Saturday, November 29, 2008

Things to be Thankful For

Mom and I were on Ile de Goree on Thursday when we encountered a Thanksgiving surprise: Jen and her parents were there as well! So we enjoyed a fantastic dinner together (seafood, not turkey, but it was delicious anyway!) They're just starting off their trip, where Mom and I are finishing up. I hope they enjoy it! We've had a truly amazing time. I attribute the luck we've had with travel to our gris-gris, specially selected to ease our voyage. Best 1500cfa I've spent in Kaolak for a long time! Don't leave home without one! Anyway, smooth travels and good times all round. Since we left the village, the primary focus of our trip has been food. I have eaten SO MUCH good food this past week! It's gonna be a long way to fall back to cere ak basi. But, I have a lot to do before going on my official month-long vacation to Togo, then Burkina Faso and Mali with my friend Arwen...I'm excited, but trying not to freak out too much prematurely! After waving goodbye to Keur Ali Gueye, Mom and I went to Palmerin, which was perhaps the most beautiful place I have been in Senegal yet. We stayed in a resort hotel which had built our room literally into a huge baobab tree. The trunk fomed one wall of the bathroom, there was a terrace for breakfast encircled by powerful branches, and the room was cradled high atop the thick trunk. Really, it was a stunning place, full of birds who landed on the lagoon, and other rooms tucked away in corners on the property. The food there was entirely haute cuisine. Wonderful creations using local ingrediants that were just delicious. Light lunches with plenty of vegetables, and perfectly prepared meat and fish. We did a kayak randonee in the mangroves, where we saw all sorts of beautiful birds; pelicans, flamingos, cormerants, and so many others that I don't even know the name of. Even if you're not a birdwatcher, Senegal forces you to appreciate the variety and beauty of birds - there are so many, such diverse shapes and colors, you can't help but notice them! My favorites are these birds that look like black starlings, until they turn to catch the light, and you realize that they are in fact shimmering blue, their feathers sparking as they fly off, when you notice that they also have a graceful long tale which only spreads completely when in flight.
We also had four relaxing days at the beach of Toubab Dialaw. Good food, a calm atmosphere, and the ever-present sound of waves rolling onto the Atlantic shore. Our hotel there was adorable, too; they had decorated it all with shells or smooth sea stones, with curving alleys and low thatched roofs. It looked like a Hobbit village! One day we walked all the way from Toubab Dialaw to Popenguine, which was pristine coast all the way to this town called Ndiayne, where all of a sudden we encountered children using the beach as a toilet and people dulping their garbage onto the sand, right next to the fishing pirogues waiting to head out to sea! Really gross. But, we survived the nastiness and made it to Popenguine, which is as gorgeous as ever. Still, if ever I appreciated the importance of lartines, it was on that beach of Ndiayne!
Then, a fabulous overnight on the Ile de Goree, doing the museums all the next day and wandering the island. It really is a lovely place, full of bright colors, cobbled streets, and billowing bougainvillea everywhere. Now we only have a day left before Mom flies home, and I return to eating millet daily. Last night, though, we went to a bar called Just4You and ende dup at a concert of Les Frères Guissé, who were AMAZING!!! They were really excellent. A unique sound, and they kept the crowd animated the whole time. What a treat.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mary Kay Comes to Senegal

Me and my two host moms showing off our new Mary Kay products. Don't they look pretty with their lipstick!

Mom's visit has been going so well so far, it's almost hard to believe! That last blog post was by her, of course, in case you thought I'd started talking about myself in third person. We started our trip in St. Louis, which was absolutely beautiful. Lots of old colonial buildings, fat horses pulling urban charettes, and three days of delicious food. We ate our money all right! And it tasted so good! Then, a trip to Kaolack (which was cleaner than usual, thank goodness. The sewage has begun to dry out not after the rainy season) to shop and hang out with the Volunteers, and then the highlight of the trip so far: Keur Ali Gueye. It has been such a full, happy week in the village! Everyone was beyond delighted to meet my mother, so welcoming and excited. She bought tea and sugar, which we distributed to every compound, so the whole village could partake in the fun, but also brought vermicelli and five fat chickens for a neighborhood feast of pasta with chicken-and-onion sauce. We ate well there too! The family really showed their culinary skills for the special guest. We've had chicken twice, a wonderful tomato mafe with fish balls, and vegetable-rich ceeb u jen all week. Plus, there has been work to do! I distributed about thirty books yesterday to kids who all crowded into my hut. I'd filled a trunk from the Bookmobile stash, to start a loaning library in the village, so people can get used to the idea. It was even more of a hit than I expected! Especially with the older kids, who were in competition for the few French books, which went especially quickly. But even the English ones with pretty pictures (and really, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?) went like hotcakes. I explained to everyone that the book is theirs to enjoy AND PROTECT for two weeks, and then they must return it and may choose another one. The test will be when I return, to see how many I get back. But they're out of my hut and into people's hands, which is the whole idea anyway. I've also been working with the girls' and women's groups, setting up a soap selling business. They want to make their own, so I found a trainer and set a date for after Tabaski, which hopefully she will keep. They know the materials they have to provide - cooking supplies, regular peanut soap, ash, neem, sticks for stirring, etc. - and I already bought the lye, which is sold in the Kaolack market. Mom and I also got gris-gris for safe travel there, which so far have served us well! No problems on the road to report, exept for dust.
Also, of course, the gifts from the USA. Each of the kids got something. One of the biggest hits was a little whirlagig flower on a stick, the kind that spins when you blow it. My host dad got a fancy Leatherman, which he will no doubt put to good use with all the repairs he does, and each of the host moms got a pretty beaded ring, and a Mary Kay lipstick. Everyone loved their gifts, and it gave me special pleasure to hand out the makeup, which my good friend in Seattle sells. Really, nothing brigthens a woman's face more than a little lipstick. Which is ironic since I haven't worn any for nearly a year! Maybe on Tabaski....
Wish us continued good luck and good travels, we're off to the beach before Mom heads home!

And a very important postscript: I see that more than a thousand dollars has already been donated to the latrine project! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU everyone who has contributed!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

She has a place in Africa

She has a place in Africa. My daughter. She has a place in Africa where everyone knows her name. The minute she opens her outside aluminum door the day begins with all its greetings - the coming and going of the children, the head of household, the neighbors. She then walks to greet the important people in the village - the Imam, the Chief, the oldest grandmother, the chief's 3 wives. Finally she can begin her day. No matter where she goes she is called to, "Abby-Gway!" "Abby-Gway!" As we walk down nearby roads, as we walk past huts, the well, as we walk through neighboring villages, they know her name. Abigail is frustrated by the relentless greetings, the time it takes to honor each household or individual with a greeting, sometimes even sit to repeat the salutatory exchange. A repartee of the same greetings/blessings and then the same questions about your health, family, did you sleep well, the weather - with a rote answer for each before gently moving on. A time honored way to show respect and community. She lives in a 10x10' hut, no electricity, no running water. It is the ultimate camping experience. Except that it is her place for 2 years. She has a comfortable bed, though, with the mandatory mosquito netting all-round, made from foam rubber. At the end of the day we are exhausted although it doesn't always seem like we've done too much. But the days are just packed! With greetings, drawing water from the well, maybe 2 hours in the fields schucking maize or cracking peanuts, then there might be wash to do, or a discussion with the older women about their soap business, the girls giggling about some teenage thing, a discussion about the midday meal - or you may begin helping with that: plucking a chicken, peeling the vegetables, washing the rice. Then the heat sets in; it's 2pm now. And November. And November is nothing compared to May. But you will see people lying down on mats now. Waiting for the meal to be ready. The sounds of schucking peanuts, or pestle hitting mortar, children laughing, children crying, children singing. There is always sound. She has this place in Africa.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A busy week

First of all, whoever gave that first 100 dollars towards constructing the latrines, thank you very, very much! You're awsome.

It has been a very busy week for me. Which feels good, but is also stressful! I've been running back and forth to Kaolack working on things for the Bookmobile. Our truck looks fantastic, but we are still trying to find financing and materials to install the shelving. I set a date to pick up some more books in Dakar in a couple days. I just bought ten big metal trunks to store books in, which the paticipating Peace Corps Volunteers will distribute in their villages. Now that we have those, the books can get out there even though the truck is not complete. Mme. Viola Vaughn was honored with a ceremony last week, celebrating her nomination as a 2008 CNN Hero. Kind of a big deal! The US Ambassador was there, as well as the Peace Corps Country Director, and many other important people - local and regional officials, work partners, media, etc. Two of my good friends brought their girls' groups, who are working in conjunction with 10,000 Girls. It was completely amazing to watch them speak in front of everyone, many as confident as any American kid used to public speaking, some shy but trying so hard and doing a fantastic job. This program really helps girls blossom. They have so much confidence and spunk! It's really quite wonderful. Yesterday I gave out the other Michelle Sylvester scholarship to the middle school girls who won in a nearby town. Everyone is so grateful for that, even though it is such a little thing; but it could make a big difference in a girl's success in school this year, now that she doesn't have to worry about finding money for supplies and inscription fees. I'm also working iwth a fledgling young women's group in the village, who is buying soap for 125cga in Kaolack, to resell for 150cfa, to get a small profit. Its good practice, but I found a lady who can train them to make the soap themselves from scratch, so I hope to hook them up sometime next month. Now I'm in Kaolack again, having to run around like crazy to get a few more things done before my Mom comes to visit. The entire village is ecstatic that she's going to spend several days there. It should be an adventure!