WAST

With a new year come new challenges. First I got sick of every one saying that I have a lot of money, slightly true but not really. I also got tired of them saying that people just give away new TV’s and cars in America to anyone who wants it. So I have been trying to get a savings program going. How you ask? I have been telling them to put change in a jar and save up to buy the TV or fencing that they want. Simple concept right? I have had problems of them actually doing it because if you have the money at this instant then go buy attya (tea) and borrow money from your friends when you need it. For example I am trying to get my school director to plant the garden to sell off the excess vegetables, or plant some fruit trees to make revenue for the school. Or even better plant the garden during the rainy season, so you don’t have to water it daily and sell of the vegetables that way. Dose not get that concept either but oh well that is half the reason we are here is to educate people on how to provide for themselves. The fun part is for the last three days we went to WAST in Dakar. WAST is the west Africa softball tournament. It is a tournament for all the aid workers in west Africa put on by the us embassy. Fun time all the peace corps teams dressed up in different themes ours being Boy scouts, of course if I had known this I would have brought my stuff from the states. Either way it was slightly unfair for two reasons. One is we all live in villages and are undernourished. Second all the other teams get together on a weekly base to practice. So needless to say all our games were 0-20. Although the last game we played was against another Peace Corps team from Cape Verd. So we both looked at each other and said we are done with softball. So we found a kickball and played that instead. In the evenings we all stuffed our bellies  with good food, mostly of the cheese biased variety, then we went out dancing every night. Currently I am completely sore, who knew dancing for 6hours a night would be a decent workout, but my belly is happy which means I am more willing to go back and eat rice for three weeks straight. 

helping the world dose not take smarts it takes talking like a six grader

I know it is a little late but happy holidays to my friends and family. It was a little weird spending Christmas over here because it was so warm and there was no snow. So me and my friends did the only thing that anyone would do in this situation when they miss snow...head to the beach. We rented out a house in popeguine and spent five days laying around on the beach in good company and forgetting that we were in Africa for the moment. Also Popenguine is a huge catholic town so we were able to go to mass on Christmas eve. Granted I did not understand any of it because it was in french and Wolof, two languages I don't speak, but the cool part was the there was no organ the music was entirely singing and drumming. It was amazing experience. The next morning we did a gift exchange and played in the sand. As for work it has been slow I have been going around to local baptisms and talking with people on daily basis trying to get them to think about nutrition, first aid, and sanitation like washing your hands. Although I have not got my family to wash their hands with soap but they are cleaning their dishes with soap and bleach. so slow steps but on the plus side I do consider myself fluent in Sereer, I speak like six grader but people can understand me so that is all that really maters. I found out some very interesting things for start my dad is a shaman. So him and my brother Mbye know traditional herbal medicine as well my dad can make talismans to ward of evil spirits. The interesting part about this is he became a shaman because he used hunt wild animals. In Sereer culture they believe you have to kill the animal in your dreams spiritually first then you kill it physically the next day. that incite is what people recognize as a spiritual blessing and means you have great incite in to life. So this means if I ever start having dreams about sick sticky children mobbing my village and they only way to stop them is to pelt them with soap, I know that God has giving a gift and my work will pick up. That or the meflquin is creeping back into my system. Either way Waagum fi a fax no safu (I am able to do good with soap).

Back in Action

With the house computer down for a couple of months I have been in the dark on what is happening in the world  but now with full internet capabilities regular post shall begin. I finished up in Dakar and went back to village were I ended the rainy season  with two weeks of never being dry (Yuk). Now that cold season is upon us I am wondering around in wonderful dry heat and 75 degree temperatures at night. Most of my work has been in the schools so far and a little bit in with the women's garden. Although most days you will find me sitting under a tree in my compound reading a book or going out to the fields to help my brothers with the peanut harvest. The harvest in it's self is quite odd it involves pulling the peanuts out of the ground and the putting them in piles, letting them dry and then putting them in a bigger pile, letting that dry, and finally putting them back into little piles and shaking out the peanuts. Why? I don't know but I do find it interesting that that each one of these steps has a different verb describing it. I also now have a good grasp on the language and have answered one of my main questions since I first got to this country, What is everyone talking about in everyday life? Answer the price of rice/peanuts, girls, and who is lazy in the village/si si. Completely mundane stuff that dose not really matter, who knew. Tabaski came and went the exact same way Koritie did only this time we killed a sheep and I stopped eating the meat after two days. It seems to me that all the holidays are celebrated the same way get dressed up eat and greet people that's it. and as soon as I win my battle with thorns attacking my bike tires I will be able to venture out in to the wonderful sand and explore the villages around me with in biking distance.

wet hot Senegalese rainy season

I am sorry I have not written in a month, but the computer at the regional house blue-screened and has been MIA for a while. So, while I am in Dakar, I am going to fully enjoy the massive amount of internets. This month has been very busy for me work wise. First, I had a second round of moringa causeries where we taught the women of the village to make and cook with moringa powder. Basically you dry the leaves and pound them up, but you can barely tast the moringa and it is incredibly healthy for you. Anyway, no one came so I had to strong arm seven women in the village to come to the meeting. The women that did come were engaged and it looked like they were learning something, now if they actually implimented what they learned I don't know. You can't make anyone change unless they want to, but I can present the information again, or three times. The next weekend I went down to touba couda to help with the reforestation of Mangroves. That involved 30 peace corps volunteers and about 50 senegalese, mostly children, walking up and down a beach in the middle of the mangrove forest during the hot part of the day. In the end we planted 5 hectares of mangroves and had one massive water fight. Then we spent the rest of the day lounging around the delta. I also can not believe it, but there is such a drastic difference in the landscape, I am a the top of the mangrove forest and just and about 10k west of my site it is huge, like actually being in a forest. Then this week I went up to Dakar to help with the Us embassies summer englsh camps. Basically we are running a camp for middle school kids that have advanced english speaking abilities. So the first part is to get the kids to speak engish and the second part is to indroduce them to american culture. So we are having them do sack races, frisbee games (wich they are really good at) theater sketches, that kinda thing. Other than that I have been pigging out on food up here. Last night I went to a really good Ethiopian rooftop restaurant and tonight we are finding a really good italian restaurant. Also I have gotten some good translations on the sereer post I have decided to leave it open for one more month so after hallowen best translation gets a prize, just post in comments or mail me on facebook.  The post is because people asked for it.

what happens when you finnally have blood sugar

now that Ranadan is over with and everyone is setteled into there normal routiens, mainly of lunch, life is much the same has it has been. Humid, people going out the fields and me doging marrage proposals. The fun part was Korite, the day after Ramadan ended. People got all dressed up and whent to the moquse, after that poeple would ask forgivness for all the wrongs they did aginst people that year. So for a day I went around to every compound and talked to people, got pictures that kinda thing. Then about one hour before lunch every one put out goat parts with macceroni and oinon sauce. Then a roving gangs of kids came around and started chowing down then moved to the next house, and repeated the process. Then we had lunch and it was amazing goat with vegies and fried rice. During the hot part of the day we sat around and drank attya and then once it was cooled down every one started dancing and drumming. Wich this went on for long into the night and people would come by randomly and give me food presents. I litterally ate untill I exploded wich was awsome to because I learned the Seereer word for explode jefe. Then the next morning we had spicy goat hart water with millit for breakfast wich was amazing.
I am slightly sad that no one else has tried there hand at translating my Seereer post. I will deffenitly send  a present to who comes up with the best one.

Ramadon

So this month is Ramadan the Muslim holy month were the Koran was relieved to Muhammad. People celebrate this by fasting for one month, witch means no eating or drinking from sun up to sun down. Also the small mosque that I have in my town now gives out the call to pray five times a day, I never have seen it used until now. When I asked my older brother about he said "God wants to hear the mosque during Ramadan". So Islam over here is Sufism but they have different brotherhoods like we have protestant religions. My family is of the Tiegion branch witch I don't know a lot about their beliefs and if they differ all that much from Islam but there holy mosque is in Dakar. I do know that all the brotherhoods over here are very liberal. Most Muslim countries women can not show the curves of their body. Over here it is very a prorate to show off your butt, in fact you wealth is directly related to how big your butt is, the fatter you are the healthier you are. The only rule is you can not show knees if you are a female, typically men wear only pants but know cares if you wear shorts in my village. I did decide to try fasting witch I lasted 13 days of not eating, I was always drinking water because I don't like dehydration. After that I broke down and started eating, now I have been stuffing my face full of food in Kaolack for the last week. Although my brothers fast and then go and work in the fields and I do not know how they can do that in the heat of the day. I have also found that my village has a bakery were they make delicious bread to sell during Ramadan. That and I have been making friends with the baker and getting free bread. That and it is really interesting to see how they bake it. He built a giant mud oven and they cover the bottom with sand. They then proceeded to light a giant fire inside the oven and make the bread all day. After the bread is rolled out they push the burning logs to the side of the oven and bake the bread in the hot sand. It is so delicious and the baker has started playing around and putting chocolate in the bread as well.
The other interesting thing that happened was I went to by new nieces baptism. Over here baptism are for new born babies. The baby is born then they wait one week and have the baptism. What happens is people go over to the house and the mother sits with the baby on a mat in the middle of the compound. The father then shaves the baby's head and then whispers the name of the baby in it's ear. Then the father passes out kola nuts, the only drugs that Islam allows (basically highly caffeinated nuts), then every one eats really good porridge, socialize, and then eat really good rice and sheep or goat. It was fun plus it was the daughter of my uncle who I like. Other than that I will leave you with the word for fasting because people ask me this everyday. In Seereer the word for fasting is hor (pronounced whore) so so this month people keep asking me if I am horing today.

because people asked for it

Because everyone has been asking about it I will compose a post in Seereer.

Kaam yok'u a betick fo dix hurs nal nu refna. Naktu'u fo buro fo bure fo tea, leke leke naktu'u oatmeal. A cing kaga kaam simina fop es. No nges ne kaam jelle'u no nding a cing ndooke es fo moofum fo lirum no bind es. No nal ne kaam sutu'u saate es fo simina winwe, par example: nam fi'o, ta mbind na, jam some jeggo. Kaam moof fo liy'u fo win we no mbind  din. No yong ne kaam moof balaa mbind es fo magg o kor es, bobacar. Kaam naam'u achuta no huit hurs. Ju'u malo fo lip yong nu refna. A cing kaga kaam moof fo basil es boo par kaam wondum.
Indiki liyum naak ndaxar
Balaa ret'u Kaolack, kaam ret'u baptina cougin. Kaam detum a fap um bulaat no bebe. A cing kaga kaam siminum win we fo  a nayaa ndoox no tookor es. Ndoox a jega rew o way, a cing simina rew o way kaam moof'u.
Da lamita "tomar of a jega rat"
kaam liyum "andiim, Tomar es a xooxan indiki"
da liya "magg o kor a jega rat um myu"
"Nam ando magg o kor rat um fo Garra a anda, ando o kor rat um?"
a cing liy'um o tew a deta a fess a geta mi.
a liya "bugo o tess"
"ha'ha bugiim o tewo"
"yam xar? A jega rat um fo a jega kumba um mban a jikukaa sucrose fo buro a garkaa ndoox of no reef o lang."
"ha'ha a faagna" (said as I am slapping my elbows to my side)

So because I am board I am not going to translate this, instead please write what you think the translation is for my amusement and leave it in the comment box or mail it to me on facebook. The best one might get a surprise.