One Week In

I can’t believe it is only day 5 in country! So much has happened this past week and I am so excited to share with you guys. We arrived very early on Thursday morning and basically went right into training:

We had a culture fair and learned a lot about Senegalese dress, customs, and food. They eat sitting on the floor around a gigantic bowl and everyone eats with their right hand (no utensils). It is totally taboo to ever use your left hand to do anything including eat, hand over money, etc! Our first lunch was a gigantic bowl of spiced couscous with interesting veggies I had never seen before and probably lamb but not exactly sure what the meat was.

Our days are packed and the training is really intense and organized. I am really impressed with all the awesome local teachers we have. The Peace Corps’ approach to learning is very different and they have one of the most outstanding language programs in the world. I feel so luck to be learning an African language with it! Half of this 2 month training will be spent living in a village with a family and learning by conversing with them. On Wednesday I will go to my Community Based Training site (stay with a family in a nearby village and do hands on work) for 5 days then back to the training center!!

On our first trip back from downtown Thies to check out the market, our janky cab completely broke down in the middle of the road! We had not yet learned any Wolof so that was interesting but it worked out.

It is SO HOT here like off the chain. Everyone is sweaty 100% of the time but I’m already kind of getting used to it! I love the people 57 people in my stage. We have a really diverse group from all over the US.

For anyone worried about me - The Peace Corps is EXTREMELY prepared in terms of medical, health, and safety. We each got cases of medical kits with everything you could ever need including antibiotics, malaria meds, and malaria treatment (just in case!).

Today we had an awesome dance party in the center of our courtyard:

Today we also had our first technical training and everyone got really into it! We made composting piles, made vegetable pépinières and planted hot peppers, bitter tomatoes, and cabbage, and learned double digging techniques for soil composition. We also had a class on plant nutrition.

I just found out the language I am learning and I am so excited!! I could have been assigned to one of eight languages that are spoken throughout Senegal: Wolof, Pulaar, Sereer, Janxti, Bambarro, Pula Futa, Fulaa Kunda, or Mandinka and....

I'm learning Mandinka! Mandinka is a minority language in Senegal, and is also spoken in the Gambia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Chad. There are only three of us in my Peace Corps stage learning Mandinka and we will most likely be placed in the far south of Senegal!

 I really feel like I am exactly where I am meant to be at this moment. I am energized and eager for what’s to come!