It's Always Sunny at The Beach

Amanda on the steps leading down to the beach and our house

She's such a tool.

Sitting on the roof/balcony outside my room.

Seashell artwork inside our house.

Frank and Tucker posing before our walk to get bean sandwiches!

Beach Time!

Hi everyone-if you want to send me a package please wait until I post my new address-Thanks!

Off to the beach today with all the trainees :)

Ataya for Three?

All I think about in this country is food. Maybe it's because I'm constantly stuffing my face with meaningless carbs (the O so tasty baguette with jam for breakfast or the spoonfulls upon spoonfulls of rice at lunch) that keep my stomach sated for about 7 minutes, or maybe it's because my body sweats out everything I can eat before anything is actually absorbed, but whatever the reason may be, the other day after lunch my friend Christie and I decided to take a little stroll through Thies for some cookies. We crossed the train tracks and walked down the dirt road to town, casually and gracefully fending off marriage proposals and cries of "TUBAB!", ready to fill our bellies with some delicious, unhealthy junk. On our way we saw a small boutique advertising Orange credit (the phone credit Peace Corps uses) and we decided to fill our phones with enough money to send late night texts such as: "I can't believe my family is blasting Justin Beiber right outside my window at 1am" or the frustrated text that "My neighbor tried for the 17th time to express the fact that he loves me, wants to marry me and have three kids and maybe some goats". We steped inside and we were greeted by a jolly middle aged woman who couldn't be happier to see us. Like old friends she invited us to sit and we started talking in Wolof about how we're in the Peace Corps, we'll be here for two years and that I'm American, Italian, Irish (and Senegalese) all in one. As soon as she found out that I'm Italian, a huge grin spread across her face and she insisted that I meet her brother who worked in Italy for 10 years. So in walks her brother and he starts speaking to me in Italian, talking all about Rome and his work, and while I can understand-my two months in Rome and one semester in college completely disapear and I can only remember my responses in Wolof. Buono. We must have impressed these people somehow because next thing we know, we're being escorted into their house for ataya and conversation. The family pulls out the propane tank, tea kettle and sugar and sGod knows what possesses me to say that I know how to make Ataya! Really Erin-one failed attempt at making ataya now makes you a tea coinousseur? Well there was no going back. They pull the chair out for me, place the gas tank in front of me and they ammusedly watch as the Tubab pulls out all the stops. I don't know how we did it, but Chrisi and I managed to make some pretty damn good ataya f0r the entire family.

I hope this gives you a better sense of Senegalese culture because this would almost never happen in America. Can you imagine walking through Boston and being offered a cup of tea by a random stranger who is completely and utterly intrigued by the state of your health, your family back home and how your work went that day? You probably can't because if that happened in America, I'm sure you would think that the person was crazy and you would walk swiftly in the other direction. But here it is completely normal and almost expected. I love that about Senegal and I loved that about Italy too...I think we can learn a lot from the Senegalese in that respect. As Christi and I left the family's house, after being invited back for Tabaski (a huge, very important festival here), I realized that I will most likely be the old lady with long gray hair and lots of dogs who makes cookies and tea for all the neighbors (or strangers) just so they'll come and sit and tell me all about their health, their day and their work. Haha I'm excited.

I promise I'll write something good soon!

Sorry about the spotty blog posting-training is ridiculously busy and internet is lacking-but as soon as I get installed at my permanent site in Novmber I will be posting regularly!

Also, if you want to send a package wait until I post my new address or else it won't get to me before I leave.

Quick Update-over the two months of our training, each trainee is expected to acheive a language proficiency level of intermediate mid or else they have to stay back for an extra week. Every few weeks we have testing (3 in total). We just had our second test a few days ago and I tested at intermediate high and I have two more weeks and one more test to see if I can crack into the advanced level :) I'm one of 3 trainees in my group to have acheived inter-high!

Brooke (another volunteer near my site) and I after planting lots of Moringa trees in Linguere.
The crazy thorns that are everywhere and get stuck in the bottom of our sandals...ouch!
Average kitchen. A hut to sheild from the sun with pots, pans and a coal/wood burner to cook on

Abby (a 1 year volunteer) getting water outside her farmer's hut.

The adorable (and slightly annoying kitten that we haven't named yet)...my vote is for Frankenstein.

My VV visit (regional office and my permanent site)

So I tried to take some pictures of my new site so you all back home can see with your own eyes what I am seeing every day...

This is Sparky-one of our dogs at the regional house. He is absolutely amazing and he insists on following us everywhere in the city (he's our aarkat-protector). He tags along to the field, the bar, offices and the market...he braves stones being thrown at him just to be with us!

This is along the side of the main road. The donkey and horse driven carts ride along this sandy stretch and the hut you see in the distance is a puular home.

Here's an example of the luxurious animal driven carts that are everywhere in Senegal. Believe me, it's harder than you think to stay on (especially when you're wearing a dress/skirt!)

Here's Bonnie (a volunteer who will be living near me) outside of a farmer's hut). I wanted to give you an idea of what an average house looks like.

This was my breakfast restaurant while I was staying in Linguere (although this is what they all look like all over the country). You have your bread, eggs, and then usually tupperware of beans, peas, onion sauce, spicy mayonnaise and if you're lucky...spicy tuna! I think I squealed when I first saw the tuna :)



And here is the incredibly delicious, and yes nutritious, breakfast sandwich: a whole half of a baguette with peas, beans, onion sauce, mayonnaise and eggs. And yes, we were lucky enough to have the heavenly tuna but my friend here is crazy and opted to nix the fish.

This is our beautiful regional house in Linguere which we will all be flocking to every two weeks or so for debrief, detox and destressing. The inside is complete with stove, fridge and freezer, shower and electricity/internet!

This is my new baby Helen Keller (no I didn't pick out the name). She was rescued by an older volunteer from evil children who like to torture cute little puppies. She's a year old and loves to follow everyone around town and cause trouble.

Coordinating Packages

Hi everyone-my mom wanted me to send an update with her email address so that anyone wanting to send a package my way can coordinate.

kfdonnellan@gmail.com

Thanks :)

Itchy. Itch. Itch.

Confirmed: the million and two bites on my stomach, back and hips are indeed bed bugs. Awesome. The good news is that I know the solution-a readily available toxic spray. Joy.

Here are a couple more pictures to give you an idea of what my current village looks like:

Mini Update

Quick Update: I found out that I will be spending my two years in the NorthWest in the region of Louga (I’ll write more about it soon)

Tomorrow morning I am heading out with three other volunteers to stay in a village semi-close to my site (so I’ll be without internet for a bit)

I achieved an intermediate low on my language proficiency test (by-passing three language levels J)

Also if anyone is planning on sending me a package at any point, here are a few things that I would greatly appreciate and be incredibly ecstatic to receive ;)

a. Plain Hanes T-shirts (white, black and any color in between)

b. A LARGE nalgene bottle

c. Almonds/dried fruit/anything with lots of protein and fiber

d. Gatorade/crystal light powder

e. Pens, notebooks and novels

f. Toilet paper J

g. Stretchy big cloth headbands

h. Newspapers, news magazines…

i. Sports bras/basketball shorts, Capri spandex…

j. And things I’ve noticed that are needed/wanted in my village: soccer balls, pinnies, cones, French to English and Arabic to English books, notebooks

Senegalese Family

My little one year old cousin Issa- literally the cutest baby of all time

My younger sister Mamarem who comes rushing into my arms anytime she sees me coming

Me, Brent and Amanda after dancing in a rainstorm outside the school house (nice study break)

From left-my younger sister Adama, me, my younger brother Cheikh, and my cousins Seera and Fatou

My site mates

Me and Amanda (Caana)- One of the volunteers in my village

Me and Brent (Eladji Cheikh), the other volunteer in my village