Maangiy jeem!

I am currently back at the training center in Thies learning more about my personal health/safety in Senegal as well as health and environmental issues the people face.

First, my two exciting pieces of news. We had our first of 3 language assessment orals. I received the level of intermediate-low, which is very good after 3 weeks of language classes. This is the 4th level, and I need to increase by just one level by the end of training to pass (though obviously the better I am by the end, the easier communicating in my village will be). And, my other good news, yesterday I successfully bartered in Wolof in the market. After greeting and telling the shopkeepers what I wanted, I was able to reduce the cost of a bag in half-to just $3. Maangiy jeem! (I'm trying!)

While in Mboro, I began to fall into a routine. Wake up at 7:30, meet another trainee for a morning run, shower, study Wolof, eat breakfast, and then head to my teacher's house at 9:30. Wolof classes usually lasted 3 or 4 hours, then I would go home, spend some time with my family, eat lunch, review my Wolof notes, and sometimes nap before heading back to my teacher's house at 4:00. At this time, we would have another Wolof class for about an hour. Afterward, we generally went to the garden to work. And then I would go to the market to buy some fruit before returning home to spend time with my family, crochet (I made a hat for my newborn niece and one for one of my sisters), read, watch television, eat dinner, read a bit, and go to sleep.

As practice for our permanent site, we established a garden at the school. With the students' help, we created about 5 garden beds and a compost pile. We then planted vegetables and tree seedlings in the beds. Since the soil is essentially a sand box, I am very pleased that these seeds are growing - I guess the double digging and soil amendment techniques the Peace Corps taught us are effective. (Double digging is a way to loosen the soil and allow for the addition of soil amendments, which are the addition of compost, manure, wood ash, and charcoal to the soil to act as fertilizer and pest deterrents.) So we often return to the school to add to the garden, water it (using water drawn from the school's well), and weed. We also painted a mural at the school of a woman taking her baby to the health post. I was impressed by how good the mural turned out. We used a grid technique - by drawing a grid on the wall, and then focusing on the lines for each specific box (based upon a grid of the picture on a piece of paper), no artistic talent was necessary.

Let me also take this time to write a bit about my family. My father is polygamous, so in addition to my mother, he has one other wife. Polygamy is legal in Senegal, and many men see it as an obligation to have more than one wife if they can. Sometimes they marry both at the same time, and other times they wait awhile before taking another wife. Some times all the wives live in one compound (as in my family's case) and other times they live in different compounds and even different cities; sometimes the wives don't even know that their husbands have additional wives. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to talk with women in different situations to hear about their experiences with polygamy. My mother has 5 children - 2 girls and 3 boys. The youngest is 4 years old. Also, one of my sister's grandchildren lives with us. There is also another couple that lives in the compound with us. I think in total, 15 people live in the compound, though it is difficult to tell because people are always coming and going. There is my father, my mother, my mother's co-wife, my older sister, her newborn baby, my younger sister, my two older brothers, my younger brother, my nephew, the other couple, and a few other people who I am not sure how they are related. My family is all very nice, though they only speak Wolof and there have been some funny communication problems.

The weather has been pleasant so far. We arrived at the end of the cold dry season/beginning of the hot dry season. (The third season in Senegal is the hot rainy season.) Since it's the dry season, there is no humidity, which is nice. The temperature has also been moderate, and there have been one or two evenings where I've even considered a jacket. I admit that one night my sheet wasn't enough, and I woke up cold debating cracking out my sleeping bag. (How have I acclimated so quickly?) But during the day, it heats up, and I am usually sweating by mid-day.

So that's it for today. The next time I write, I will know where in Senegal I will be located for the next 2 years!