It’s just past 7:30 pm, and as I come up to the roof of my family’s house to catch the last rays of light fading out over the ocean, I hear the dusk call to prayer sounding from the nearby mosque. Palm trees’ dark frames are silhouetted against the darkening sky and the cool evening wind carries the voices of children from up the sandy street as they kick around a ball. Half a block over there is a single lightbulb illuminating a foosball table, surrounded by boys, each eager to have a turn, and as the day turns into night the cloudless sky reveals the first sliver of a new moon. I look out at the sea, the horizon blurred now in darkness, and think about how many miles away is America, and how distant it seems from the reality I’m living.
I can barely make out the palm trees now, but the waves continue to break on the shore and the boys clack and conk their miniature footballers and a baby cries a few houses down. A megaphone mounted on a car passes by and fades into the wind, a sheep bleats, and a car honks from the road, half a kilometer away. And then, quiet. I look up to realize the power is out, only the second time that’s happened in the evening for several months. An almost daily occurrence in the rainy season, since the arrival of cool dry days we have become accustomed to having regular power again. But by the time I stop to think about it, I see the light in our courtyard, the street lamps power on, and the voice from the mosque loudspeaker calls the faithful for one last time today.
The wind is picking up, making me eager to go downstairs and put on a jacket, heat a pot of water to warm up my bucket bath and take a shower. Tomorrow is Sunday, a day I try to set aside to not do work, and I’ve been invited to lunch at my counterpart’s house. In the evening there’s a lutte, a traditional Senegalese wrestling match that I might go to, over at the middle school. I have a few lesson plans to look over that one of the teachers at the elementary school I’m working with prepared yesterday, and I might wash some clothes.
Brr! The breeze makes me shiver in my short sleeves and jeans, and I am enjoying every minute of the cold that I thought so many months ago was not even possible. What wonderful joy it is to step out of the shower these days and not immediately start sweating again! I missed actually wanting to wear layers of clothes. I know the hot season will come again soon, but for the time being I am reveling in my element, and laughing at the Senegalese who look so out of place bundled up like Eskimos in their puffy fleeces and gloves, at 50 degrees F. These hot season people don’t know what to do with the cold. “America is much colder than Senegal!” I tell them. But then it’s their turn to laugh at me, when they see me in my sweatshirt and jacket, hands in my pockets, elbows tucked into my sides. “Leegi miin naa tangaay bi!” I say, in my defense. “I got used to the heat!”
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
the one-eyed man leading the blind
Or something like that... So a recent graduate from my university contacted me a few weeks ago to get some advice on Peace Corps, as she is getting ready to join in a few months and naturally wanted to get as much first-hand information as possible. After writing her back, I thought it
might be interesting to share, and she agreed to me posting this here, so here you go.
........................................................................................................................................................
Feb. 18
Hi Alexis,
...........................................................................................................................................................
Feb. 26
Hi B,
It sounds like you already have more experience than I did coming into
my Peace Corps service, with the Bucknell Brigade and visiting a
developing country. I had several friends while I was at Bucknell who
helped with the Brigade, though at that time I was not yet seriously
considering Peace Corps. Before I got here I had only been to Europe,
and not even close to any developing countries. My major at Bucknell
was a double, environmental studies and French, but like yours, I
didn’t feel (and still don’t) that that qualified me to do anything
specific at all. I didn’t want to teach French, and only had vague
ideas about working in the vast “environmental” field.
I graduated from Bucknell in 2004 and worked various jobs for a few
years, until the spring of 2007 when I decided to apply to Peace
Corps. I am glad that I had a few years out of college before I came,
but from my experience here, I can tell you that Peace Corps teaches
you just about everything you need to know to do your job. So don’t
worry too much about having specific skills before you come.
One of the things that pushed me to try and join Peace Corps was the
desire to do something useful and helpful to people, to really make a
difference. I think I was most hesitant about whether or not I would
make a good volunteer, whether I could “cut it”, whether or not I was
strong enough to live two years away from my family and friends and
rough it. I think if you didn’t have fears and doubts you wouldn’t be
normal! I didn’t dwell too much on my past experiences and knowledge
while I was in the application process, but when I got here I found a
range of people as my fellow trainees, some less and some more
experienced than me.
Honestly, there are many times here when I have felt inadequate and
not helpful at all. But I don’t think having an advanced degree would
have helped that. There are basic things you have to overcome, that
simply take time, patience, and determination. It is hard being an
outsider trying to make change, and it takes a lot of work to get to a
point where you are accepted and respected by your community, enough
that they will listen to what you have to say. It is a constant
struggle to feel like you are doing something helpful, and one of my
biggest challenges is changing my perception of what is “help”, seeing
that sometimes just being present is what matters. I work every day to
create structure for myself, since there is so much freedom in this
job, it is difficult to find focus. And every day I still meet people
who don’t know why I’m here or what my job is, and they simply dismiss
me, judging me based solely on the color of my skin. But perhaps the
biggest challenge is in fact feeling like what I am doing has some
kind of impact, and that all the months that I have been here are not
for nothing.
As for changes, there is no question that I am not the same person I
was a year ago when I was getting ready to leave for Senegal. The way
I look at the world now is forever different. It’s hard to say exactly
how, but I know that I like who I am now more than who I was when I
got here, and it’s true that ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger’. Often I meet new Senegalese people and they ask about what
I’m doing here, and one of the first things they assume is that I am a
student. “Are you learning?” they ask. And although that is not
technically what I am doing here, I usually answer “yes.” Because
every day I’m here I learn something new; about Senegal, about the
Senegalese, and about myself.
At this point, I do not hesitate to say that joining Peace Corps is
one of, if not the, best decision I have ever made. Yes, there were
times (and are still times) when I think, wow, what the hell am I
doing here? and all I can think about is going home. I’m not going to
lie about that. I don’t know a single volunteer who hasn’t at one
point seriously thought about going home. But the wonders, the joys,
the things you get a chance to be a part of here, the opportunities
you have to touch people’s lives, and to have your life changed by
others, I think it makes it all worth it. I feel like I have done more
‘living’ in the last year than in the three before it. I still have a
year left in my service, and there is a lot I hope to get done. It
takes time to get integrated into your community, to learn the
language, to find out where you belong and what you can do. So if I
can give you any advice, it’s that you need to be patient. And
forgiving. Not just of others, but especially of yourself.
I wish you the best of luck, and if you have other questions, feel
free to shoot me a note.
Take care,
Alexis
might be interesting to share, and she agreed to me posting this here, so here you go.
........................................................................................................................................................
Feb. 18
Hi Alexis,
Thanks for getting back to me! I'm excited to read the blogs--I find it helpful to hear about volunteers' experiences.
I was invited to go on a program in Sub-Saharan Africa this upcoming June, but am only finishing up my health forms now, so it looks like my slot will be filled by the time I'm done with the application process. I am not sure when my next program will start, but I do hope to go to Africa. I will most likely be working in community development/education.
In my months of considering the program, I have created many personal fears and doubts. I feel inexperienced since I have yet to specialize in a specific skill (my major was International Relations). Hence why I considered going back to school first to get an advanced degree. Furthermore, I struggle with the fact that I don't want to go on just a two-year self journey, but rather make a difference and create change. I guess I have felt those feelings from my past volunteer experiences (I did the Bucknell Brigade in Nicaragua and spent last summer filming a documentary in Nicaragua), where there were times I felt inadequate and not helpful at all. Do you feel this way at all? Were you hesitant to join?
Thank you for sharing your experience with me, I appreciate it. What are your biggest challenges? Do you feel like you have changed a lot?
B.
...........................................................................................................................................................
Feb. 26
Hi B,
It sounds like you already have more experience than I did coming into
my Peace Corps service, with the Bucknell Brigade and visiting a
developing country. I had several friends while I was at Bucknell who
helped with the Brigade, though at that time I was not yet seriously
considering Peace Corps. Before I got here I had only been to Europe,
and not even close to any developing countries. My major at Bucknell
was a double, environmental studies and French, but like yours, I
didn’t feel (and still don’t) that that qualified me to do anything
specific at all. I didn’t want to teach French, and only had vague
ideas about working in the vast “environmental” field.
I graduated from Bucknell in 2004 and worked various jobs for a few
years, until the spring of 2007 when I decided to apply to Peace
Corps. I am glad that I had a few years out of college before I came,
but from my experience here, I can tell you that Peace Corps teaches
you just about everything you need to know to do your job. So don’t
worry too much about having specific skills before you come.
One of the things that pushed me to try and join Peace Corps was the
desire to do something useful and helpful to people, to really make a
difference. I think I was most hesitant about whether or not I would
make a good volunteer, whether I could “cut it”, whether or not I was
strong enough to live two years away from my family and friends and
rough it. I think if you didn’t have fears and doubts you wouldn’t be
normal! I didn’t dwell too much on my past experiences and knowledge
while I was in the application process, but when I got here I found a
range of people as my fellow trainees, some less and some more
experienced than me.
Honestly, there are many times here when I have felt inadequate and
not helpful at all. But I don’t think having an advanced degree would
have helped that. There are basic things you have to overcome, that
simply take time, patience, and determination. It is hard being an
outsider trying to make change, and it takes a lot of work to get to a
point where you are accepted and respected by your community, enough
that they will listen to what you have to say. It is a constant
struggle to feel like you are doing something helpful, and one of my
biggest challenges is changing my perception of what is “help”, seeing
that sometimes just being present is what matters. I work every day to
create structure for myself, since there is so much freedom in this
job, it is difficult to find focus. And every day I still meet people
who don’t know why I’m here or what my job is, and they simply dismiss
me, judging me based solely on the color of my skin. But perhaps the
biggest challenge is in fact feeling like what I am doing has some
kind of impact, and that all the months that I have been here are not
for nothing.
As for changes, there is no question that I am not the same person I
was a year ago when I was getting ready to leave for Senegal. The way
I look at the world now is forever different. It’s hard to say exactly
how, but I know that I like who I am now more than who I was when I
got here, and it’s true that ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger’. Often I meet new Senegalese people and they ask about what
I’m doing here, and one of the first things they assume is that I am a
student. “Are you learning?” they ask. And although that is not
technically what I am doing here, I usually answer “yes.” Because
every day I’m here I learn something new; about Senegal, about the
Senegalese, and about myself.
At this point, I do not hesitate to say that joining Peace Corps is
one of, if not the, best decision I have ever made. Yes, there were
times (and are still times) when I think, wow, what the hell am I
doing here? and all I can think about is going home. I’m not going to
lie about that. I don’t know a single volunteer who hasn’t at one
point seriously thought about going home. But the wonders, the joys,
the things you get a chance to be a part of here, the opportunities
you have to touch people’s lives, and to have your life changed by
others, I think it makes it all worth it. I feel like I have done more
‘living’ in the last year than in the three before it. I still have a
year left in my service, and there is a lot I hope to get done. It
takes time to get integrated into your community, to learn the
language, to find out where you belong and what you can do. So if I
can give you any advice, it’s that you need to be patient. And
forgiving. Not just of others, but especially of yourself.
I wish you the best of luck, and if you have other questions, feel
free to shoot me a note.
Take care,
Alexis
Monday, February 2, 2009
Six more weeks of WHAT winter?
After that title, which is a propos of nothing in this post except the date (I don't think there are groundhogs in Senegal) here we go again.
I have been asked to write more about the ways I have changed since coming to Senegal, and since we are fully into a new year now, by American, Muslim and Chinese standards, it seemed like an appropriate time to mark change and look at progress.
I sat down for a minute to think and came up with a list, in no particular order of importance, of ten ways that I have noticed that my priorities, standards, perspectives or habits have changed since I came to this country almost eleven months ago. Next month will mark a year here… Amazing how time seems so fluid. Six months ago I thought the days seemed never-ending, and now the weeks seem to run into each other.
This should be item #1.
Speaking of time, it is perfectly acceptable to take two hours for a nap after lunch, and starting meetings an hour and a half past the time indicated is standard. I also know that even though people often say lunch is at “noon” it is never actually at 12 pm, and could be at any time between 1 and 4 pm, depending on the number of people being served at the particular gathering, the importance of the event, or the weather.
2. What I used to think of as “small” sums of money have taken on greater importance, in the relative scheme of cost of living here.
Take 200 f CFA, for example, (equal to about $0.50).
Doesn’t seem like much, but here it can buy any of the following:
1 Coke from a corner store
1 apple
8 medium onions
8 small packs of peanuts from a street vendor
2 packs of tissues
1 clando taxi ride across town + 3 boxes of matches
200 fCFA phone credit = 10 text messages or 3+ minutes calling time (in Senegal)
What would you use your 200 f CFA on?
3. I look at objects I buy in terms of what will happen to the unused part when I’m finished. I know some of you out there are already quite aware of that, but in the States I felt much more distanced from the actual “cradle to grave” process, if you will. Here I work with city cleanup projects and see where trash goes, and what goes into it. An empty pen prompted me to write this post, as I looked at the beautiful shiny hollow aluminum and plastic housing, thinking about how utterly useless that shell was now that the ink inside of it was gone. How long will that ‘packaging’ take to biodegrade, after it served its use for approximately 3 weeks? How much other packaging is avoidable?
4. Going between three languages while having a single conversation with one person is totally normal. In fact I have a hard time keeping to just one language when conversing with people with whom I only have one language in common. In any given conversation I may use elements of French, Wolof, Arabic-influenced phrases, and even English slang. I also now know a few greetings in Serere and Pulafuta.
5. I find my day somehow lacking if no one asks me about my marital status, nationality, religious affiliation or preference for rice and fish.
6. I regularly start conversations with small children on the street.
7. Half a bucket of water is enough to take a full shower and wash my hair, and I felt disgustingly dirty in the hot season if I didn’t shower 2 times a day.
8. When you wash your own clothes by hand, clothes that look clean and don’t give off obvious odor are in fact clean.
9. Instant coffee is a delicious treat I look forward to every morning when I wake up.
and last but not least...
10. Sixty degrees Fahrenheit is COLD!
I have been asked to write more about the ways I have changed since coming to Senegal, and since we are fully into a new year now, by American, Muslim and Chinese standards, it seemed like an appropriate time to mark change and look at progress.
I sat down for a minute to think and came up with a list, in no particular order of importance, of ten ways that I have noticed that my priorities, standards, perspectives or habits have changed since I came to this country almost eleven months ago. Next month will mark a year here… Amazing how time seems so fluid. Six months ago I thought the days seemed never-ending, and now the weeks seem to run into each other.
This should be item #1.
Speaking of time, it is perfectly acceptable to take two hours for a nap after lunch, and starting meetings an hour and a half past the time indicated is standard. I also know that even though people often say lunch is at “noon” it is never actually at 12 pm, and could be at any time between 1 and 4 pm, depending on the number of people being served at the particular gathering, the importance of the event, or the weather.
2. What I used to think of as “small” sums of money have taken on greater importance, in the relative scheme of cost of living here.
Take 200 f CFA, for example, (equal to about $0.50).
Doesn’t seem like much, but here it can buy any of the following:
1 Coke from a corner store
1 apple
8 medium onions
8 small packs of peanuts from a street vendor
2 packs of tissues
1 clando taxi ride across town + 3 boxes of matches
200 fCFA phone credit = 10 text messages or 3+ minutes calling time (in Senegal)
What would you use your 200 f CFA on?
3. I look at objects I buy in terms of what will happen to the unused part when I’m finished. I know some of you out there are already quite aware of that, but in the States I felt much more distanced from the actual “cradle to grave” process, if you will. Here I work with city cleanup projects and see where trash goes, and what goes into it. An empty pen prompted me to write this post, as I looked at the beautiful shiny hollow aluminum and plastic housing, thinking about how utterly useless that shell was now that the ink inside of it was gone. How long will that ‘packaging’ take to biodegrade, after it served its use for approximately 3 weeks? How much other packaging is avoidable?
4. Going between three languages while having a single conversation with one person is totally normal. In fact I have a hard time keeping to just one language when conversing with people with whom I only have one language in common. In any given conversation I may use elements of French, Wolof, Arabic-influenced phrases, and even English slang. I also now know a few greetings in Serere and Pulafuta.
5. I find my day somehow lacking if no one asks me about my marital status, nationality, religious affiliation or preference for rice and fish.
6. I regularly start conversations with small children on the street.
7. Half a bucket of water is enough to take a full shower and wash my hair, and I felt disgustingly dirty in the hot season if I didn’t shower 2 times a day.
8. When you wash your own clothes by hand, clothes that look clean and don’t give off obvious odor are in fact clean.
9. Instant coffee is a delicious treat I look forward to every morning when I wake up.
and last but not least...
10. Sixty degrees Fahrenheit is COLD!
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