Ville'

As if it were meant to be, the power went off just before I typed my first letter. Much more convenient than after the 4,382nd word.

creatures of the night

Breakfast, village style

Anywho, I have settled into village life quite well. It seems like I moved in just yesterday, but I guess, according to my watch, I have been here almost a month. I've got a good routine going now and things are definitely less chaotic than in PST. I normally wake up before the butt-crack of dawn and make tea or coffee (a real luxury) on my little gas stove in my hut. It is nice and quiet aside from the roosters (who have obviously set their clocks ahead). Breakfast is the typical millet pourage or leftover dinner and then it is off to the master farm garden which is a 1sq hectare plot for demonstrations, best management practices, and such. After IST (in-service-training), I will hopefully be able to start some projects here. But for now it is nice helping my counterpart/brother. Mid-day is hot and therefore a type of siesta time where little more than lounging gets done. Soon as the angle of the sun approaches desirable, it is back to the garden. When finished, I haul my bucket of water, pulled from the well in the wee hours of the morning, back to my hut via bicycle. The sun has been exciting these water molecules all day and they prove to make a bucket bath exponentially more pleasant. :) My family here is really great too! They are very welcoming and I spend a lot of time just hanging out with my brothers. The language is also picking up which makes daily chatting much less frustrating. I have also had the freedom here to help out in the fields with peanuts, cattle, etc, go into Kolda and explore the market, or go hang out with my volunteer friend about 30min via bike. A much appreciated freedom that was missing throughout PST. Oh and I have adopted Cupcake - A dog from a past volunteer here.

Brothers, Cupcake, stacking peanuts

Warning:
The photos you are about to see may be awesome

Today was Tabaski!!! There are approximately 1.5 million less sheep in Senegal than there were yesterday :) If you are not familiar with this day, it is one of the most important holidays in the Islamic world. I got the unique experience to go back to my training family for the day since I am not yet situated in my permanent site. It was a great day and besides the sheep slaughtering, I was also invited to go to the mosque with some members of my family for the morning prayer. (how's that for integration!)

It was a surreal day of lounging around, drinking tea, and stuffing my face. Definitely going to miss my CBT family. So now I need to pack my shit because early tomorrow I will make my trek to Kolda for the real deal.

Well, Its official! I am now a Peace Corps Volunteer.

On Friday, all of us went to Dakar for the swear in ceremony held at the ambassador's house. Lots of good food and drinks to savor before I head to Saare Ganga to start my service! Now it is back to packing and purchasing the essentials for village life.     

Preview of life to be

My compound in Saare Ganga

My cozy little hut (front)

Looking in from the back yard

My counterpart/brother and friends in my backyard. Shower and toilet (hole) to the right.  

Just a few of my family

Mom #1 and little sis. amazing woman

Talibe and family

Hop Ski PST!

Alas I have some time to write this long awaited release! The whole concept of time here in PST(pre-service-training) has faded and blurred. "I can't believe I have been in Senegal over a month!" is what I wrote a month ago. So I guess I can't believe it has been over 2. I'll back this thang up a bit.....
 It is a strange feeling being dropped of in a large Senegalese family (in the dark), speaking a language almost completely foreign in a land that is entirely foreign. It is at that moment that the American umbilical cord is snapped (figuratively speaking) and eyes are opened wide. You gasp for air, grab onto whatever comforts you can find, and start re-constructing life. -needless to say, the learning curve is not very sharp at first.
NOW FACTS: PST is a time for learning both culture and language. I live (lived) with a with a very large, religious, and extended Senegalese family in a compound often exceeding 40 people in the evenings. Meals are served in a large bowl with 6 to 10 people eating together. I have mastered the art of eating rice with my hands.... which is usually served 2-3 times a day (most certainly bland but is growing on me).
I am learning a language Fulakunda which is a form of the Pulaar dialect. It is very difficult! and different from any other language I have learned, but I am optimistic about picking it up :) PST will end on Nov 4th (3 days from now) and from there I will move to my permanent site in the Cassamance region of Senegal. Its a beautiful place and hopefully I shall put up some pics!  

Last Wednesday in the States

Well........ It is officially almost here. On Monday I will be heading to my Peace Corps staging event in D.C. and departing to Senegal the day after. I will be serving in Senegal as a Sustainable Agriculture Extension Agent for just over two years. I would like to take a second to clear up any confusion on the title of my blog. Many of you might be saying, "What the hell Justin! There are no Pandas in Senegal." And you would certainly be correct. The title was SUPPOSED to say, "Hop, Skip, and a Journey." but that is a little to serious for my liking. So you get it (chuckle chuckle).

I have started gathering my 80lbs of material that I can bring on my 27 month adventure and thanks to a few other PC bloggers, I have discovered a few more things to bring! How could I have forgotten a towel AGAIN!!!! (I spent two weeks in Guatemala without a towel.) So today I will round up those few missing items and should still be well under packing weight. I'm not going to list all of the items, but you can imagine the kind of things I would bring. I mean just think of everything YOU will ever use in two years....... I think I will be OK.

If I seem a little scatter-brained it's because I am. But I really do feel that I really am ready to do this, and after spending an entire summer talking and explaining everything and blah blah blah to everybody. Well it has gotten monotonous. So I'm glad everything that I have talked about for so long will be soon coming a reality.

word to the mother.