oops...forgot to include this in the last post. my new address is below. i'll have this address for the rest of my service. use this one instead of the other one because after may ninth i won't have access to it. i also updated it on the side link.
PCV Jaime Bodden
B. P. 79
Podor, Sénégal
West Africa
also, if you check out the link to other volunteers blogs you can find caitlyn's. it's a great blog so check it out, she got a few amazing stories as well as some great pictures. okay, bye!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
back to the fouta, great scott!!
well folks, i'm pleased to announce that i successfully made it back from demyst alive and well. we left the 16th at seven in the morning and drove all day for twelve hours to get to kanel, where we were staying with caitlyn, a current health volunteer, and her family. it was a long trip and once we got past saint-louis it really started heating up. i thought thiès was hot...silly silly girl. each day we, my language class, spent about three hours in the morning having class and then taking a six hour rest before having class for two more hours. why the long break you may ask? because between the hours of 11 and 5 one literally cannot do anything because it is so hot. one day it got up to 57°C. i won't even convert that for you... just know that we boiled water without using any sort of fuel source, steeped tea, and made applesauce in a nalgene just by putting it out in the sun. i resorted to dunking my shirt in water and adopting the holy mary head shawl to stay cool. i looked pretty ridiculous but stayed cooler. even the senegalese don't do anything during that time... and the sad part is that the hottest of the hot season is still a month away. cheers!
despite the heat our road trip was a lot of fun. it was such a great experience to see a volunteer in action actually doing work and interacting with the local community. it also gave me ideas as to what kind of projects i can do once we install at our site. she also made me and the rest of the the volunteers headed to the fouta really excited to start. it sounds like everyone up there is an amazing gourp of people and it sounds like we're going to have a lot of fun together. just a heads up... the fouta region does thanksgiving for all the volunteers so it would be awesome to get the makings for pumpkin pie, etc in the mail. just a little subtle hint. we even had a fluke rainstorm one night which caused all the toubabs (aka americans) to dance around like crazy people while the senegalese watched from a porch. for a brief while we actually were cold and then the scorpions came out and made us all scared to go to sleep.
i wasn't able to go to my site since it is a little bit of the main path, but we did stop and have lunch at the market town me and emily will be using. it is only about 7km from us and it will be a great way to get veggies and fruit. the road to my site is also paved which means i will be doing a lot of biking.
we got back to thiès yesterday after a ten hour car ride. we were so happy that it went faster than the ride out because we were all pretty anxious to get back to thiès. the change in temperature once we hit saint-louis was amazing... it felt like we crossed a invisible barrier because all at once we hit the sea breeze and it felt amazing. then we all overdosed on ice cream. right now we have the day off before we head to dakar tomorrow for some administrative stuff. i'm excited to see dakar... we haven't been there at all yet, and the only time we saw it was at midnight when we drove through it our first night here. it'll be fun to see it during the day and walk around. we only have about ten days before we officially swear-in as volunteers so things are starting to get busy. we have a big language test coming up as well as our counterpart workshop where we get to meet the local partners we'll be working with during our two years. emily and i will have the same counterpart since we're practically in the same village. we've heard nothing but good things about her and we're excited to start a few projects right away. we swear in the ninth of may and immediately after head back to the fouta to install into our site. the installation process takes a while, we have to get things for our huts and everything so we'll have a little break after pst to rest. at least i hope we do.
well that's all for now, take care everyone!
peace, jaime
despite the heat our road trip was a lot of fun. it was such a great experience to see a volunteer in action actually doing work and interacting with the local community. it also gave me ideas as to what kind of projects i can do once we install at our site. she also made me and the rest of the the volunteers headed to the fouta really excited to start. it sounds like everyone up there is an amazing gourp of people and it sounds like we're going to have a lot of fun together. just a heads up... the fouta region does thanksgiving for all the volunteers so it would be awesome to get the makings for pumpkin pie, etc in the mail. just a little subtle hint. we even had a fluke rainstorm one night which caused all the toubabs (aka americans) to dance around like crazy people while the senegalese watched from a porch. for a brief while we actually were cold and then the scorpions came out and made us all scared to go to sleep.
i wasn't able to go to my site since it is a little bit of the main path, but we did stop and have lunch at the market town me and emily will be using. it is only about 7km from us and it will be a great way to get veggies and fruit. the road to my site is also paved which means i will be doing a lot of biking.
we got back to thiès yesterday after a ten hour car ride. we were so happy that it went faster than the ride out because we were all pretty anxious to get back to thiès. the change in temperature once we hit saint-louis was amazing... it felt like we crossed a invisible barrier because all at once we hit the sea breeze and it felt amazing. then we all overdosed on ice cream. right now we have the day off before we head to dakar tomorrow for some administrative stuff. i'm excited to see dakar... we haven't been there at all yet, and the only time we saw it was at midnight when we drove through it our first night here. it'll be fun to see it during the day and walk around. we only have about ten days before we officially swear-in as volunteers so things are starting to get busy. we have a big language test coming up as well as our counterpart workshop where we get to meet the local partners we'll be working with during our two years. emily and i will have the same counterpart since we're practically in the same village. we've heard nothing but good things about her and we're excited to start a few projects right away. we swear in the ninth of may and immediately after head back to the fouta to install into our site. the installation process takes a while, we have to get things for our huts and everything so we'll have a little break after pst to rest. at least i hope we do.
well that's all for now, take care everyone!
peace, jaime
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
get out yer map....drumroll please...
so this past week we learned our site assignments aka where we will be spending the next two years of our life. i have the most fantastic site imaginable and will be in the north, near podor in a little village called santhiou diambo. (i'm going from memory on the spelling because i don't have my sheet with me). i'm about 20 km from podor which is just a spit from mauritania and about 30 km from our regional housein ndioum. i'll be serving my village, about 400 people and the village right next to it, about 200 people. what makes me most excited is the fact that i am only a kilometer away from emily, another volunteer here and one of my best friends here. we're super excited to do a lot of projects together and hang out and cook. i really couldn't have asked for a better placement. we even met the girl we are replacing, kiersten, and she gave us so much info on the place and was awesome. needless to say it is gonig to be legendary! (quick shout out to renée, how cool is it that i can put accent marks in right away because of the french keyboards?)
a little more infor about my village, it's right on the senegal river..i will be able to actually see the river from my hut. my village is a fishing caste village and the other village is herding, so it will be interesting to work within the different castes and to see the interaction between them. i will be living the the village chief's brother and they seem to be excited to have me live with them. i will be able to have internet access in podor but no electricity in the village so hopefully be able to update this thing often.
this past weekend the whole lot of us went to the beach to relax. it was awesome swimming in the ocean, in april, and not getting burnt. the beach was so clean (lake michigan is was NOT) and there were seashells everywhere which i of course had to pick up. i had a great time and even helped make sunday brunch for everyone. yes, the family tradition continues... it was a much deserved break and worth the crowded hour long bus ride. some even had enough balls to ride the 35km there. it might not sound too ar, but in 110 degree heat and the sahara winds blowing in your face, you'll have enough admiration for those guys as i do.
training is finally taking off; we're beginning to get more involved with the technical aspects which has given me renewed purpose of being here. in two days (thursday) we are leaving for our "demystification" or our visit to see what being a volunteer is really like. my language class is heading to the west near matam but in the desert for ten days. it's about a fourteen hour car ride and our site has been registered the hottest place on earth more than once. i was able to catch the weather last night and saw that it was 44 degrees C. i don't evenwant to know what that is in farthenheit, it's just plain hot. my site will also be hot and i'm told i will just walk into the river with all my clothes on as a act of desperation, but it won't get as hot because of the river. mind you, i have no idea what AS hot means. we're all pretty pumped to be taking off for ten days. our language teachers are the best and i know they'll have a great time with us as well.
okay, i have to get back to the center in order to make it home before dark...take care everyone and be safe...think about you all the time!
oh- quick shout out to the gore's for the awesome package. wet wipes and peanut butter and pretty much everything will be taken with me for the road trip....you guys are awesome...kathy, i won't even describe to you wear i go to the bathroom... also a huge thanks for all the e-mails, letters, and comments you guys have made. it's good to know that i'm in your thoughts and they're always a great pick-me up even if i'm not able to reply right away. love you all!
peace,
jaime
a little more infor about my village, it's right on the senegal river..i will be able to actually see the river from my hut. my village is a fishing caste village and the other village is herding, so it will be interesting to work within the different castes and to see the interaction between them. i will be living the the village chief's brother and they seem to be excited to have me live with them. i will be able to have internet access in podor but no electricity in the village so hopefully be able to update this thing often.
this past weekend the whole lot of us went to the beach to relax. it was awesome swimming in the ocean, in april, and not getting burnt. the beach was so clean (lake michigan is was NOT) and there were seashells everywhere which i of course had to pick up. i had a great time and even helped make sunday brunch for everyone. yes, the family tradition continues... it was a much deserved break and worth the crowded hour long bus ride. some even had enough balls to ride the 35km there. it might not sound too ar, but in 110 degree heat and the sahara winds blowing in your face, you'll have enough admiration for those guys as i do.
training is finally taking off; we're beginning to get more involved with the technical aspects which has given me renewed purpose of being here. in two days (thursday) we are leaving for our "demystification" or our visit to see what being a volunteer is really like. my language class is heading to the west near matam but in the desert for ten days. it's about a fourteen hour car ride and our site has been registered the hottest place on earth more than once. i was able to catch the weather last night and saw that it was 44 degrees C. i don't evenwant to know what that is in farthenheit, it's just plain hot. my site will also be hot and i'm told i will just walk into the river with all my clothes on as a act of desperation, but it won't get as hot because of the river. mind you, i have no idea what AS hot means. we're all pretty pumped to be taking off for ten days. our language teachers are the best and i know they'll have a great time with us as well.
okay, i have to get back to the center in order to make it home before dark...take care everyone and be safe...think about you all the time!
oh- quick shout out to the gore's for the awesome package. wet wipes and peanut butter and pretty much everything will be taken with me for the road trip....you guys are awesome...kathy, i won't even describe to you wear i go to the bathroom... also a huge thanks for all the e-mails, letters, and comments you guys have made. it's good to know that i'm in your thoughts and they're always a great pick-me up even if i'm not able to reply right away. love you all!
peace,
jaime
Friday, April 4, 2008
that africa is so hot right now
points to whoever gets the reference, joey i expect you to so don't dissapoint me. it's the end of my third week here in senegal and things have finally started heating up. it is about 95 degrees today and we are only just getting into the hot season. feel free to send any cold weather my way. two days ago i actually woke up with the fan i used for fanning myself still in my hand.
other than the heat, things are great. sorry for the small rant in the beginning but i've been sweating continuously for five days. my family is really truely the best of senegal. i feel completely at home with them and a part of the family. they are fantastic about teaching me the language and i'm picking up more and more pulaar each day. yesterday my language class got to visit with them which was really fun for everyone. not only did my family get to meet some other volunteers, but the volunteers got to see how awesome my family was. yea, i was showing them off, but they show me off everyday too so i thought i'd return it.
today is senegal's independence day. (from the french in 1960) in case you were wondering. all of the volunteers got the day off and to celebrate we were able to go out last night for the first time. it was such a relief to be able to do that and i think we were all ready for a little break from language and everything for the moment. today was really a rest and relax day for me which has made me feel great. it's been pretty tiring gonig to class for so long everyday and i was wiped out. so sleep is good.
tried uploading pictures but i havenùt even gotten one to load and my time is nearly up on my computer so i will have to firgure out a different way. i do have some great pics of the kids in my family playing in the garden.
miss you all. stay cool.
peace,
jaime
other than the heat, things are great. sorry for the small rant in the beginning but i've been sweating continuously for five days. my family is really truely the best of senegal. i feel completely at home with them and a part of the family. they are fantastic about teaching me the language and i'm picking up more and more pulaar each day. yesterday my language class got to visit with them which was really fun for everyone. not only did my family get to meet some other volunteers, but the volunteers got to see how awesome my family was. yea, i was showing them off, but they show me off everyday too so i thought i'd return it.
today is senegal's independence day. (from the french in 1960) in case you were wondering. all of the volunteers got the day off and to celebrate we were able to go out last night for the first time. it was such a relief to be able to do that and i think we were all ready for a little break from language and everything for the moment. today was really a rest and relax day for me which has made me feel great. it's been pretty tiring gonig to class for so long everyday and i was wiped out. so sleep is good.
tried uploading pictures but i havenùt even gotten one to load and my time is nearly up on my computer so i will have to firgure out a different way. i do have some great pics of the kids in my family playing in the garden.
miss you all. stay cool.
peace,
jaime
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