Where have I been

Book: “East of Eden” Steinbeck, and “Taoist Tales”
Song: “You aint a killer” Big Pun
Quote: “Bien Sur”

10 things I love in Senegal
1: Speaking English to people who are trying to learn. (They know how I feel now)
2: Kids scared of my beard
3: The expectation that I am fluent after 6 days of Wolof Training
4: Cheeb u Jen
5: Petting goats
6: Inventing stuff (Fishing Poll, Mosquito Net Holder)
7: Even with horrible French people ask me if I am French
8: I can walk into any building and demand the boss and then see them
9: The national anthem
10: If you are at some ones house during lunch, they offer you food. I have a circuit worked out to eat three lunches a day.

Wow, it has been a while since we last spoke. No I haven’t completely lost my mind yet and yes I think I am starting to figure out some stuff I can accomplish. To start off with, training was a little slow for me, but it was good to reconnect to a few other people and see what they have been up to for the last few months. I discovered I am just as useless as most of the other volunteers in my stage. Many others are in a similar stagnant stag of their service, just trying to figure out what is going on and discovering the language and community. I learned a little more Wolof, which I was proud of, but I am not fluent so I was reminded of that when I got back. I do now have the skills to improve on my own which is really important for me. We also had a softball tournament, which was a lot of fun. My team lost every game by a lot, but we did have the cutest uniforms and best dance moves. My team was almost all girls so we had the important things in order such as dancing and uniforms. It was a nice break to eat hotdogs and have an occasional beer. You can check out some of the pictures online also if you were curious as to my uniform. After the tournament I spent a night in Louga to check out my friends site and see what type of work she has going on. It is good to be back and I have a lot on my plate which is great since I wont feel so bored or useless anymore. I am still working with the artisan and we are right now trying to get him to export via the internet. So I am taking pictures of his product and starting a website for all of the artist in Senegal that the Peace Corps volunteers work with. A funny story actually, I go to his house the other day where he sells his art from and he tells me we are going to go to his boutique. “Oh you have a boutique?” I start asking my self why have you not been selling out of your boutique this whole time, maybe it is a new place. Yeah, he has a store on the river front where the tourist get off of the boat. This whole time, for years in fact, and he has been selling his product out of his house. My mind has officially been blown. So we are now working on fixing up his boutique a little bit. Besides that I am starting a garden, with tomatoes and a few other vegetables. I am using all recycled materials for the garden except for making the gate to keep the goats out. I am using old tomato cans and buckets. Also using some onion bags to protect from lizards and the sun. I am also starting a tree nursery to see if I can get the kids to start one. I am one of three people planning the all SED conference, which is for all volunteers in the business sector. That will be a little difficult since I am not even sure if we have permission yet to have a conference. Djiby’s English club is at a standstill also because the kids are scared of my beard. It is ok, they will overcome their fears and we will have a strong English club once again. For all of you people with snow, it was 92 degrees in St. Louie, which is the coldest city in Senegal. So I have no clue how hot it is here because it gets way hotter where I am.
That is all I have to report as of now. I will talk to you soon and have a spring. Check out my photos.