Khadi in the house!

Okay, now I’m really in Senegal!

I have a new family. I have a new name. I have eaten from the communal bowl. Goats live on my roof. This is real. THIS IS REAL.

So I just got back from my first week with my Senegalese host family – it was a whirlwind, but I feel super lucky and fortunate. My family is great in every sense of the word: welcoming, huge, hospitable, and the fact that I have my very own bathroom and eat a variety of vegetables with meals is pretty awesome. We had French fries the first night? YES WE DID. A lot of volunteers in other houses eat with entire families out of one bowl for meals, but for most of my meals, I eat with my just parents. Basically that means that I get a lot more food and a lot less chance of getting sick. So that’s a super lucky break too, for the moment. In fact, I’m almost worried that I’m going to be spoiled and not ready for my impending village life, where I could end up in a mudhut without a latrine in the middle of Senegal. Right now, things are cushy.

My new name is Khadi, which sounds like Haddi, or maybe HOTTIE, which I’ve been trying to have catch on (it hasn't.) I’m super jealous of another volunteer who got renamed Fatou and has the Senegalese nickname of FATTIE. It seems that every volunteer is named after another name of the family, and I am no exception: I’m named after one of my host sisters. I really love this host sister and I love sharing my name with her – but then again, she is also the person who does the majority of the housework, cooking, breaking up children’s fights, etc. As a result, people are screaming her name constantly all around the house. Add to that fact that the second most popular person that people yell for is my host brother, HADIM… and it’s just like a Haddi party in the house, all the time. It’s all you hear. Haddi! Haddim! Haddi! Haddim!

I have about 15 people in my house, of varying ages and speaking abilities. I spend the morning talking to my 18 year old host sister, mixing French with Wolof and feeling pretty good about myself. Then I go talk to the 6 year olds and they just stare at me. You know you’re not saying anything right if a 6 year old stares at you. But then I’ll finally pronounce something correctly and the 6 year old will respond! And then I’ll go upstairs and listen to my host mom and dad speak and again feel like I UNDERSTAND NOTHING BECAUSE MY LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE THE EQUIVALENT OF A 10 MONTH OLD. In other family news, I have a 1 year old sister who screams bloody murder every time she sees my deathly white face. Apparently, Senegalese children grow up being told that the evil spirits of the world are white. But sometimes I dance with the baby and instead of crying, she just crawls away and makes frightened noises. I call this progress.

Speaking of the language I’m learning, Wolof has provided some pretty hilarious moments. For example, the fact that the word for ‘yes’ sounds like ‘WOW!’ consistently brings me joy. It just makes everyone sound excited and positive all the time! And sometimes I forget that it means yes and just think I’m really speaking awesome Wolof because my teacher will listen to me, smile really big, and then exclaim, “WOW!” Someone in my class was trying to say that someone threw up on her foot the other day and accidentally said she threw up on an ethnic group from Mali. But slowly, slowly, my little group and I are starting to mumble through communicating in WOLOF! WOW!

I have run into my fair share of cultural misunderstandings as well. On my first day, my family asked me if I wanted white bread with butter or chocolate. I didn’t want to be picky and annoying, so I tried to say either. I was given an entire baguette slathered in butter and chocolate, as well as a cup of milk with NOT EVEN JOKING AN ENTIRE 2 CUPS OF SUGAR in it (oh, how I laugh at the days when I used to worry how I would handle my sugar addiction in the Peace Corps...) But yeah, fatty mcfat sugar cup was assumed to be my natural breakfast, so I got it again the next day. And the next day. It took my speaking skills awhile to reach the point where I could express that I needed a different breakfast or I WOULD DIE SOON. But things are cool now. Also, one night, I got invited to a party at another family’s house. I was all excited, talking about it all day, inviting other volunteers. I don’t have a lot of vocabulary, so since I knew how to say, “We’re going to Mbaccho’s house tonight!”, I said it about every 5 minutes, rephrasing it as a question and then as a statement repeatedly. So after all that anticipation, the party finally happens… and it turns out this isn’t even a party, my family just wanted me and another volunteer to have a dance-off in a circle while everyone else watched. THAT IS NOT A PARTY, THAT IS A CIRCUS! The scheduled dance-off didn’t happen, but my family has enjoyed me teaching them ballet, “American dance” aka my moves from the club aka my hips, and Ugandan dance.

We’ve had a few days back in Senegalese paradise now, and I took advantage by attempting to play soccer with some locals and other volunteers. At one point the ball was coming toward me and I got kind of freaked out and just fell over backwards. I don’t know, I don’t think soccer is really going to be my "thing." But yes, tomorrow, I return to my village and my family, hopefully to become incredibly fluent in Wolof and become an expert through experience on Senegalese culture! Or you know, just be able to say something like, “I am not your dancing monkey!”

I love you guys! Perhaps I’ll have some more stories in two weeks, when I have internet again… ha.

Love,

Lisa

Senegalese PARADISE

Hello all!

I'm here! I made it! Our first two days were at the Georgetown Holiday Inn, sleeping in exceptionally comfortable beds and taking ridiculously hot showers. Many of you will be pleased to hear I have already continued my string of awkward first impressions with my Peace Corps group here. One of our ice breakers included a skit about rules and regulations, and my theatrical contribution involved me being the "PEACE CORPS EXPECTATIONS FAIRY." And obviously, that was my voluntary addition to the skit. So I think that's who I am to most people here now. But that's okay. I'm sure each of you have your own special stories about the first time you met me also. And we're still friends. Right? Right? Anyway.


After a sleepless flight where I had the opportunity to watch both "Burlesque" starring Christina Aguilera and Cher and "Kate and Wills: A Royal Love Story," I finally arrived in this paradise land. And it is a paradise, at least at the moment! We boarded onto Peace Corps buses upon exiting the airport and wound our way through Dakar and the surrounding cities. Everything reminded me of Uganda, except signs were written in French, so everything just seems more EXOTIC and EXCITING! And I couldn't help but be overcome with African memories when I smelled that distinct scent of burning trash in the air. I'm BACK!

But seriously, perhaps it was my sleep deprived delirium or an effect of the (DELICIOUS WAY TO GO SOUTH AFRICAN AIR) airline food, but as we drove beneath the sunrise, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that I was in exactly the right place doing exactly what I need to be doing. Not in an overarching destiny sense really, but definitely in the sense that this is exactly what I want to do right now.

I fully acknowledge that these feelings may change at any moment.

BUT the feelings of goodness and happiness and love were supplanted today at the Peace Corps Training Center in Thies, aka SENEGALESE PARADISE! We spent the morning lounging in the perfect combination of gentle heat and a light breeze in a giant gazebo, occasionally taking breaks to do things like play beach volleyball or have an hour long drum and dance session with all of our teachers and local children or eat delicious food that contains no threat of dangerous parasites. SENEGALESE. PARADISE.

I mean, I am very aware that I am experiencing a "honeymoon phase" and these feelings may change at any moment to something boring and routine, like the second year of marriage, or 7th grade. But in the words of the noble Michael Kaiser, I AM GOING TO MAKE MY HONEYMOON LAST AS LONG AS I CAN. In Senegalese Paradise.

So basically, I made it to Senegal. I made weight on my bags and made it on the plane and didn't miss the bus and even received vaccinations with a smile this morning. Everyone here with me seems really fun and cool, and hey, they have not ostracized me after my first impression being "I'm the Peace Corps Core Expectations Fairy!", so I mean, good people. The next few days look to be filled with gentle adjustment, lots of downtime, and starting to learn things in a classroom like setting.

So I'm going to get back to sitting in my giant gazebo. Did I mention that this gazebo, the centerpiece of our compound, is legitimately named "The Disco Hut?" Yes. More validation that fate brought me to the correct country.

Love you all! Here is my address for things... send me yours! And I'm also posting these on my blog, there are some older (irrelevent because I wasn't in Senegal) entries there. Its address is lisadidwhat.blogspot.com



Address for first 8 weeks of training (aprox. 3-9-11 through 5-9-11)
Lisa Floran

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 299

Thies, Senegal

West Africa



I would end this note with a typical Senegalese greeting but I'm trying not to become a Senegalese culture tool... yet. So instead, I'll just say SENEGALESE PARADISE!

love,
Lisa

The Particulars

I will now take the time to describe exactly what I'm doing in a little bit more detail...

What:

So you have probably gathered that I am headed to the Peace Corps! You also may be wondering exactly what that entails but have been too afraid to ask me for reasons I will never understand, because I am not a scary person. But the mission of the Peace Corps is, in essence,

- To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women!

- To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served!

- To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans!

Or, more simply, Peace Corps sends volunteers to work alongside and collaborate with local communities on agricultural, business, educational, environmental, and health projects, all while fostering a cultural exchange between Americans and whichever country the volunteer lands in. For me in particular, I've been assigned to work with Peace Corps Senegal's PROSPERE program as a Preventive Health Educator. More on my assignment will become more specific as I move through training, but my program focuses the most on nutrition, environmental health, health of vulnerable groups (such as malaria, maternal health, immunizations), and environmental education.

But in order to get to the point where I do all of those things, I first have to go through staging and training. Tomorrow I start my staging: it's basically just the process of preparation and sending me and my group off to Senegal. Over two days, we go over orientation material, get some last minute immunizations, and then jump on a plane to Senegal.

For the first 2-3 months, my group and I will be in Peace Corps Training (PCT). We will live with host families, work on learning some local languages like Wolof and Pulaar, and become masters of technical skills that will pertain to our jobs. I'm definitely looking forward to having a lot of time to really absorb all of the information before I actually start working: this is one of the benefits of the Peace Corps program. They don't throw you to the wolves (ARE THERE EVEN WOLVES IN SENEGAL? I don't know yet). Allowing time for cultural adjustment and helping the volunteers really learn the languages and skills is definitely a priority.

So after that initial training period, we hopefully all move on to our individual sites. Sometimes volunteers are in villages, sometimes larger cities. Sometimes they are grouped with other volunteers, sometimes they are long, quad-defining bike rides from the nearest American. Where I end up remains to be seen. So in the meantime, I'm looking forward to staging and PCT... and hopefully you now understand those words! See? We are all learning here!

But seriously, I hope that everyone now has a better feeling for what is happening here. In the meantime, I'm off to sign my life insurance policies and enjoy some hot cocoa while I lounge in the deliciousness of food made by Katie, Nick, and Katie's roommate Dana! Yeah!

The Quietest Goodbye

So tomorrow, I am off. Almost to Senegal! First to Washington DC on Sunday for two days of orientation (and one evening of hospitality by Katie Sabella). But then! On Tuesday, I leave for the SEN!

It has been a long, long road to arrive at this point.

In particular, the last three weeks have been especially trying. Right before my going-away party, I felt a cold coming on... I tried to coddle it into submission as best I could, and I really thought I had emerged victorious. BUT I HAD WON A MINOR BATTLE, NOT THE WAR. I waltzed into my party, carefree and thinking I was healed, sang a lot of karaoke, stayed out way too late, and BOOM: the next day, I completely and utterly lost my voice, and it didn't return for a week. A WEEK. It was one of the saddest ways to spend my last week in Chicago: SILENTLY. I couldn't dine with people! I couldn't express my feelings about The Bachelor! I couldn't read to the baby! But worst of all, I couldn't orchestrate all the dramatic goodbyes and tearful heart-to-heart talks I had planned in my head.

Eventually, the laryngitis returned to the disease that had TEASED me in the week before my party, and then it like guerilla attacked me. I was the red coat. The disease was the tricksy American. I was following the rules, damnit! But I had forgotten the most important rule of being sick: THERE ARE NO RULES. Yeah my week ended with a lot of vomit. It was disgusting and out of character, but I comforted myself by calling it preparation for Africa. Or thinking of it as a way for me to end my time in America with bad memories of vomit, thus preventing future homesickness.

But whatever, because now I'm on antibiotics, so I'm indestructible. Then again, I also had this weird moment where the Peace Corps nurse called me and made it sound like there was a chance I might not be going to Senegal anymore. I had emailed them about my antibiotics, just because I am ignorant of the ways of medicine: could my antibiotics interfere with my malaria medicine?! What about my rabies shots?! What about my sunscreen?! So much can happen. So I emailed them, they called me back... but I haven't heard anything since... so no news.. is good news? Let's hope so! Especially because I've invested a lot of money at Wal-Mart over the past few days and I will never get it back. So anyway. Antibiotics = indestructible, except if I turn up for orientation only to find out that I have been fired from my volunteer job due to the most dangerous drug of all: GENERIC AUGMENTEN!

But yes. For the past week, I've indulged in my fair share of emotional moments and final meals. Everything has seemed symbolic. Eating guacamole at El Amigo... for the last time in two years! WInning trivia night at Franklin House for the first time EVER... but not coming back to defend the title for two years! Putting my sweaters in my dresser... not to use them for two years! I've been getting carried away. Strangely, I think I had my biggest emotional breakdown while watching Jersey Shore. I was so torn between the world I am leaving behind and what lies ahead! I would get absorbed in Jersey Shore and then stop and think, "Ahhh! What am I doing?! I'm leaving America for TWO YEARS in like TWO DAYS! Why am I spending these last moments by watching crap like Jersey Shore?!" Then I would slightly hyperventilate, but become deeply engrossed in the compelling narrative of Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino sleeping in a bed of grated cheese moments later. Then the cycle would repeat. It was all very meta.

No but seriously, I have done a lot of thinking and reading and perusing old photos and letters during the past week, all of which has led me to feel very, very excited about heading out. I'm excited about the people I'm going to meet and the things I'm going to learn and -- well, I guess I'm just excited for the adventure to unfold. Reading all of my old letters lately has made me especially appreciative of all the wonderful people I have in my life -- it's made me realize how much I'm going to miss not seeing most of you for such a long stretch, but also given me such confidence, just realizing how much support and love I have. Ahh. Sorry. See how quickly things have been going from crazy to emotional for me lately?! I'm like a pendulum of extreme FEELINGS.

In closing, here are some of my gametime packing decisions:

IN: Velveeta

OUT: Cheetos

-- In the battle of the cheeses, there was just too much air in the cheetos bag. Sad :(

IN: Hawaiian maxi dress that cost $3, but might make me look like I'm trying too hard to "be African"

OUT: gold sequined dress.

-- The sequins were just too heavy! And ostentatious and overwhelming and full of memories from Halloween, Miami, and the pride parade.

IN: poster of numerous puppies looking cute

OUT: poster of Justin Bieber

-- Most people probably can't tell the difference between these two posters anyway. But I didn't want to deal with questions about whether the Justin Bieber poster was just a big photo of my brother/uncle/father or worse, HUSBAND. Also, I hate Justin Bieber.

IN: Patti Smith's book

OUT: French-English dictionary.

-- Because I believe in art!!! And Because the night!!!! Here's to hoping I can create enough synonyms with my basic French to somehow express myself.

Thinking of all of you! By Wednesday morning, I'll be in Senegal :) Oh, and here is my address for my first two months. Please pass along your addresses in return!

Address for first 8 weeks of training (aprox. 3-9-11 through 5-9-11)

Lisa Floran

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 299

Thies, Senegal

West Africa

P.S. In the future, I will try to maybe describe what I'm doing a little more. Rather than, you know, just talking about Jersey Shore and my feelings. Don't worry. The time for clarity will come.