so this is what it feels like to be busy...

These days I don't know where time is going. It seems to be over 2 weeks since I posted last, and there is more to report than would conveniently fit into one post. I'll do a little catching up, then hope to be more frequent in the months to come.

The good news is that the reason I haven't posted recently is because work is really picking up, Alhamdulilah! School has begun officially for everyone here, meaning that my job as an environmental education volunteer has finally started in earnest. These days I’m going to the elementary school I’ve been assigned to work with almost every day, Monday to Friday, observing classes, getting a feel for teaching methods and styles, and talking with the teachers during class breaks about their expectations and frustrations. After a few weeks of observation, I want to start talking with the teachers about how to incorporate more environmentally related topics into their lessons, and in the meantime I’m also working with the teacher advisor to the student government to use the structure already in place as a launching pad for a separate environmental club.

The past three days I was invited to attend a seminar on waste management in Senegal, and yesterday I made it to my second meeting of a young journalists group, composed of middle and high school students, to whom I hope to serve as a kind of counselor/advisor. Their meeting was held at the CLAC, which stands for “Centre de Lecture et d’Animation Culturelle”, and which is, by all accounts, a library. Needless to say, if you know me, you know that I was thrilled to find that such an institution already exists here, and I have great hopes to work with the folks there as well, as time goes on.

And after over a month of feeling unfocused and somewhat directionless, my motivation got a much needed boost last week when my program supervisor came to visit me here at site. We talked about how things are going and what is expected of me, workwise. He expounded upon several projects that I could get involved in or start up myself, and reassured me that feeling like I had accomplished nothing thus far was absolutely normal. That afternoon we went to the school and he spoke to the director and teachers about my role at the school, what my job actually is, and what Peace Corps means by “environmental education.” The visit was affirming, as after I had spent the last few months only feeling like there is so much I cannot do, I was happily reminded of all there is that I can, in fact, do.

That's the basic gist of what has been happening here with me. On a side note, I have been constantly congratulated since Wednesday on Obama's win, as if it was personally due to my influence that all of America is celebrating. All of Senegal seemed to have been praying for it, and it has been very interesting to be here to see, as my friend Jen said, "the African reaction" to the election results. As for my personal reaction, this is my blog so I can say that since Wednesday morning, I have up to this point in my life never been prouder to call myself an American.

Best wishes to all in the States and beyond, and more posts to come soon, I hope, as I establish a semi-regular schedule for myself and try to make time for everything I want to be doing!