My Three Wives

Today marks the two week anniversary of my installation into my village. This is the village that I will be living in and working with for the 2 years of my service. There is so much to tell, I don't know where to begin. OK...lets start with where I left off in my last blog post.

Install Day

The day started off bright and early with meetings with the Prefet, Gendarme, Chef du Medecin of Kolda, and the Inspector d'education. What I've learned in this country of lacking watches is more patience. The good thing is that my group was being installed by Pape. Pape lived in the states for years and speaks English extraordinarily well. He runs an internet cafe in Tamba which was frequented by PCVs and was convinced to join the PC staff. While we were waiting for various "important" people to show up, we asked Pape questions about his life in the States and other topics that kept us relatively entertained (like him saying I have no excuse for not knowing Spanish because I'm from California).

After our meetings, we loaded up most of our stuff and it was off to village we go. It was entertaining to tetris the belongings of three people moving to villages for two years. I was the last of the three to be dropped off, so I went to two other installations. Prior to my install, I visited my official counterpart, the ICP, at the health post. Her living quarters are on the health post property and if I had to describe her in one word, it would have to be PATRON. For those of you back home, I am not describing her as my favorite tequila, but as someone who exudes money. It's one of my favorite adjectives in country (and i will probably use it a lot back in the States). Her living area is really nice and would be considered so in the U.S. After that visit, it was off to village! I had three PCVs come to my install, which was awesome! We pulled into my village and we were greeted by the sound of drums and it was immediately dance party time! I was forced (kinda) to dance a lot and it was great. We took a break and Pape talked to the village about my role in the community. Then, my Dad talked and welcomed me to the family. He was saying how they asked Emily (my closest neighbor, who's 1 K away) for a volunteer and it was Allah's will that sent me to them. He also called me his Rouby (Rouby Seydi is my new name) throughout his speech. It was so nice to be welcomed like that into the community and it was more exciting than overwhelming.

My hut

I have a new place of residence and it is a hut. My first post college place of my own is a round, straw roofed hut! So excited! My hut is actually really cute and it's all I need. I think I have one of the smaller huts within PC Senegal, but it's nothing careful arrangement of furniture can't fix. It was so nice to finally be able to unpack and call this place home. During training, we were moved so often between CBT site and Thies that I felt so unsettled and I wasn't able to find anything that I needed. In my hut in Mamadou Badjeifa, everything is starting to have a place and I can locate things relatively easily. The day of install, my dad asked if I wanted a shade structure in my backyard, I said yes and literally by 10am Day 2, I had a shade structure in my backyard. Apparently, things NEVER happen this fast in Senegal, so I lucked out with my family.

I am planning on decorating my hut and painting it. The current plan is to paint my walls yellow and to paint a sunset mural above my bed. We'll see what will actually happen (I'm hoping the yellow will open up my room and make it look bigger). This is the furthest that I have ever lived from the ocean and I think that a sunset over water will make me feel right at home. I plan on painting after rainy season and will post pictures of the hut soon.

My new family

My new family is much more of a typical Senegalese family than my family in Mbour was. I have a dad, two mothers, an older brother, 4 younger brothers, 3 younger sisters, a nephew, 2 nieces, and 3 wives. In the Senegalese family structure, the wives of my brothers are also called my wives. I'm in a very strange position here as a foreign female in a male dominated society. I feel like I have a sneak peak into the "old boys club", but it's not as cool because i don't understand half the things they say. At the same time, it's nice being able to move between the two gender groups without much trouble.

I'll provide a brief description of the members of my family....

Baaba- My dad is the chief of my village (which in my head means that I'm a princess...yay!). He is the sweetest man and probably bike faster than I do. He owns a boutique in my road town and is very protective. He gets things done, everyone respects him, and he is a fair person.

Neene- My mom, Kumbayel, thinks that I'm the funniest person ever. She laughs whenever I say something correct, wrong, or witty. She is a Jalijo, a singing storyteller, and she goes to weddings and other events to sing.

Inno (Namesake)- My Inno, is technically my second mom, but she refers to me as Inno. She is the sweetest and always forces me to eat.

Souleymane- He is my older brother, is married to Madja and is the father of 3 week old Issatu. He is super smart and has gone to school a lot. He speaks some french and a little bit of English.

Mamadou- Technically he is my older brother, but my dad says that he's my younger brother. He is married to Binta and has the most adorable 6 week old named Amadou. He is my go to in my family. He understands that I'm learning Fulakunda and is tres patient with me. He repeats things, does charades, and explains things in words I understand. I either eat with him or Binta.

Amadou- My other younger brother who just got married to Fatou and lives in Dakar.

Saju- My younger brother who goes to Arabic school in Dakar.

Aliou- Technically not my brother, but he lives with us and is part of the family. His father lives in Zigansour and used to work for my father. Aliou is in the 6th grade and he's the one that steers our donkey.

Faatumata- Aliou's sister who is sent to walk me places. She is a sweetheart who jabers away. She left for Dakar and won't be back til after rainy season.

Faatumata (2)- She has the sweetest smile and acts like she's 15. She's my buddy in village and although we have a language barrier, we connect. It's fascinating how that can happen. People can connect on a deep level regardless of culture, language, and age.

Kumbayel- She is a little trouble maker. She is clearly the Kala Bante of the family and has the innocent, but sly smile to prove it. She has the most infectious laugh and i just want to squeeze her!

I showed my family my pictures from America and they loved them! My sisters in law can identify everyone in my family by name. It's hilarious to hear them pronounce American names. The only one they can really say is Vivian because there's a Senegalese singer with the name Vivienne. My family is awesome. The only thing is that they claim that I don't eat.....

Food

The food here is different, but actually really good (although carb heavy). For lunch, we eat either rice or Kodee with leaf sauce. We sometimes have tentuloo (palm oil, which i actually don't like) or gile (pounded hot peppers with onion and salt- YUM!) with it. For dinner, we usually have lecheri (couscous) with Jambo (like veggie soup). I like the food and eat til I'm full, but my family often says that I don't eat. I make grand statements about how my stomach is filled to the brim and how if i ate more i would be sick.

We are currently at the tail end of mango season, but that meant that for the two weeks i've been in village, I've been snacking on a steady stream of mangoes. Delicious! My family steams green mangos and also make something like mango salsa where they pound mangoes, gile, and salt into a delicious paste.

The village

The village itself is so sweet. There are about 150 people living there in 11 compounds. There is probably a 50:50 ratio of people under 20 and people over 20. Good thing I LOVE kids! My village has less than half the people of my high school graduating class, so I am determined to learn everyone's names by month 2. It is so nice to have a village where people are enthusiastic about having a volunteer. I had a conversation with Mamadou about wanting to paint a mural at a school 2K away. He proceeded to ask me what I was going to do in the village because I was their volunteer. We then launched into a discussion about what he wanted my projects to be. We then talked about how the village should be involved in this discussion because it would effect everyone. Next thing I know, two days later, we had a village meeting about what they wanted me to do. The three ideas were health post (not possible), school (also not possible), and a garden (possible!). Thank goodness we had sensible people in the village who knew that the health post and school weren't logical projects. So, a garden it is!

The best part is, I haven't conducted my baseline survey yet or conducted a PACA. When I actually do those, I will have more ideas of what the village needs/wants. We have gotten the superficial, big, unrealistic ideas out of the way and can move forward to the true needs of the community. I'm excited to get down to work because I know they'll be as enthusiastic as I am about projects.

Oh the places you'll go

A Dr. Suess classic that continues to pop up in my life when it's the most appropriate. I read it as I was about to graduate from college and have read it multiple times in country. It's so fitting, especially the part about being alone. There are times in village where I'm having a tough language day and feel quite alone. But then I grab a small child and feel better!

The journey has just begun and I'm positive that I will have my ups and downs, but this is what I wanted to do. I'm excited and terrified of what's to come, but I know I have the support of my families. I know i'm forgetting some stories, but I will do my best to continue writing this blog. Hopefully you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, send me updates on your lives and email me news articles that I may find interesting.

Thanks for the Love!

--Peace Out