Running, Shopping, Eating – Peace Corps at its best :)

Yesterday evening, I went with a few other trainees to the soccer stadium/practice fields to play soccer. When we got there, the local boys quickly told us that we couldn’t play there. Luckily there was a volunteer from Mauritania (the Peace Corps Mauritania program was shut down just a couple days after we got to Senegal, so there are a few PCVs from Mauritania that transferred to Senegal and are going through training with us) with us who could speak the local language and figure out that we actually have to rent the field out for about the equivalent of $30 for 90 minutes. Since there were about 6 of us, we quickly decided that it wasn’t worth that. On our way back to the training center, a couple other volunteers came jogging by, so I decided to join them. I ran around the field 16 times for a little over 30 minutes. I figure that’s around 3.5 miles (the field wasn’t regulation size specifically, but I’m not sure how off it was…), which made me feel really good. Yay for running – and running in the rain at that, since it was sprinkling for the majority of my run.

I walked into Thiès today with some other volunteers and did some shopping: bought soap for my host family so we can wash our hands with soap before we eat; bought sugar and tea as a gift for my host family (since, as I’ve said before, my brother makes great tea); and bought a soccer ball to give to the local kids in my village since they play soccer all the time, but they play with this tiny little plastic ball. And I got a great deal on the ball, which is always exciting (though another Mauritania volunteer did the bartering…I’ll get to that skill level soon enough I suppose).

I’ve been enjoying the Senegalese food thus far, which consists of lots of white rice, dried and salted fish (that is obviously reheated over the wood fire with everything else), and some veggies such as carrots, cabbage, cassava, and eggplant (shoot, lost the alliteration at the end there). This dish is the Senegalese dish and is called ceebu jen (spelling varies a lot). As much as I like this food, it was nice coming back to the training center and having “American” food for dinner, such as fries, mashed potatoes, and a fresh salad! Yes, fresh veggies rocks my socks off. And I got really excited for our garden at the community garden in our village because hopefully we’ll have some fresh veggies ready by the time our training ends. Dreaming of it already… :)

Oh, and we get our cell phones tomorrow, though I honestly really enjoyed being unconnected from the rest of the world for those several days at the village…I’m sure I’ll find a good balance between the “high-tech” technology of a cell phone connecting me to people abroad and the “low-tech” tech of actually talking with people who are physically with me.

The newest member of the Faal family…

…is me! My name is Soxna Aan Faal (pronunciation key: the “x” is pronounced with a nasal-y “h”, Aan is like “ah-n”, and Faal is like “fall”, which is also how I’ve seen it spelled on my brother’s army ID). I am named after my mom, so everyone jokes that my brothers are my sons, etc. (sort of a standard family thing here, to refer to your husband’s sisters as your sisters and your dad’s brothers as your dads, etc.). My parents are on the older side, so my oldest brother, Modou, is essentially the man in charge at home, because he’s the oldest and because he’s the bread maker (he farms and is a taxi driver). He’s married and has 3 kids (the youngest is a beautiful little baby). I have another brother who lives at home, too, and 2 women who might be my sisters (I think one is actually married to another brother of mine who doesn’t live at home or something…not sure). There is also another family who lives in our compound, and the dad helps out in the fields I think. They have 2 beautiful little kids, and the girl is incredibly helpful to her mother and everyone actually.

I don’t really know where to begin for what to say about the past week. It has been a mix of highs and lows, but mainly a steady mid-high. I spend my mornings with the 3 other trainees in my village learning Wolof with our Peace Corps LCF trainer, Bamba, who is great. Then we usually head to our respective homes for lunch. I typically sit under a mango tree with various members of my family and friends and have lunch mid-afternoon around 2 or 2:30, and then tea…lots of tea. It’s great, though. My brother makes really good tea – awesome mix of tea, mint, and sugar (lots of sugar). Around 4:30 we’d head out to the community garden and work on our demonstration plots for a vegetable garden and tree nursery until about 7 or so. Then we’d go home and chill out before dinner in the dark around 8 or 8:30. Then more chilling before bed around 10:30 or so. Lots of chilling, which is nice since it’s been hot – not super hot, but enough so I start sweating doing just about anything besides sitting/laying under the mango tree. The storms have been great – it’s rained almost every day. One night it stormed around 2am and it was awesome. The wind was so wild that the door to my bedroom blew open! It’s been good I have been dreaming in English, French, and Wolof since I had to try to tell my brother that my door was open not because I had forgotten to close my door but rather because of the wind – conversation a mix of French and Wolof, plus some random English words thrown in when I didn’t know what I was saying while I was half asleep. :)

My Wolof is gradually getting better. That is definitely the most frustrating part of the homestay – not being able to communicate with my family very well at all. Luckily my brother and several other people (almost all men) know French pretty well in the village so I can have conversations with them and also verify my Wolof. I can’t wait until I can actually communicate more than simple greetings and phrases like “I’m going to Bamba’s house for class” or “I’m going to the garden” in Wolof. Patience, persistence, and an enormous amount of laughter are absolutely a must when it comes to this situation. I think I’ve had enough practice with the patience and persistence pieces from other aspects of my life; and it’s hard not to laugh at myself when I completely butcher words left and right, causing puzzled looks on the faces of my family, and when I’m sitting under a mango tree in Africa. Yes, that’s the hidden romantic in me speaking.

But it’s not all laughter and mangoes here. There is real poverty, though my family probably wouldn’t ever say it. I had a long conversation in French with a good friend of my brother’s about how he had quit school because he wasn’t that great at it and because he needed to work to support his family and now he really regrets not staying in school. It’s like that all over Africa, he said – and the world, I said. And though there is more community here than I’ve ever felt in my life, there is also hierarchy and privileges for some. And though everyone (for the most part) loves the kids and watches out for them and feeds/cleans/clothes them, there is also little hesitation when it comes to disciplining them. I hesitate to write this because I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about Senegalese people, but it’s true: the taboo about hitting a child in the US does not exist here. This type of discipline doesn’t always happen and not every parent does it, but it’s not looked down upon the same here as it is in the states. Also, cleanliness here is on a completely different level than back home, though I’m of the mindset that whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. The kids here definitely have stronger immune systems than kids in the US. (Just wish it wasn’t true that so many kids die in Africa because of very preventable/curable illnesses such as diarrhea.)

I hope to have time to write a few more thoughts here in the next couple days while we’re back in Thiès, but I can’t make any promises. Though I sometimes wonder what I do with hours during my day, I always seem to be busy, and I’m sure the next few days won’t be an exception.

“Tou-bob”

This is the Wolof word for “stranger” – the kids here say it all the time when we walk anywhere. It’s not too annoying…yet anyway. According to other volunteers, it gets really old after a while. Adults also say it – at least then we know if they’re talking about us. :)

Impromptu talent show

We had an impromptu talent show one of the first nights we were here. Lots of tap dancing, guitar playing, juggling, story-telling…and laughing! Good times. :) I have video of some of it, but probably won’t ever get around to posting it…

PCT in Thiès

Seeing as I haven’t been very good at keeping this blog updated, I’ll run through the first few days of PCT (Peace Corps Training) by sticking to the highlights.

Bismillah means welcome!

The first day we were here, we had language, technical, and medical interviews to help the Peace Corps Senegal teachers/staff know what to teach us and where to place us. We had plenty of down time to get to know each other more and get used to our new home.

The “Disco Hut” = our most common hang out place in the compound.

One of the many caterpillars that are all over the compound.

During the second and third days of PCT, we split up into our technical groups (I’m sustainable agriculture, and there is also urban ag, agroforestry, and small enterprise development) and learned a bit more about what our goals and duties will be when we become PCVs. We also spent time as a large group learning more about the Senegalese culture – we learned which foods and spices are common here, how to properly slurp tea, what clothes are appropriate for what occasions, how to get water from a well, and how to go to the bathroom (though some of us already experienced the pit latrines at the airport [see third picture from my previous post]). Yesterday afternoon we also had our first safety and security training, which was a bit frightening. I think our safety and security officer intentionally makes the first training so intimidating to toughen us up right away and keep us on our toes all the time. He said he’ll send us period text messages (once we get cell phones, which will be in the next few days I think) with just 2 words: “eyes open” Can’t wait for those. :) Then we had a brief walking tour of the “red zone,” which is the one area in Thiès that we’re never ever supposed to go. He took us there so we wouldn’t be so curious about this forbidden area to try going there on our own. Then the PCVs that are helping with training took us on a tour of Thiès: we saw the market, the restaurant area, the stadium, and other areas. And we may or may not have accidentally returned via the red zone.

For fun, I’ve played basketball and volleyball quite a bit, which, as anyone who has ever met me knows, means I’m practically in heaven. And it wasn’t even that challenging playing volleyball in a skirt…though I did change into capris for the next game.

Our volleyball court! (with the disco hut in the background)

This morning we learned more about our homestays as well as the language we’ll be learning during our homestay. (Quick side not about languages in Senegal: French is the national language of Senegal since it was colonized by the French, however there are numerous local languages spoken in Senegal. There are general regions in Senegal where each language is spoken, though some can be found in small areas throughout Senegal. Wolof is the most common, so it is spoken throughout Senegal. ) I am learning Wolof, which I am really excited about. (I will be calling you, Alec, so we can both practice our Wolof!) I could be placed almost anywhere in Senegal, but most likely in central or northern Senegal.

We had our first Wolof class this morning, and I learned how to say hello: “Asalaa malekum” (technically this phrase is Arabic, not Wolof), which actually means “Peace be with you.” And one response to the question “how are you” is “Maangi sant”, which means “I’m thanking God.” There is much we, as Americans, can learn from the Senegalese (and West Africans in general) and this is one such example. They do not just say “Hello!” as an initial greeting, but rather express their desire for everyone to find peace. Similarly, rather than saying how they are feeling at that moment, Senegalese say they are thanking God, which they (and I) cannot deny that regardless of our temporary feelings or even overall mood, we should thank God for our lives since he created us and sustains us.

Our classroom

The rules we established before starting our Wolof lessons. Bamba is our teacher. (His official title is “Language and Culture Facilitator.” He will be living in the village with us during our homestays so we can have class together as a group in the mornings and so he is close in case we have any questions or problems.)

My language/culture training group (from left to right): Jo, Cora, Theresa, and me! (Apparently the reflector on my shirt works!) :)

This afternoon we split into our technical groups again and we aggies learned what sorts of gardens we will be planting as our demonstration plots, as well as how to start a small tree nursery, since all volunteers, regardless of their sector, are expected to start a small tree nursery and help people in their area learn how to plant and maintain (as well as conserve and use) trees. We will start our garden plots and tree nurseries at our homestay villages tomorrow, which is useful (and fun) since all the PCTs in each village will work on their garden and nursery together. It was sweet to finally get our hands dirty and play in the dirt.

Before dinner I went out to the market in Thiès with a few other PCTs to get tea and sugar for our host families. Drinking tea (with lots of sugar apparently) is a pretty regular thing to do each afternoon when it is too hot to do much of anything else. What I can’t quite get over is how they can stand drinking something hot during the hottest part of the day. I start sweating drinking tea each morning with breakfast…but I guess that’s another one of those “your body will adapt” things. It was fun to practice our Wolof, especially since they father and son selling us the tea and sugar were really helpful and friendly. It certainly was frustrating, though, only being able to say a few things to him in Wolof, and only a bit more in French.

We leave tomorrow afternoon for our homestays for 7 days. Then we’ll come back to the training center for about 4 days before going back to our homestays. This is what our schedule will be like for the next 9 weeks or so. Seeing as we’re leaving the confines of the comfortable Peace Corps compound, I will no longer have electricity, a flush toilet, a shower, internet, and other such modern conveniences I’ve enjoyed my whole life. I’m mainly saying this so you all know I won’t be updating my blog or anything until next Sunday at the earliest. It is both exciting and incredibly nerve-wracking to know that tomorrow night I won’t be hanging out with all the other PCTs, but rather struggling to remember the few words I’ve learned in Wolof to communicate as childishly as possible with my host family. Just the next step in this grand adventure I suppose. :)

We've arrived!

After maybe 2 hours of sleep, I flew from Minneapolis to DC for my “staging.” When I asked at this cute old man at the information desk at the airport the best way to get to our hotel, he asked me if I liked adventures. I told him that yes, I do, I’m actually joining the Peace Corps tomorrow. He replied with, oh yeah, you’ve got to love adventures if you’re joining the Peace Corps. So he told me directions to the metro and told me which train to take, and I grabbed my luggage for 2 years (which weighed probably around 120 pounds [PC limit for checked bags is 80 pounds, but I was a bit over that…plus had carry-on items…]) and took off for the first of many adventures. The trek wasn’t so bad, until I got off the train and had to walk outside. I was already tired from having to walk from the airport to the metro station, and then I had to walk about 10 more blocks (seemed like way more than that) to get to the hotel. And it was incredibly hot and humid. One man sitting outside at a restaurant even said: “Be careful there sista. It’s hot outside. Make sure to drink plenty of water.” I did that once I got to the hotel, literally dripping in sweat. Luckily most of the other volunteers were the same way, though some took taxis. I think that would have been a smarter idea considering the amount of luggage I had…but then it wouldn’t have been quite so adventuresome, right?

During our staging, we learned a bit about each other as well as the standard Peace Corps policies, like you have to take your malaria meds, let your CD (Country Director) and other Peace Corps Senegal staff know when and where you’re going on a vacation, and don’t date other American government workers (since they could be involved in intelligence work, and the Peace Corps doesn’t like such associations, as has already been mentioned). Nothing terribly ground breaking, but interesting for the most part.

After 6 hours of that, we were free for the night. My friend Katie, who lives near DC, met me at the airport and we had a wonderful dinner together. When we got back to the hotel, we met Kate, another PCT (Peace Corps Trainee), who is also from St. Olaf, so we talked about our beloved college on a hill for a while. This Ole connection is only one of several that I have with PCTs/PCVs in Senegal. A current PCV in Senegal who is helping with training went to my high school and graduated one year before me. (Another PCT also knows him – they went to college together.) Another PCV’s twin sister went to St. Olaf and also graduated a year before me. Another PCT is from Maple Grove, which is a city right near my own hometown. And 2 other PCTs went to Cornell for undergrad and know some of the same professors and grad students I do. Small, small world.

Anyway, the next morning we got our yellow fever shots and then spent several hours (our last few hours in the States) chilling in the Dulles airport. Everyone had typical American food: hamburgers, pizza, Bud Light, ice cream, etc. My last meal of choice: pizza and ice cream. Delicious. :)

The flight was relatively uneventful. Watched a couple movies, read a little, and slept a little. Oh, and one of the male flight attendants asked me to go with him to South Africa (we were flying on South African Airways so most of the flight staff was South African) to play basketball with his cousin. I told him I didn’t think it would be feasible for me to do that for the next few years, but maybe I’d look him up later.

Here are my first views of Senegal:

My Peace Corps Assignment

I am new to this whole blogging thing, but decided it would be fun to have a blog about my Peace Corps service (and it helps fulfill the third part of the Peace Corps Mission), so here goes nothing...

My official title is "Sustainable Agriculture Extension Agent." Hence, "Agent Stoermer." I also think it would be super cool to be a secret agent, for the CIA or FBI or something, but the Peace Corps specifically prohibits Volunteers from having any connection of any sort to anyone involved in intelligence work. So, an "agriculture agent" title will have to do for the next couple years... As for the "agent dstorm" part....well, D Storm has been a nickname of sorts for several years, and it's easier to spell than Stoermer. So there you have it - an explanation for almost everything (whith an emphasis on almost).

I'll be working in the Peace Corps' agriculture and community development sector in Senegal as an ag extension agent. What that all means specifically is still to be determined, so you'll have to check back to find out. :)

For those of you new to the Peace Corps (like I was about 2 years ago), here are the three goals that define the Peace Corps Mission:
1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women.
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans.

I have these goals listed here not only for others, but also as reminder to myself. Here's another reminder for myself - the Core Expectations for Peace Corps Volunteers:

In working toward fulfilling the Peace Corps Mission of promoting world peace and friendship, as a trainee and Volunteer, you are expected to:

1. Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months.
2. Commit to improving the quality of life of the people with whom you live and work; and, in doing so, share your skills, adapt them, and learn new skills as needed.
3. Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship, if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service.
4. Recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture.
5. Recognize that you are responsible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your personal conduct and professional performance.
6. Engage with host country partners in a spirit of cooperation, mutual learning, and respect.
7. Work within the rules and regulations of the Peace Corps and the local and national laws of the country where you serve.
8. Exercise judgement and personal responsibility to protect your health, safety, and well-being and that of others.
9. Recognize that you will be perceived, in your host country and community, as a representative of the people, cultures, values, and traditions of the United States of America.
10. Represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service.

And so, with those goals and expectations in mind, I am preparing for the experience of a lifetime, or (to quote the Peace Corps) "the most meaningful, frustrating, exciting, testing and important phase of your life." :)