Travel Bug!

After Summit in Joal, I headed back to Kolda, but my trip was far from problem free. It's difficult to get from Dakar to Kolda in a day, due to travel curfew in the region of Kolda, but I was hopeful because I had done it before. This trip, timing and luck weren't on my side. In Kolda, the checkpoints close at 6:30pm, so if you don't get past them, you are stuck on the side of the road....no bueno. As a result, all volunteers should leave Tamba by 3pm at the latest to make sure that we safely clear all the checkpoints. As Amanda and I arrive in Tamba at 2pm, we were hopeful about catching a car until we discovered that that last seat was JUST purchased. Just our luck. So, we waited around for a bit, then decided that the car wasn't going to fill up in time and that we should stay at the regional house in Tamba- Merde. First thing the next morning, it was home to Kolda.

Installs!

Installs came quicker than I expected. We took them shopping for items they would need to survive in their villages. We imparted our wisdom of what they should buy and even sat atop a charette stacked with six foam mattresses. We showed them the hot spots of Kolda-namely the Hotel Hobbe (it has a pool! p.s. it's become a PC secondary project to teach me how to swim). Then it was time to take them to village, drop them off, and have them watch the Peace Corps car drive off into the distance. I went to Jake's install, who is one of my closest neighbors, danced and sent him off into his service. Yay!

Jason on the charette!

Tambaland Adventures

I went to Tamba to celebrate Mika's birthday and to visit sites in Tamba. I had only visited sites in Kolda thus far (minus a detour to Sereer land) and wanted to see what other regions had to offer. I visited Amanda and Mika who are in Pulla Futa villages and Spence, who is in a Jaxanke village. It was a lot of fun in the Pulla Futa languages because I was able to understand and communicate with everyone. The Jaxanke village, on the other hand, was more of a challenge. I now know how it is for volunteers who speak minority languages when they leave their villages. The people were really accommodating and a lot of the did speak Pulaar, but I was in a constant state of confusing, asking Spence what they said. After going to their villages, I'm going to try harder to visit other volunteers.

GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENOUGH SAID =) But so sad that I wasn't there to witness it first hand.

Birthday & Halloween

I celebrated my birthday with a group of my friends and ushered me into my 23rd year. The next day was Halloween!! So my Halloween costume was.....QUEEN FROSTINE from Candyland. I was supposed to be part of an ensemble, but only Kelly pulled through and was princess Lolly. All in all, it was a fun night filled with crazy costumes, glitter, and dancing. Happy!

That's it for now! Next post will be study abroad students, reverse volunteer visit, and Tabaski. Miss you...kisses!

--Peace Out