It has been just over one week since I arrived in Senegal. For the next eight weeks, I will be undergoing training before being officially sworn in as a volunteer. After the other volunteers and myself spent the first five nights at the Peace Corps training center, we were all placed with families in the town and in nearby villages to further our immersion. The goal is to ensure that all of us become somewhat comfortable conversing and functioning in a local language before we are placed at our actual sites. We are being trained in a number of different languages- I have been designated as a future speaker of Wolof, Senegal's most common language. Consequently, I take classes in Wolof and am staying with a Wolof-speaking family. My village is without electricity or running water and while I admit that it was a bit difficult at first, I have come to relish the lack of electricity. It forces people to interact with each other instead of sitting in front of the TV or something like that. I wake up each morning at about sunrise, and go to bed usually no later than 9 p.m.
I am struck by the similarities between Senegal and India. The streets and markets are just like those in India, albeit a little less crowded and hectic. The people are wonderful. It is not uncommon for a person to greet everyone he or she meets while walking down the street and inquiring about their family. While such a practice increases social capital, it does tend to make things a little less efficient. Thus, the volunteers have had to become used to the concept of "Senegalese time," which is similar to what my family and I call "Indian Standard Time."
Thats it for now- my time at the internet cafe is almost up and I have to be at my village within the next couple of hours. My host family is having a big gathering to introduce me to the rest of the village. Should be interesting.
Until next time, or as the Wolof's say, "Ba ci kanam!"
Me
Overlooking the Pacific outside of San Francisco
2 comments:
That makes me wonder what I would do after work, or even as work. I come home, go to the gym, the usually mess around on the computer. All of those use a lot of power
The things I sell require assembly lines and clean rooms. Looking at the contents of my room, I can't see at a glance a single thing that wasn't mass produced except for a collection of stones on my bookshelf and the image in a photo on my wall.
Interesting. We have discussed how easy it is to "hide" via technology from contact, and how important it is to not do that. This is a great example of what it can mean and how it can better society by increasing the sense of others.
Best of luck, look forward to hearing more from you!
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