I made it to the training center in Thiès, Senegal!! The first day they let us take some time to settle in to our new surroundings, which was fantastic considering we got off the plane in Dakar at 5:30am. We were welcomed by a host of 3rd year volunteers and staff members, with the first face we saw after customs being the Country Director Chris Hedrick. It was pretty cool and I definitely felt like coming here was a good choice (Even though I didn't exactly get to choose the country). I'm actually developing a lot of pride for this country and the people. Crazy that I have only been here 3 days!!
Day two we hit the books and started our survival Wolof lessons. I now know the basic greeting and probably say it 20+ times a day at the moment. When I get into the city I imagine I will never stop saying it. It is a cool language and when I finish lessons tomorrow, hopefully I can better explain it.
Right now we are pretty much trapped in our little training compound, safe from the world. However, this will quickly change come Monday. That is when we find out exactly what language we will be speaking at our site (though not where our site is) and get a tour of the markets. When Tuesday rolls around we are flung into our homestay families and will stay there for a week before returning to the center for more training. Luckily on Monday we also get assigned a language instructor who will go into the villages with us and give us on site language instruction. At least with that I don't feel completely thrown to the wolves.... :/
As for a run down of what I have dealt with the past 3 days in country: a lot of stumbled Wolof, hep A and B shots, as well as meningitis shots (Rabies series still to come...), intense heat and humidity, squat toilets, a butchered french exam, dorm style rooms with 6 girls on bunk beds, mesquitos galor, delicious food, struggling to remember that using my left hand is not appropriate, meeting lots of amazing people, and listening to a crazy awesome thunderstorm last night.
All in all, I'm having a fantastic time thus far and I eagerly awaiting my language and technical classes tomorrow.
Jërëjef, ba beneen yoon! (Thank you, Until next time!)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRabies series! Can they do that without an incident? Oh my, this is a mom remembering about how the doctor explained how painful it would be when that cat died suddenly to start them on someone how had been bitten. Gulp.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the rabies. it is the preventative vaccine series. there is a different injection that is painful which is given if you have been bitten by a potentially rabid animal. but i'm all well and good :)
ReplyDeleteHi babe! Loving the blog. Can you tell me why using your left hand is not appropriate? Just a curious thing...
ReplyDeleteIn Senegal, people wipe using their left hands. We only have turkish/pit toilets here and toilet paper isn't really used. So, the idea is that your left hand is unclean. Not everyone washes their hands here, so this actually may be true for some people.
ReplyDeleteWow, good to know. Also vaguely disturbing since you are left handed and that has to be difficult to try to remember all the time. Would love to hear more about life if you have the time. We love you and miss you!!
ReplyDelete