Chimps, Cholera, & Christmas

I suppose it is notable that I saw chimpanzees at my site the last week. It was the last day of harvesting peanuts at the fields and the children saw a dozen or more chimps running across the field and playing in a tree just to our left. It’s great that I saw them (it’s not everyone who can see chimps at their site), although I am not ecstatic about it, since I have seen “wild” monkeys before. Nevertheless, very cool I suppose! Below is the direction we were looking when I saw them (along with the kids I was with, three of which are my siblings; Mama Saliou (Bulla), Diby, Binta & Adama Hawa)

The other day I was listening to the BBC and a story has come on that is particularly upsetting. There is a cholera outbreak in Haiti, thought to be brought by Nepalese United Nations workers due to improper waste disposal. I find this rather upsetting because the nation eradicated the disease over a hundred years ago and I think it is devastating that thousands are dying and there is yet another pandemic for the country to have to deal with as another result of the earthquake.

For the first time, I traveled on Christmas eve. It turned out to be a borderline disastrous experience and validified that I never will plan to travel on that day again. On the 23rd while biking in the 75km from site, I called the bus company to reserve a ticket for the following morning to Tambacounda. However, when I got into Kedougou, the company was closed since it was prayer time on a Friday (the Sunday, if you will, of Christianity). They told me to come back to pay at 6 that evening. When I got there, they had sold my ticket. Fortunately, I had more options. The following morning I went to the garage to wait for a sept place which left relatively promptly (in just over an hour). I arrived in Tamba four hours later and was told that there were no sept places running to Kolda and was directed towards the Alhum. I knew it was going to take longer, although I didn’t realize that it would more than DOUBLE the time it should take to get to Kolda since it makes so many stops. Nine hours later, and after dark, I arrived. Uckh. However, the house was full of volunteers, there were decorations and stockings, and it immediately cheered me up. In the morning we woke up to Christmas cookies and people made a spectacular breakfast of potatoes, egg casseroles, chocolate pancakes, and banana pancakes. Christmas movies (It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, Love Actually, National Lampoons Christmas, etc) ran on the projector screen all day with Christmas music in between. For dinner, a pig was cooked and there was mashed potatoes, biscuits, carrots and hummus, and apple pie for dessert. I also had the opportunity to skype with the family which was wonderful. Christmas was certainly not the same, although it was pleasant nevertheless.

Things that are surpringly acceptable

I find that when I am abroad things, I would like to think, that I would never do in America become acceptable, if not routine. For instance, while trekking in Nepal, I discovered how well ketchup went with fried rice or even chow mein (I did not come up with this on my own).

Here in Senegal are a few things that I somehow deem acceptable as well… Not cooking for myself (the majority of the time e.g. only cooking for myself when “away” from home); instant coffee (although this isn’t a new phenomenon, it is something I only subject myself to when it is the only coffee available at boutiques); excessive sugar (in tea, coffee, or by consuming soda or snacking on sugarcane); massive amounts of carbs and fried things; fried spaghetti with onions and potato; bean sandwich (beans with varying/unknown spices) on a baguette, occasionally with spaghetti and onion (if I’m feeling adventurous; fried canned meat (which I tried for the first time in country) with onion on a baguette; riding a bike that treacherous terrain without fully functioning gears or brakes; waiting for a shopowner to be done praying to buy something

Also it is the lifestyle nuances such as: finding frogs, unknown insects, mice, or bats in one’s hut; going at minimum 3km to get cell phone service, and even farther for electricity to charge one’s phone; on that note, going 75km for internet; being woken by chickens at who knows what hours of the night; having goats, chickens, sheep, and cats wander around the common living area, and consequently doing their business everywhere; doing laundry by hand/in the river by slamming clothes against rocks; having to wait unknown amounts of time to get a car somewhere; needing to sweep one’s room everyday to clear it of feathers, dust, dirt, unknown defecation, etc;

Things that are great though are: the weekly market near my village; visiting other volunteers; the sunset over the grass roofs of huts; listening to the BBC focus on Africa and world headlines at the end of the day; an amazing night sky; having a time during the day when you are not expected to do anything (after lunch during the hottest part of the day… I typically read or study since I am not a “napper”); the simplicity of living; having meals prepared for you so you can go on a run in the morning and come back to a hot breakfast; feeling deeply appreciated; having opportunities to collaborate work in nearby villages; being recognized and known throughout a few village radius; finding new bush paths that lead to somewhere useful; making my hut a home; tailors (I wish I had better accessibility/an excuse to use them!); setting up my hammock next to the river to read; studying or listening to the BBC by candlelight in my hut to be joined by my host mom and little sisters for dinner; bonfires in the "cold" (65 degree) evenings.

Travel Woes

Traveling within Senegal is a particular kind of experience. It is reminiscent of frustrations I have encountered before, although, to a new extreme.

During preservice training, I did not have to deal often with arranging transport myself. We were frequently taken around in Peace Corps cars, and when we did go places at our training sites, our language and cultural facilitator (Pape) would negotiate a ride. While at the training center in Thies, we would frequently take cabs that were commonly found on a road just a block away, and if not, it wasn’t really that far to walk. Again, we are talking distances within a 5km radius. However, once I moved into the Kedougou region, things are much more spread out, and the first experiences on public transport were quite frustrating (although biking the 3km or 5km—depending if I am in my village or at the regional house--to the market is typically carefree and successful)!

Let me elaborate: I was trying to get back to my village before Thanksgiving since I had been away for a few days exploring the surrounding villages of Kedougou. I tried the privatized bus company (that is more like unreliable public transport in the States; e.g. a schedule(that isn’t posted anywhere) doesn’t necessarily mean that it comes when it should, and by schedule, I mean a couple times a week) , Niokolo, but it wasn’t running for some particular reason. I decided I would go to the garage, a hectic place where cars, sept places (seven passenger cars, although I have been in one seating ten), and Alhums (bigger busses that typically have a minimum of twenty five people on the four rows of bench seats and two sideways facing benches in the back) gather and people wait until cars fill up to go places. Time is not incentivized at all here. I missed a sept place although I arrived early, and decided to bike. However, my bike broke and I ended up flipping over the handlebars. I got picked up on the side of the road after waiting for five hours to go back to Kedougou. In order to get back to village after Thanksgiving, I bought a seat on the Alhum (since the night before we arranged for seats on a smaller car, but it decided not to go) and it didn’t leave for seven hours. For Christmas I was traveling to Kolda, after biking the 75km into Kedougou (getting a flat tire), when I went into the private bus company office to pay for my ticket that I called in to reserve and was told to come in at 6 to pay, was sold. The bus was full. Result, going to the garage in hopes of catching a sept place in the morning.

However, when I did take the overnight bus to Dakar, it was more or less pleasant although I was completely covered in red dust by the time I reached the city.

I have accepted that whenever I travel in this country, if it is not a headache, it is an exception.

First Impressions, Adventures, and Thanksgiving!

The first couple weeks in Kedougou have been great! I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I had a really productive first few days in that: I unpacked [!] and organized myself in my new living space; met the women’s group, saw their garden and introduced the idea of composting and the importance of finishing the fence so the animals will not eat everything; worked a lot on my language, had a some successful conversations; went to the peanut fields and was introduced to many of the men of the village by my counterpart; repaired the gaps in my fence around my backyard/shower area; double dug a garden bed in my back yard; had my hair braided by my sister; found the BBC station on my radio and at what angle it least cuts out; successfully started training for a marathon; explored the village a bit and started to get a grasp on where all the footpaths go; finished a book; carried a bucket of clean laundry on my head from the river; figured out the best way to transport water from the water pump to my hut; and went to the weekly market (where I got to buy things for my host family, have lunch with other volunteers, talked about potential [local] work partners in addition to meeting one, and use my phone!). Thanks to the cell phone service I enjoyed while in Salemata at the market, I found out about an overnight excursion to a waterfall that Robert and Alan were planning on doing in the upcoming days.

Wednesday night, I biked out to Ilana’s village, Matecossi (about 40km away), making it there just before dark. I enjoyed seeing another volunteer in their village and interacting with her family. In the morning, I helped her organize her room and showed her an efficient way to get water from the forage (hand water pump) as her family had been pulling her water for her. Then, Ilana and I biked about 8km to her market town, Thiokoye, where Alan and Robert were planning on meeting me. Unfortunately Ilana got a flat tire, and it was a slow go to Thiokoye, although when we arrived we had service to receive a text message that the boys were running late. We enjoyed bread and chocolate sauce and water while waiting for their arrival. Ilana walked back to her bike with a new tire in hand, and the three of us stopped at a forage to replenish water before heading toward Ingeli Waterfall. It took us nearly three hours to cover the 15km to the waterfall due to a bit of confusion about where the path was, taking an incorrect path that was only used by people who make palm wine, bushwhacking, and walking through tall grasses, to meet up with Cameron and Eric. Ingeli is gorgeous, and big! We swam in each of the three layers of pools and enjoyed feeling “cold.” We set up camp in the woods, and started a fire to make dinner. It was a really enjoyable night! Surprisingly, there was occasional cell phone service and I was able to catch up with a few other volunteers.

In the morning, Eric suggested going to another waterfall near Pellel and I couldn’t refuse. Alan headed back as the remaining four of us hiked up to try to get to the top of the waterfall, however, we ended up at a great vantage point looking towards the waterfall and the mountains that create a border with Guinea, and the consequent valleys that enter Senegal. After hiking down, we biked off towards Eric’s village because he needed to meet up with his work partner after Friday afternoon prayer. After eating leftover lunch from his family, and making leftover spaghetti from the night before, we biked to the path where the waterfall is. We parked our bikes and walked for about an hour until we discovered that the waterfall would be dried up. It was a pleasant walk and I am excited to go back in the future! Eric headed back to his village, and Cameron, Rob, and I biked to Dindefello. It was getting dark and Cameron went home since he only had 10km to bike. Rather than accompanying him (since we would just be backtracking in the morning), Rob and I decided to go to Badji’s house, a former resident of Chris Hedrick’s village when he volunteered. He is the wealthiest man in the village and loves having Peace Corps volunteers stay with him and has a hut for whenever it happens. It was also a saving grace since there was not a car until morning, we were about 40km from Kedougou, and the Lily, a woman who works for the Jane Goodall Institute and lives in Dindefello, had recently left for vacation. After a stop at the sandwich lady to replenish our energy, we, along with what felt like the whole town, watched television in the outdoor hut before eating dinner and going to bed. We woke up, were offered breakfast, and decided to bike up to Kedougou rather than dealing with waiting for a car. It took us about an hour and forty five minutes. After running errands in town, I found out that a car to Salemata, the direction towards my town, had recently left and I wouldn’t be able to get one until the morning. I was satisfied with that considering I had biked nearly 60 MILES over the past few days, mind you, on a mountain bike, on corresponding terrain.

Sunday morning I woke up early, went to the garage, and just barely missed a car. It was still early so I decided that I would bike the 75km to my village rather than waiting for an unknown amount of time. About 12km into my ride, my bike locks up (I don’t know what happens, but the pedals will not turn). A man on a moto stops to help, although he ends up only pointing me in the direction of the closest town, Bandafassi, where there is normally a volunteer, although I knew he was still in Kedougou having seen him the night before. However, I was told that there was a bike mechanic so I walked that direction to find him. I locate him and seemingly my bike is fixed. I am on and off the phone with the safety and securities man from Peace Corps, Mbouille, and volunteers in Kedougou, and inform them that I am going to continue on. Within minutes, the bike locks up again and I fly over my handlebars, conveniently as I was going downhill. I walk myself and belongings up to the campement Mbouille suggested earlier and wait to coordinate how I am going to get to either Kedougou or Diarra Pont. I ended up waiting on the side of the road for nearly four hours waiting to flag down a car that is coming from Salemata. However, somehow that doesn’t work and Rob’s work partner comes to get me. Talk about a frustrating experience. The following Morning is Monday, and I was planning on biking back Tuesday morning with the Salemata crew for Thanksgiving, so I end up staying in Kedougou again. It was good though because I was finally able to get the final report the former volunteer at my site, and download and look at a bunch of applicable Peace Corps documents. I also got to cook and bake a lot which was surprisingly relaxing. However, so much for fulfilling the five week challenge.

Thanksgiving: where to start! Well, I am very fortunate that I was with Americans to celebrate this particular holiday. Furthermore, it was really great because I had a visitor, Brent, come down to see me! He got a mini tour of Kedougou too! We went to a hotel for lunch, swam in the pool, went into the market several times, went for a swim in the river, and went to Segou and camped by a waterfall. As for Thanksgiving, we made a pig-tur-duck-en, (chicken stuffed instide of a duck, inside of a turkey, inside of a pig) that we put in the ground for 20hours. I contributed apple pie and stuffing, although there were also mashed potatoes, cheesecake, carrot cake, and peas. Quite successful considering our resources I must say! There were probably about 20 people at the house.

The following day Kyle, Brent, and I waited all morning (five hours) for a car to Segou. However, once we got there, we saw Kyle’s village, cleared brush from in front of the campement (lodge) sign, and then hiked out to the waterfall. It was a slow go since Brent and I were not feeling well. However, there was a wonderful swimming hole beforehand where, again, the water was so cold and refreshing! Once we got there, it was getting dark so we found places to camp, on uneven rocky surfaces so we could say that we woke up next to the waterfall. It was an interesting camping experience (as in, it was the least prepared I have ever been since we didn’t completely decided beforehand if we were going to camp or stay at the campement). The following morning we hiked back to the campement and passed a few French tourists on the way. One of the men actually lives in Tambacounda and Brent and I a ride to Kedougou after stopping in the market in Dindefello. Brent and I graciously accepted as we were not looking forward to waiting for a car on the side of the road, even if supposedly there would be many since it was market day. The next morning Brent started his transport adventure back to Koalack and I waited until 2:30pm for a car back to my village. It was so good to be back!