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| Popenguine's stained glass |
I have been in and out of my village since mid-August and I've seen so much of Senegal! Life outside of village is crazy - so much to see and do in the big wide world. Beginning on my birthday and ending in a surprise trip to Dakar, the past six weeks have been a variety of things, but predominantly sanse - the Wolof word for fancy. Here's a play by play of the past chunk of time accompanied by the fanciest photos I have to offer.
On my birthday (August 14th - I turned 24!) my dear friend Katie trekked out to my village to celebrate with me. I bought two chickens, two kilos of macaroni, and an undisclosed amount of oil for my birthday dinner. It ended up being so much food! I had a special dish brought into my hut to share with my toubab guests and my four closest friends from village. The rest of my family all ate together and my moms prepared dishes to send to our neighbors as well. It was a delicious day!
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| Dakar's finest chilled red wine |
A few days later my whole stage convened at the beautiful Thies training center to begin our In Service Training. But before we got to work we had some fun at Accrobaobab Adventure Park, an amazing adventure course set in the tops of Senegal's signature baobab trees! It involved harnesses and pulleys and surpassed my every expectation. The three weeks of training was a great opportunity to talk with and learn from older volunteers and get excited about planning projects in my village!
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| the height of the sanse Dakar lifestyle |
After all that hard work, twenty of my closest friends and I spent a few days at the beach to unwind - phew! I visited the cathedral in Popenguine and was blown away by the beautiful stained glass there! There was a black Madonna sighting in Popenguine, which has inspired an annual pilgrimage and the gorgeous cathedral. We also enjoyed sunsets and fireworks and and many naps on the beach trip. After Popenguine I took a short trip up to St. Louis, the capital of the colony of Senegal up until 1902. I was entranced by the water, the history, the bridge, the food. It felt a lot like Charleston, SC and I loved it!
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| peace corps volunteers' coffee haven |
I finally returned to my village after that - a long month away it had been! Everything was so much bigger when I got home - knee height crops were now above my head, baby chicks had grown into awkward teenage chickens, and my favorite two year old looked so much taller. I did some really exciting work in village that I would love to write about once it has developed a bit more. Then I headed out with my neighbor/counterpart/health worker to a Peace Corps training in Toubacouta, which I now know to be the most beautiful part of Senegal! It's located west of my home on the delta with salty water, islands, and mangroves galore. I had a stunningly productive three days of training there and got to play with bioluminescence for the first time! Unfortunately I sustained a minor injury on the last day and was rushed to Dakar for medical treatment.
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| in Dakar, on the road to recovery! |
I am well on my way to being healed and very happy with the care I received from Peace Corps. And I got to spend a weekend exploring Dakar! It was a truly self-indulgent time with mornings of lattes and bagels, afternoons sipping red wine on a pier, and evenings of sushi rolls and green papaya salad. What a food filled extravaganza! I also got to walk along the beach, explore downtown, and wander through a Pulaar market. Right now I'm on my way back to village and hoping to stay put until Halloween! Big holiday of Tabaski is coming up too - nothing but excitement in October! PS. I have killed about six mosquitos while typing this blog post - take that, malaria!
