A new home

Well, it's really started now. I am installed and (mostly) unpacked in my own place, in my new hometown. How to describe my first week there? I don't know even where to begin! So I'll stick to straight-up description. I now live in a hut, a pretty spacious one, in fact, and a backyard "douche" area that is fenced with "sakhet" - village fencing, which is dried stalks wired together so you can't see through them. Mine, though, are old so there are a couple small gaps, which means I try to bathe at night, which feels so wonderful anyway. Back to the hut. It came equipped with the following: a bedframe and a set of shelves where my clothes and books are now piled, several cracks in the cement wall that I will need to fix, a brand-new lock on my aluminum front door, some nice wall paintings done by the previous Volonteer, and two cats. My cat's name is Lola - also a souvenier of the girl who lived there before me - and her grown kitten "doom u Lola" (Lola's child). These two charming felines have made themselves right at home with me. Their favorite activities are tripping me by winding around my feet when I'm trying to dress, climbing onto my lap when I'm reading, hovering around the lunch bowl and occasionally trying to steal the fish, and eating lizards on my floor. At least I have no rodent problems! However, my hut is a favorite hiding place for frogs, who try to come inside to escape the heat of the day. I end up chasing several of them out in the mornings; they like to hide in the corners or under the bed. My backyard is actually really nice! My "toilet" is discreetly located in the midst of several bushy plants, some with flowers, one a producing eggplant and one normous basil bush. When I go out there the scent of basil welcomes me. Also, there are a few baby fruit trees (mango and guava) which I water each evening with the water I have left over from washing myhands or bathing. It's not too soapy, and I hate to waste it, and so far the plants don't seem to mind.
My new name is "Abbi Gueye", which is super-easy to remember since it sounds exactly like "Abigail", so I lucked out there. And my family is great, too. I live in the compound of my counterpart. My hut is one of five: one for each wife, one for the dad, one extra (or visiting kids, I think) and mine. We share the courtyard with fluxuating families of chickens, ducks, goats and sheep; next to my yard is a space where hay is piled and two horses and a donkey are hobbled. There's a cashew tree in the middle of it all where my dad ties his charette when it's notbeing used. The livestock only slightly outnumber the children, however. Xale yu bare! Of all ages and sizes, they are everywhere, all the time, and mostly adorable, though also very curious. It's commonplace for me to see crowds of kids staring into my hut, or following me to the boutique, or sitting on the mat where I am. It's cute, really. So, my week has been a little crazy, as this is the first time I have really and truly been on my own here in Senegal. I spend lots of time each day walking through the village, chatting with different families (trying to get them all straight) or sitting down to have a cup of tea with them, or help harvest peanuts from the mountains of plants that are scattered all around the village. This is the major activity at the moment. Everywhere you go peanuts, peanuts, peanuts, with women and children crouched around the edges of the pile, reaching in to grab a plant and pulling off the nuts. They do this all day long, and when all the nuts are gathered they sell them in town. It's not physically hard work, but tedious and so far never-ending. Yesterday I went to a peanut field for the first time to see how the harvest is done. My dad hooked his horse up to a kind of plow, while the kids (and I) hurried ahead to pull up bean plants that had been planted alongside the peanuts. The machine digs up the plants by the roots, and it's slow work. Once they've been uprooted, women followed along behind gathering the plants into piles which will be easier to collect and load onto carts to take into the village, where the peanut pulling will happen. There's something very satisfying about working in a field, sweating alongside everybody else and getting your hands dirty, seeing the fruits of your labor slowly increase before your eyes. It gives a real sense of accomplishment.
Mostly, though, I've spent my time wandering aorund, greeting people and introducing myself while trying to orient myself in my new home. It's a mid-sized village, with enough amenities to keep everybody happy. A man with a cart comes through every morning selling fish, and there are two boutiques and a tiny vegetable market. In the center of town is one well, very deep. The women pull water in the morning and evening, when it's not too hot, and carry full buckets of it on their heads. I've tried this but it's so hard! I'm determined to learn, but mostly they just laugh at me and somebody takes my bucket for me. I will do it myself at some point, though! It will take practice. The first time I took a bucket home I got soaked, so now I use "bidons" (yellow tubs with handles and lids) which are more convenient anyway, though also heavier. Everyone has been very nice to me so far, and I'm slowly making the rounds and meeting them all. Each morning I must greet the imam, the village chief, and my grandmother - luckily all of whom live near my hut. The rest of the day I divide among my family and the neighbors, sometimes talking, mostly helping with the peanuts and letting the fast-paced Wolof conversation roll around me.
This experience is different from anything I've ever done before. Nothing I have accomplished thus far in my life really could have prepared me for it, but I am happy to be here. There's so much to do! At the moment I am in Kaolack again. The Volonteers of the region are gathering here for a bonafide American-style Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant in town. I'll stay here one day, then take a sept-place car down to Nioro du Rip and walk (or, maybe, hop on a horse or donkey charette) back home.