Easter Weekend

While Senegal is known for being a Muslim country, about 20% of the population of Mboro is actually Catholic. We have a beautiful church complex (school, chapel, dance hall, clinic, and living area), a handful of booze selling outlets, and even a few nuns on mission in our fair hamlet. The two religious groups get along swimmingly side-by-side: the elected mayor of Mboro is Catholic but most of his cabinet is Muslim, and the Catholic school is home to most of the practicing children (who can afford to go) but quite a few Muslim children attend as well.  I’ve yet to hear of one conflict between the two parties; which is to be expected, but just in case you were wondering…

Taibatoise Catalog

As Demba and I gear up for future festivals, expositions, and tourism conferences planned for my last few months of service, I felt it was time to make him a catalog. And what better place to display the draft than here? The one caveat is that everything displayed is thanks to the efforts of by Demba and myself. He has other products (Senegalese style bags, shoes, and even home decor) but I wanted to display our work together! You'll have to check out the catalog to see the full range of products.

Thiou Yap

And so another recipe is recorded as Aida, Proprietor of the Resto Porokhane, and I move onto another business topic: Marketing. Today we sat down to learn another of my favorite dishes Thiou Yap (pronounced “chew yap”). This is a wonderful tomato based meat and vegetable dish served over white rice.

Breaking Points

Now that I’m nearing the end of my service quite a few people have asked me questions like “If you had it all to do over again, would you?” and “Have you become a better person through this experience?” And the answer to both is pretty easy: yes! If I had my own experience to do all over again, I would do it. I go through the training, the faux pas, the weight loss, the adjustments, the vacations, and the million and one colds all over again because of the person it’s made me.

Anger Management

My New Year’s Resolution was to write more; both in my blogs and in my own personal journal. I’ve been doing an excellent job of chronicling my seemingly random thoughts and emotions in my off line endeavors.  I’ve been looking for a way to describe my troubles to family and friends and possibly ask them for advice, but I never seemed to find a way about it. And yet as I went back over the last month, where it seemed like I dealt with a lot of anger management, I decided to just bite the bullet and share. I've since mounted this mole hill and I no longer feel so angry, but maybe sharing it will provide some insight about the day to day life of a volunteer.

Thiebou Yap

Continuing with the recipes that I eat quite frequently and enjoy, I present you with Thiebou Yap (pronounced “cheb boo yah-p”) this is a traditional lunch meal translated to mean rice with meat.

Toilet Woes

My Western Toilet

I’ve dealt with mice invasions, leaky roofs during rainy season, and getting screens put in my windows… but none of these has been more inconvenient than the near two week long incident that has come about with my toilet.

Bissap 101

I've had a few people indicate interest in traditional African recipes, so I’ve started to collect a small database comprised of my most favorite or easily made dishes. Recently, I had a guest whose family back home was looking for the “how-to” on bissap juice.

Investment Talk

, 

Money in the Market

What is an investment? Where I live, it means spending all your money as soon as you get it so as to avoid the possibility of giving to someone else. For if someone was to ask you for money, and you had it, you would need to give it to them by rule of Senegalese (and West African?) culture. Instead, you should buy something for yourself or the house as soon as you receive the funds. This way you’ve bought the cement, for example, needed to build that wall you’ve always wanted. Granted the cement is only the first step because you also need sand delivered and the labor to make the blocks… but it’s a building block (pun intended). You’re now one step closer to having your dream wall thanks to the investment.

High Points

Saliou

It’s hard to stay positive every day of my Peace Corps service; some days are much harder than others. And so, I found myself taking a few moments each evening to review the best part of my day and sharing it with a fellow volunteer. Anything that makes me laugh or smile, diffuses frustration or anger, or generally lifts the spirit counts! It’s the one time when size doesn’t matter…

Murder Mystery

When I was a kid, I remember my parents throwing murder mystery parties every year on New Year’s Eve. I remember our house being transformed into a high school reunion, a cruise line, a ‘speak easy,’ and so many more fun places. The idea of a murder mystery party is that someone dies, people are assigned characters and clues, and everyone guesses who done it.

Random Facts on Senegal

These are little tid-bits, specific to Senegal’s people or culture, which should be shared. However they are too short to be described in their own individual postings so I’ve compiled them here. Their briefness doesn’t somehow make them less interesting, though, so pay attention:

English Class

The beans have already been spilled that I moonlight as an English teacher once a week. It’s a secondary project by Peace Corps standards; meaning it’s a method to occupy time that has nothing to do with small enterprise development.

Family Bio

Peace Corps Volunteers in Senegal are assigned to live in host families as a means of protection, integration, and cultural experience. All gripes aside, my family is pretty great and I’d like to tell you a bit about each one of them.

Artisan Work

Magic Wallet & More

I was introduced to my “leather guy,” as most PCVs call the artisan Demba Mbow, when I formally visited Mboro on a 5 day tour with my predecessor in September of 2009. The guy had made a couple of quality items for my predecessor: new wallet, a belt, and a few items for his female family members back home. At the time, I’d tossed him my magic wallet from J. Crew to see if he could recreate it. A few weeks later, I went back.

Palmarin to Mar Lodj

Well, I’ve done it again. A friend of Christine’s came to visit and we just couldn’t resist another great kayaking experience. But this story has so much more to it.

Extreme Rollercoaster

I had a perfect Sunday. I slept in late and read a book in bed under the covers. I got up midmorning and ate breakfast while doing some writing. I greeted my family, but they left me alone to work. Then I walked over to the school to connect to the internet, wrote a friend a letter and had spare time to browse some articles on the web. After some friendly banter with a few kids and a call from Kenny, I went home change and get ready for the day.

Revamp Tour

One of my new year’s resolutions was to improve the quality of this blog. There’s really no point in doing something half-assed, right? Thanks to the tutoring of my gorgeous savvy sister, you may have noticed additional navigational options, the addition of pictures, or the newly created pages… and I hope you enjoy them.

Medical Situation

As soon as I got home from a trip to Dakar, I knew I was at risk for getting sick (for the millionth time!) when I spotted mom stumbling around with an achy body and coughing up a storm. Awesome. The two people I can’t avoid catching a cold from are my mom and youngest brother, Saliou. I spend too much time with these two. Lo and behold, a few days later I woke up feeling off.

3rd Year

Soap Packaging Project

So if I’ve created a bucket list, you better believe the thought has crossed my mind once, or several hundred times, what I’ll be doing once my service with Peace Corps is up. It’s not unusual that I have no idea- that hasn’t changed much since people started asking in high school. However, there are a few things I’ve figured out. I’m not boarding a plane from Dakar directly to the US. Wherever I land will give me reliable internet access. At some point I’ll force my Dad to sit through another graduation ceremony (for my master’s degree), but I don’t know that that will be this year or the next. I’m also certain that I’ll have to determine a permanent address in the USA to maintain voting privileges, but I couldn’t tell you where that will be. Basically, I still use the phrases “when I grow up” and “I’ll tell you when I’m done.”