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!