Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Neex naa wante sur naa!!

I've decided to devote my next few posts to the sense. As I'm a Gerson, I'm going to start with taste, to describe the food here. This is also particularly fitting because I am writing this after eating 2 dinners (and refusing the 3rd).

But before I do so, let me backtrack a bit to tell you about Mboro, the town I am living in. It is pretty large-around 40,000 people live here-so the biggest place I've lived since EB (besides Cardiff). It has a large market and a beach, which is really nice. There are also different neighborhoods within the town, so we're known pretty much throughout our neighborhood. And my family has about 10 people who are always living there and then about 8 people who may or may not live in the compound with me; it's hard to tell.

So now, about the food. I'll start simple. I have drank my first cup of coffee in my life. This was on the first morning that I was here, when I felt badly refusing what was offered to me. It was called cafe touba, and I can say that to me, coffee tastes as bad as it smells.

But, the tea here is to be raved about. Tea is extremely important culturally in Senegal. There is even an art to pouring it - you gain more respect by the height from which you can pour it into a glass (yes, hot tea is drank out of glass) and how much foam you can create at the top (the foam is just decorative and is left in the glass after drinking the tea). The tea is extremely sweet from all the sugar they add and is absolutely delicious; I drink 2 glasses after lunch with my family and sometimes even more during class.

The only other drinks that I have had here are juices and water. The juice is mainly bissap (made from hibiscis flowers - my favorite flower) and baobab - both highly nutritious plants with very sweet, vibrantly colored juice. And the water I run through a filter the Peace Corps provided me with and then bleach it to make it safe to drink. The process takes a bit of time, but it's much cheaper and better for the environment than buying bottled water.

Now about the food, what you've all been waiting for. Everyone here that I've asked says that their favorite food to eat and to cook is coeb bu jen (rice with fish), so it's no wonder that we eat this for most meals. As I described previously in my first post, there is one large bowl that everyone sits around and eats from. We've had up to 13 people around one bowl! The bowl contains mainly rice with a sauce on it, and then fish and steamed vegetables in the center. You eat what is directly in front of you and one of the women breaks up some food from the middle to pass out to everyone. Sometimes there are also fish balls (made of mashed up fish) or meat (rarely here since Mboro is on the coast, though we did eat sheep the night of the baptism). The sauce on the rice differs, but usually it is made up of crushed hot peppers, so it's fairly spicy.

Another dish we have had occasionally consists mostly of lettuce, carmelized onions, and french fries. This is the only dish I am allowed to eat with my hands (even though the rest of the women always eat with their hands and only the men in my family have spoons), and I love eating so many veggies for a meal. It is eaten by wrapping the lettuce around the onions, and it's very tasty.

Then there's my favorite dish here, which I've only had once. It is almost like risotto with some beans and a peanut sauce. I devoured it and hope we have it for a meal again.

I've also tried a dish similar to porridge, which was really good, but I was already full from lunch when I ate it so I didn't have too much.

And, most importantly, there is peanut butter here....I can't even describe how good it tastes. It's literally just mashed peanuts, but much tastier (and more affordable) than the Whole Foods variety. When I put it on an apple...my mouth just waters thinking about it. Senegal is a large peanut producer, so the peanut butter is extremely fresh and may use a different variety of peanuts than in the US. That said, I also eat roasted and sometimes sugar-coated peanuts almost every day as a snack - delicious!

And finally, the fruit. Currently, there are oranges, bananas, watermelon, another melon I don't know the name of, and apples. They are all good, but nothing amazing. But in approximately 2 months, it is mango season, and I can't wait for that.

So, the take-away message from all of this is: I won't go hungry living in Senegal. Senegalese mothers are like Jewish mothers in that they want you to eat. Every time I stop eating even if it's just to chewmy mother tells me to keep eating. And when I'm full, I have to insist that I'm done eating. My key phrase, "Neex naa, wante sur naa" (It's good, but I'm full).

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Maqngi fii rekk.

I have titled this post with the answer to a common question: Nanga def? (How are you?) People are constantly greeting each other here, and greetings can continue for up to 10 minutes sometimes. When you wake up, you greet everyone in the house. When you come back, you greet everyone. When you enter a store or walk up to a vendor, you greet everyone. When you pass someone on the street, you greet them. Etc. etc. Maangi fii rekk simply means, I am fine.

After being in Mboro with my family for 5 days, I returned to the training center in Thies with my fellow Peace Corps Trainees. It was interesting to compare stories of our experiences and nice to speak english with everyone. But after 2 days of gardening training, medical information sessions, and security information regarding the contentious election tomorrow, we were sent back to our host families.

I walked into the compound to discover about 30 people piled into the courtyard and every room packed with people. A cousin had been born the previous week, and the baptism was that morning. I was immediately introduced to all these people and was able to hold the baby - Fatima - who was extremely small due to a premature birth. It was a very festive atmosphere in my house. Everyone was dressed up, my mother was playing with the little children (which I had not seen before), more people than usual were coming and going, and there was delicious food for dinner (a sheep is slaughtered for the baptism, and it tasted really good with the lettuce and onions).

It is nice to be back here in Mboro and has already begun to feel like home. Plus, my Wolof is slowly improving, so I can speak a bit more to everyone.

In addition to being in Mboro to learn the language, we are also responsible for creating a garden at the local school. This has involved double digging plots, adding supplements to the soil (which is essentially a sandbox), planting seeds, transplanting small vegetable plants, and creating a compost pile. Students from the school are very helpful with this, doing most of the work for us, though it can be a bit overwhelming at times when 40 kids are running around a small area. But they work so hard and all want to help out which is great; our garden will definitely be able to continue after we leave which is great!

So, to give a general idea of my schedule here in Mboro: I wake up around 830, eat breakfast, study Wolof, and talk to the family. At 930 I walk to my teachers house which is about 5 minutes away. Class lasts until sometime between 12 and 1. Then I return to my house, spend some time with my family, study, nap, eat lunch (around 2), and return to my teachers house around 4. We generally have class again for an hour, then go to the school to garden. After gardening (usually around 7), we sometimes go to the market or buy a soda at a shop before going back home. Then I study a bit more, talk to the family, sit by the tv with them (they watch a lot of tv), and eat dinner (usually around 9/930). As soon as dinner is over, I go to bed and read for a bit before going to sleep. And then mixed in the day is laundry and showering as needed. Quite a lot of downtime, which is good because learning a language is not easy.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Aida Joob laa todd

I entered the van to go to my new home equipped with my water purifier, med kit, mosquito net, 1 bag of personal belongings, and 1 roll of toilet paper. As the van approached Mboro, my new home, I was anxious, excited, and a bit nervous all at the same time. What would my family be like? How many brothers and sisters would I have? What would my house look like? How would I be able to communicate?

The van passed the market, turned off the main paved road onto one of the side sandy roads, and then was stuck. Bricks were blocking the street, and the van could not continue. After talking to some of the locals, the 2 LCFs (Language and cultural facilitators-aka our teachers) for Mboro decided to pull over to the side of the road, unload the van, and hire a donkey cart to take us to our home. We walked behind the cart that carried our stuff:

It was almost dark by the time I entered my compound. My family was very excited to meet me, and I was introduced to everyone in the house. Since I don't understand much Wolof, it essentially consisted of my mother pulling my arm, pointing to people, and saying their names and their relationship to me. The first night was a bit of a blur because I was exhausted and overwhelmed, though it was a very warm welcoming. The next day, I couldn't remember any of this and had to have it all repeated, plus use the light to make out faces.

I have been named Aida Joob. (In Zolof: Aida Joob laa tudd.) This is also the name of one of my sisters who lives in Louga (northern Senegal). As soon as I arrived, people were calling me that, making sure to use my name whenever addressing me so that I would know they were talking to me to tell me to do something or to ask a question (though I couldn't always figure out more than that). Everyone is really friendly. My mom is very patient and has taken the time to repeat a lot to me and to drag me by the arm to show me what she's trying to communicate. It has been a bit difficult since I entered the house only knowing basic Wolof greetings (so not able to communicate past the first few sentences), but I am slowly learning more. Yesterday, I got the entire family laughing by my attempts at several questions in Wolof, none of which they understood and which required a cousin to come and speak to me in french for a bit so that I would pronounce the words correctly.

It's hard to believe that I've only been living with this family for a few days; it feels like much longer. In this time I have (for the first time ever-not including camping trips I've taken): seen a cockroach, filtered my own water, used a bucket shower, and stopped using toilet paper.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Integrating into Senegalese Life

I've now officially been in the Peace Corps for over a week and have spent almost a week in Senegal. I have become accustomed to the spiciness of the food and am enjoying the taste (even though I'm still drinking 4-5 glasses of water at each meal). While at the training center, the day begins around 7:30 when I wake up, eat a breakfast of beans on bread, and then head to my first session of the day. Sessions range from culture and language instruction to conversations about safety and medical issues to Peace Corps rules and assignment responsibilities. These sPublish Postessions continue until 5:30 with short breaks in the morning and afternoon as well as a long break for lunch (one of the large bowls with rice or couscous, vegetables, and meat or fish). Dinner (usually rice, meat, or pasta with salad) is not until 8:00, so there's plenty of time in the late afternoon to hang out, read, complete assignments, study languages, or walk into town. And of course there's time after dinner to continue to socialize.

I took this picture of the children dancing to the music. You can see how happy everyone is with music. Also, in the background you can see the buildings that we learn in as well as where we sleep.

I have been assigned to learn Wolof-the most widely spoken language in Senegal and also spoken in the Gambi and Mauritania. There area handful of minority languages spoken in Senegal as well-most notably Pular-that other Peace Corps Trainees are learning. All of the Senegalese languages are much simpler than Germanic languages and lack verb conjugations (though the pronoun conjugations can become a bit complicated). My teacher, Isatu, is amazing. She's extremely nice and helpful and tailors the class to our needs. (There are only 2 other people in my class.) I have now learned the alphabet, basic greetings, simple sentence construction, and some phrases. Greetings in Senegal are extremely important; it is impolite not to greet someone you pass on the street (except in cities) and rude if you approach someone to begin a conversation (even to ask a question to a stranger) without greeting them first. And greetings can last for awhile - sometimes ten minutes - as people inquire about every member of the family, pets, farm, etc. When spoken quickly, Senegalese languages sound like a bunch of random sounds mixed together, the words all just blend in. But after watching Peace Corps current volunteers bargain in local languages in the market, I see that it is possible to learn the language and speak it fluently; it just takes time, a lot of practice, and (of course) immersion.

I've been to the city of Thies 3 times so far, every day since we were first allowed out of the training compound and given our intro tour. I love seeing the mean and women in their traditional, brightly-colored clothes, and I can't wait to pick out fabric and have my own clothes made. (The first time in my life that I'm excited to shop and to get new clothes!) Thies smells like Ghana, Ecuador, and Peru - that lingering smell of burnt plastic that spreads everywhere. And without waste management, trash lines the ground. People literally just throw their garbage onto the street because there aren't even garbage bins anywhere. But the city is not without its charm. The market has booths selling fruit, cloth, shoes, bags, live chickens, etc. And carts pulled by horses or donkeys pass in the street next to cars and motorcycles. I have only explored a small part of the city so far, but I know I will see more soon.

I have also learned a few things so far. Firstly, I have learned to make do with 4 squares of toilet paper per bathroom trip (Peace Corps' way of weaning us off toilet paper), to drink bissap juice when I am constipated and baobab juice when I have diarrhea (luckily neither of these situations have happened yet, but the juice is delicious), to never interrupt someone praying, to never expect anything to happen on time, and as I said in my last post to never use my left hand for anything.

Ba beneen! (Til next time!)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Asaala Malekum!

Asaala Malekum! That's Hello in Arabic and used by everyone here in Senegal. I have happily landed in Senegal with my humongous 34 inch suitcase (containing my harp), hiking bag, and GoLite carry-on hiking bag. Despite all my worries, they didn't even weigh my luggage or check the dimensions-thank you Peace Corps reputation. After arriving in Dakar at 7 am, we drove about 2 hours to the Training Center in Thies (pronounced Chess). The site is beautiful. There are lots of small outdoor compounds, trees, birds that are constantly serenading us, and surprisingly nice weather (it's not too hot yet). I am sharing a room filled with bunk beds with 7 other girls and 1 communal bathroom for all the girls.

The 70 trainees (50 for Senegal, 20 for the Gambia) were immediately thrown into training. We sat through several general information sessions, despite all of our nodding heads from lack of sleep. Lunch yesterday (and today) was lovely. Mats are placed on the ground and a large bowl set in the middle. The bowl is full of (very oily) rice, meat, and vegetables. 4-5 people sit around a bowl and eat (right hand only-left is for wiping) with a spoon or with your hands. By the end of the meal, I was able to roll "nearly perfect" bowls of rice/accessory with my hands.

Later in the afternoon, we were introduced to Senegalese music. Several people played the drums while the adults showed us some dance moves. Neighboring children, hearing the music, ran into the training compound and began to dance as well. They loved the music!!

I have been here just over 24 hours and am so excited to see and learn more! The other Peace Corps volunteers are extremely nice, the staff friendly and helpful, and the country beautiful.