Volunteer visit in Kedougou!

All 9 of us trainees going to live in Kedougou ventured down to the Kedougou region for volunteer visit. So, all 9 of us left on a Landcruiser at 7 am. I was sick that morning and wasn’t looking forward to a 12 hour drive sitting sideways on bumpy African roads. Luckily, we arrived in 9 hours and the current volunteers had prepared a sumptuous Mexican meal for us with cake!!! They were almost as excited as we are to be there. We had a mini party and spent the night in the regional house of Kedegou but all of us trainees were exhausted so we went to bed at 10. The next morning the landcruiser came back to pick us up and drop us off. I’m the furthest volunteer west from Kedegou and I’m about 80 km west of Kedegou and that village is called Salemata. From Salemata, it’s about an hour hike to my village. So, on our volunteer visit the other fellow trainee wanted to stop and see her village of Ibel on the way to Salemata. Unfourtunately, the landcruiser got stuck in the mud for seven hours. It wasn’t that bad and time didn’t go that slow. I think it’s because I’m used to spending my time not doing anything. All of a sudden we heard a lot of screaming and the 20 men helping Amadou, the driver, were cheering got the car out of the water. Yes!! But, then 20 minutes later we encountered a road block, there was too much water for the Landcruiser to go through. A man was chest deep in the water carrying his bicycle over his head. However, Amadou still thought it would be a good idea to check it out. Seriously. We got window level in and the motor started fuming. We went back to Kedougou meme and spent a nice three days there. We ate warthog sandwiches, went swimming and watched movies at the regional house. We also did one short hike to a Bedik village that was really picturesque.
Etiolo, my future home, is a village 90 km southwest of Kedegou city. I will be living in a village of 1000 people in Southwestern Kedegou called Ethiolo. My village is 10 km from Guinea and it’s supposed to be beautiful. It’s also a Bassari village, and the Bassari are animists! This means that my village is about 90% Christian/Anismsts because are synonymous here. Ethiolo is supposed to be really picturesque on the top of a hill and its popular with tourists due to the initiations. The big initiations are in May and even tv stations come to see them. They’re apparently really cool. I’m living wit my counterpart and he is the owner of the campement. His name is Balingho and I heard he is pretty goofy. Also, he is featured in the Lonely Planet as the guy to go see in my village because he knows all the local hikes and where all the caves are! I’m really excited to work with him,
Language is coming on very slowly but it’s coming. Hope you’re all doing well. Only three more weeks of training!

Two weeks in Homestay and My future Senegalese home, Ethiolo!

These last two weeks have been interesting to say the least. The rain season has really kicked in! It’s been raining everyday which has been a blessing because it cools the weather considerably. One day after class, Macumba (Alex) a fellow volunteer and I went with my four year old Senegalese niece , Neene Galle, to the only place in town that sells cold drinks. It started pouring while we were there and poor Neene Galle began shivering. We stayed there an hour waiting for the rain to stop but it unfortunately didn’t. It was still raining cats and dogs and as we’re running down the street, lighting struck two feet away from us! We saw the sparks hit the ground and the heard the loud thunder hit. I screamed! Neene Galle, who I was carrying , dug herself into me. We needed to get cover as quickly as possible and of course we created quite a scene! Two white women running down the street in a lightning storm, one carrying a child definitely went unnoticed. Not to mention all of Sangalkam, our training village knows us by our Senegalese names! Immediately after the lighting stuck, the doors to the barber shack opened and we ran in. It was really smelly and small. Inside the barber shack were three creepy men who looked like they had just reeled in some bait. Macumba and I looked at each other then we realized we were sitting inside of a metal box during a lightning storm. Stupid idea, So, we took our chances and ran back to the homestay. We luckily did not get struck by lightning.
I had some medical issues this time around. Due to the really healthy Senegalese diet especially the one during Ramadan which is even more carboloade than normal,, I’ve been eating a lot of bread with a ton of butter and sugar. They look at you with three heads if you only put one cube of sugar in your coffee cup. Obviously, you should put at least four t because “that’s how we Senegalese avoid getting sick”. So, in addition to gastrointestinal issues for three weeks straight, I ended up getting a “creeping eruption on my ass.” A creeping eruption is a hookworm which when my host aunt told me the word in wolof which got translated into French I thought it was something really really bad. When I found out, I ran immediately to Macumba’s compound screaming my head off and had her family members inspect my ass as well. Just to get a second opinon. The woman on her compound thought it was hilarious and yes, indeed confirmed it was a worm. I freaked out. I got my medical book and was so panicked about my exact condition that I self-diagnosed myself with jock itch. Luckily, Macumba set me straight and also helped me with my situation. My family (mainly my aunt Jara) told her to kill it. We opened my medical kit, got the gloves, tweezers and killed it. The next morning after all this, I had the grandiose idea of going on a run. Not a smart idea when you’ve been shitting water for three weeks. So, I came back and felt woozy. During class, I started feeling nauseous and when my LCF, Pape, asked me to come to the board everything seemed to get dizzy and black. I fainted but was very luckily picked up by my charming LCF. Pape was panicked and we called med. That afternoon I was taken to Dakar and stayed the rest of the day in air conditioning and used a flush toilet. I miraculously become better the next day.

Today, was the equivalent of Christmas Day for Peace Corps Volunteers. We got out sights announced to us! I’m going to be an Ecotourism volunteer in Southeastern Senegal in the village of Ethiolo within the region of Kedegou. I will be living amongst the animist Bassari people of Senegal who are becoming more and more popular amongst tourists. Every May, they have a beautiful initiation that attracts a ton of attention. The Bassaris are different than the other Senegalese. From what I’ve been described, it really feels like Africa there! I will be living in a thatched roof hut with no electricity and water. I’m really excited because I will be living at the base of he largest national park in Senegal in a really beautiful picturesque village. I am really far in the bush however and it takes 7 hours to get to my regional capital by bike!! It’s going to be a typical Peace Corps experience! Inshallah!