rama-on!

like i said in the previous blog, ramadan is going on right now where muslims the world over abstain from food, drink, tobacco, alcohol and sex for 30 days. i've spent the past week fasting with the family and i've come to a number of surprising conclusions. the first being that not eating between the hours of five(morning) and seven (night) is relatively easy after two days. granted those first two days were a little brutal. the culver's butter burger dream i had one night probably didn't help at all either. i get up around 5 and make myself some breakfast/startfast to be technical which is usually oatmeal, pb, dried fruit or bread and nutella (thanks ruff!) then i do my darndest to chug two liters of water. i can usually polish them off in about 20 minutes...but it's hard. you try it. you'll be peeing like crazy. after that i go to bed for another two hours and get up for good. the day consists of me visiting other compounds, laying around with everyone and trying to fill my time before break of fast.

another thing i find quite enjoyable about ramadan-it's completely normal to fall asleep at someone's house. they'll even consider it a sign you're comfortable and take pride in it if you are a toubab like me. i've successfully fallen asleep at four different compounds one day. i'm hoping to get the whole village done by the end.

kids never get tired.

although by the end of the day they are all really really annoying and i want to scream somedays, my family's kids have been extremely entertaining. we draw and color, they play soccer, the boys see what they can catch...it goes on. i can tell they are often bored and looking for something to do so i do my best to keep them entertained...which somehow turns it around so that i am entertained. i think my favorite night was the bubble night. half were scared and ran away from them, others ran around popping them and the rest just stood there amazed that i could make bubbles out of soap and a plastic ring. i wasn't the only one entertained; my family got a kick out of it as well and gave us all a half hour we weren't watching the clock.

did i mention the street/village cred i'm getting? not to be selfish (ok maybe a little) the village thinks it's awesome that i'm fasting with them. they can't believe i was willing to not eat just because they were fasting. some said i was crazy, others laughed at me, but most think it's pretty cool. as i told my cousin moussa the imam, "you guys are all fasting and i'm not going to eat in front of you so i'm fasting too". he shook his head as if saying "stupid, you have no idea what you're doing" but he told me that i'm 'senegalese' for doing it. i'll take the compliment.

my favorite thing about ramadan is breaking fast. by seven my whole family is sitting around together, my sister's have started to prepare dinner, and everyone is holding a cup of coffee and a piece of bread. suddenly the call to break fast is heard from the mosque and everyone dives in. i usually do a little cheer and booty shake to celebrate. after coffee, we drink juice and cooled water as well as have peanuts. then we eat dinner and hang out until i go to bed. i know this doesn't sound exciting-at least nothing to give up eating all day for-but as soon as we break fast an invisible wave of happiness falls over the village and it's a totally new place. everyone is calmer, joyful, and much much much less irritable. i was a little skeptical about ramadan but it's a great time to be in the village and bond with everyone. i say, rama-on people rama-on!

i want to finish this post with a HUGE thank you to all the family members who were part of the dvd home video that jason and leslie sent. it was so amazing to get (a really big surprise- thanks leslie) and such a great thing to watch. i watched it my first day of ramadan in the village and it was the perfect timing. i then played it for my family and needless to say it was beyond a hit. they are convinced that i live among famous people. (who could argue with that?) i was glad i got to share it with them-you guys have been the talk of the village for the past week. i'll definitely watch it over again and again. the muscians rocked -er- accoustically pleased, the singers sang lovely, the groupies were great to look at. thanks again fam-love you all and miss you all A LOT!!

lotsa love,
jaime

back in the village again

it's a great feeling knowing that you've been missed and when you get back to your village you get swarmed by people who just want to tell you how glad they are that you're back. it felt so good to get such a warm reception when i finally got back to site. as soon as i got my bags off me my family made me sit and rest and had i not insisted on cleaning out my room myself (termites make a lot of mess) they would have kept me there all day long. i myself was glad to be bake in the village, i missed the laid-back pace of life as well as the routine of things. i spent my first day back greeting everyone and catching up on the village gossip. i found out that one of my good village friends had a baby while i was gone. (I didn't even know she was pregnant- it's taboo to talk about it here and they hide it under baggy clothes)so i was surprised needless to say when i went to visit hre and walked in on the baby's baptism. he looks healthy and was a good weight, 3 kilos so i am excited to see him grow.

yesterday i went to mbantou, a village about 3km from mine on the river with a couple of guys to watch a soccer match. not only was the playing incredible but the fans themselves kept me very entertained.

ramadan started today. i got up early...5am and chugged a liter and a half of water, went back to sleep and got up at 7 to start the day. when i told the village i wanted to try fasting they were really excite although some were a little worried i'd get sick. so far so good-only one day in though and 29 to go...

tonight i'm going to podor to celebrate lauren's birthday with emily and colleen. my guess is that we are going to hide in her bedroom and overeat on chocolate and other goodies. i can't wait!

cheers!

when it rains...

i've finished up ist last week. it was a great month of training. i got to learn a few new gardening techniques, some super-carb porridges for the little kids, among other things that i cannot wait to try out once we get to the village. this past weekend we had a big 'ole volunteer party in mbour which is one of the tourist spots along the coast. it was such a great time and so nice to go swimming again...even at 2 am.

this past week i've been in dakar for meetings and such and since it is the rainy season, it's rained everyday i've been here. this wouldn't be a huge deal except for the fact that i haven't seen rain for six months and now i can't get away from it. luckily the hostel i've been staying at is right near the peace corps office so getting there hasn't been too bad. however, getting caught in the rain downtown and then having to stay wet all day is. which is quickly remedied by n'ice cream which is like culver's back home. i've eaten my last three lunches there and should you ever find yourself in dakar i reccommend the banana/chocolate strawberry combo. or the cherry cheesecake/white chocolate. or the peach passion fruit yogurt/vanilla fudge. i know, this is a little lame but if you lived 300 km fromt the nearest ice cream you'd feel the same way.

i won't even start on cheese.

today i met with counterpart international. they're an ngo in cooperation with usaid and one of two ngos that work in the fouta region of senegal. they're doing a number of largescale projects from hiv/aids education and gardening to koranic school partnerships to nutrition research. i'm hoping to help with a new potato/soy porridge they're developing as part of the nutrition projects i have planned. here's the link for their site for a little more info https://www.counterpart.org. now that the new stage is coming (this september) the "newbie" feeling of being a volunteer is pretty much past and now i feel like i can start to do some major work. it's an exciting time.

ramadan is also approaching. some volunteers fast with their families while others don't. i'm not quite sure if i wil fast or not. i want to so that i can show my family and village i respect their religion and am a part of their community but on the other hand i'm afraid fasting will wipe me out. my plan is to try it for a week to see how it goes and if all is well i may try to do the whole four weeks.

well dakar has been nice, but i'm a small town girl by heart and very ready to get back to the village. inshallah(god willing) my hut is still standing and the termites haven't eaten it all.

cheers,
jaime

back to health

so as most of you know this past week kicked my butt. ist started and the beginning of the week went awesome. i even got to do some gardening again which was therapeutic. i'm told that my garden at the regional house is sprouting. good news all around. i settled in with the new host family- they're great and have given me a lot of freedom which i appreciate. i have been enjoying my bike ride to the center and back, talking with people i haven't seen for a while...

then came wednesday.

i woke up wednesday feeling a little puffy but figured they were the sleep puffies. i get them when i actually get some sleep which i did the night before. by noon the puffies grew to include my forehead and nose. by the afternoon the swelling had become extremely noticable. i took some benadryl thinking that it was an allergic reaction and some more again when i went to bed.

thursday.

i woke up and not only had the swelling gotten worse, but it was red and warm to the touch. i called the pc med office right away and they felt it was serious enough that i needed to go to dakar.

friday.

had my doctor's appointment in the morning. when i went to so see him he immediately told me i had to be admitted. so within the hour i was wisked downstairs and put on iv antibiotics. i had an infection in my face from a bite that had started to go to my blood. for me that was the scariest part- everything happening so fast and only understanding a little of rapid french/wolof. so i stayed in the hospital (the best one in senegal i'm told) for three days. i was on iv the whole time plus the occasional anti-inflamitory shot in the butt. (not pleasant). by the second day the swelling had gone down considerably and i was released this afternoon. i'm on anti-biotics for a week yet, but i am looking forward to going back to thies.

no worries, i had great care while i was here. the hospital staff was amazing and very kind and pc was awesome about taking care of me. i'm better now which is the most important thing. hopefully this will be my only hospital visit while i'm here. i have yet to talk to pc doctors (they weren't in when i got back to the pc office) and once they clear me i can go back to saving the world.

cheers!
jaime

my fouta family

not much new here to post...it's in-service training at the moment and so i am back in thies for the month. just found out that i won't be living with my keur issa host family this time around which bites, but now i'll be living in thies so i get to do more stuff and have a bit more freedom...we'll see how it all goes.

so i've decided to dedicate this post to my family in diambo who are awesome and fabulous and i actually miss quite a bit. i left on tuesday so that i could make a garden at the regional house. there was kinda a garden already there so we first attempted to fix it up, but me and colleen (who lives about 20km from me) ran into not one but two snakes (gray in color....MAMBAS?!) and so decided to make our garden out of trash receptacles and coffee cans. i think it looks extremeley cute. now it just has to grow.

a bunch of us spent this past weekend in st. louis....and let me tell you, this city rocks. soo much fun, i even got to eat ice cream and steak in the same day. soo good. we stayed at a great little auberge for really cheap, swam at a pool and he beach all day, and just had a great time relaxing. i'm so happy that i live close enough to saint-louis where i can go for the weekend. this will definitely be a place i will go to again and again.

so to the real purpose of this post; i've decided to give you all a little more detail about my family so here goes. i live with about 30 other people in three compounds that open up into a area (the youtube video shows this a little better.) anyways, my immediate family is my father, his two wives, and their kids. plus i got an uncle, his wife and their kids, another uncle family and then a cousin and his family. okay, here goes...

sille mall: this is my host father. he is about 55 years old and spends most of the day in the fields. he's about 5'2'' and maybe 110. i feel like an ogre next to him. he doesn't talk a lot but i feel that i can talk to him about anything and he really enjoys the fact that i love our families cows.

banel wade: this is my tocora or namesake as well as my father's first wife. she is from a village about 11 km from diambo. because she is the first wife she runs the household and is consantly trying to make me sit and do nothing while everyone gets my water, etc for me. at first this really bothered me but now i realize that she really wants to take care of me and make sure that i go home well fed and happy. (don't worry i'm both).

hawa soh: this is my father's second wife and my favorite. she's from mauritania which i think is really cool. she let's me do what i want but still makes sure i am taken care of. she also is one of the few people who is willing to sit down and help me understand what's going on which is always appreciated.

binta mall: my 16 year old sister. very cool girl, is smart and hardwoking and loves asking me questions about america.

miiye mal: my 15 year old sister. she spends most of the time working in the fields or doing other chores but she is also really nice, although she is usually the one to put my brothers in line which involves hitting them.

gaycire mall: 12 year olf sister. she is the best cook in the family so i always love it when she makes lunch. she's quiet but will come listen to me if she isn't doing chores.

hamadel mall: my 11 year old brother. he is usually very quiet and spends the day making traps for animals and playing by the river.

moussa mall: 10 year old brother. he looks just like hamadel and follows him everywhere. he still blushes when i talk to him.

djibbi mall: 10 year old brother. he is kind of a bully in the family and like to beat up the other kids but he also does what he's told and makes sure everyone follows the rules.

penda mall: 9 year old sister. she's really little like her dad and reminds me of a gymnast. she is usually helping cook but also will sit and talk to me. she also usually directs me to someplace if i get lost.

demba mall: 7 year old brother. he's kind of a drama queen and a wimp but loves any game i invent for the kids to do. he also follows me around everywhere.

camou mall: 6 year old brother and the baby of the family. spoiled beyond belief but once he stops acting like a baby is a lot of fun to play with.

demba mall: my uncle. he is a farmer and is really funny and quiet. he's the uncle all the kids run to when they did something they should be punished for. he also thinks it's funny that i like the animals so much.

manne mall: my aunt who is the coolest woman...she is a proponent of "tough" love but can also be really affectionate. she also got really excited when i started doing my chores and called me senegalese.

sinthan mall: my 16 year old cousin. he is a typical teenager and likes to boss everyone around. i like to put him in his place which the family thinks is hilarious and he likes because he gete the attention.

fati mall: my 14 year old cousin. she is totally boy crazy which in turn drives me and all the other young kids crazy. but she's firey which i like.

alage mall: my 12 year old cousin. he makes the best tea and is really shy. i like to talk to him because i know he won't try to confuse me or screw me up.

hamady mall: my 10 year old cousin. he killed a giant lizard with a machete and they gutted, cooked and ate it. he's hard core, plus a wicked soccer player.

dadi mall: hamady's twin. she's super smart 9smartest in her family) and a huge tom boy which i love. she also puts up with nothing her brothers or cousin's dish out. she's one of my favorite.

seydou mall: 6 year old cousin. he has the voice of a little girl and loves to try to beat up anyone older than him. he also loves to tease me which i tease back then pick him up and carry him to the river and dunk him.

alage mall: my other uncle who i stayed with while my hut was being built. kinda of snoopy and patronizing, but dotes on his kids which is nice.

awa jaan; my aunt who works in a neighboring city as a tailor. she's not around a whole lot but i love the fact aht she's a working woman in the village.

banel mall: my 7 year old tocara and cousin. she's a sassy little girl who swims like a fish. i love having her around and she loves mimicking me.

ramata mall: my 3 year old cousin. she is kind of homely (looks like a tim burton character) but is really funny and adventurous. she also has her dad wrapped around her finger which i think is hilarious.

moussa mall: my oldest cousin. his father drowned about two months ago in the river which was a really intense and overswhelming experience. moussa is the town's imam or koranic teacher. he speaks pulaar, wolof, arabic, french and a little english and has the best sense of humor. he's by far my faovrite male in the village and i love spending afternoons at his house cracking jokes with him.

fati mall: my older sister and moussa's wife. she's also really small like her dad but she's sassy and affectionate. she also refused to ride in a car because the driver wouldn't give me a ride. she told her we were family and if i didn't ride she didn't. she then got two other people to get out of the car. i think she's awesome. she also loves her two boyus to death and still calls them bebe "baby" even though they are little monsters.

amadou mall: my four year old husband/cousin. he started following me around in the village and would greet me every morning with a huge hug so i started telling everyone that his is my husband and it has stuck. i think he has cerebral palsy, but it doesn't slow him down at all. he's a little punk in that he eggs people on, slaps his mom's butt and then runs away. he also runs to me if one of the older kids is going to hit him because he knows i'm safe territory. i'm also teaching him english phrases such as "what up homeslice, and to the batcave!" as an effort to keep me entertained. it works.

sille mall: my 2 year old cousin and amadou's little big brother. he's the same size as amadou and totally wails on him and takes him down whenever they wrestle. he's a gentle giant though and loves to cuddle. i've started calling him my second husband which cracks the village up.

so that my family...i think they're great and i'm glad i get to be a part of their's for two years. alright, computer time is almost gone...signing off...more to follow.

peace!
jaime