's a woman and educated. She is one of the few young women that I've met who is educated so she's in a really fortunate position. I don't know why she being younger than Anta Gee, my namesake and other cousin, is allowed to be educated. I've felt like a member of the family. I've been away for a day and a half back at the training center and my host family has called me three times. Conversation is really limited over the phone. Me: " Jara? Ca va" Jara" Ca va, Anta? Me: Ca va. and then silence. Luckily tonight Halli Matu was on the phone and conversation was a little more fluid. I talked to every girl in my family and they said how much they missed me. They're really sweet. They also made me a senegalese booboo from the tailor to take back to the training center with me.

At the homestay, I have a turkish squat toilet that smells slightly gross and I take bucket baths. The bucket baths are not that bad. It's interesting to know how little water you need to get yourself clean. The hard part has been trying to clean myself with a kettle of water after having used the sqautter. I haven't found the technique yet.

Bringing out the camera on the first night was pure insanity. They all got super excited about the pictures and I had to take pictures of all the members and their 10 different poses. Also, they love my body spray. They ask me to spray their arm pits and my first night, they lined up in front of my room with their arms in the air so they could get sprayed. It was pretty funny.

Class is interesting. It's really hard to stay motivated when it's hot, class is under a tree, goats are mating, and it's Ramadan. We moved into homestays in the middle of Ramadan and life is harder than normal. It is hot and our poor teacher of pullo fuuta is exhausted which makes him less motivated to teach. Our first three days of class, the first 18 hours of class. We have class 6 hours a day, we're spent memorizing the same dialogue which consists of saying hello, what's your name, what's your last name, what is your job, where are you from, and what do you do. After the third day, I couldn't handle it anymore! I wanted to learn either vocab or grammar something other than memorizing the same lines over and over and over which meant nothing to me. We demanded to change the pace of class but Pape was really adamant about "il faut d'abbord metriser le dialogue!" We lost the battle and I almost lost it. We have begun to learn grammar thank goodness but communication is really limited at home. I've become really content just sitting around, watching and napping in the heat of the day!

inshallah!

Arrival in Senegal!

Our flight from D.C. arrived an hour early at 5 am on Wednesday, Aug. 11th in Senegal. It seemed very official because peace corps buses and jeeps were waiting to take 64 agriculture and business volunteers to the training center in the city of thies, senegal. Thies pronounced like "chess" is the second largest city in Senegal located two hours in land of Dakar. I have not yet seen Dakar but will during our the training period. The "Corps de la Paix" training center is nice! It was donated by the senegalese government and has been our home for the last four days! We've been sleeping, eating, learning and sweating here! It's really humid because it's the rainy season. However, today was the first day of rain and the first day we were permitted to go off site and visit thies! It's a busy city and pretty liberal! I barely heard nor used any french on the street. We all obtained a crash course in wolof, main local language of senegal, to barter in the market.

We've been doing a lot of listening here. All of our trainers are awesome! They're all Senegalese except for the few current volunteers who are here for the technical aspect of our training. My two favorite sessions have been how to properly squat when using a latrine and wiping your ass with your left hand. the left hand is such a big no no in senegal. Another half an hour was used explaining to us who and how we're allowed to greet in Senegal and the proper form of how to do it. I'm still confused about it which means that I'm going to get reprimanded a lot at my training site!

The LCF's "the language and crosscultural faciliators" who are our senegalese teachers. Amongst the 64 of us, we're learning 8 different languages. I passed out of french and have been chosen with 6 other volunteers to learn pulaar fuuta! I'm stoked because pulaar is spoken in 27 countries in Africa. However, I'm going to be learning the hickest version of Pulaar--this has narrowed down the location of my future sight! I'm going to be serving in the lush region of Kedegou which is the farthest from Dakar and the most remote but it's the most beautiful and animal friendly. Senegal's largest national park is in Kedegou. I'm excited! Tomorrow, I'm leaving the training center with the 6 other volunteers learning my language with our language teacher to live together in our training village. Our LCF's are awesome! They are moving to the villages with us and will be leaving in homestay!!

I will not be taking my computer but will be back at the training in a week to check my mail! On September 8th, I will find out the exact location of my sight of service and will go visit it for three days!!

A jaamara!