My neighbor Wanna painting the names on the countries of the world.
Last week Wanna came over to help me paint maps on the school walls. With the inevitable flock of children clustered around the door, studying our every move, we painted in all the colors of the countries of the world on one wall, a map of the African continent on another, and a large map of Senegal on a last wall. It was a fun project! Though not improved by the breathing in of paint fumes and the use of a mysterious mixing chemical, which may or may not have been turpentine. Anyway, the walls of the school look beautiful! We wrote out all the country names and labeled everything and, though there are some tiny inaccuracies (which we fixed as best we could, drawing lines and erasing borders) the whole ensemble is colorful and really exciting for the kids. They took off singing the Senegalese national anthem as we painted the country map, along with the occasional refrains of "We Shall Overcome", which I still hear often from my visitors' and my song teaching adventure. Now one whole room of the school is bright with maps that the children can study during their breaks, or during class, I hope. The plan is to use the remaining paint to put murals on the walls of the other classrooms. At the moment the school is very bland, so unlike what I remember from elementary school, with colorful posters, paintings, quotes, and art projects hanging everywhere. So murals will really improve the atmosphere.
And now, the millet is above my head! It's starting to produce "candles" - the long, thin heads of grain - though now they are in the flowering stage. It is a deep kind of contentment, walking next to a towering field of heavy-topped grass, hearing the wind rustle through the leaves, and know that this is our food. Corn is producing ears, though not ripe ones yet, and the beans are absolutely fantastic. People are already harvesting and eating some of the dried pods! I have on occasion pilfered a green pod, too. Tastes like fresh green beans. Though I am growing fond of the many ways Senegalese find to prepare black-eyed peas too. Also, two small cashew fields have been planted and are doing well, and one farmer (with my help, but only a LITTLE help!) has planted a live fence of thorny tree saplings around his orchard. Yay! That's EXACTLY what we want to see! The women are beginning to weed the bissap field, too, which will no doubt occupy our days for several months once it ripens, as it did when I first arrived in the village last November. And Ramadan is coming soon. When it arrives, I will have been here a year - a lunar year, since it started the day after I set foot into Senegal.
Last week Wanna came over to help me paint maps on the school walls. With the inevitable flock of children clustered around the door, studying our every move, we painted in all the colors of the countries of the world on one wall, a map of the African continent on another, and a large map of Senegal on a last wall. It was a fun project! Though not improved by the breathing in of paint fumes and the use of a mysterious mixing chemical, which may or may not have been turpentine. Anyway, the walls of the school look beautiful! We wrote out all the country names and labeled everything and, though there are some tiny inaccuracies (which we fixed as best we could, drawing lines and erasing borders) the whole ensemble is colorful and really exciting for the kids. They took off singing the Senegalese national anthem as we painted the country map, along with the occasional refrains of "We Shall Overcome", which I still hear often from my visitors' and my song teaching adventure. Now one whole room of the school is bright with maps that the children can study during their breaks, or during class, I hope. The plan is to use the remaining paint to put murals on the walls of the other classrooms. At the moment the school is very bland, so unlike what I remember from elementary school, with colorful posters, paintings, quotes, and art projects hanging everywhere. So murals will really improve the atmosphere.And now, the millet is above my head! It's starting to produce "candles" - the long, thin heads of grain - though now they are in the flowering stage. It is a deep kind of contentment, walking next to a towering field of heavy-topped grass, hearing the wind rustle through the leaves, and know that this is our food. Corn is producing ears, though not ripe ones yet, and the beans are absolutely fantastic. People are already harvesting and eating some of the dried pods! I have on occasion pilfered a green pod, too. Tastes like fresh green beans. Though I am growing fond of the many ways Senegalese find to prepare black-eyed peas too. Also, two small cashew fields have been planted and are doing well, and one farmer (with my help, but only a LITTLE help!) has planted a live fence of thorny tree saplings around his orchard. Yay! That's EXACTLY what we want to see! The women are beginning to weed the bissap field, too, which will no doubt occupy our days for several months once it ripens, as it did when I first arrived in the village last November. And Ramadan is coming soon. When it arrives, I will have been here a year - a lunar year, since it started the day after I set foot into Senegal.
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