My Life in the Heart of the Djolof: Welcome to Mboula!

I moved into my new home on May 18^th and was welcomed by the whole village. As soon as I stepped out of the Peace Corps vehicle, everyone started chanting, dancing and they even had the drums going. It was a bit overwhelming at first but it made me feel so welcomed (I almost started crying). We then sat down and the key community members, my dad who is the chief of the village, as well as my four counterparts who are the local doctor, Doctor Diallo, the school director, Abdou Mbengue, the president of the women’s group, Dabo Niang, and the president of community activities, Saer Niang (these are the people who will be helping me with my work for the next 2 years), all went around and gave a little speech welcoming me into the village. Then next thing I know Peace Corps unloaded all my things and then were out the door like that…and there I was all alone in this new strange place with new strange people and only having the basic language of a 5 year old! It kind of reminded me of when my parents first dropped me off for college..that weird feeling that you’re on your own now, although I think the college part was a lot easier than this.





My Dad..and his little tailor shop

My new family is amazing! They have been so welcoming and helpful as well as patient with me as I struggle to learn the Language. As I said before my dad here is the chief of the village (he's a pretty big deal). You may think it might be a little intimidating having your dad as the chief of the village but on the contrary..my dad is this very old cute little man with glasses and a walking stick (he has really bad arthritis so he has a lot of trouble getting around) and on top of that he is a tailor, but make no mistake everything has to go through him first in the village! My mom on the other hand is this big old lady who is a complete riot! She is loud and hilarious but a softy at heart!  As great as my parents are unfortunately they are the ones I have the most trouble with when it comes to understanding them...they mumble an awful lot especially my Dad.



My Mom




My parents have 8 children (I think..family is really hard to define here) who are all grown up married with children for the most part except for my two brothers Bamba and Mamadou (although everyone jokes that they should be already..both are almost 30). For the most part my older siblings live elsewhere in Senegal except for Pape and his wife Fatou and their four children, and Mour with his wife Xady and their daughter baby Awa (except Mour only lives with us in Mboula for the rainy season along with Bamba and Mamoudou..they are teachers in other villages).Pape is my only older sibling that lives with us for the whole year..he is a tailor like my father and helps him out with work. Xady (Mour's wife) however also lives with us the whole year even while Mour is away teaching. Xady and Fatou are my angels..they have taken such amazing care of me!! From the moment I arrived they have been nothing but kind and generous as well as the most patient with my language. Xady helped take me around the whole village and introduced me to everyone and Fatou always makes me coffee in the morning ( and you know how much I like my coffee). They are just two people with the biggest hearts!

Fatou and her new born baby Ida



Baby Ida!



Baby Awa!



For the most par,t the rest of my older siblings live in Dakar, Thies or Dahra but some of their children do live with us here in Mboula. There about 13 children running around my compound and they are awesome. I love playing with the children they are the easiest to talk to with my horrible Wolof. Fatou’s oldest Ami (she’s about 14) is just as sweet as her mom and has been helping me out a lot with my Wolof. Baby Awa..who is Xady's daughter is just the cutest girl ever and boy is she a little diva as well! Also Fatou just gave birth about 2 months ago to baby Ida..so there is this tiny new cute baby who I can't stop holding and ooggling over.

Every morning I wake up to the sound of our lovely Mosque going off at 5:30 am for morning prayer but I don’t actually get up…I moan and groan and then roll over and fall back asleep for another hour. Recently I have started going for a run every morning out in the bush. Sometimes I forget I’m in Africa and will run pass a herd of camels and then realize “Oh yeah I’m running out in the middle of the bush in Africa!” It sometimes feels so surreal. Running here has been a great stress reliever and it also puts your mind in the right mood to work. Also me and another volunteer are building up our endurance and distance and training for a half-marathon race in Dakar next January. It’s nice to have a little personal goal for yourself.

After my morning run I enjoy a lovely little bucket shower which is one of my favorite things to do in village (it is soo hot here that I sometimes take 3 bucket showers a day..that’s how much I appreciate them). I am one of the lucky volunteers who have electricity and running water in village so I don't have to go to a well every morning and pull my own water..although my family has warned me that sometimes if the water tower does break we will then have to go pull our water for the day  but until then I’m going to count my blessings.

Every morning I get served tapalapa which is village bread and absolutely delicious but not at all nutritious for you along with some butter and coffee. As much as I do love the tapalapa it does get a little repetitive and old especially since I eat it every morning..Oh how I do miss my choices. I remember back in the States not being able to choose what to eat for breakfast because there were too many choices…those were the days! 





Saer my Counterpart to the right making tapalapa

These first few months at village have been pretty slow..it has been a lot of "so what am I going to do today." It’s been a challenge trying to adapt to a slower pace of life and not having something to do every minute of the day. Peace Corps really wanted us to take this time and really try to integrate into our new families and villages. I spent these past few months really working on improving my language because it was nowhere close to being good enough to be able to communicate with people about starting great big projects. Instead I took my time each day visiting different people, getting to know my community and really observe just exactly what their needs are. I also spent a lot of time shadowing Dr. Diallo at the local health post which has been my most enjoyable time here in village. Working with him has really sparked an interest in working in public health for the future.

So far I have already helped out with local baby weightings and national vaccination days..in which the health post becomes chaos..so many women show up with their babies and young children which is a little overwhelming but so great and rewarding to see. I have also watched Dr. Diallo stitch up a man's toe using a needle and thread because the health post ran out of sutras (that patient was definitely not having a good day that day). And I also was able to observe an unbelievable event, something that most volunteers never get to see in their service and I saw it the 3^rd week in village. I saw Life being born!!!!! One day I had nothing to do and decided I needed to get out of my compound, so I went to the health post to visit Dr.Diallo and what do you know…a woman was in labor. Dr. Diallo asked if I wanted to go watch the local midwife Fatou deliver the baby and I of course jumped at the chance..I mean how many times do you get to see a baby being born in Africa. I had come at the perfect time, the baby’s head was already crowning. It was soo squishy and alien like; don’t worry I won’t go into all the details for those readers who may have a little bit of a weak stomach. It was gross yet so intriguing to watch, I couldn’t tear my eyes away! And when the baby finally came out..it was like a miracle, truly the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen and I now have sucha greater appreciation and understanding of the work my mom and Auntie Lorna do..I now know why they love their jobs as much as they do..it’s amazing (I don’t really know how else to describe it).

Some of the other things I have done these past few months:

• I started my own personal garden outside my room and I am proud to say that I actually have stuff growing like carrots, hot pepper, okra and turnips..yaay I did inherit my mom’s green thumb after all!

• I got to watch a local Senegalese wrestling match in my village. Wrestling is huge over here in Senegal…it’s more popular than soccer. 



I learned how to ride a horse bare back and work in the fields...

• I also got to take a lovely little vacation for the 4^th of July where I went down to Kedagou (which is in the southern region of Senegal) along with other volunteers and we partied the 4^th Peace Corps Style. We had a big cookout with cold beers, lot’s of music and even a firework display at the end of the night. Then the next day we took a beautiful hike up to the waterfalls which were absolutely breathtaking.

4th of July down in Kedagou

So the Rains have finally come to Mboula and my village is so green and beautiful now. Right now the men are out every morning attending to their fields and soon enough once the rains have slowed and things start to grow the women will go out and pick the crops. As beautiful as my village is now and I am so happy that the rains have come and cooled things off but however with the rains have come the many creatures now!!! My room has become home to many different creepy crawly things! I have a nest of frogs, giant beetles who fly, lots of chirping crickets, a wasps nest and my most favorite thing that I found a couple of days ago, a lovely scorpion L You can imagine how thrilled I was to find that guy. Its times like these that I really do appreciate my mosquito net..it has become my savior because I honestly don’t think I could sleep at night without it knowing that there are all these creepy crawly creatures living in my room. And not to forget..the mosquitoes. Just think of how bad the mosquitoes are in Florida and multiply that amount by millions..they are so bad here!!! No matter how hard I try I am covered in mosquito bites. But I do have to say..I’m coping with my bug problem like a champ..Dad and Andrew you would be proud!



My frogs



My little scorpion friend! (the kids enjoyed killing it for me)

My afternoons are spent lounging outside underneath the shade tree on mats with my family. This is their rest time where they spend talking and drinking Senegalese tea. Senegalese people are very big on tea time..they will never miss tea time. Senegalese tea is very different from tea we are used to…they pour about a ridiculous amount of sugar in it and add a little mint to it. It’s an acquired taste that will most definitely leave you with a cavity. Most Senegalese have about 3-4 shot size glasses of tea. Later in the afternoon when things start to cool off, I go to the local school with the children and play a little soccer. These kids are amazing, the field we play on is loose sand (although it’s a little harder now that it has been raining) with tree branches as goal posts, they move just like they are playing grass..it’s just so natural for them. None of them have had any real training, they just one day picked up a ball and started playing. Most of these children are better than children I have seen back in the states who have the fancy uniforms, flashy cleats and the top of the line coaching. They are also just way more appreciative of the sport..they just enjoy it so much! It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

          IT'S TEA TIME

The nights here are usually spent in front of the T.V as long as the electricity is working. Yes unfortunately T.V has taken over Senegal as well! It normally gets dark here around 7:30, I usually try have another shower  and water my garden before then. Xady and Fatou start preparing dinner around 7, sometimes I go and try to help out even though they don’t really let me do much. When I’m not helping out with dinner, I’m either reading a book or studying my Wolof, sometimes I’ll have some of the older kids help me with my pronunciation and in return I teach them a little English. Lately I’ve been reading this star gazing book which my Dad sent me (Thank you Dad), the stars here are just so clear and there’s so many, they are just absolutely beautiful. We normally eat dinner around 9:30 which has definitely taken some getting used to ( I always liked to eat dinners early in the U.S). Then by 10:30 I’m ready to hit the sack. Days here are pretty slow moving..it’s a slow way of life over here, nobody is ever in a rush which can be a little refreshing at times. You kind of sit back and enjoy life a little more.



Although I haven’t really started any major projects these past few months, I have experienced a lot and have really enjoyed adapting to village life, it’s been challenging but a fun adventure as well! i can't wait to share more of it with you all..untill next time Ba Beenen Yoon (See u Later)

My Village is finally green

Me and Baby Ida

The beautiful waterful we hiked to down in Kedagou

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Ceebu jen (rice and fish) the national dish of Senegal 

Some of my family eating lunch around the bowl