First off, I am sincerely sorry for not having been in contact in so many months. From the beginning stages of the Department of Kolda’s mosquito net distribution back in June, through… well this morning actually, I feel like I have been running around Kolda and Senegal non-stop, only able to stay in touch via quick emails or facebook posts. This is the part where I would love to say that it’s all going to slow down and clear up, but: between my “cancellation of service” conference which will be in the end of November, the annual “West African All-Volunteer” conference in the beginning of December, and the West African Invitational Softball Tournament (WAIST) in the beginning of February, and of course the many holidays and festivals that take place in Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan that as PCVs far away and lonely from home go out of our way to celebrate in exceptional fashion… I will not be able to slow down until after WAIST. Plus, (glorious, GLORIOUS) cold season is coming up, which is also the best time of year to travel, so I would really like to make it to Mali and Guinea Bissau before March. Actually, speaking of March, I’ll be out of Kolda at least a week and a half during that month as well because the new Health/EE volunteers for 2011 will arrive and I will be required to lead parts of their training. So, make that post my birthday in April that things will smooth out. Then in May or June, I COS (cancellation of service), hopefully go to Tanzania and Malawi to visit my friend who is a PCV there, and then I make my triumphant return to Amerik. Well then. Enough excuses and explanations, let’s talk about what’s been happening since we’ve last talked.
Emily, me and Wilma at one of the many net distributions.
July: \ the Department of Kolda net distribution went really well (and as scheduled!). So, theoretically, every bed in every village in the department of Kolda has a net over it, thus achieving “Universal Coverage” in Kolda. Hooray! Being point person for the distribution we hectic and crazy and pulled me out of my village way more than I wanted to be, but it also gave me the opportunity to rub elbows with many of the big muckity muck doctor-type people in Kolda that I don’t usually socialize with in my village, and I got to work with many of my fellow volunteers around Kolda as nets distributions went down in their villages. All that said, I’m glad it’s over and all the grant forms are done and wrapped up.
August/September: I feel like big things happened in August…. Oh yes! Unfortunately, I spent most of this time out of beautiful Kolda (beautiful because it’s the crux of rainy season in August and everything is gorgeous and green… and flooded). I had a quarterly “Volunteer Advisory Committee” meeting to attend in Dakar in the beginning of the month, and then… I flew to Barcelona, Spain!! I know, I know, I didn’t talk too much about this vacation, but it was SOO wonderful and so necessary at the time as it was my first time leaving the country since I’d arrived in the end of February 2009. As most of you know, I am not one to sit still or stay in one place for too long so I was definitely going a bit stir-crazy.
Quick vacay re-cap:
- Spent 1 1/2 days in Barcelona by myself before my mom and Andrew flew in. I kept busy by visiting the local food store for: cheese, wine, bread, chocolate, peaches, and grapes, trepsing up and down the Rambla visiting various Pubs, and taking hot showers and sleeping as a star-fish diagonally on my big bed (with a real mattress) in my B&B. It. Was. Glorious.
- Then,
Scenery in Pompeii. That's right, we went on walking tours.
mom and Andrew flew in and we met at the docks of our cruise boat for a 5-day cruise around the Mediterranean. Quick recap: 3 stops in Italy, Sorrento is gorgeous and almost too picturesque, Rome is slightly overwhelming but really interesting, Florence I most definitely must return to; 2 stops in France: Nice was amazing! Perfume factory and Village St Paul de Vance, last day was a beach day in Provence, gorgeous. And yes, the boat with its endless amounts of food and fun was stupendous.
"Formal Night" on the cruise with our rockin dinner table of fun.
- I then had 5 days in Barcelona to explore and devour. Ended up going to Valencia on an impromptu trip to join in the annual La Tomatina festivities. (Tomatina is the annul tomato throwing festival in Buñol, near Valencia. CRAZY!) I toured all that Gaudi had to offer, took a cooking class (learned tapas, pallea, and sangrea), and met lots of interesting people at my hostel. It was my first time in Europe and my first time staying in a hostel. Amazing!
- The vacay finished up with five days in Madrid. Amazing city, so much to do and see and the museums are so incredible and the food and the wine and the beer… I’ll stop there. Enough said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Since my travels took place \during most of Ramadan, I had planned to get back to village for the end of Ramadan fete called Korite, but ended up getting massively sick my last few days in Spain and had to spend TWELVE DAYS in the medical hut in Dakar. Did I mention it was 12 days? Ugh. If it wasn’t for my friend Leah who recently broke her foot being there (along with some other fabulous volunteers who were around the office doing paperwork since they were leaving) the stay would have been horrendous.
Finally, back to village. It was amazing. I missed it so much. Spent most of my time following my moms around and helping them with their work since everyone’s busy harvesting.
Poster I made about Moringa Oliferia - a super healthy plant! (Photo by Austin Peterson)
Hangin out with some of the younger ladies at the party. (Photo by Austin Peterson)
Oh! I almost forgot!! I attended an amazing “Healthy Baby Day!” party in my friend Camille’s village. You may recognize Camille from my training photos, because Camille and me learned Mandinka together! As she remains one of my closest friends in the peace corps, it was great to see her and to help with her baby day party. The celebration was in recognition of an 8-\month challenge a mothers in Camille’s \village and surrounding villages took part in to keep their newborns healthy. Women had to participate in monthly baby weighings and causaries to remain a part of the contest, and at the end of the eight months, who ever had the squishiest babies won! On celebration day, myself and 14 other volunteers invaded Camille’s village to help lead a series of health talks and dance circles. It was a stellar project and a super-fun day.
October: Just recently got back from Joal, a city on cost below the point that is Dakar, for the annual health/environmental education volunteer gathering. It was mostly geared towards the newer health/ee volunteers that just arrived in country a few months ago, but it was really nice to step away and see a lot of volunteers I never get to see.
Coming up: we welcome eight new volunteers in a few days to the region of Kolda. This entails us throwing them a huge dinner party, helping them buy all their buckets and trunks and rope that they will need to move into their villages, and for some of them, attending their “moving in/installation” ceremonies in their villages. It’s always fun to see new volunteers arrive, yet weird with this crew because they are the last group of volunteers to arrive before it’s time for my group of volunteers to leave! Nutty, eh? Didn’t think it was so soon, did you? Ready or not, June 2011 I’m heading back! And still, so much to do before then.
