There is much to be thankful for...

Where do I start? The last month has been pretty great. My trip to Egypt and Dubai to see my friend Nick was no less than amazing. It was so good to see an old friend and have more than a 15-minute conversation with someone from “back home”! He had to work during the day, so I saw the pyramids and Memphis ruins outside of Cairo by myself. I also went down the Nile to Luxor for a day to see the Valley of the Kings (the site of King Tut’s tomb as well as many others), Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatchetsup’s temple and a few other temples. That may have been one of the single most interesting days of my life—so much history and really such a different time (thousands of years before Christ). We went to Dubai for two days within the week that I was visiting, and that was quite a trip. The city is brand new and was basically built yesterday (or at least in the last ten years). They say that a fifth of the world’s cranes are in Dubai because they are building so much. The world’s tallest building is in Dubai and is still under construction—and will continue to be built with the use of helicopters because it has gone beyond the reach of cranes (so I hear). This sounds kind of silly, but we went to the most amazing mall ever, with what seemed like any store you could think of. We went to Starbucks and then went next door to the ski slope! Yes, we went skiing in Dubai—in the mall. It was a decent little slope, too, complete with two lifts and a lodge halfway down. We also went to a water park and then walked through the world’s only “7-star” hotel, which was both beautiful and gaudy. You can check out the pictures…

Back to my humble reality in the village, which seems a million miles away from the comforts of Cairo and Dubai, things have been smooth. I may have written this before, but I am now really starting to feel like my village is “home.” I no longer feel (very) guilty about things like going to Tamba for a day or two, sleeping past 7 AM, not going to the fields, etc. There’s still a lot of the language that I don’t understand, but I have still noticed that I have improved. I have a few running jokes with some people, which I consider somewhat of an accomplishment. With Sira, who is about 3, I ask her, “I che le?” Or “Where is your husband?” She responds, “He’s in Madjaly,” which is the next village over. It’s pretty cute, coming from her. She’s quite the flirt. With Mama, Sira’s mom, we joke that she loves cheeb e jen (a dish of oily rice and fried fish, which I detested at first but now love) and that she eats a lot. One evening her husband hit her and she left to go to the next village to stay with her mom for a few days. The other women told me I should go get her to come back and I said I would, but that she would only come if they would cook cheeb e jen. After writing this, I realize it’s not actually that funny, but they loved it and it broke the awkwardness. One woman in the village, Sadio, had me “marry” her 6-month old son, Amadou. They love when I come over and ask where my husband is and why he hasn’t given me any money lately. Ah, those small village moments…

The last two weeks in the village have been fairly busy. The rainy season is officially over and the dry, cold season has begun. At night I put on two sets of clothes and socks (!) and sleep with a sheet and believe it or not, I’m STILL cold! I need to invest in a blanket. During the day it is still in the 80s though. We are harvesting, so I have spent mornings bringing in corn and peanuts (all by hand). We’ll start with the cotton sometime soon. (As an aside, I highly, highly recommend working in a field or garden for everyone. Even though I somewhat claim I am a “country” girl, I really had no idea about such things. It has been so gratifying to spend a few hours doing hard labor and to actually see the results!)

As far as my work is concerned, the big news is that I finally started a group for girls between the ages of 14-18. Fifteen girls attended my first meeting, about half Pulaar and half Bambara. As usual, language is a big issue. I spoke in French and Bambara but things had to be translated to Pulaar and sometimes clarified again in Bambara. Life would be so much different (for me) if we could speak in English or even if there was just one common language! During this first meeting, I just wanted to break the ice and have the girls get to know each other and me a little better. I asked them to write their names on a piece of paper and then draw their favorite food and their favorite outfit (for CASC people, a bit like personal portrait but really simple). Unfortunately only half of the girls knew how to write their names. I was a bit shocked at this and thought that most had gone to school at least long enough to do this, but apparently I was mistaken. (Only about 5 of the 15 girls are currently in school, all in primary school.) They’re not very used to drawing or to even seeing pictures, so having them draw their favorite food was also more challenging than I thought. Despite many other examples, they all chose a banana, mango or orange. This all took so long that we just left it at that without drawing the more complicated favorite outfit. They were quite embarrassed but each one still presented in front of the group, amidst lots of laughs and giggles. It was a bit of a slower start than I had hoped for, but nevertheless, everyone came, everyone participated, and everyone seems excited. Most of the sessions I have planned focus on health topics, including nutrition, sanitation, male/female anatomy, pregnancy, birth control options, etc. I also have some sessions on goal setting and saving money. As many of the girls have not gone to school (or at least recently), I do realize I have quite an opportunity to “teach” them something. Hopefully I don’t let them down.

Winship School (where my mom is a teacher) has also fundraised enough money to pay for a new concrete floor for our school. The village held a meeting yesterday and there may be enough to buy materials for a fence to create a garden at the school as well. Hopefully we can start the work in the next few weeks. Many, many thanks to the students and faculty at Winship for their support! You are not only improving the conditions of the school, but exemplifying the importance of education. My entire village greets you and invites you to visit. The teachers are also interested in starting a correspondence program between students.
I have also completed my Peace Corps Partnership proposal to build a “health hut” in my village and am awaiting approval by Peace Corps administration. If approved, the project description will go onto the Peace Corps website, where generous donors can contribute. (Are you getting the hint?) Unfortunately the Peace Corps does not have much funding for such projects, so we depend on donations from family, friends or others who happen onto the website. Don’t worry – I’ll update this blog with information as soon as I can, hopefully within the next two weeks. If you are thinking about donations before the end of the year or also for Christmas, please keep this in mind.

A last update: I have also done a request to a local non-governmental organization, GADEC, to build a small bridge to our village. (They’re in this sort of business.) We’re awaiting their decision…

Finally, I had Thanksgiving in my village yesterday. I was hesitant about doing anything more than tell my village about the holiday, but decided that, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would “give thanks” to them and throw a fete. We spent $30 to buy meat and vegetables and had food for 50-60 people. Since it was a “holiday,” the men of the village didn’t go to the fields but instead sat around our compound, played cards and listened to music. After lunch we had ice (brought in from Missirah, 8 km away), quite a treat, indeed. I have to admit, I did almost burst into tears when I saw the bowl of rice and meat in front of me, instead of turkey and stuffing and cranberries and…. (And I haven’t even had turkey in six years since becoming a vegetarian!) Yet in the end everyone said it was “a fetee diyalla” or basically a sweet party. I was glad to “give something back” to them and celebrate Thanksgiving with them.

As hard as the first few months were here, I do have much to be thankful for. This experience has definitely challenged my views about many things, especially “development.” I have learned quite a bit about myself, perhaps more than necessary, as I am now my own best friend. (My journal is a testament to that!) I am thankful that I have been healthy that the rainy season came and went without any major illness or infection, and that my host family here is also pretty healthy. While it did take us awhile to get used to each other, my host family here has been pretty amazing, never asking me for anything and always being appreciative of any small gifts I give them or any work that I do to help. At the end of every meal they basically yell at me to eat more; while this can be very frustrating at times, I also know they mean well. I’m also very thankful for my family back home, for their support and their great care packages. It has meant a lot.

Well, this has turned into quite the blog entry! Happy Thanksgiving – I hope you had a great holiday and have leftovers to make you happy for many more days. =) (If you have too much, feel free to send them my way!)

Much love!