Peace Corps summer camp is finally ending… yesterday I had my final Wolof class, and I just finished my last oral exam (despite having oral exams every single semester for PLS in college, they still terrify me and I still always do not reach my potential but I think I passed so it’s okay!). But yes! That means that this Friday, we all truck out to Dakar to swear in as official volunteers with the U.S. ambassador to Senegal! And more importantly, we all finally get to wear our fabulous Senegalese outfits. It will be a RAINBOW OF FUN and include many headwraps and funny hats. I’ve named my outfit “Senegalese Barbie outfit” because it is rose pink with fuschia embroidery and I LOVE IT. Also of note: this ceremony will broadcast on Senegalese television. FAMOUS!
All of this means that I have ended my off-and-on stint with my training host family. They really ended things with a bang for me though! About two weeks ago, my host aunt finally had her baby! Yes… after weeks of false alarms where I would hear random screaming in the house and bust out of my room expecting to see a baby born, it finally happened and I didn’t even notice! I came home from school one day and she wasn’t looking too good… then two hours later, I emerge from my room and notice she’s gone. Everyone casually told me “Oh, she left.” It took 15 minutes of prying for them to reveal that SHE WENT TO THE HOSPITAL TO HAVE A BABY. Then, I’m not even kidding, TWENTY MINUTES later, my host mom comes home and is like, “Oh, Mbaccho had her baby.”
I was like ARE YOU SERIOUS? She was at the hospital for like 30 minutes! She ALREADY has a baby? I guess she was in labor like all day and they just took her to the hospital for the home stretch. But yay! Baby girl! I got to go see her when she was an hour old! Oh, and the kicker: I think they are naming the baby Lisa. Which is ridiculous and awesome and really intimidating. As I was holding this baby that may or may not be named after me (I feel sorry for a child that has to grow up in Senegal with an American name…), I felt a strange sense of responsibility, like how fatherhood is portrayed in the movies. Like I thought, I need to figure out my life, stop partying, get my shit together. I have a baby now.
Later in the week, my family threw a birthday party for me! It was fantastic. They gave me a beautiful white outfit and my friends unanimously decided that when I wear it, I look like Princess Jasmine in pajamas. So yeah, I have two outfits: Senegalese Barbie and Princess Jasmine. But all of the other volunteers in my town came over for a delicious dinner of count them THREE chickens, fries, salad, and bottled juice drinks set out in a circle, much like the birthday parties I used to have in elementary school. There was also dancing. It was super cute and lovely though, especially because no one celebrates birthdays in Senegal. The gesture by my host family was really, really sweet.
Other random tidbits:
- So Osama bin Laden died. I probably wouldn’t have known if my mom (AMERICAN MOM) hadn’t called me in the middle of the night… it was funny because she called because she was scared as I “am an American not in America.” I didn’t really know what the reaction in Senegal would be either, to be frank. But I found out as soon as I woke up: yeah, no one really cared. Also, no one believed me when I said he died. Senegalese Islam is very different from the Islam of the terrorist regimes.
- Also one time I was talking to my mom on the phone and someone was playing a fiddle in the background and she thought it was the call to prayer. I love her.
- We played a soccer game against our teachers a few weeks ago and only lost by one! That’s not bad for a group of Americans versus 20-30 something Senegalese men! And I hit the ball with my head (is that a header? I’ve never played soccer.) I WAS PROUD OF MYSELF AND OUR TEAM.
- We also had a little beach weekend! It was beautiful and someday I will upload pictures. No but seriously. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a beach with a view free of giant industries or smoke stacks or civilization. Gorgeous.
Yes, but I am excited to finally install as a volunteer here. Yesterday, I visited my possible home and new family… nothing is set in stone yet, but if I end up living there with them, I think I will have a pretty great set-up. And right now, the volunteer I’ll be working with for my first few months is doing a needs assessment with the youth groups I’ll be working with them. She’s interviewing them to see what information they’re lacking so we know what to build our curriculum around. I’ll probably spend my first few weeks buying stuff for my house, getting to know my neighbors, practicing my wolof, and attempting to work at this office in my third language. But I am ready!
Also, I just wanted to thank everyone that’s been dropping me notes and emails and letters and well-wishes, birthday ones or otherwise. I definitely have had some rough days, and it means a lot to hear from yall (even if you don’t hear back, because my internet time comes in weird waves and it’s hard to respond.)
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