Asalaa Malekum my dearest Family and friends!
I'm writing you all to tell you that I'm safe and sound, happily installed in Senegal and having an absolutely wonderful time already. We flew in on a quick and uneventful flight three nights ago, landed in Dakar before the sun rose, and there was David Vaughan! (For those of you who don't know him, he is one of my dearest friends who has been doing Peace Corps in Dakar for the last six months. And you should know him!) It was so dang good to see him. We talked at high speeds trying to catch up but pretty soon I was wisked away on our Thies caravan and he went off to a school garden he's begining.
The drive out of Dakar was thrilling and super ugly, so many people and trash and traffic everywhere, milling about with a sense of unchained but benign chaos. Once we got into the country though, much more peaceful and inviting dusty lands with towering baobobs welcomed us, and soon enough we arrived in this fantastic paradise of the Thies preservice training sight. I am currently writing you underneath the shade of a big communal grass hut. Its almost entirely encircled by comfy cushions (perfect for sleep deprived volunteers). Folks all day have been chatting and lounging on the cushions, and a whole bunch of others are playng games on brightly colored mats on the floor. All around our little compound are tin roofed huts, mahogany trees, and gardens with the most beautiful tropical flowers and tasty looking veggies. The days have been gorgeous- blue skies and hot sun but with a constant lovely breeze blowing through this big hut and cooling us down. What a place to be!
On our first long, beautiful day we finished up one some health information sessions and then were treated to a fantastic dance-drumming party. Four guys came and played these big, djembe-esque drums and then we all danced in a big circle around them. The dancing was awkward and hilarious and was especially fun when the younger drummer led us in crazy senegalese dances. They involved lots of swaying, call and response, and almost always ended in these crazy crab pose that cracked everyone up. I suspect that this was made up to make fun of the crazy Americans (Toubabs), but oh well!
Breakfast is a small affair here- bread and nuttela mostly- but lunch and dinner have been great. Lunch is eaten on the floor around a big, communal bowl with spoons or just your right hand. We've been slowly finding out all the terrible cultural fauxpas we've been making, but it's been so much fun to practice our caveman Wolof and chat around a gigantic bowl of rice and chicken or beans.
We spent a lot of today (Friday) in Senegalese culture sessions. These consisted of Islam lessons, baobob juice and tea drinking, and pit latrine demonstrations! Ha!
Anyway, i reckon I'll should finish this big ol missive. In a couple days we head out to our preservice homestays where we will be totally immersed in the culture and whatever local language we will be learning for the next 8 or so weeks. So I shall try to take advantage of this unexpected ease of internet access, and will hopefully be posting pictures soon.
Ba Beneen,
Ian
