some good-home cookin'

food in senegal. many of you have asked what kind of food i eat here and if it's any good. that's what i'm going to talk about today; food habits in senegal and those as a pcv.

the senegalese diet is based on three major starches; rice (by far the most common), millet and corn. these are used in every meal of every day some way or another. a typical breakfast is bread and cafe touba (nescafe and eight+ cubes of sugar). it's pretty sugary but sugar and sweet tasting things are very very popular here. for lunch it's marro e liddi (rice and fish). this is cooked in a number of different sauces usually tomato based with onion or some form of bouillion. veggies such as eggplant, potato, cabbage, or okra as well as bissap leaves are cooked and put in the bowl as well. occasionally there will also be beans. for supper we typically have lacirii (couscous made from millet or rice) with sauce, beans, or fish. my favorite dish in senegal is lacirii and haako which is couscous and a leaf/fish/spinach sauce. the closest i can describe it would be couscous with fish, spinach and pinenuts made into a sauce. it's really really really good and i love it when we eat it which isn't very often because it is a pricier dish to make. some nights we have goci which is rice with sugar and water and occasionally milk. my family usually makes it with milk which makes it taste better. they also make this with corn. goci is not my favorite and we eat it a lot.

those are typically my meals everyday. compared to most meals in the states it's really repetitive and yea, it gets really old eating the same thing everyday. however, my family has some amazing cooks and because we share three different bowls at lunch and dinner we get plenty of variety. my only complaint is that my family tries to stuff me full of food each meal. (it's considered a sign of good hospitality if a guest is well fed and gains weight during their stay). since there is a food crisis going on and many of my siblings are malnourished you can see why i have a slight problem with it.

traditionally when you eat men eat with men and women and children eat together. i eat with the women. we all gather around the bowl and sit down. it's common practice to eat with your hands (only your right hand-left hand is used for the bathroom). for the life of me i cannot get this down without making a big mess and getting a lot of food on the floor so i eat with a spoon as well as other guests or highly regarded people. you eat what is in front of you and are able to to take pieces of what you want from the middle communal section. never reach across and take from someone else's food and never take a whole item (like a carrot or fish). when we eat we eat one bowl first and then proceed through the rest. usually it's about 8 people eating around one bowl.

for ceremonies or special events we may have chicken or meat (usually sheep, rarely cow, never prime rib). sometimes this is eaten with fries, onion sauce and bread, other times rice and veggies. meat is very very expensive here so it is a big deal to be able to eat meat. my family had a sheep die suddenly and we cut up the meat and distributed it to every single house in my village. no one got a lot of meat but being able to share the little that we had is a sign of respect and love.

many pcvs cook for themselves for a number of reasons: they miss american food, they don't get enough vitamins and minerals, they like controlling when and what they eat. i eat breakfast in my hut alone but eat lunch and dinner with my family. i really enjoy it because i eat very well compared to many other volunteers and it's also a great time to spend with the family. (this is something i love to do in america as well-ginny's making scalloped potatoes and ham at gramps? be right over). i love the sense of family i get when eating with everyone. it's comforting and having lunch always helps relieve some stress that i gathered during the day.

i do enjoy cooking here in country though and i get to do plenty of it. i tried making a few "american" things for the family which they didn't really like which means i do all of my cooking at the regional house. i'm close enough that i'm able to go for a weekend and get a fix of american food whenever i need to, luckily. and believe me i do. pizza, spaghetti, stew, breadsticks, pasta, egg salad, i could go on and on. and i never thought i'd say this but mac n cheese is a god-send. (after i vowed never to eat it again thanks to a little brother and a childhood filled with mac n cheese. love ya joeber). it's been fun figuring out what i can make with the few ingredients we have here (most veggies are out of season and there isn't much variety) and there has been a few mistakes, but i think i'm a much much much better cook in senegal than the states. at least i haven't melted any plated here. yet.

well, all this talk of food has got me hungry and it's about five hours till break of fast. enough for now. love to you all!

cheers!
jaime

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