Hello! Sorry it’s been so long since I last wrote. I hope everybody had a good February and a happy Valentine’s Day :)
As I mentioned before, I had my last three weeks of training in Thies, and it was great. It had only been about two months since our group had been together, but that felt like a looong time! It was really interesting to hear about everybody else’s sites and compare notes. It also gave me perspective on how great my site is – running water, electricity and cell phone reception make a world of difference.
Our training schedule was the same as during pre service training; I left my house at 7 every morning, then basically had class from 8-6. I wound up eating dinner at restaurants most nights, and I definitely tried to fatten up and get my fill of pizza and ice cream!
Some highlights of PST were a weekend beach trip and some epic games of capture the flag, but the main highlight was W.A.I.S.T., which stands for West African Intramural Softball Tournament. It’s an annual tournament held in Dakar on President’s Day weekend. Lots of expats come every year, and lots of Peace Corps volunteers come, too. This year pretty much all the volunteers from Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia came. Most volunteers are in their 20’s, so it was a very social atmosphere, especially coupled with the hot dogs, American candy and beer at that are sold at the games. Needless to say, WAIST was a blast!
There’s a club with a swimming pool and lounge area by the softball fields where we played, so in between games we’d usually go hang out by the pool. One afternoon I was sitting in the lounge and a couple of Mauritanian volunteers walked in. I didn’t really pay much attention to them, but I took a second glance and saw a very familiar face. My jaw dropped, this guy pointed at me and we both said, “you went to Miami!” In college we both hung out at the same bar a lot, and recognized each other from that and because we have mutual friends. One of his friends is even dating one of mine. We were both business majors, too. Go figure – we both travel miles and miles and miles to officially meet each other in Africa, when we probably lived less than a mile away from each other for 4 years of college.
After IST ended my parents and brother came to visit! It was awesome! They met me in St. Louis, a city on the NW coast. I think my parents were pretty overwhelmed at first, but they were great sports. We spent a day on the beach, spent a couple days going to some national parks where some other volunteers live and work, and had a day or two of just hanging out and relaxing in St. Louis. Then we made the trek out to my town! When I came back with my parents and brother it was the first time I’d been back since before training, so it had been about a month since I’d seen my host family. It was quite a scene – lots of neighbors came by to meet my family, but without a common language (most of my neighbors only speak Pulaar, a language my parents and bro obviously don’t speak), it was very entertaining. There was lots of smiling and laughing and gestures indicating that people didn’t understand the language but that everybody was happy to be together. My family was only at my site for one night, but I’m really glad they got to see where I live and meet my host family!
Mom, Dad and Steve – THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING!!!
So now that training is done I’m supposed to be starting ‘work.’ I'll probably be working with the women’s group here starting or helping them with an ‘income generating project.’ Other than that, I’m not too sure what I’ll be doing. I think a lot of people in my town are still confused as to why I’m here, so the next month or so I probably will focus on meeting and getting to know people. Maybe eventually they will want to work with me, but getting projects started is going to be a long, slow process.
I wish I could leave you with a really good “Random Africa Moment,” but there have been so many that I don’t know what to pick. A lot of them were only funny if you were there, but here are a few quick examples: mom getting attacked by a monkey ( no blood, just some scratch marks), mom almost getting run over by a charette (horse drawn carriage), dad in the front seat of the car approached by a girl trying to sell fruit then asked if he needed a maid and dad just smiling and replying ‘bonjour! merci!’, old ladies dancing for my parents, etc. etc.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Miami students: hope you had an awesome GBD! :)
As I mentioned before, I had my last three weeks of training in Thies, and it was great. It had only been about two months since our group had been together, but that felt like a looong time! It was really interesting to hear about everybody else’s sites and compare notes. It also gave me perspective on how great my site is – running water, electricity and cell phone reception make a world of difference.
Our training schedule was the same as during pre service training; I left my house at 7 every morning, then basically had class from 8-6. I wound up eating dinner at restaurants most nights, and I definitely tried to fatten up and get my fill of pizza and ice cream!
Some highlights of PST were a weekend beach trip and some epic games of capture the flag, but the main highlight was W.A.I.S.T., which stands for West African Intramural Softball Tournament. It’s an annual tournament held in Dakar on President’s Day weekend. Lots of expats come every year, and lots of Peace Corps volunteers come, too. This year pretty much all the volunteers from Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia came. Most volunteers are in their 20’s, so it was a very social atmosphere, especially coupled with the hot dogs, American candy and beer at that are sold at the games. Needless to say, WAIST was a blast!
There’s a club with a swimming pool and lounge area by the softball fields where we played, so in between games we’d usually go hang out by the pool. One afternoon I was sitting in the lounge and a couple of Mauritanian volunteers walked in. I didn’t really pay much attention to them, but I took a second glance and saw a very familiar face. My jaw dropped, this guy pointed at me and we both said, “you went to Miami!” In college we both hung out at the same bar a lot, and recognized each other from that and because we have mutual friends. One of his friends is even dating one of mine. We were both business majors, too. Go figure – we both travel miles and miles and miles to officially meet each other in Africa, when we probably lived less than a mile away from each other for 4 years of college.
After IST ended my parents and brother came to visit! It was awesome! They met me in St. Louis, a city on the NW coast. I think my parents were pretty overwhelmed at first, but they were great sports. We spent a day on the beach, spent a couple days going to some national parks where some other volunteers live and work, and had a day or two of just hanging out and relaxing in St. Louis. Then we made the trek out to my town! When I came back with my parents and brother it was the first time I’d been back since before training, so it had been about a month since I’d seen my host family. It was quite a scene – lots of neighbors came by to meet my family, but without a common language (most of my neighbors only speak Pulaar, a language my parents and bro obviously don’t speak), it was very entertaining. There was lots of smiling and laughing and gestures indicating that people didn’t understand the language but that everybody was happy to be together. My family was only at my site for one night, but I’m really glad they got to see where I live and meet my host family!
Mom, Dad and Steve – THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING!!!
So now that training is done I’m supposed to be starting ‘work.’ I'll probably be working with the women’s group here starting or helping them with an ‘income generating project.’ Other than that, I’m not too sure what I’ll be doing. I think a lot of people in my town are still confused as to why I’m here, so the next month or so I probably will focus on meeting and getting to know people. Maybe eventually they will want to work with me, but getting projects started is going to be a long, slow process.
I wish I could leave you with a really good “Random Africa Moment,” but there have been so many that I don’t know what to pick. A lot of them were only funny if you were there, but here are a few quick examples: mom getting attacked by a monkey ( no blood, just some scratch marks), mom almost getting run over by a charette (horse drawn carriage), dad in the front seat of the car approached by a girl trying to sell fruit then asked if he needed a maid and dad just smiling and replying ‘bonjour! merci!’, old ladies dancing for my parents, etc. etc.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Miami students: hope you had an awesome GBD! :)
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