a much deserved post

i greet you all and your last names. (a common way to say hello to a large group of people here.)

sorry for the time lapse in blog postings...it's been a busy month and i've been here, there and everywhere overhere. i'm happy to report that i am all moved into my hut; unpacked, arranged and have started the unending process of killing termites and ants. it's been so nice to finally have my hut and my own space; i was starting to feel like a guest on vacation in the village who was being pampered. now that i've established my "galle banel" i feel much more like a member of the community. there was a slight crisis with my hut; my counterpart told me it would take a week to get done but after four it still wasn't. i was getting frustrated mostly because the lack of work on my hut made me feel that i wasn't really wanted in the village and so after talking with peace corps it was decided that i would go to the regional house until my hut was done. it took two more weeks. finally i was able to go back home and was a little nervous to at first because i figured the village would be angry at the fact that i had left, but it wasn't the case at all. i was truely missed and the village felt awful that i had to be gone for so long. i was really glad to be back as well--as much as the regional house is awesome (movies galore, electricity, fans...american food and showers) i was really bored there couldn't talk with anyone and had nothing to really do for two weeks. so the hut crisis is finally resolved and over- allhamdililah!!

despite the village hiatus i've still been relatively busy. i greet the village every morning which can take anywhere from an hour to four depending on who is at home and how many cups of ataya i have to drink. then i go to the fields to greet everyone there. well not anymore because the growing season is done, but i used to do that. during the hot time of the day, 12-5 or so i usually sit and study pulaar or read or do some pc health stuff. after that i usually go to diambo soubalou (or diambo proper as emily and i call it) and chat at the health post and then go paint at the school. on sundays i bike into tareji which is a road town seven km from me. the weekly lumo or market is then. i meet up with emily and we get frozen banana flavored milk, hard boiled eggs and then buy food for our families. it's a fun morning and i enjoy the bike ride and i like picking out food my family normally doesn't get like coconuts or now since it's in season, watermelon. at the end of every month our health post has vaccination day where babies get vaccinated for polio, measles, yellow fever, tetanus, diptheria, hepatitis B and two others i forget. emily and i get to weigh the babies that come in. this past time we weighed 36. there has only been a few in the "yellow" category for malnutrition and the rest have been in the green which is a great sign. however, i've noticed that malnourishment really starts once the child has been weened and eats from the bowl with everyone else. so the babies are all healthy but the kids from 2 to 5 are malnourished. this past vaccination day we also did a mini causery of the different food groups and why it is important to eat from each group, especially for children and pregnant women. we then made a porridge concoction of millet flour, peanut butter and bananas for the women to take home and give to their kids when they are hungry inbetween meals. it went okay, but i think we will be more prepared the next time.

right now i've stopped swimmin in the river because the rains have started and the river is cloudy. no one swims now and all the bathing/washing is done as quickly as possible because you can't see what's in the river. i'm told right now snakes (like basilisk size) and crocs are in it right now too which i don't know it true or not but i take for absolute truth. so i'm too scared to even go near it. the other day when i was walking to the fields a huge lizard, like four feet long, ran across in front of me. i immediately thought croc and ran home. the village still makes fun of me for it. it's been hard not being able to swim--it was the best way to cool off after lunch and sooo much fun playing with the kids. hopefully in a month or two the river will clear up again and we can resume our games.

this past month has also been the emotional rollercoaster peace corps promises it will be. i've gone from absolute rage to pure happy joy in about five minutes as well as everything in between. it's so easy to get frustrated here--not being able to speak clearly or make sense half the time nor understand what most people are saying, dealing with apathy on the part of a lot of people, trying in vain to motivate people, been asked for money about twenty times a day, having people say "give me give me give me" about anything i may or not have, seeing the kids get hit over little trivial stuff... it's really easy to get more and more angry until you literally scream. however, there are also moments that are absolutley the greatest; telling a joke to my family, outgreeting someone, playing games with the kids, having someone tell you how much they missed you, actually having a decent conversation, walking along the river, talking to a mother about breastfeeding and having her understand. these things and so many others can completely change my pissy mood into a good one. it's weird dealing with the emotions...i've never been one to be overly emotional, but here they just seem to come out at any given time. don't think that i'm not happy though either...i knew that it would be challenging when i came over here and for every bad day or moment i have the good ones make up for it tenfold. i just want to be able to explain that it isn't just daisies and sunshine overhere. although there is plenty of the latter. it's life just like anywhere else; there's ups and downs and a big paret of the past month has been learning to deal with them.

on the more pleasent topics...i really really really want a goat here. i'm planning on buying one after we come back from thiès. we have to go back in august for more training...and as soon as i get back a goat will be purchased. i want to be able to show my family:village the many uses of goats. livestock here is much different from home; it's a form of capital where one just has cows or goats and will occasionally kill one for the meat. however there is no population control or use of them for milk or anything. my big plan is to get a girl goat and after she has a baby or two start milking her and give the milk to my family teach them about how milk is like nectar from the gods. i may even attempt goat cheese....mmmm.... so yea, a goat is in my future.

i am also planning on painting my hut doors and windows soon. i'm thinking blue and green to match my awesome curtains. maybe even a daisy on the door for old times sake. it would be legendary.

there's a big pc party down south in kedegou for the fourth of july (happy i-day everyone!) that a bunchof us are going to. it really couldn't be any farther from my site. i'm estimating it taking two days to get there. but from what i hear kedegou is absolutely beautiful--a totally different landscape from the futa which trees and folliage everywhere. volunteers down there get machetes to hack their way through the jungle. there are also monkeys down there. and snakes. and bugs, BIG bugs. like dinner plate size bugs. but there are also waterfalls and i am really looking forward to the trip. should be a good time.

okay, well i think this post is long enough. many many thanks to lyne for putting the rest of my pictures online. you can check them out with the link on the side labled my pictures. also there is a video on youtube of my village that my family was able to put up. it's under jaime bodden in senegal should youtube be your thing. enjoy!

love to you all, miss you oodles!
peace,
jaime