really band aid?

i know that i have neglected my blogger duties and haven't posted in a while. sorry...

i'm currently in dakar preparing for christmas with a few friends. we're going to cook dinner at a friend's apartment (ham, duck-with beak and feet attached in honor of a christmas story, among other amazing things. like cheesecake with blueberries (this is the beauty of dakar). while we were starting the day off, joey turned on the christmas tunes and do they know it's christmas by band aid came on. we sat there and listened to the lyrics (which i'll post below) and couldn't help laugh uncontrollably at the irony of the song and our situation as well as how bad the song actually is.

here it is: (with my comments)

t's Christmastime
There's no need to be afraid (cuz it's not halloween? is santa really michael myers?)
At Christmastime, we let in light and we banish shade (okay, in this country, banishing shade is a bad idea. and when is shade
the opposite of light?)
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime (hands across america anyone?)

But say a prayer (oh dear here we go...)

Pray for the other ones (the others? like ben and jacob? better not tell locke)
At Christmastime it's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window (go take a look)
And it's a world of dread and fear (sike! run back and hide!)
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears (wait....isn't christmas supposed to be full of joy? not bitter tears)
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging (christmas bells are good)
chimes of doom (dun dun dun!)
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you (lucky, lucky you)

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime (no snow? wait, i thought africa was supposed to be a winter wonderland)
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life (isn't that the greatest gift of all?)
(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows (well...)
No rain nor rivers flow (then what have i been swimming in?)
Do they know it's Christmastime at all? (if not, then there is a weird facination with a guy in a beard and red suit in dakar)

(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun (now that's just mean.)
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Feed the world
Feed the world

Feed the world

Let them know it's Christmastime again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

so there it is...full of christmas cheer right? i know that the song was intended to raise money for food aid, which it did. but really? not exactly the most tactful song. and as pcv's currently living in africa we can't help but highlight this song. nothing like a little cultural insensitivity to put you in the holly jolly mood.

but i'm loving christmas in dakar. the streets are decked out. and there's a bustling going on that only goes on during the holidays. plus, i've gotten to decorate two (two!) christmas trees, though small. but i love trees. and just being in a little america is helping the homesickness. though what i wouldn't give to be shoveling snow, coming inside and drinking a peppermint paddy, snuggling by the fire, and watching a christmas story in lounge pants.

so i might not be home for christmas, but it's in my heart and i'll be thinking of all the wonderful people in my life and counting the many many blessings that make my life so darned wonderful.

merry merry merry christmas!
love, peace, and goodwill to you and you and you!
jaime

girls leadership conference

this past weekend was me and sarah's girls leadership conference. and it went awesome! we held the conference for sixteen girls and their parents. the first day we had awa, one of our staging coordinators, talk with the parents while we did activitites with the girls. she discussed with them the importance of keeping girls in school and the obstacles that they face. then we watched a movie with girls, they got to spend the night, slumber party style. (it was really really sweet to see the girls push all their mats together and giggle late into the night)the next day we had six women from the area who have important jobs within their community (nurses, school directors, secretary, teacher, etc) and talk about their experiences, challenges, and why they chose to stay in school. the talk was really great for the girls and they really really enjoyed talking with the women. i think that both the girls and the parents got a lot out of the conference. as did i. it was a lot of work to organize but i'm so glad that me and sarah were able to do it. having extra volunteers their to help was also really nice and beneficial. hopefully we'll be able to do another conference like this one.

cheers,
jaime

who needs tv?

when deprived of the usual forms of enjoyment and a sofa and a fireplace and a spot to snuggle my feet, i get my kicks where and when i can. so in place of television i have made a few of my own shows...

er: watching my uncle demba dig an inch long thorn out of my brother hamadel's foot while my two cousins hold him down. yea the tears were real.

man vs. wild: each week i take on a new area of the fuuta; the podor garage, the taredji market, the sept place from dakar to ndioum...i share my tips on surviving through each of these situations. sometimes questionable food is involved (meat in a bag anyone?) take that bear grylls!

cheers: yea, wherever you go...EVERYONE is going to know your name. and say it over and over and over again.

house: with a handy little health guide you too can attempt to diagnose your mystery rash, explosive diarrhea, or a sneeze that has gone on for months. pop your multivitamins like they were pain killers.

tour de france: i race charettes and trucks every sunday. have yet to win the yellow jersey.

lost: on a good day i feel like i survived a plane crash and am stranded on an island. on a really good day i'm one of the oceanic six and i DON'T go back.

friends: each night i get to watch my eight closest friends hang out but instead of a coffeeshop it's my bathroom floor. and instead of jennifer aniston it's toads and a lizard. please don't judge me. my ipod died and i need to save my sanity.

and let's not forget the hundreds of reality shows that my life seems to mirror everyday; survivor, amazing race, the real world, candid camera...

stay tuned for the emmy's. i guarantee you no nph, but you won't see anything like it!

cheers!
jaime

would you rather?

would you rather fly or have lightning speed? would you rather lose an arm or a leg? would you rather marry FDR or teddy roosevelt? would you rather get a job after college or spend two years living in a mud hut eating rice?

so the other night, this question came up to my family. it was night time and as usual i was sitting on a mat chilling with the bros when my sister binta starts screaming and runs out of the house. turns out there was a toad that hopped in after her and scared, she ran away. so now there is a toad in the house but no one will go near it. as it happens, everyone from my siblings to my host mother and aunts and uncles are afraid of toads and frogs. my tocaram asks me if i'm afraid-i say no, it's a toad. so i go into the house, pick up the toad and walk outside. i chase my brothers around for a bit until they start to wimper and then take the frog over to the livestock area and put it down. i come back over to the mat, wipe my hands clean and pronouce "there, it's over". the rest of the night all my host moms and aunt could tell me was how brave i was.

puzzled as to why exactly my family, and in fact a lot of pulaar villages that i know are afraid of toads i asked my family. everybody it seemed had their own reason, "their eyes are weird, don't look at them in the eye", "they only come out at night and make lots of noise", "they hop everywhere, they don't walk", "they pee on you". so all of that may be true, i said but they eat bugs like ants, termites and the stupid little ones that have no name but dive bomb into your eye at night because of your head lamp.

so, i asked would you rather? would you rather have a scorpion in your room or a toad. a resounding "scorpion" was the answer. this flabergasted me. "so let me get this straight, you'd rather have a scorpion-something that could give you excrutiating pain, that hides under things so you can't see them- than a garden toad?" "yea, banel you can kill a scorpion." apparently toads are immortal, something i have yet to tell the many toad corpses in and around my village. "okay, would you rather get stung by a scorpion or peed on by a toad?" "stung." "STUNG?!" "yea, toad pee is very bad." "you're crazy!" "no, banel. toads are very bad."

they may be bad, but my hut's been free of bugs for a month. plus, i'd get peed on everyday before i took a sting to the foot. that's my rather.

cheers and happy toad hunting!
jaime

in the sa of sahel

quick geography lesson. northern senegal is part of the sahel of africa, a band of semi-desert that goes from the antlantic to indian ocean. the sahel is very end of the sahara desert to the north before you get to some pretty awesome jungles and plains. for the most part the sahel is dry and arid and hot, aka the "hell" part of sahel. when i came to senegal everyone kept talking about this rainy season where the sahel grows grass and becomes a savanna, aka the "sa" in sahel. last year during our rainy season i went nuts because it turned green. but by green i mean that it turned puberty green. just a little peach fuzz to show off to your friends. after spending what seemed like an eternity in nothing but sand just this little green was enough to make my day.

this year the rains came late. at first i figured that this meant that it wasn't going to rain as much and that we were going to have a drought. well, the opposite happened. they were late, but man they raged. as i've been told by many reliable pulaars this is the worst rainy season in ten years. it never just rained. it rained, sandstormed, and winded (is that a word? wind blew i what i meant) all at the same time almost every three days for about two months. lesson: be careful what you wish for. i wanted the rain to come and yea, it came.

the river where i used to play and swim and frolic is now a deadly torrent of brown sludge. the bank which used to be thirty feet to the water is now almost overflowing. though watching my bros do backflips into the water is pretty cool. the rice crops were heavily damaged and so the harvest this year is in peril and we're talking the only income many families make (reminicent of wisco's crop loss these past two years). my hut, my poor precious paradise has been beaten badly but is however, still standing (thank god!). although my roof is now sporting grass which is kinda cool. flooding is everywhere and because of standing water the mosquitoes are extra bad this year.

and the bugs. or should i say, the plague of bugs. ever wonder what it's like to have thirty grasshoppers, all about four inches long, dive at you? or look at the floor and suddenly realize it's moving with thousands of beetles? or to put up your bed at night only to be overcome with hundreds of moths, beetles and other critters who find your headlamp irristable? yea, it's sooo much fun. i just love bugs. and i really did until they came in ginormous number.

but it's not all bad.

because of the awesome generosity of family and friends my net distribution is being put to excellent use. my village is putting their nets up early and using them religiously (that's a big alhamdoulillah!) my friends walter, shermann and lilypad are back and they brought two new lizard friends, smithers and gernonimo. hehehe, no more bugs in my room! my tree nursery and trees that i've given out to the village in the past year are growing like crazy. and there is grass...wonderful grass. like full on grizzly adams beard grass. it's so great; the cows and goats are healthy and are able to eat and eat and eat, and the sahel is beautiful. it really is the "sa" in sahel. so right now, i'm enjoying the greenery while it lasts because i know the cold season is coming!!

on a different note. i would love to announce the news that i'm now a grandma. my goat, clementine, has delivered a healthy baby boy, citron. so i'm officially a herder with my own herd of goats. both dam and kid are healthy and will be returning from the island as soon as the river goes back down and is safe to cross.

have a beautiful and wonderful fall, i'll be enjoying the sahel's own metamorphosis.

cheers!
jaime

access camp and mosquito nets

these past two weeks have been two of the busiest of my service and two of the most rewarding. so to sum up...

access is a program through the us embassy that teaches english to middle school and high school kids. there are a few programs in dakar, one in thies, and one in zuinginchor. during the summer the embassy puts on a week long camp for each class the peace corps volunteers run along with the access teachers. me and three other volunteers helped out at the thies camp.

the whole week long we did a number of activities to help kids learn english in a fun way. we taught a number of different songs (head shoulders knees and toes, the hokey pokey, if you're happy and you know it), and new english lessons (who am i, songs lyrics, american slang). the kids had only been learning english for a year or so so their level of english was low so at first they were a little shy but after a day or two they really got into the camp and had a lot of fun. it was a great week; it was so much fun teaching kids new games, see them having fun, watch the girls have a confidence those in my village don't have, and have fun myself doing games and the like. i'm really glad i was able to do the camp and i think the program itself is great. it teaches kids english (and very well too, the kids who've been in the program are able to speak much much better than those who simply take english in school). and it is also a way to further the teacher's education as well (many of the teachers get to attend english programs in the states which also helps them get better jobs later in their life).

after the camp, i raced back up north for my village's mosquito net distribution. me and lauren hosted nine volunteers from england who helped raise the other half of the nets. (if you remember, i was raising funds for nets that were two dollars. the nets were actually five (with shipping costs) and a another organization, price waterhouse coopers, raised the shipping costs.) the volunteers came to senegal to help out with the distribution and to see where their nets are actually going. they stayed for four days and three of them were able to stay in diambo with me. they helped out at my distribution and then three others that lauren organized.

the distributions went awesome. we gave out almost one thousand nets to four villages completely covering those villages (aka every one will be able to sleep under a net) the volunteers really enjoyed visiting the different villages and got to experience many aspects of pulaar culture. i really enjoyed having them visit. the kids of course loved them, they got to see a scorpion in my room, dance, eat the local delicacy (rice rice rice) and live like a volunteer. i hope they had a great time and enjoyed being in senegal and my village as much as i enjoyed hosting them.

it's been a busy couple of weeks but like i said earlier, it's been extremely fulfilling. i feel like i've been able to do a few very concrete things and see the effects right away. so much of what i do is hard to actually see the results of so it's difficult to think i'm doing anything at all. it makes me excited to think of what else i can do for the next eight months!

cheers
jaime

a day away in senegal

pcvs like to joke when we go to dakar that we're actually leaving senegal and going to a whole new coutnry. in many ways this is true; dakar is the biggest city in west africa and has in some shape or form everything you miss about home. (except snow, cheddar cheese, spotted cow, family and friends...) but they do have a ton of restaurants (indian, chinese, brazilian, lebanese, vietnamese, etc etc etc) plus n'ice cream, a little slice of heaven offering over 30 flavors of ice cream everyday. so when pcvs come to dakar it takes us a little while to get used to things. (it would kind be like going from chugwater, wyoming to new york for the first time. a lot to take in for both body and mind.) and it's always weird because we tend to blend in better here. there is a huge expat community both american and other western countries, plus the tourists (though trust me, we AREN't tourists in dakar). half the time i don't think the majority of us know what to do with ourselves.

such as been the case for the last week or so i've been here. i had my mid-service doctor's exam (making sure everything is okay, and it is) this past week and so have been hanging out while a few friends cos (go home). we've done the usual; n'ice cream (obama cookies, chocolate pear, tiramisu, pistacio, yummmm....), happy hour, and food glorious food. but that's all good if you're here for a few days (for various reasons, one being that your gi system just got used to eating rice everyday, another, your bank account dwindles) if you're here any longer things start to get a little boring.

so a few friends and i decided to play 'tourist'. (like i said, we're not tourists. once people know we speak the local languages and refuse to speak in french we get treated as something better than a tourist (not getting ripped off big time) but not quite a local (paying the real price)). we went to the grocery store (yes, a grocery store with aisles and a frozen food section.) and bought goat cheese, brie cheese, bread, olives, and red wine (very pricey, but today we are tourists!) then we went to ngor island (where the rich have their second house) and ate our delicious food on the beach. (did i mention that it was alsmost two pounds of cheese?) there, looking out at the ocean and the beach we were struck with how different dakar really is from the village.

teenagers on summer vacation were on the beach playing without adult supervision and not a care in the world. i don't remember the last time my brothers, sisters and cousins got more than an hour or two off from working, chores, or helping in the fields. being able to go to the beach isn't free. it costs 500cfa per person (little over a buck) to get there, then you have to pay for an umbrella and spot. with 500cfa in the village the women buy everything they need for lunch and dinner that day (vegetables, oil, spices etc.) and that is a huge expense. people were friendly and left us alone. we didn't get hassled on the beach like we would if we went to a neighboring village.

as we sat there, we couldn't help admiring the lives the people around us had. after a while though, i began to think about my family back in diambo. how lucky i am to be able to come to dakar when i want to. i've seen so much more of senegal than anyone in my village and have lived in way more comfort. how different life is back in the village where a trip to the weekly market is the big occasion. the disparity between dakar and the rest of senegal is so big. the more dakar seems to build (a new mall in 2010 for example) the more it seems that the villages get left behind. it's hard to take it in (is it just the way development goes? where is the money coming from? who is getting the money? why does over half the population still not have electricity and running water? why does the president need yet another house?)you get torn.

on the one hand i love dakar and everything it gives pcvs from food to company to a break from the stresses of the village and being in another country. but after looking out into the ocean i began to picture my river; the kids playing in it, the women doing their laundry, boats crossing and going to the fields, my dad bringing his horse down to water, maybe nessie in the background, and have realized that diambo and "the village" is senegal for me and that dakar really is a different country. one that i'm glad to visit from time to time but always happier to leave and head back up north.

cheers!
jaime

the apocalypse, babies, vampires, and nessie.

what do these things have in common? nothing really, but they've all never really happened to me in the village until two weeks ago. then diambo just starting getting jiggy with it.

the rainy season has supposed to have come by now but is actually late. so one day, about seven o'clock or so i am taking my third bucket bath of the day before dousing myself in baby powder. seriously, heat rash could be the worse thing in the world. especially traveling heat rash. so i'm taking my bucket bath and notice some storm clouds moving. hurrying along i look up again and come face to face with a orange cloud. i can see the cloud moving. think of planet earth time lapse, but in real life. it moved that fast. and that is no lie. suddenly i hear everyone start yelling and shutters closing up. aka, everyone was hiding but me. so what do i do? dive (literally) into my room and start to wimper. the sky turned a rust color and the only sound was goats screaming. now, i've experienced sandstorms before but that one was really weird, terrifying, and awful. took me an hour to sweep out my room.

fourth of july came and went, and i spent the day celebrating in kedougou where the pcvs there hosted a fantastic party. the next day we went to a waterfall not far from one of my friend's sites (a little jealous, but he doesn't have nessie. keep reading...) when i got back up to site i greeted everyone and then sat down under the shade structure to hang out before lunch. after a while my tocara said "you haven't greeted binta yet, she gave birth while you were gone." this came as a shock to me. indeed binta, my younger sister wasn't around. i had noticed that she was pregnant when i came back home from the states, but i figured she had a few more months to go. not that she wasn't ready to give birth (who would want to be pregnant in 130 degree weather?) so i jumped up and ran to her room and sure enough, binta was laying there with a little bundle of joy, her son sinthian. i was so happy for her, and so happy that everything went well. she had the baby at the local health post, and he weighed in at almost six pounds. (which may sounds small but he is actually one of the healthiest babies i've seen. she took great care of herself during the pregnancy, partly because i kept feeding her extra goodies. to which my little husband is still bitter about). it's great having a baby around the compound. (the first in many, many years). my tocara just beams whenever she holds her grandson (the fourth grandchild, all boys) and it's the cutest things watching my little brothers fuss over the baby. he even likes me, which will probably change once he realizes that all babies six to fifteen months are supossed to be afraid of me. a week later, the village chief's wife who was also pregnant had her baby, another boy. they live right by my hut as well so now there are plenty of babies around. it'll be fun watching them grow up while i'm there. even the kids who were one or two have changed so much and have gotten bigger.

there are a few things me and my fellow northern pcvs are mildly obsessed with. for example; curry onion rings, dance parties, flour fights, bean burgers, and among other things... vampires. so marisa, a fellow volunteer from the north near ourosogui, was visiting my village one day and we got to discussing vampires. of course all my younger brothers were around watching us and so we asked them if they've ever heard of vampires. they said yes, there are people who live in the ground and drink blood. they're very very bad because drinking blood is wona lawol (not the way). my cousins also told me that if i see one they would kill it for ten mille (about twenty bucks). van helsing would be so proud.

finally, nessie. as you all know i'm a big fan of the river that is right by my village. during the hot season i would go swimming once or twice a day. however, now that the river has started to get cloudy and the current has picked up, no one spends any extra time there. everyone stays close to the shore and the littlest kids are washed at home. when i asked about this last year some friends told me it was because of the crocodiles and things that live in the water. they only come out when the river gets cloudy. well, there hasn't been a croc by my village for decades so i never took them seriously. then, everything changed.

i'm sitting in my hut with marisa (she had an eventful visit) and little sileye comes to my door crying. i let him in and he immediately crawls into my arms. he tells me that he's scared of the river and doesn't want to go alone (his mom is doing laundry there)so i carry him down to the river. as we get closer i notice that there are a lot of people on the banks and they're making a lot of noise. i get to a woman and ask her what's up. she points upriver and says a word i have no clue what it means. i look where she pointed and don't see anything. then, after staring at the water for a few minutes i see it.

these are the facts:

-the creature was large, blue-grey in color
-it glided UPRIVER like a whale and would occasionally surface for air
-what broke water was at lease five feet
-following the iceberg theory, there has to be much more under the water that i didn't see
-after interviewing several people i have learned that; it's very big, bites but does not eat people, lives in the water, is red and has boobs.
-it has been confirmed by the french speaking people in my village that it is not a hippo or crocodile.

conclusion: nessie got lost and wound up in senegal.

further action: will try to get her on camera but as we already know, she is very elusive. but if there is anything i've gained in this country it's patience (just try getting villagers to wash their hands... one year of service right there) and i got another nine months.

but i'm staying out of the river for now.

cheers!
jaime

a good village read...

during the hot season one has more free time than usual so you get a chance to do a lot of reading. i mean you can only nap for so long during the day...so to kill time i do a lot of reading in my spare time. so what's makes a good page turner while living in a village? a couple of pointers...

-do not read anything that involves vivid descriptions of food. the last thing you need is to read a paragraph on a summer picnic full of brats, burgers, corn on the cob, fruit, salad, cheesecake, etc etc etc when you know that you will have rice for lunch rice for dinner and rice again and again and again.
-avoid subjects such as isolation, lonliness, etc etc. epsecially when you're already having a bad day.
-anything magical is awesome and you will have multiple long discussions with other pcvs about the mythology of such magical topics and apply them to current life situations. my patronus, camel. i'm also a pub owning hobbit who entertains friends.
-period piece books are more entertaining when read in accent.

some of my favorite reads are; jane austen's (try the accent), harry potter (though explaining it in pulaar is kinda hard), angela's ashes...appeals to the irish catholic in me, the brother's k (to be read during baseball season), and a few others.

the first of many mosquito net distributions were this past week. this one was a national distribution sponsored by usaid for children under 5. it's goal was to provide complete coverage for senegal. and overall, it was very successful. i helped out at a few different villages distribute nets. the distributions that i'll be doing in a few months will be a great compliment to this distribution. it's pretty exciting to be able to make such a huge impact against malaria.

cheers!
jaime

what do you do when you having stopped sweating in two weeks? the hot season is back...and quite frankly it sucks. for a number of reasons. number one it's hot, like 120 degrees or more everyday. so everything that you normally do during the you still have to do but in the baking sun. number two, because it's so hot you only have about 4 or 5 hours of the day to actually do work (everyone rests between 12 and 5. and i mean rests. i tried getting up to go to work at 4 and my host mother sent me back to my room and wouldn't let me out until it got cooler. yea, i'm an eight year old.) it's hard to get any sort of work done because everyone is fitting in there work at that time. so if i want to do a causerie or a demonstration i have to compete with pounding rice, laundry, dishes, fieldwork, etc. number three, you have a constant battle of staying hydrated and cool. within three days of staying hydrated i upped my water intake from 3 liters to seven. and i'm swimming in the river or taking a bucket bath at least twice, usually three times a day.

there are a few tips i've gathered to help me cope and survive until the rainy season comes.
-dunking your clothes in water works as laundry and ac
-it's okay to have little siblings follow around you with a fan
-working yourself to the point of exhaustion helps you sleep at night
-perfect the ultimate 'hot season cleanse' so you can make a diet book deal when you get back.
-biking 10 k for ice is okay, you'll even become the village ice cream truck
-embrace the heat happies (uncontrollable giggles that occur between 2 and 8 pm)

despite the heat i have been pretty busy the last two months since being back. i've successfully completed building mud stoves in my village for each kitchen area. mud stoves are a more efficient way of cooking (faster, cleaner, safer) and uses less wood than the open camp fires that most people cook over. living in the sahel where there are less and less trees these are a great way to save firewood. i think the stoves were a good idea. as soon as i made them the women started cooking with them, despite the fact that they needed to dry out and sun bake for two weeks. however, i'm taking the fact that using them instead of just letting them sit there shows how much they wanted them. so, a success.

thanks to all who have donated money towards my mosquito nets. because of the overwhelming support of donors in the states peace corps and usaid are doing a massive net distribution throughout senegal. after this distribution children under five will be completely covered by nets with about 50,000 other nets going to peace corps villages. it's pretty exciting to think about how much this could possibly help fight malaria in senegal...it's by far one of the biggest distributions ever done...so thank you! with any luck we'll have the nets by august and distributed within the month. i'll be posting pictures and video of the distributions as soon as it happens. so be on the look out.

cheers!
jaime

Super Troopers

i'm back into the village life routine after a vacation to the dairyland and a trip around senegal with my parents. i can't tell you how proud i am of them. for two people who have never left the states to go to a third world country as their first abroad experience, they were amazing and handled every situation that arose like champs. we were able to spend two days in saint-louis before heading to my village for a few days. the village part of their visit was by far my favorite for a number of reasons. my folks got to meet the people i'm constantly talking about, see where i live, look at the work i'm doing that's making a difference. my village got to meet my family that's always calling me, learn some awesome campsongs, and meet my family.

when we arrived in diambo the whole village came out to greet my folks, the women danced and gave my mom her very own grand boubou which she was able to rock later. i felt a million of emotions the whole trip but in my village i felt how loved i really am. i was surrounded by people who truly cared about me and showed that by the way they welcomed my folks. i've said it before, but i'm saying it again and will keep on saying it; i am so lucky to have the village i do. like i told the villagers, i have one family in america and one in senegal and my parent's visit made that into one family.

after the village visit we spent the remaining days back in saint-louis where we relaxed on the beach, took in the sun shine, and hung out in the second coolest city in senegal (the first being diambo or course). we went on an excursion to the langue de barbarie where we saw hundreds of birds, got a boat ride, and a private lunch on an island which was fish caught moments before we ate them. it was the perfect trip for them- we got to see the senegal that i know and love as well as relax enough were we didn't feel rushed. i was sad to see my parents go but so proud of how they were able to handle the heat, hustlers, foreign languages, among a whole slew of other things. i'm sure they have plenty more stories to share with you, if you ask. (according to joeber that's all they talk about. sorry bro). dad's also put the pictures he took of the trip on my photo site. some shots of my village are incredible, especially the ones of things that are so unique and different that i've taken for granted. the bird park ones are also awesome. so check them out and enjoy!

on another note and soap box. during my vacation many of you asked what you could do to help me. well here it is: a group of about ten volunteers (me included) are doing a mosquito net distribution throughout senegal and are currently raising funds for nets (about 6500 total). malaria is one of the top killers in africa, and the number one killer of children under the age of five in senegal. i'm raising funds for my village as well as the other two diambos next to me. i hope to get enough funds to completely cover these villages aka have enough nets so that every man, woman, child, and donkey (not really donkeys) is able to sleep under a net. the costs of the nets is very inexpensive- each net is only $2 so any contribution goes a long way. the website is

www.AgainstMalaria.com/PCVs6500

from that site you can find my specific donation site or you can donate directly to the cause. either way you're still helping fight malaria in senegal.

my specific site is www.AgainstMalaria.com/jbodden

donating at this site will go for nets that my village will receive.

the rainy season aka mosqutio breeding time is quickly approaching (although it's hard to imagine it with the heat) so the quicker we raise funds the quicker we're able to distribute nets to the villages.
thanks so much!!! cheers!

peace,
jaime

the choices you make...

it's been a little over ten months since starting peace corps and i've learned many a life lesson in that time. but there is one that i've really taken to heart.

blog warning: it's gonna be a semi-sappy post. that's right, i'm about to get all hallmark on ya.

so life here is in a fragile balance. literally any little thing can make or break your day. i've had really really awesome days; language- no problem, work productivity- doing well, help making a difference- check, and then some random dude comes over to your family's compound and wants to marry you and your money. good day has just left you high and dry. on the opposite side i've also had super rotten days where nothing has gone right; stuck waiting for a car, no one understands you, no one came to your causerie, people keep asking for stuff...and then like a light beam a little kid who has been so afriad of you for the past ten months (so afraid they actually pee when they see you) runs up to you because they are so happy to see you. makes your heart melt.

so what i'm saying is that you have good days, bad days, great days, i want to go home days...and they can change at the drop of a hat. what's the lesson here? i'm getting to it.

the other day, a while ago...it was a long day. i had spent the morning in podor running a few errands. the market was especially crowded so i got hasseled by vendors more than usual, the post was full of people getting money wired so i had to wait for over an hour to send my letters, my cyber guy was out of town so i couldn't check my e-mail, then i had to wait for another hour and a half for a car to fill up so that i could leave to go home. it was a long day. i was tired, cranky, hungry and frustrated at life. finally after stopping maybe five thousand times (okay a slight exaggeration) i got dropped off at the herder village which i have to walk through to get to my village. i wanted to be home for lunch but it was now late afternoon. as i'm walking i can hear the herder kids yelling my name and then i can see then running toward me. they always come and greet me whenever i go home and usually i can deal with it. but today i was tired and having ten little kids hang on me was just not in the cards. they were getting closer and i was getting tenser. i could literally feel myself cringe with anticipation. and then....

clarity. it was my big ah-ha moment. i had a simple choice. i could either let myself get mad and get into a worse mood. or i could just let myself go and see what happened. i chose to let go. as the lids swarmed around me, one hugged my legs. i took her face in my hands and screamed, 'i missed you so much! i'm so happy to see you!' this was not the reaction i think she was prepared for. a look of terror crossed her face (the toubak finally cracked) then confusion then complete happiness. she started to laugh and then all the other kids started shouting, 'i missed you banel, i missed you more!' that got me going and for five minutes i faced off with the kids about who missed who the most. then we all walked hand in hand to my hut.

the weight of the world was gone. i was elated. for no reason at all besides the fact that i just went crazy on these kids. only ten minutes earlier i felt as if i was walking with lead in my shoes and a boulder on my back. i had simply acknowledged i was in a bad mood and chose to let it go and start fresh. everything changed. the rest of my night was aweseome. my tocara noticed i was tired so she gave me the first glass of the boisson i had brought from podor. my younger brothers and little husbands cuddled with me as everyone watched tv. we had haako for dinner. going to bad that night i thought to myself what a great day it had been. and despite the frustrations, it had been a good day.

so the lesson learned; life sometimes has bad days. but you can let the bad days just keep getting worse and worse and when a hoarde of village kids come running at you, you can either tense up and cringe or welcome them with open arms. you chose how you feel. dwell on the bad or let the good in. your choice.

warned you it was sappy. but i've seriously taken this to heart and have applied it everyday since and believe it or not, it's worked. i've chosen to be in a good mood and this past month has been the most rewarding in senegal. pulaar (though not even close to fluent) has gotten easier, i've gotten so much more work done, i've found new friends in the village (who aren't under the age of five) and the sun is shining. (it's also the beginning of the hot season where i will have no choice but to look on the bright side of life). it's been great and i feel great.

as for the herder kids...i'm in the process of teaching them the victory tunnel for me to run through when i come home. they love it and i love. it's not handwashing or malaria prevention but everyone is happy.

cheers and see y'all in three weeks!! (yea wisco vacation!!)

i cannot wait for the day i get to eat cheese and crackers and wash it down with a spotted cow. i haven't been counting the days or anything....

peace,
jaime