New Toubab on the Block (and Happy Thanksgiving to all!)

      I'm safely installed at my new site! Kaffrine is great and my host family is awesome. They've helped me set up my room, my uncle built me shelves, my mom shows me around the market and tells me how much things should cost, and my dad has introduced me to his entire school. They are even more adamant than I am about correcting people when they call me Toubab than I am, which is reassuring. They are constantly teaching me things about Senegal. And my Wolof is progressing ndank ndank. I can hold basic conversations but I find that each time I begin a new task, there is an entire list of vocabulary necessary to complete it that I don't currently possess. I'm getting really good at pantomiming things until people get the gist of what I'm trying to say. Then they tell me the words I was looking for and after I repeat the words, they are almost entirely forgotten. So in general I walk around with a notebook in my bag and then I try to write down the word before it is lost. This is only marginally successful so far because I'm not always in a good position to write things. Like when washing clothes.

      While we are on the subject of washing clothes, I did that the other day for the first time with an entire house of spectators. It was unnerving. People like to ask you if you have the ability to perform any said task when you say you did something or you are about to do something so for days my family asked if I was able to do my laundry. Now, I never like to back down from a challenge so of course I said I could do it. Which I can, by the way. But I was still shown the Senegalese hand washing techniques. I want to paint this picture for you. I'm sitting on a stool about 6 inches tall, in a skirt, with 2 large basins (beniors) in front of me, a pile of clothes, and a bar of soap my mother said was necessary for . Enter my host mother who informs me that I will also need powder soap for the water, “bleu,” and bleach. So she promptly sent one of the children running around to buy small sachets of these things from a boutique down the street. Once we have these things we can then commence. Now the Senegalese have a technique of getting the right tension on the clothing with an over abundance of soap so that when then rub their fists full of cloth together, it makes a squeegee sound and launches soapy water everywhere. If you can't get that sound, you aren't doing it correctly. Now I was watching very closely and thought I was imitating that motions well, but I was only successful with that process a couple of times in the 2 hours I did this. I guess it will require more practice. Good thing I have 2 years for that... And if any of you are wondering what exactly the “bleu” is, you aren't alone. When I ask them to explain it, they just say that it is bleu. It kind of makes some of the clothes with blue hues a bit brighter but not enough that I think I would actively use it given the choice. With the incredible quantity of soap used, I certainly hope my clothes stay clean for a while. I think there is enough soap still left on them to repel a small army of mud monsters. Also, hand washing this way is really hard on clothes so between that and the heat my clothes are already looking a bit haggard.

      So a quick run down of my first 2 weeks at site: I live in a small family compound which houses about 20 people. I don't really feel out of place having 12 children under the age of 16 running around everywhere. And those are just my siblings and cousins that live here. Everyday I go to the lovely garden Susan has put together over the last 2 years. For the first couple of days she was there and she showed me around, gave me an idea of what she does on a daily basis and then let me go at it. She took a backseat over the next week as she finished up school lessons and trainings before leaving for her vacation to America. So now she is gone and I get to hold down the fort for the next month and a half. We'll see how well that goes.

      Every morning I wake up around 7AM, try to do a little yoga and go running. It is a routine I hope to keep up, though each morning I have to remind myself that I will feel better and more awake afterward. I'm still not a morning person, but I'm managing alright so far. Before I can leave the compound to go running I have to greet every person individually, asking if they slept well and informing them of my intentions for the day. This can take a while so I try to let them know I'm off to run and then I continue the greetings upon my return. Then I cook some breakfast (usually oatmeal and tea, though a couple of days I have made eggs) and take a lovely bike ride across town to my garden. Then after greeting everyone at the agriculture office, I spend the next few hours watering. Because it is the cool season I water the beds of veggies every other day and all of the trees on the off day. I'm pretty sure I use about 300 gallons of water just for the vegetable beds. Carrying 2 watering cans back and forth to my basin for that much water has definitely been giving me a work out. I'm building my farming callouses! Beyond that I don't have a ton of structure for the rest of my day except that I make sure I'm home for lunch and dinner. In the evenings I try to sit outside with my family and learn wolof. That is when I'm most proactive because I always bring my notebook out with me. I try to explore the city when I can and have met some very helpful people. There is a man who owns a small boutique down the street who will sit for hours telling me about his theories on life and explaining the words I don't understand using the english he learned when he went to primary school in Gambia.

      After Thanksgiving my site mate Emily is going to help me find a tutor. I think that will help give my studies a direction because right now I'm haphazardly bumbling along with the language. As much as I hate to admit it, I do much better with a classroom setting than trying to hold myself to an individual studying regiment. I always find some excuse that allows me to procrastinate things a little longer. But when somebody is expecting something and giving me deadlines, I feel a sense of obligation to uphold my end.

So life here is going well and I'm enjoying the people and my time. Hopefully I can get some projects up and running soon enough. I'm chilling at the regional house in Kaolack for Thanksgiving!! I'm so excited to be baking and eating American food. Plus I carried a pumpkin (on my head in Kaffrine) from my garden in Kaffrine to the regional house. This included wandering around both cities and coordinating a ride at the garage with everyone looking bewildered at the toubab carrying the giant squash. Great memories I hope to keep with me for a long time. :) Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm grateful to have you all in my life and I'm grateful for this opportunity to experience a new culture and way of life. Hugs all around!!