Finally a PCV

So I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!  After saying goodbye to my family I had my language exam the next day.  We had to get an intermediate mid level on our test in order to swear in as volunteers.  If we didn't get that level we would have to stay at the training center another week to study.  However, I did get intermediate mid!

Then on Thursday, we had a reception for our families which was a lot of fun.  My mom and youngest brother came.  We had a nice lunch after a welcome speech.  We then had drummers and a dance.  It was fun to watch.  I danced a little but liked to watch everyone else who knows how to do the traditional dances.  It was really nice to see them one more time but it was a little sad to see them leave again.  After all the families left, all of the trainees had a dance party with american music.  We danced for almost three hours.  I also got a dress from my mother and earrings from my brother.  The dress is so pretty.  And because it is tailored for me it fits perfectly, which also means it is a little difficult to get off. 

Friday was the big day!  We left Thies to go to Dakar at 7am.  We first stopped at the Peace Corps office for a quick break, then continued on to the U.S Ambassadors house.  It is a beautiful house with a crystal chandelier in the banquet room.  We got speeches from our country director, training director, ambassador, and four trainees gave speeches in their local languages.  After the banquet we had a reception outside.  There was a pool and mosaics.  The food was delicious.  There were mini pizzas, quiche, muffins, peanuts, cream puffs, brownies, strawberry pastries.  We took lots of pictures but it was hot out and even hotter in our Bazan outfits.  After we left the ambassadors house we convinced the driver to stop at an ice cream shop!  Once we got back to the center we all chilled for a while then went to Massa Massa for dinner.  It was delicious.  I had lasagna and all that cheese was great!  I then had to make it back to Skype with my family which was great and around 2ish am a couple of my friends invited me to go to a club with them that they had been at.  It was so much fun.  We danced until 3:30!  The music was a Senegalese Salsa, so cool!  I had so much fun and was amazed that I could stay up that late. 

Saturday was a day of chores....laundry, packing, making lists. Fun day but got everything done!  Then I had to get up early Sunday to pack all my life into a car with two other people to head to Linguere!!  It took about four hours to get there and we got to lounge most of the day.  Then yesterday we did a lot of shopping for mattresses, laundry benoirs, glasses, and other necessities for our huts!  It was great but it was another hot day.  There are also some Lutheran missionaries that live in Linguere and they invited us over for cocktails and snacks.  One of our bosses who is installing us in our villages had us over for dinner and it was delicious!  it was spaghetti with french fries and meat.  after that we got mangoes as dessert and then they brought us huge slices of watermelon and then sweet milk to top it all off!  I was stuffed. 

This morning we met all the important people in Linguere and started cleaning out the back yard which was fun to be doing something.  Three people then left to be installed into their respective villages.  And tomorrow I am going to Affe!!!  So excited.  I will be there for five weeks for our five weeks and then we have a fun party at the regional house!  So five weeks will go so fast!  I am also really excited to finally be able to move in to a place and unpack all my things and nest in my hut.  It will be a long day but a good day tomorrow!  See you in 5 weeks!

Sad goodbye

Today was a sad day because I left my home stay family, who I have come to love.  It is a bittersweet feeling because I am happy for the end of training but I wish I could just live with my family for two years.  I will get back to today though.  First, I need to back up about a week.....

I had my first experience with sickness in Senegal.  During volunteer visit I drank some unfiltered water for the day that we spent with my family and my stomach didn't like it.  However, I just had an upset stomach whereas some of my friends have gotten really sick.  A couple people have had amoebas, one girl had to be hospitalized for a couple days.

We got to go to a cool drumming/dance party at one of the schools in Tivaouane.  We also took a field trip to one of my friends permanent site and met some spanish farmers.  Then went to lunch in Thies and ran into some americans!  Small world.  My friends new mom also gave us like 20 melons from these farmers when we left.  They were delicious.

So I think my mom thinks I am a strange girl, she loves me but thinks I"m funny because I am not a typical senegalese woman.  I don't know how to cook and she was doing some ironing today and asked me if I was going to help and I said I don't really do my own ironing.  She was really surprised and asked who did my ironing and I said that my mom in the U.S. does my ironing because I'm her baby.  She just laughed at me and I helped her with the ironing the next day.  This was also an interesting day because that morning there was a guy that walked past our house that knew my mom and they were talking and then he was turned to me and was like I miss you we can get married.  I was just getting up to leave and my mom was like he's crazy. lol.  Then on my walk to class I was stopped by another guy that told me in english that he loves me and I'm a nice girl.  Then later that day I walked past the first man and he asked if I wanted a boyfriend and I accidentally said yes but he realized it and it has just become a joke between us. :-)

The next day was a huge wrestling match between Yikini and Balla Gaye 2.  My mom, oldest and youngest brother wanted Yikini to win but my middle brother wanted Balla Gaye to win.  If you don't know what Senegalese wrestling is you should look it up, it's kinda funny to watch.  But so Balla Gaye wins and the city just goes nuts!  My brothers run out into the streets and I go outside and my mom was like I'm so sad!  and so I walked to the main road with my neighbor and there were a ton of people running through the streets chanting balla gaye.  Then that night there was a heated discussion about Yikini and Balla Gaye and how Yikini still has the better record.  There was a friend of ours there, Moussa, that was in on the discussion.  So Moussa talks fast for me in the first place but when they were all getting excited he talked even faster and I couldn't follow the conversation.  I love hanging out with him and my brothers though, they are hilarious.  My middle brother, Omar, is 16 and the funniest ever.  I also explained to my mom where in the U.S. Wisconsin is and how states compare to regions here and about Eau Claire.  So the rest of the night she walked around and would randomly say Wisconsin. lol.  I love her.

We have to get Senegalese outfits made for our swearing in ceremony, so we went to do that with my friends mom.  At the fabric shop they first gave me a pink fabric that I almost got but then my friends saved me and told me it would have looked like Malibu Barbie meets Africa. lol.  So I got this pretty light blue fabric. We then went to the tailor and tried to explain what we wanted.  It was interesting but worked because they turned out beautiful!!  I will put pictures up of our swearing in on friday when we wear them.

So I finally put a baby on my back the way the Senegalese women do and my mom loved it!  all the women loved it.  We then had our counterpart workshop at the center for a couple days.  Our counterparts are the people that we will be working with in our communities.  They will also be the ones to help us integrate and meet people.  My counterparts are my ICP and a matron at the Poste de Sante.  My ICP is great.  He seems really excited about everything and can't wait to have me there.  At the end of the workshop we had a soccer game between the trainees and the counterparts/LCFs.  It was so much fun.  I also realized how out of shape I am.

We then went to Dakar to meet some Embassy people and get our residency permits.  Dakar is like a magical place compared to the rest of Senegal.  It's crazy.  Then we got to go to Popengine for a beach weekend!!!  It was so much fun.  We rented houses on the beach and it was beautiful.  There were cliffs but it was too shallow for cliff jumping.  :-(  But I got to swim in the ocean and lay in the sun for two days!!  So now I have a good tan going.  Omar told me the other night that after living in linguere for two years I am going to look like him from all the sun and heat. lol.  love that boy.

Yesterday was so hot!!  and my family all day kept saying it was hot and then they would turn to me and got but it is even hotter in linguere and you have to go live there. lol.  Also, this is how funny Omar is....I was hanging out outside with him, my other brother, moussa, and some more friends.  Moussa has a crush on me and we were standing together and Omar comes over and says Moussa!  Fataw doesn't want a Senegalese husband, she wants a Toubab husband so just forget about it.  hahaha.  He watches out for me.

My wonderful brother Omar

Omar, Muhamed, Abdul, and Youssu

I had to go around to my neighbors last night with Omar and Moussa to say goodbye and everyone told me that I need to stay here and why do I want to go to linguere, it's too hot there.  I want to stay with my family so much!  Today I picked up a new outfit from the tailor.  Well actually what happened was my mom took me to her tailor to be measured and then she bought me fabric and is having a dress made for me!!  It's crazy.  and So we stopped at my tailor to pick up my outfit that he had been making and it wasn't ready yet.  So I said I would come back later but I got caught up taking pictures with my family and carrying the most adorable baby around all afternoon.  So he showed up at my house with our clothes!  I was so surprised.  and my family loved the outfit and told me I am senegalese now.  :-)  I also got a bracelet from my mother and then Omar gave me a necklace.  Then my oldest brother Youssu saw and so he had to give me something too....not to be out done by omar so I got another necklace from him too.  I love my family and was so sad to leave.  Everyone gave me a hug goodbye and my mom started crying which made me cry and I just didn't want to leave.  I think I was really lucky to have such a great family because a lot of my friends did not have good experiences with their home stay families.  They told me I have to come back and visit and call all the time.  I think I have already decided that I'm going to visit every other month hopefully.  It was a sad day.  On the upside, I get to see my mom on thursday because we have a party for our families before we swear in.  I can't wait to see her!!  I love my family so much.....almost as much as my real family.

Excitement

A lot has happened since my last blog entry.  So I will do my best to capture everything.  First off is volunteer visit.  I was so nervous when we pulled up to my new house and was getting dropped off.  But at least this time I had someone with me that knows wolof and I know at least a little now, so it wasn't quite as frightening as being dropped off at my homestay house with no language knowledge.  Everyone gets out of the car to see my new house and my family and my hut.  We go in and my dad shows us my hut, which is nice...it is hexagonal, has two doors and a window so I get a nice breeze through there which will be nice during the hot season.  I also have a light and an outlet!  So now I've decided I need to get an external hard drive to put lots of movies on because now I can have my computer at site with me so I can watch a movie every night if I want!  I'm so excited.  I just got a few movies from a friend here and am psyched to get more.  So anyways, I also have a little backyard with a little bathroom back there.  Well a Senegalese bathroom....I have a latrine and room for a bucket bath.  But that's nice.  I also have a robine in my compound, which means I don't have to pull water from a well and carry it a long ways.  I am feeling very spoiled at this point.  Then my dad gives me my new name which is Fati Kinee Niang.  However, my moms name is Fati so I will just be called Kinee.  I really like my new name and it is also nice because it is semi close to Katie.  But so my grandpa is the chief of the village so I'm pretty important.  I think my dad has two wives and there are many children running all over but they are the most well behaved children I have seen here.  They sat for a couple hours one day playing marbles without getting into a fight and they boys had a wrestling match for a good half hour before anyone started crying.  I was impressed.  

We spent one night with my family before going to Dara which is where Laura, the volunteer that was with me, lived.  But the day that we were there, after lunch many women started to show up to my compound to chat and drink cafe touba.  Laura and I hung out for a while but then decided to go for a walk.  When we got back my moms were walking somewhere and so we asked where and they were like oh just to another compound to drink cafe touba.  and we were like you just drank cafe touba!  but we decided to walk with them anyways and we turn the corner into this compound and I swear every woman in affe was in this compound.  It was so overwhelming at first.  They were all talking with each other and dressed in their best.  But a couple good things that came out of it is now everyone will know who Kinee Niang is and my mom already was claiming me as her child!  Which was awesome and such a good sign.  Laura and I later found out that apparently the women do that either once a week or once a month as a solidarity thing as women.  Kinda cool and definitely a good way to get to know the women who you have to get on the good side of or else no one will like you.  

We also met with the school director and the ICP of the poste de sante.  Both were great.  They already have things they want me to do and realistic things as well, nothing like build me a new school more like create after school groups and create a school garden.  I'm really looking forward to working with them both.  The ICP is also one of my counterparts in the community.  He already told me that I am welcome to go on all of his vaccination tours with him and am welcome at the poste de sante anytime even just to continue working on my language.  

But so we left in the afternoon to go to Dara.  We traveled by bush taxi, which is the best way ever to travel I have decided.  It is a pick up truck with boards placed across the back and people sit on the boards, in the cab, or on top of the cab!  It was awesome.  I had goats under my feet for our ride.  It is like a safari without the african animals.  We got to Dara and got cold drinks which were great and went back to Lauras house but it was so hot that night that it was difficult to sleep even with a fan.  Mosquito nets are incredibly hot to sleep under which is why it is difficult to get people to sleep under them especially during the hot season.

The next day we had lunch with lauras family and went to the school in the morning.  We also sat at a boutique for a long time chatting with the guy that works there.  It was really good for my wolof to be able to listen to someone I can understand and see how she interacts with wolofs.  Oh!  It also rained this day which was incredibly unusual for this time of year.  It normally doesn't start raining until July.  I got to watch the daily show and paint my nails which was amazing.  I forgot I was in Africa for a little while. lol.  

We then went to Linguere to the Regional Office to meet and hang out with the other volunteers in the Linguere region.  It was a great time.  We had some wonderful Bissap juice and played name games/icebreakers.  Then it was time to go back to Thies for a few sessions and back to our homestays.  Which I wasn't looking forward to because I didn't feel well but it was great to be back and I understood a lot more than I thought I would.  Also, when my family found out I am living in Linguere everyone just kept telling me oh it is so hot up there.  You are going to be hot all the time.  It should be interesting.....definitely investing in a fan!