Christmas

Christmas in Africa! Yay! Yesterday I took a car into Kaffrine and met up with some other volunteers at the office. (Took the car since last time I rode my bike one of petals fell off. After 2 hours of walking I finally broke down and called my dad who sent my brothers out with a seret to pick me up.) We're going to cook dinner together and hangout for Xmas eve and Xmas day.

Since it's Christmas I could reflect on how much I love my family and friends and how lucky and blessed I am but I'd rather not. All those are givens. It also makes me sad every time I log onto Facebook and see pictures of yummy food, snow, parties, and ugly sweaters. The list could go on, so instead I'll talk about what I don't miss.

I don't miss crappy Christmas music. I hate walking into stores and having Billy Idol serenade me as I buy toilet paper and baking soda.

Merry Christmas to me! Thanks mom:)

I'm okay with missing an Ohio winter. Inevitably it's only ever cold and gloomy without ever actually snowing. There hasn't been a white Christmas in the past several years or any snow days. It is sad not to have my kitty curled up in my lap, she gets extra affectionate during the cold months:)

Consumerism. Why can't we all just slaughter a ram and be happy?

I hate cleaning the house because guests are coming over. Then after they leave there's dishes to do and everything is a mess all over again. Then when Christmas is over the tree drops needles everywhere.

Obviously I can't think of anything else I hate, but it was a noble effort.

You can ride my bike if I can ride your horse

Ndioudiene- My family's compound is to the left

Little sibs and... Ohio?!

So village life... there's the really good days and the really bad days. For example, the other day my host brother wanted to ride my bike. Technically that's forbidden by Peace Corps, but I told him yes if I could ride his horse. How else was I ever going to convince villagers that yes, toubabs can ride. They are still shocked that I can cook and sort-of do my laundry. I led my bike out into the street and he led out his horse. He gave me a leg-up and said "see you later." I couldn't believe my luck. The horse and I wandered through some baobabs just outside the village. Then I decided to work on "building credibility" as Peace Corps says. We cantered through the village and I made sure that as many people as possible saw me. Not that it matters. Everyone knows everything 5 seconds after it happens. Maybe now they'll believe I know something about handling livestock. Then there was the day I told my grandma that I wanted a kitten. She got all excited and we went over to the neighbors' since they have a "small" cat. The cat wasn't that small, and had no interest in being my pet. Everyone tried to catch it and got bitten and scratched in the process. Finally I said that I didn't think it wanted to be my friend and that I'd need to find one even smaller. The search had just begun. We continued on through town, asking everyone if they had a small cat because I needed a friend. Alas, no one had any kittens. We returned home worn and battle-scared, but now it's only a matter of time. Every villager is keeping an eye out for a kitten for me.

Be jealous. There's not much else to be jealous of.

Duma PCT, PCV laa!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been sick off and on the past few weeks and running low on motivation. Wednesday I said goodbye to my training family. It felt weird leaving our village and families. I didn’t think I’d be in Africa for only two months and already leave people and places behind. On a good note, it’s not goodbye forever. My dad wants me to call him when I arrive in Kaffrine, and Keur Madaro is between Kaffrine and Thies so I can visit whenever we have trainings. I feel like I already have friends and people for support here!

For my last dinner, my mom cooked coucous (my fave) with a special moringa and peanut sauce. It was so good! Part of that may have been that I was just excited to have something green in my dinner after weeks of rice and beans.

PCVs!

Thursday we took our final technical and language exams. I passed both so as of yesterday I’m no longer a PCT, but a PCV! Swearing in took place at the American ambassador’s house in Dakar. The whole affair was very posh. After taking our oath everyone went out on the lawn hors d’oeuvres were bought out on little silver trays. We had tuna pate on fancy toasty bread, olives, candied nuts, etc. Unfortunately I missed desert hour because I had to go get blood drawn. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been feverish/nauseous every other day. I wish I could have a normal sickness and just be miserable for a week but no, my body hates me. The doctor told me my stomach is full of gas and a couple days’ worth of shit. Not new news. Africans seem determined to avoid all types of fiber so staying regular is an almost insurmountable challenge. Now I’m armed with fiber supplements so maybe, maybe they’ll get things moving through. And hopefully the blood test results will disclose if there’s a weird parasite in me or whether it’s just something viral. It’s so hard to stay positive and focused when you feel like shit all the time.

Tomorrow is the day we leave the training center! I’ll be staying in Kaffrine and shopping for housewares before installing on the fourth. It’ll be so amazing to have my own space and not be living out of a suitcase for the first time in two months. (And to set up my avian advent calendar- thanks mom!!)

P.S. Check out our swearing-in video:)