Today was an exciting day! We had our site placement ceremony today! The way this is done is we all make a circle around this big map of Senegal painted on the basketball court. We are then blind folded and walked around in circle and then finally placed in the spot that we will be for two years. Once everyone is placed they count to three and we take off our blind folds to see who is all around us. I am going to be living in Afe which is in the Louga/Linguere region of Senegal. I love the volunteers that are going with me and will be living near me. Some current volunteers that set up my site said that they are really excited for me. My hut is awesome and has electricity and my backyard is awesome. We are all going on volunteer visits tomorrow so I will get to see it! So excited. It also sounds like the people at the health post are excited and want to work with me. Today was finally the day that everyone had been waiting for because up until today they kept telling us things like it depends on where you'll be and it was frustrating. And people kept talking about how their counterpart is bad and the people in their village are not motivated. So I was really worried but now it sounds like I am going to have an awesome site! Look it up. :-)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Homestay
So my first night with my host family was very overwhelming. I had no idea what anyone was saying to me so I just did a lot of smiling and nodding. I also thought my family hated me for a little while because I was left at a neighbors house for an hour by myself and then when I got back to my house my younger brother offered me some food so I thought my family had eaten without me. Then once I was done eating my mom showed me to my room so I thought she was telling me to go to bed even though they were all watching tv. So I was really sad and called one of my friends to vent about it. I was also having a really hard time being called Fatou and no one even knowing or asking about my real name. It is a very strange feeling to not even be known as Katie, which I have been called all my life. But then my mom knocked on my door and told me it was dinner time and at dinner one of the family friends asked in english what my real name is. So after dinner I felt much better and actually went to bed this time.
My family is great though. I have one mom, a Dad, and three younger brothers. My brothers are Youssu, he's 17, Omar, 16, and Muhammed, 8. We all live in one house but then within our compound I have two uncles, an aunt, and my grandma all live there too. My brothers all speak french which has been helpful when I don't know what something is in Wolof. Although they also don't know everything in wolof because I have asked them what a french word is in wolof and they just think it is the French word and then I get yelled at in class for using too much french. haha. but I love my family they are all super nice and accepting. My mom has never had any daughters so she loves me. There was one night when I was sitting in the courtyard playing with my two adorable cousins, Mami and Caro, and a family friend came by and sat down with us. His name is Moussa. My mom came back and saw us and we weren't even interacting at all and she started to talk to him and I heard her say something about her kid. I assumed she was talking about me and sure enough a minute later she told me to come into the house. So I went in and she told me to sit with her and watch tv. Then the next day she was talking with my language teacher and told her how she wouldn't be able to have a daughter because she would probably kill her because she can't handle boys and girls together. lol.
So my family is pretty great. I really am not looking forward to leaving them and having to get to know a new family. but it will happen. We just recently got done with a two week homestay which was good but long. I felt really good at the beginning of it but by the end of the two weeks I felt like I hit a wall with my language. I can understand what people are saying when they use the words I know but I just don't know that much vocabulary and it is quite frustrating. I also think that my brain was in overload after constantly thinking in wolof for two weeks straight. It was good though because then we had our first LPI when we got back to the center. This is just a test of our language skills. There are 9 levels novice low, mid and high, intermediate low, mid and high, and advanced low, mid, and high. We are supposed to test at intermediate mid in order to be able to swear in. I tested at a novice high which was about average for our group. My language teacher said that I am capable of speaking at the intermediate level but I just don't do it all the time. So I'm close and I have five weeks to improve so I can totally get it done. I also speak too much french amazingly.
Easter was a little sad for me because I really wanted to be at home with my family in Church but then our language teacher, Regina, invited our group over for the day to celebrate easter. We had a fantastic day. I think at least five languages were spoken throughout the day french, wolof, spanish, english, and sereer. It was so much fun. We had a delicious meal and great appetizers. Regina has 4 brothers and two sisters all of who were great and so welcoming. I already told Regina that I am coming back next easter.
I have run into this problem that it seems a lot of people run into here. I find that I am eating a lot at meals but at the end of meals I am not satisfied, I'm still hungry. It is an interesting feeling. I've always eaten so well in the U.S. and I eat well here but the meals are just not well rounded meals. This is why so many people are malnourished here. But it should be better once I go to my permanent site and can cook for myself and make a garden and have a little bit more control over what I eat.
But tomorrow we have our site announcements so we are all super stoked for that, to finally find out where we will be living for the next two years!!
My family is great though. I have one mom, a Dad, and three younger brothers. My brothers are Youssu, he's 17, Omar, 16, and Muhammed, 8. We all live in one house but then within our compound I have two uncles, an aunt, and my grandma all live there too. My brothers all speak french which has been helpful when I don't know what something is in Wolof. Although they also don't know everything in wolof because I have asked them what a french word is in wolof and they just think it is the French word and then I get yelled at in class for using too much french. haha. but I love my family they are all super nice and accepting. My mom has never had any daughters so she loves me. There was one night when I was sitting in the courtyard playing with my two adorable cousins, Mami and Caro, and a family friend came by and sat down with us. His name is Moussa. My mom came back and saw us and we weren't even interacting at all and she started to talk to him and I heard her say something about her kid. I assumed she was talking about me and sure enough a minute later she told me to come into the house. So I went in and she told me to sit with her and watch tv. Then the next day she was talking with my language teacher and told her how she wouldn't be able to have a daughter because she would probably kill her because she can't handle boys and girls together. lol.
So my family is pretty great. I really am not looking forward to leaving them and having to get to know a new family. but it will happen. We just recently got done with a two week homestay which was good but long. I felt really good at the beginning of it but by the end of the two weeks I felt like I hit a wall with my language. I can understand what people are saying when they use the words I know but I just don't know that much vocabulary and it is quite frustrating. I also think that my brain was in overload after constantly thinking in wolof for two weeks straight. It was good though because then we had our first LPI when we got back to the center. This is just a test of our language skills. There are 9 levels novice low, mid and high, intermediate low, mid and high, and advanced low, mid, and high. We are supposed to test at intermediate mid in order to be able to swear in. I tested at a novice high which was about average for our group. My language teacher said that I am capable of speaking at the intermediate level but I just don't do it all the time. So I'm close and I have five weeks to improve so I can totally get it done. I also speak too much french amazingly.
Easter was a little sad for me because I really wanted to be at home with my family in Church but then our language teacher, Regina, invited our group over for the day to celebrate easter. We had a fantastic day. I think at least five languages were spoken throughout the day french, wolof, spanish, english, and sereer. It was so much fun. We had a delicious meal and great appetizers. Regina has 4 brothers and two sisters all of who were great and so welcoming. I already told Regina that I am coming back next easter.
I have run into this problem that it seems a lot of people run into here. I find that I am eating a lot at meals but at the end of meals I am not satisfied, I'm still hungry. It is an interesting feeling. I've always eaten so well in the U.S. and I eat well here but the meals are just not well rounded meals. This is why so many people are malnourished here. But it should be better once I go to my permanent site and can cook for myself and make a garden and have a little bit more control over what I eat.
But tomorrow we have our site announcements so we are all super stoked for that, to finally find out where we will be living for the next two years!!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
The Beginning
We have officially been in country for one month now! That is a crazy thought. My friend Katie and I were talking about how it has felt like one long week. It has been an emotional roller coaster. We began our journey to Senegal on March 6th in Washington D.C. The farewell to my parents and Gus was so hard to do. However, I still got to talk to them that night and I got to see Chris, my brother, in D.C. Once again though, very hard to say goodbye to him and Laura. Staging was good nothing to interesting but it was nice to finally be around people that were having the exact same feelings as I was. We left from Dulles airport on March 7th to start our adventure to Africa. Taking off was the most nervous I think I have ever felt, knowing that I was leaving the U.S. for possibly two years.
Landing was a mixture of emotions, excitement, nervousness, worry, joy, relief. We were met off the plane by Peace Corps staff which was all very surreal. We got on buses in Dakar just as the sun was coming off and drove off to Thies. We got to Thies, where the training center is, and had a very warm welcome. We weren't allowed to leave the training center for the first few days which was fine with me because I didn't know any of the local language at the time. I know a little bit of french but nothing that I was too confident going out by myself and using. However, we finally did leave the training center and current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV's) gave us a tour around Thies. We went through the market and went to the toubab store and finally sat down at a restaurant where I used my french for the first time ever! I was completely overwhelmed by this whole experience. I didn't want anyone to talk to me because I wouldn't know what they were saying so I just didn't look at anyone on the street. Everyone was looking at us though.
The next big event was being assigned a language and homestay location. For most people, depending on your language you can guess the area of the country your permanent site will be. However, I got Wolof, which I am super excited about, I just don't have a clue as to where in the country I may be because it is one of the main languages and spoken all over the country. Wolof though, is one of the easier languages to learn and also more widely used in Senegal. We began classes that day. My LCF's name is Regina and she is fabulous. There are three other people in my language group Cristina, Maureen, and Margaret. All of which I like and have enjoyed having with me. We are currently living in Tivaouane, which is a beautiful town.
Two days after beginning our language we left for our community based training or CBT sites.
Landing was a mixture of emotions, excitement, nervousness, worry, joy, relief. We were met off the plane by Peace Corps staff which was all very surreal. We got on buses in Dakar just as the sun was coming off and drove off to Thies. We got to Thies, where the training center is, and had a very warm welcome. We weren't allowed to leave the training center for the first few days which was fine with me because I didn't know any of the local language at the time. I know a little bit of french but nothing that I was too confident going out by myself and using. However, we finally did leave the training center and current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV's) gave us a tour around Thies. We went through the market and went to the toubab store and finally sat down at a restaurant where I used my french for the first time ever! I was completely overwhelmed by this whole experience. I didn't want anyone to talk to me because I wouldn't know what they were saying so I just didn't look at anyone on the street. Everyone was looking at us though.
The next big event was being assigned a language and homestay location. For most people, depending on your language you can guess the area of the country your permanent site will be. However, I got Wolof, which I am super excited about, I just don't have a clue as to where in the country I may be because it is one of the main languages and spoken all over the country. Wolof though, is one of the easier languages to learn and also more widely used in Senegal. We began classes that day. My LCF's name is Regina and she is fabulous. There are three other people in my language group Cristina, Maureen, and Margaret. All of which I like and have enjoyed having with me. We are currently living in Tivaouane, which is a beautiful town.
Two days after beginning our language we left for our community based training or CBT sites.
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