Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

I woke up early this morning to catch the daily mini-car that comes through town on its way to Kaolack. There, emblazened on the windshield, was a sticker with a familiar face. Yes, it was undeniably the face of Osama Bin Ladin, in rather garish colors, right beneath the rearview mirror. On the passenger-side window was another sticker, of the singer Madonna blowing a kiss. She's a familiar sight on the vehicles here in Senegal. Nothing is without decoration; especially the big rigs and busses to shuttle people around. Common stickers (besides Madonna) are American flags, tigers, various marabouts - religious leaders - and whatever other random decals have made their way to West Africa. It's pretty amazing, really, to think of the life cycle of such a sticker. Or a tee-shirt! How numerous are the tee-shirts here from county fairs of ten eyars ago, cafes long closed down, baseball players no longer on the team. One could write a fascinating travel adventure story about a tee-shirt's journey from being freshly printed in the USA, to gracing the back of a talibe in Kaolack. Just goes to show how small the world really is.
Anyway, life in the village goes on as usual. The peanuts are finished for the most part, but I still get to crack a few buckets-full on occasion during my strolls about town. I'm getting quite good at it, though my poor fingers are destroyed. As another Volunteer pointed out, though, it's worth it because when I get home I can amaze the patrons of any blue-collar bar in America with my amazing peanut shelling skills. What do the people do when there are no more peanuts? Well, the women can be found sitting, braiding hair, drinking tea, and chatting. To be honest I'm not sure what the men do all day. They often sit under one of several shade structures scattered around the village. Talking? Planning? Philosophizing? I have no idea. Probably just sitting. When there is no school (and this is fairly frequent) the kids play together. Soccer is eternally popular, especially with the boys. The little boys also show amazing creativity with the design and construction of toy cars. They use bits of old wire for the frame, lids for wheels, strips of fabric to pull it along, and decorate the cars with whatever other bits of trash may be lying around. Then they'll tear down the street, pulling their cars, calling, "I'm going to Kaolack! Dakar!" One group, when I asked where their cars were headed, said, "We're going to America!" The girls, when they're not pounding millet for cere or doing other womens' chores, can often be found playing a kind of jump-rope/limbo game where two girls hold a string, which they raise gradually higher and higher as the girls in the middle kick their legs in and over it in a pattern. It gets pretty high! No wonder they can kick their legs to their shoulders when dancing. Impromptu dance parties are also common playtime activities among the children. If I find one I'll occasionally do a little shuffle - they love that.
Work goes slowly, but it goes. I have stuffed all my sacks and arranged them in a trench for an 89 tree pepiniere, which I plan to seed this coming week. Hopefully I'll have some nice baby trees which we can outplant in the village when the rainy season arrives. Also, I'm working with two "colleges" - middle schools - to distribute a scholarship to one female student in each school. College is the time many young girls are married in Senegalese society, and are likely to drop out. Offering a scholarship hopefully will encourage at least the winner to continue her studies into "lycee" (high school) and beyond. So, that's it! Mango season is now in full swing as well and I am delighted. Hiding in my hut I savor the delicious fruits, and suck on the pits for that little tang of tartness, and I save the seeds, hopefully to plant in my nursery. The bread oven I helped to build is finally in operation now, too, so early mornings I'll trek across town to buy a couple slender loaves of soft, fresh village bread.
Oh, why the finny title of this blog entry? Well, toads have made their home quite happily on the floor behind my water filter. When they're in an especially good mood during the day they'll croak happily, and suddenly, to make me jump. Also at night they like to sit on the damp roots of my two little trees - a mango and a guava - that I water twice a day. They hop across my floor, headed for the outside, at nightfall. I can't really get rid of them, so I deal with it. But I wish they'd at least eat some of the million ants that have made my floor their home. Those things bite and it stings like crazy.