Hello everyone,
I cannot believe June is coming to an end already. Seriously, it could just as easily be May in my life. Time is so different here. Yesterday night I was walking to the boutique and I ran into one of my students and I was like see you tomorrow morning. he was like, no, the day after tomorrow, today is wednesday. Students are pretty on top of days seeing as they have a regular schedulem but he made an error. And I definitely believed him. I was like, must be. So I asked when I got back to my room where my two volunteer friends were waiting. Adrian was like, yea today is Wednesday and jer was like no, its thursday. haha it was in fact thursday, but anyways, we really were not sure.
And sometimes when I think about what month it is, I am even wrong. Time is going really quickly for me. Days are really hard to distinguish from eachother. I guess I know its Friday if the boutique is cloesd longer than usual because its the holiest day here and they close to pray.
But anyways, work is finally starting to make sense. I sort of had a great day yesterday, a realization I can actually do something here. And that I think is organizational strengthening and computer literacy in schools. I have started teaching the teachers because it is easier and it makes more sense because they will be around in the schools a lot longer than one group of students.
I truly believe now there is no job more important than to be a teacher. I have seen the effects of a culture that doesnt value education and has a low literacy rate. A good teacher is what it takes. So if I can help a school run more efficiently, that leaves more time for mentoring of students by teachers. Yesterday I taught two teachers at a primary school how to run this program that was created by peace corps volunteers in Senegal before for doing grades on excel and all other kinds of documents that produce automatically for them with some entering of information. They really dug it. And I finally felt like I helped someone with something useful. They were really into the grades being automatically calculated.
We were sitting in a boiling hot teachers room around an ancient computer but it was the shiz. I am going to teach this all over in the schools here. Its so crucial and a great building block on which to take it further, learning internet, etc. I am going to do that for sure.
So these days I am doing IT, english classes (i could have been totally happy taking the other offer of being an english teacher fromt he peace corps), and youth work such as gender aawareness, leadership, career planning, motivation and plain old hope.
I really want to bump up work on IT. Its so key in this global world. If you cant connect to the internet or run an institution on a computer, it really sets you back. All they need is someone to take the time to teach em.
So I went camel riding a few weeks ago. It was so awesome. This campement is highly recommended by other volunteers for good reason. It was expensive for us, 35 bucks a person (including food, camel ride, first drink), but totally worth it. it was funny because on the crazy truck ride to the campement (after other crazy rides) one scene I saw reminded me ofthe lion king. And then when we got to the campement the only thing i could think of was aladdin.
If you come visit me, well be going here. youll love it.
So other than that everything is going pretty well. I say whatever I think to people like my family and neighbors, and after lack of vocabulary confinement in such an unfamiliar environment, that is so liberating. I am finally being myself really. And It seems most people are accepting that. The culture here is not condusive to my personality, but they are open to it and are pretty cool about my opinions. It seems a lot of them would actually dig such a free,progressive state of mind but its just not natural or accepted.
I have some cool friends here too. Reality is I hang out with men here mostly. They are more like we dont give a f*ck like me, rather than being uptight and trying to please other people (like the women).
I like to think by constantly breaking stereotypes, it helps something but who knows if that is reality.
My lil sister and I planted a flower and it grew and became a flower but i killed it. I have never kept one plant alive. ever. I have the perfect opportunity to learn how to garden by the other volunteer here but till this point I still havent gotten into it. Though I do go to the garden a few times a week and just chill. Its the most tranquil place in Louga. There arent any parks or anything and anything resemblant of that is also used as a landfill. sexy.
Ive had this really icky heat rash under my one armpit which has forced me to abandon deoderant. I see why so many people smell here, cuz i started to as well. Its so hot here. But I mean I have adjusted. Funny thing is you would think Africans were maybe used to the heat and so its no big deal, but they notice it just as much as I. Its one of the greetings here in the drawn out greetings of Senegal. See a typical greeting below:
How are you?
Im here
Where is your family?
They are there
Are they in peace?
Yes, all of them
Thanks be to God
Thanks be to God
How is the heat?
Its hot, painful
You are doing well?
yes, and you?
yes. thank you.
You are in peace?
yes, peace only, thanks be to god
how is your health?
health only
Are you having fun?
yes, fun senegalese only, thanks be to god
your ok?
im ok
And the affairs?
They go.
thanks be to god
thanks be to god
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Seriously.
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sometimes they ask about a whole bunch of specific people and its always they are there, yes in peace.
Anyways, hope all is well in america. go obama!
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