On being an invasive species in the desert
Evolution here is counter-intuitive. If you're too hot to function, the obvious choice is to boil tea for 20 minutes and drink it from glasses without handles, wear pagnes that reach your ankles, and work just a little bit harder during the season where it goes months without raining.
Since my last update a few things have changed...most notably my location: I now live in the village and will be moving into my hut soon (inchalla as in G-d willing and the workmen finishing something like a month late and before the rains come!!) Patar is pretty amazing and the people have really opened up their hearts and homes, honestly treating me like a daughter of the entire village. They just go out of their way to make sure I know the ropes like a local...no small task considering my excellent sense of direction and innate ability to remember names, relationships, and important community positions.
Now for story time:
1.As of about 1 month ago I'm an official Peace Corps Volunteer!! We had our swearing-in at the American Ambassador's gorgeous palace-like residence and although it was basically commencement all over again (except in French, Wolof and Pulaar!) the feeling of finally being done training was just about as amazing as those last few hours in Gosman. Afterwards we filled out mountains of paperwork, got back cards, and headed to the American Club some pool time fun, although a kickball tournament and river boat dance party would have been nice additions to the program!
2.I was welcomed into the Kaolack regional house community with a rice sack bag, our very own spoon, annnnnnd a scavenger hunt race! We tore through the market trying to buy used American clothing, fresh mint, a goat horn and Senegalese sex amulets (mine glows in the dark!!). The regional house is basically our home away from hut and mine has about 40 volunteers that share the western style kitchen, bathrooms, and kiddie pool! Its a magical place when you've been in the village for three straight weeks like I just spent and the other volunteers in your region are an incredible support network whether you've got a crazy fungus destroying your garden, really need to make tex-mex food, or want to commiserate on your host family's best intentioned attempts to make you eat the goat eyeballs at dinner last week!
3.The day after was supposed to be my official installation at my village site but I found out at the very last minute that my hut wasn't done! It was a really stressful day or two while Peace Corps Administration contemplated sending me to another site entirely (about 15hrs from the capital in the hottest part of the country!), packing me back up to the training center, or having me move in and sleep in the great wide open as a motivating prop for the slow-paced stone masons.
4.My installation was moved back a week, meaning I got to go to Dakar for the Women's Soccer Tournament and some super fun city time! After getting a free, air conditioned ride for me and my new puppy to the capital we made a quick stop at the vet before starting to check out all there is to offer in the almost western world of Dakar. I played touch football with some Marines stationed nearby and the other Peace Corps Volunteers and I somehow kept the score even until the very last minute...think every stereotype you know about Peace Corps Volunteers and Marines and just take a quick mental picture! We had a BBQ afterwards at the park which ends abruptly with a steep step down into the ocean and a breathtaking sunset view.
5.That same night I followed the Ladies Tourne '09 staff into Thies where the Semi-professional soccer teams would be spending the night before the big game the next day. It was a long ride out of the Capital and crazy to be back right next to the training center after only a few days away. It was a really fun night of meeting and greeting the teams, coaches, and even a Senegalese pop star! The tournament the next day was fantastic and coaching the girls clinic in the morning made me happier than most anything else I've done in country.
6.It was really nuts to be working in such a familiar setting but with a Senegalese twist...the ball and the drills were the same but we had a really tough time getting them to concentrate of the ball instead of dancing to the blasting drum beats. A game of head-catch got everyone interested and translated surprisingly well into Wolof. Then, instead of the standard pasta party fare we all crowded around bowls of rice and meat on the floor before watching the semi-pro teams play in the afternoon. I finished up a fun few days in Dakar with an international dance party, visit to the posh pool club for some super-competitive volleyball, and champagne pong!
7.I finally installed a few days later and even though my hut still wasn't done, the community came out in mass to greet me! The first few days at site were a whirlwind of meetings at the local government council, the health post, the middle school, and with all the Khalifa (VIPs!) of the community. My host family is pretty amazing and I'll be sure to write a lot more on them all soon...with lots of photos!
8.The local government seat is ridiculous...its probably the nicest office building I've ever seen with varnished conference tables and leather desk chairs, Internet and a gigantic scanner/copier/printer/possible time travel device that no one knows how to use. This is definitely an example of an NGO throwing too much money at the wrong problems and now we have some kind of clone of “The Office” where grown men play dress-up with second-hand briefcases and loafers to go with their traditional tribal dress and argue about authorization forms for markets that have no sanitation rules, events that are regulated by completely non-existent police forces, and committees that discuss the problems of communication between committees with other bodies not involved in the committees. Its funny to watch but mostly makes me sad when you realize there are a few more pressing issues that might have been dealt with first.
9.There was a HUGE weekend long party in honor of the end of the school year at the junior high with a quiz game show, wrestling tournament, and drum circle dance party...all at the same time! The line of what is and isn't culturally appropriate here is absurd...with showing your knees forbidden and pregnancy a completely taboo topic, while giving public lap dances to your teachers, wrestling in your underwear, and shaking your booty so hard your skirt falls off are totally acceptable and encouraged. I also ended up chaperoning the middle school dance which included watching 13-16 year old kids in the most racy outfits I've EVER seen light up cigarettes and dirty dance until 6 am...truth be told I'm not sure what rules exactly we were enforcing but it was entertaining as anything else and it seems like everyone had a great time!
10.I had my first baby weighing/nutrition demonstration! I made some special weight gain porridge type stuff and talked to about 100 mothers about breastfeeding, healthy food, and how to avoid malnutrition. Of all the kids we measured there were only a few significantly underweight and hopefully armed with this new info those kids will have improved significantly by next month's event! It was tough to talk in front of everyone (while cooking on an open fire!) but it seems like I got through to at least a few of the women and it definitely didn't hurt that I was giving away free samples to people who answered by questions correctly!
So that's about all I've got...I'll try to post again next time I leave my village with lots of pictures...especially now that I've let some of my new friends in the village braid my hair!
Until then, lots of love and hope to hear from you all soon!
And PS. NEW ADDRESS!!
“Stephanie Shumsky”
b.p. 325
Kaolack, Senegal
West Africa
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A few more stories and lots of love from West Africa!
1.My volunteer visit was amazing! Despite being dropped off a few hours south of my intended destination the guy who was hosting me managed to get us all the way back up to his community...with enough time to meet some other volunteers, have maffaay for lunch (mmmm I will make it for you all some day) and sip frozen drinks on a street corner. We shared a 5ft by 5ft hut for about a week while I got a chance to see what life will be like for the next two years.
2.In his village we hit up a party with VATS of coffee to commemorate a father's death the year before, a giant sand box style cleanup of the common area next to the mosque, an impromptu tour of the village fields/latrines, a few baby weighing and infant health causeries, annnnnnd most importantly a day trip to the town I'll call home starting in about two weeks! I was only able to stay for a few hours, but I did get to meet my new family talk to the directors of the Health Post and the middle school, drink sweet tea with a few of my soon-to-be neighbors..ooo and see a baby born! One of my 'older sisters' is a midwife and thought it only appropriate that I take a hands on approach to health education!
3.Also...to get to and from my town I ride on the back of a donkey cart...its awesome. This particular day was fish market funtime, meaning it was me, Risvik, ten women and their buckets of raw fish sharing space for a few miles of bumping acquaintance. Probably better than walking and maybe more fun than the T!
4.Senegalese Independence Day came and went without much incident, the elementary age children were pretty adorable in their matching purple outfits on parade. We might be planning a giant bike tour to commemorate another upcoming independence day...ending on the 4th in the southwest corner of Senegal with all the fireworks we can find! At least we won't get arrested here...or rather there is no enforcement, no neighbors to complain, and you probably can't accidentally set mud huts on fire!!
5.I spent my first night in my regional house on the way back into Thies. Each part of the country has a place to call home away from the hut...and my region's version comes complete with a kitchen, wi-fi, a HUGE library, rooftop horseshoe court and lots of friends to make mint juleps with! Kaolack is a big – read – dirty dirty dirty – city, but will probably make a nice change from village life every now and again. Plus...Dakar and the beach are only a few hours of minibus bush taxi craziness away!
6.The next day we had our first visit to Dakar. I'm so excited to explore the city and it seems like you really can get/do/see anything your heart desires. The beaches looked amazing and the waves are insane. We ended up spending most of the day in meetings, but hopefully I'll get a chance to grab a board soon and really check things out.
7.Almost the whole group of trainees finally got a chance to check out and we all headed down to Mburro for a few days of beach fun, catholic party time, and raging underwear only dance parties. It was great to get away from the center and really relax for the first time since stepping off that airplane! We rented almost an entire hotel out and were invited to a Catholic dance party in honor of Easter. After more than enough mojitos and a full day of beachness amazing we broke it down well into the night with the religious minority...switching between traditional African dance, club nasty grinding, salsa steps and eventually dissolving into jumping up and down with no regard for the beat. Awesome.
8.Tomorrow starts our counterpart workshop, two days of insanity as the center is invaded by two or three locals from each of our communities with the hopes of giving them a crash course in what its like to be a trainee, how to help us achieve our development goals, and hopefully start up really productive partnerships for the next two years. If nothing else it should be interesting...especially the part where we spend an hour teaching them Spanish, Russian, and Latin, maybe they'll be a bit more sympathetic to our inexpert indigenous languages if we start off with a Buenas Dias!
9.I got my swear-in outfit made...get excited for the pictures. So many sparkles absolutely dance party fabulous. My teacher Ouly put her foot down and called us red necks insisting on assisting throughout the design process, and ps. The ceremony will be broadcast on the national tv station...Ha!
10.Fingers crossed...I'm working at a HUGE women's soccer tournament on May 2nd in Dakar! They have been having qualifying matches all month and small events to promote this giant Soccer and women's leadership summit backed an NGO and the UN...and through some PC connections I might get to coach a clinic for young girls the morning before the championship game. It should be a great time, super inspiring, and hopefully lead to some serious contacts for getting programs up and running my soon to be region! I've just put in to delay my final site installation by about a week to stay in Dakar and help out at the summit...it seems like my ACPD is all for it and I can't imagine a better way to finish off two months of training!
I think that's how I'm going to leave it for today, email please...how is the homefront?!
Love and love!
Sophie
1.My volunteer visit was amazing! Despite being dropped off a few hours south of my intended destination the guy who was hosting me managed to get us all the way back up to his community...with enough time to meet some other volunteers, have maffaay for lunch (mmmm I will make it for you all some day) and sip frozen drinks on a street corner. We shared a 5ft by 5ft hut for about a week while I got a chance to see what life will be like for the next two years.
2.In his village we hit up a party with VATS of coffee to commemorate a father's death the year before, a giant sand box style cleanup of the common area next to the mosque, an impromptu tour of the village fields/latrines, a few baby weighing and infant health causeries, annnnnnd most importantly a day trip to the town I'll call home starting in about two weeks! I was only able to stay for a few hours, but I did get to meet my new family talk to the directors of the Health Post and the middle school, drink sweet tea with a few of my soon-to-be neighbors..ooo and see a baby born! One of my 'older sisters' is a midwife and thought it only appropriate that I take a hands on approach to health education!
3.Also...to get to and from my town I ride on the back of a donkey cart...its awesome. This particular day was fish market funtime, meaning it was me, Risvik, ten women and their buckets of raw fish sharing space for a few miles of bumping acquaintance. Probably better than walking and maybe more fun than the T!
4.Senegalese Independence Day came and went without much incident, the elementary age children were pretty adorable in their matching purple outfits on parade. We might be planning a giant bike tour to commemorate another upcoming independence day...ending on the 4th in the southwest corner of Senegal with all the fireworks we can find! At least we won't get arrested here...or rather there is no enforcement, no neighbors to complain, and you probably can't accidentally set mud huts on fire!!
5.I spent my first night in my regional house on the way back into Thies. Each part of the country has a place to call home away from the hut...and my region's version comes complete with a kitchen, wi-fi, a HUGE library, rooftop horseshoe court and lots of friends to make mint juleps with! Kaolack is a big – read – dirty dirty dirty – city, but will probably make a nice change from village life every now and again. Plus...Dakar and the beach are only a few hours of minibus bush taxi craziness away!
6.The next day we had our first visit to Dakar. I'm so excited to explore the city and it seems like you really can get/do/see anything your heart desires. The beaches looked amazing and the waves are insane. We ended up spending most of the day in meetings, but hopefully I'll get a chance to grab a board soon and really check things out.
7.Almost the whole group of trainees finally got a chance to check out and we all headed down to Mburro for a few days of beach fun, catholic party time, and raging underwear only dance parties. It was great to get away from the center and really relax for the first time since stepping off that airplane! We rented almost an entire hotel out and were invited to a Catholic dance party in honor of Easter. After more than enough mojitos and a full day of beachness amazing we broke it down well into the night with the religious minority...switching between traditional African dance, club nasty grinding, salsa steps and eventually dissolving into jumping up and down with no regard for the beat. Awesome.
8.Tomorrow starts our counterpart workshop, two days of insanity as the center is invaded by two or three locals from each of our communities with the hopes of giving them a crash course in what its like to be a trainee, how to help us achieve our development goals, and hopefully start up really productive partnerships for the next two years. If nothing else it should be interesting...especially the part where we spend an hour teaching them Spanish, Russian, and Latin, maybe they'll be a bit more sympathetic to our inexpert indigenous languages if we start off with a Buenas Dias!
9.I got my swear-in outfit made...get excited for the pictures. So many sparkles absolutely dance party fabulous. My teacher Ouly put her foot down and called us red necks insisting on assisting throughout the design process, and ps. The ceremony will be broadcast on the national tv station...Ha!
10.Fingers crossed...I'm working at a HUGE women's soccer tournament on May 2nd in Dakar! They have been having qualifying matches all month and small events to promote this giant Soccer and women's leadership summit backed an NGO and the UN...and through some PC connections I might get to coach a clinic for young girls the morning before the championship game. It should be a great time, super inspiring, and hopefully lead to some serious contacts for getting programs up and running my soon to be region! I've just put in to delay my final site installation by about a week to stay in Dakar and help out at the summit...it seems like my ACPD is all for it and I can't imagine a better way to finish off two months of training!
I think that's how I'm going to leave it for today, email please...how is the homefront?!
Love and love!
Sophie
Sunday, March 29, 2009
To my friends who have waited o so patiently for a blog update:
HI! Assalamalakum and may you have peace only! I'm going to try to keep up the ten short stories theme I started in Costa, basically forever ago, but we'll start off with a quick scene description of life here in Senegal. First off...I've been here more than a month already and we're halfway through training, know our actual site assignments and I can already speak a lot of Wolof (the indigenous language I'm learning...more on that soon!). The training center that I write this from is like a toubab (gringo/giri/foreigner) oasis that we visit every so often for group training activities and as a staging grounds before big trips. My fellow stagaires and I share a few dozen rooms and are free to roam the city of Thies when not in class...with access to(in order of importance) cold beer, chocolate ice cream, and wi-fi Internet cafes. For the majority of our time thus far we've been stationed in small villages nearby and working in the communities to get hands on training in our technical fields and learn two languages faster than I had previously thought possible!
I'm heading out tomorrow for my first visit to the site I'll call home for the next two years, a small village named Patar-Lia. There are a few hundred people, a middle and primary school, and apparently a lot of excitement about what might be accomplished. I'll know infinitely more after this next week...and hopefully update accordingly so you can all start planning you visits! Get pumped...my town is only three hours by car from Dakar (the capital city with an international airport) and there's no need to take a 12 seater prop plane/8 hours in hell bus ride in the style of Playa San Miguel, Costa Rica!
So ten or so stories for you all and more love than I can count!
1.My name is Sophialau Ndianye...rafet na n'est pas? Pretty crazy huh...Sophie is my favorite name in the world and they picked it out for me...after knowing me for just a few hours. Best of all...no one here knows its my dog's name back home haha so I can use it and be so so happy!
2.I love African Dance...like real African Dance...like hundreds of people forming a circle with pounding drums in the background and mass chaos of bodies in the center. The women move in ways I didn't know excited and I have resolved myself to learning! Obviously the fact that I don't exactly know how to dance didn't stop me from trying and it was the craziest thing I've ever experienced. Picture sand flying, arms spinning, and a crush of people as they all rush towards the middle and explode in movement. Yeah...I'll need to get a video haha!
3.I live in a village called Keur Madoro with the Imam and his family. The peace that radiates from the mango trees at the center of my compound has inspired me to write poetry. I won't subject you guys to it but it is a magical place to spend every afternoon. 15 or so children learn to recite the Koran in Arabic while my 'father' discreetly dozes off and I help my older sisters make sweet sweet green tea foamy by pouring it from glass to glass. Their rhythm comes from everywhere at once and seems perfectly in time.
4. I'm pretty convinced Wolof is the best language ever invented. Wow = yes, your best friend is your one nose, children are called sticks of G-d..as in how many sticks of G-d do you have...and there are so many similarities to Spanish I'm convinced that the Christopher Columbus stopped by at some point in 1500s! I've already tested out of the language requirement, I got to an intermediate low level after only 4 weeks and I'm so excited! Its just going to get better and easier and hopefully I'll be fluent in no time at all...and move on to learning arabic haha. My 'dad' the Imam says its a piece of cake haha...well not really he says its un-hard like making rice which is how they say it haha.
5.I'm pretty sure I've found my cultural group the Senegalese eat bread with nutella everyday for breakfast and wear sparkley clothing whenever possible and place great importance on inner peace for all.
6.Eating in general is kind of crazy. We all sit on the floor and eat with our hands..its an art form really and there are an entire set of verbs to describe the different ways of making balls of rice so you can pop them in your mouth. All in all the food is pretty good...fish, veggies, rice and some surprisingly awesome sauces made from the leaves, flowers, and roots of native plants. O and lots and lots of MSG haha...but what are you going to do?
7.Mango season is coming! I'm excited...my family has a mango tree plantation and I think it's going to be amazing. The trees are everywhere around my village...something I think peace corps had a lot to do with a few years ago and had really made a difference for many of the locals!
8.The medicine I'm on to prevent malaria has interesting side effects...mainly that it gives you incredible acid trip dreams that are so vivid you can't imagine they didn't really happen. So far all of my have been absolutely fantastic! Haha...par example I started a Dispatch concert naked from the balcony of my hotel, had a raging party at the Coulton's house in Doylestown complete with all of our parents, every member of the Killer Bees and pretty much every coach we've ever played for, I got to fly an airplane, and go hang gliding...haha. Crazy seriously, but definitely more entertaining that anything I've every seen on tv.
9.I have fallen completely and totally in love with the kids here, they've already made everything we work towards totally worth it. I will be adopting dozens...please plan accordingly. Seriously, these kids are absolutely adorable, so incredibly motivated, giving, open and I just can't stop smiling when I'm with them. They follow the other two girls in my training village and I around in groups from place to place and climb on anytime we sit...or even stand still for a little too long! Haha. The little girls especially...ah There are pictures...you'll understand I'm sure.
10.We had our first gardening demonstrations...in Wolof...for 40 kids at once....and believe it or not...things were fantastic! The kids were so excited to get the school gardens going and had so much motivation they made a second seed bed even better than our demonstration one while the other PCTs and I were working on a different part of the garden! LOVE it! They're so receptive to any information we try to teach them and are just so passionately into whatever we want to do with them! O and we've painted our first mural and more are coming soon!
11.I'm running out of things to say....hmmm what else is there....I miss you guys! I did manage to get phone service here and a new number...I have reception everywhere and I can call/text the states! Its a bit expensive....ok not really...its like 20 cents a minute haha and peace corps pays BANK in terms of the local economy. We're in Thies for a few days doing technical training...code word for partying up with all the local volunteers and learning how to do the things we are supposed to teach the locals!
So anyways the new phone number is +221776719932
love and love and love and hopefully another update much sooner than later!!
Stephanie
ps. i rode bumper cars last night...here in Thies. I don't know how in the world they got here but omygosh I am so glad it happened! haha! The senegalese do not call them bumper cars...they're actually called little cars and people drive slowly and carefully trying not to disturb anyone else's ride....a concept that was clearly lost on the Toubob contingent and would have resulted in our first international incident had we not managed to go all at once without any locals on the floor at the same time. SO MUCH FUN!!! Followed by whiskey shots, disco hut dancing, and big big big smiles! <3 besossss!
HI! Assalamalakum and may you have peace only! I'm going to try to keep up the ten short stories theme I started in Costa, basically forever ago, but we'll start off with a quick scene description of life here in Senegal. First off...I've been here more than a month already and we're halfway through training, know our actual site assignments and I can already speak a lot of Wolof (the indigenous language I'm learning...more on that soon!). The training center that I write this from is like a toubab (gringo/giri/foreigner) oasis that we visit every so often for group training activities and as a staging grounds before big trips. My fellow stagaires and I share a few dozen rooms and are free to roam the city of Thies when not in class...with access to(in order of importance) cold beer, chocolate ice cream, and wi-fi Internet cafes. For the majority of our time thus far we've been stationed in small villages nearby and working in the communities to get hands on training in our technical fields and learn two languages faster than I had previously thought possible!
I'm heading out tomorrow for my first visit to the site I'll call home for the next two years, a small village named Patar-Lia. There are a few hundred people, a middle and primary school, and apparently a lot of excitement about what might be accomplished. I'll know infinitely more after this next week...and hopefully update accordingly so you can all start planning you visits! Get pumped...my town is only three hours by car from Dakar (the capital city with an international airport) and there's no need to take a 12 seater prop plane/8 hours in hell bus ride in the style of Playa San Miguel, Costa Rica!
So ten or so stories for you all and more love than I can count!
1.My name is Sophialau Ndianye...rafet na n'est pas? Pretty crazy huh...Sophie is my favorite name in the world and they picked it out for me...after knowing me for just a few hours. Best of all...no one here knows its my dog's name back home haha so I can use it and be so so happy!
2.I love African Dance...like real African Dance...like hundreds of people forming a circle with pounding drums in the background and mass chaos of bodies in the center. The women move in ways I didn't know excited and I have resolved myself to learning! Obviously the fact that I don't exactly know how to dance didn't stop me from trying and it was the craziest thing I've ever experienced. Picture sand flying, arms spinning, and a crush of people as they all rush towards the middle and explode in movement. Yeah...I'll need to get a video haha!
3.I live in a village called Keur Madoro with the Imam and his family. The peace that radiates from the mango trees at the center of my compound has inspired me to write poetry. I won't subject you guys to it but it is a magical place to spend every afternoon. 15 or so children learn to recite the Koran in Arabic while my 'father' discreetly dozes off and I help my older sisters make sweet sweet green tea foamy by pouring it from glass to glass. Their rhythm comes from everywhere at once and seems perfectly in time.
4. I'm pretty convinced Wolof is the best language ever invented. Wow = yes, your best friend is your one nose, children are called sticks of G-d..as in how many sticks of G-d do you have...and there are so many similarities to Spanish I'm convinced that the Christopher Columbus stopped by at some point in 1500s! I've already tested out of the language requirement, I got to an intermediate low level after only 4 weeks and I'm so excited! Its just going to get better and easier and hopefully I'll be fluent in no time at all...and move on to learning arabic haha. My 'dad' the Imam says its a piece of cake haha...well not really he says its un-hard like making rice which is how they say it haha.
5.I'm pretty sure I've found my cultural group the Senegalese eat bread with nutella everyday for breakfast and wear sparkley clothing whenever possible and place great importance on inner peace for all.
6.Eating in general is kind of crazy. We all sit on the floor and eat with our hands..its an art form really and there are an entire set of verbs to describe the different ways of making balls of rice so you can pop them in your mouth. All in all the food is pretty good...fish, veggies, rice and some surprisingly awesome sauces made from the leaves, flowers, and roots of native plants. O and lots and lots of MSG haha...but what are you going to do?
7.Mango season is coming! I'm excited...my family has a mango tree plantation and I think it's going to be amazing. The trees are everywhere around my village...something I think peace corps had a lot to do with a few years ago and had really made a difference for many of the locals!
8.The medicine I'm on to prevent malaria has interesting side effects...mainly that it gives you incredible acid trip dreams that are so vivid you can't imagine they didn't really happen. So far all of my have been absolutely fantastic! Haha...par example I started a Dispatch concert naked from the balcony of my hotel, had a raging party at the Coulton's house in Doylestown complete with all of our parents, every member of the Killer Bees and pretty much every coach we've ever played for, I got to fly an airplane, and go hang gliding...haha. Crazy seriously, but definitely more entertaining that anything I've every seen on tv.
9.I have fallen completely and totally in love with the kids here, they've already made everything we work towards totally worth it. I will be adopting dozens...please plan accordingly. Seriously, these kids are absolutely adorable, so incredibly motivated, giving, open and I just can't stop smiling when I'm with them. They follow the other two girls in my training village and I around in groups from place to place and climb on anytime we sit...or even stand still for a little too long! Haha. The little girls especially...ah There are pictures...you'll understand I'm sure.
10.We had our first gardening demonstrations...in Wolof...for 40 kids at once....and believe it or not...things were fantastic! The kids were so excited to get the school gardens going and had so much motivation they made a second seed bed even better than our demonstration one while the other PCTs and I were working on a different part of the garden! LOVE it! They're so receptive to any information we try to teach them and are just so passionately into whatever we want to do with them! O and we've painted our first mural and more are coming soon!
11.I'm running out of things to say....hmmm what else is there....I miss you guys! I did manage to get phone service here and a new number...I have reception everywhere and I can call/text the states! Its a bit expensive....ok not really...its like 20 cents a minute haha and peace corps pays BANK in terms of the local economy. We're in Thies for a few days doing technical training...code word for partying up with all the local volunteers and learning how to do the things we are supposed to teach the locals!
So anyways the new phone number is +221776719932
love and love and love and hopefully another update much sooner than later!!
Stephanie
ps. i rode bumper cars last night...here in Thies. I don't know how in the world they got here but omygosh I am so glad it happened! haha! The senegalese do not call them bumper cars...they're actually called little cars and people drive slowly and carefully trying not to disturb anyone else's ride....a concept that was clearly lost on the Toubob contingent and would have resulted in our first international incident had we not managed to go all at once without any locals on the floor at the same time. SO MUCH FUN!!! Followed by whiskey shots, disco hut dancing, and big big big smiles! <3 besossss!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
I leave in just a few days to start my 27 months of service with the Peace Corps in Senegal. At this point I'm doing almost anything to procrastinate packing up everything I'll need! I'm starting back up with my blog so you guys can keep up with my adventures, and keep me updated with all the going-ons in your lives too!
My mailing address for the first few months is:
PCT “Stephanie Shumsky”
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 299
Thiès, Senegal
West Africa
please please please I'd love some postcards!
I'll let you all know about phone numbers when and if I get one.
Lots of love and please be sure to call my cell phone before Thursday if you'd like to say goodbye.
Love!
Stephanie
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