So much to say and so little time to say it! I am writing this as a blog hoping that sometime I will have the opportunity to post it, but who knows if that will ever happen? I can't believe I have only been here three days! I feel like so much has happened and I already feel very at home. Binta, my new host mother, is amazing. She is childless, but has 6ish (I can't actually tell who really lives here...) students boarding with her and also a number of relatives. The house is very lively at all hours and I have made fast friends with a four year old girl named Kordu who speaks only Serer, so our games are all basically just her using me as a jungle gym. I really like it here even though my life has devolved into this blurry mush of French/English/Wolof/Serer. Everyone here speaks Serer all the time, which means that they greet me, hear my response in Wolof and then switch to that and French for my benefit. It also means that I can't understand anything anyone is saying unless they are speaking directly to me. It's funny, but also I think it makes me more relaxed since I never really have to listen or worry about the conversation unless I hear “Mariam” (my Senegalese name that everyone uses here) or “Ndubu” (the Serer equivalent of toubab). The village is really beautiful. It is very green and there is a nice fusion of thatch roofs and cement block houses that makes everything into a lovely jumble of buildings. And there are a billion animals running around at all times. Today I took a tour around town with Djiene (that has to be spelled wrong), who will be my supervisor. Mbam is beautiful and ASPOVRECE (my org's name) has some really cool projects going on. Lucky for me, there are projects going on. Apparently sometimes people show up and there is really nothing to do.
It has been a lively few days here! Day one I didn't do much but sit around and be a bit awkward. Yesterday however, I had so many exciting firsts! I went to the market in Foundiougne with Kumba (Binta's niece who lives here with her four month old son Birane). We took a charette/sarett/horse cart! I was so excited! It was fun, but I also pity any woman who has had to give labor on one (yeah, that happens...more often than most people would like to admit I think) because it is not exactly a luxury vehicle. They are basically the car rapides of Mbam, given that fare was 100 CFA and the riding was hilariously bumpy. After arriving at the market I ran into Ousmane Diouf, an acquaintance from my first night here. It was lucky because I needed to go further into Foundiougne to buy myself some water while Kumba did some shopping and Ousmane is a jakarta (I have no idea how to spell this but it is pronounced exactly like the capital of Indonesia so that is how I will spell it) or a young man who drives around on a motorcycle and ferries people around town. I paid him 200 CFA each way to get to the store to buy water, making jakartas Mbam's taxi equivalent. It was only after I finished my ride that I realized that I HAD NEVER BEEN ON A MOTORCYCLE BEFORE! What a momentous occasion! I really enjoyed it and also look forward to the fact that motorcycle is how I will get around for the next five-ish weeks. The only other really notable moment from the market was when we were leaving. While trying to get on the horse cart, I missed, hit my thigh, and fell off. That was pretty funny for every Senegalese person nearby who laughed and said “Ndubu!” but also resulted in a pretty gnarly bruise forming on my thigh. Such is the life of an amateur charette rider.
Today! What a day! Even more exciting than yesterday!!! I can now add “peanut harvester” to my list of firsts on this trip. Next time you buy that nice little jar of Jiff, think of me! I spent most of the late afternoon in a random field pulling peanut plants from the ground in the wake of a horse and plow. It was tough work, but really rewarding. The plants didn't really look like I expected, but I guess I had never seen peanuts in a field before. And also, peanuts fresh picked are delicious! They are sort of green tasting, like an underripe banana, which I really enjoy. I was doing the whole take on off of every plant I pick thing...oops. The worst was coming home after we finished only to realize we still had to pull all the peanuts off the plants for deshelling! The work of a peanut grower is never finished. I can't believe how much time it takes! I was also far dirtier than I can ever remember being in my entire life. My entire body was eight shades darker than normal because there was a thick film of sandy dirt covering every inch of my body. I could literally scratch off the layers with my nails. Never has a bucket shower felt so good. I am exhausted right now, but it is the entirely satisfying feeling of knowing that I spent the day doing physical labor, from walking, to helping cook, to picking peanuts, to sorting the plants, etc. I also made bissap with Binta, which was so refreshing to come home to! There is just so much going on and I am bummed that I won't be able to post blogs more often because I feel like everything I do right now requires story time. I guess I will do my best to sum it up here and put away some gems for later.
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