My So-Called Senegalese Life: 40 Days and 40 Nights

I have spent the past 40 days happily in my village, Ngar Gueye! It’s a little place with about 800 people, a primary school, and health hut, and a whole bunch of house compounds. My house is on the southeastern most side of town (Google it! But really, you can – how weird is that?) in the midst of what are soon to be fields of peanuts, millet, and corn. Everyone in my village farms and is busy prepping for the rainy season, which will allegedly come in full force in July. We have had one rain so far and what an adventure it was!

home sweet hut!

The first rain of the season is typically preceded by intense winds, which cause dust storms (the ground is all sand). Our dust storm came a few weeks ago and kicked up so much sand I could hardly see from one side of my compound to the other. My moms were all carrying about their daily lives as if nothing was happening, but I seriously considered putting on my goggles. The wind kept up all day and after dark thunder and lightning rolled in as well. The rain didn’t show up until 2 am, when I awoke to find absolutely everything in my hut covered in dust and quickly getting muddy! I stood in my doorway and marveled at the rain for a while – it had been so long since I’d seen it and it was really pouring! It was exhilarating and immediately afterwards little green sprouts started poking out of the ground all around!

my family's compound

Thankfully my hut seems to be mostly waterproof. My hut has concrete walls and a thatched roof and is really quite fancy with its window and screen doors! I have a luxurious double bed with a green mosquito net, two trunks that I have decoupaged, and a set of shelves that I filled with books and knickknacks from home. The shelves are wonderful and really make my hut a home! My compound also has a hut for my dad, a guest hut, a storage hut, a kitchen hut, and a long concrete building where my moms live. We have two neem trees that provide shade all year long as well as two horses, a donkey, and countless chickens.

mom #2 and love of my life!

My family is AMAZING and have made the past 40 days not only tolerable, but educational, entertaining, and fun. My Senegalese dad is a mason and a farmer and a sweet and hard-working man. I have three Senegalese moms who are inspirational in their ability to juggle manual labor, homemaking, child rearing, and lively get-togethers. There are eight kids ages two to twelve that live in my house and about a billion others that run in and out all day long. It took most of the kids about a month to get over their white person fear, but now they all know what a great playmate I can be. I am head over heels for my third mom’s youngest son, who is coming up on two years old. I shamelessly give in to his every demand and even tied him to my back one day so he could experience the magic of bicycle rides.

me and my number one mom

Every month in my village and our two neighboring villages, Ngar Ja and Ngar Therere, we have growth monitoring events for all kids ages five and under. We have a scale for the babies and a band to measure arm circumference for older kids. All of the kids who are underweight come back to the health hut where we feed them a nutritious dinner and send them home with a bag of powder to make a protein shake of sorts. Participating in these events has been an interesting way to get to know my village and an excellent opportunity to hold some very tiny and very adorable babies. I’m looking forward to figuring out how exactly I can contribute to the health and wellness of my village overall and more specifically, work alongside my number one Senegalese mom, who is the matrone at the health hut.

fallen baobab tree playground

Overall it’s been a really stimulating, sweaty, and exciting beginning to the next two years of my life. I have retained my mental and physical health, alhamdoulilah. I’m developing an applicable skill set of carrying buckets of water on my head, eating rice with my hands, and joking with Wolof people. I’m looking forward to the rainy season beginning soon, the Peace Corps 4^th of July celebration, and my birthday in August! And in case you were wondering, it makes my day and even my week to see letters through the peephole in my mailbox in Guinguineo – so write me maybe!

PS. It's hard to get pictures of the interior of my hut due to its tiny size, but here are the highlights: