Pre-Installation

Well everyone, the day I had been waiting for has come- I am being installed in my site tomorrow morning. Training concluded last Thursday and we had our swearing in ceremony on Friday morning in Dakar. On Saturday, I moved out of my Thies host family's house, which was tougher than I had expected. We had become quite fond of each other during my two months there. Normally in this country, you shake a person's right hand except when someone is moving out of your home; then you shake a person's left hand. My host mothers shook my left hand when I left.

I spent Saturday night in the training center, got my stuff together, and took a sept-place with 2 other volunteers to the town of Kaolack, which would serve as a base for us while we were installed by a member of the Peace Corps Senegal administration, or by a higher-up in the various program. As it turned out for us, we would be installed by the guy who oversaw our training, so it was someone we knew quite well.

Kaolack, the capital of the Kaolack region, serves as a sort of gateway to eastern Senegal, and boasts Africa's second largest covered market. After arriving on Sunday afternoon, we explored the market a bit, had lunch, and rested in the Peace Corps regional house. We spent Monday shopping in the market for supplies that we would need in our sites (such as buckets for bathing, mattresses, some eating utensils, and other such implements). This morning, the other two volunteers were picked up by a Peace Corps SUV to be taken to their sites and installed. I will be going tomorrow morning. I feel excited and anxious at the same time. It should be interesting.

From here on out, I am not sure how often I will get access to internet, but when I do, I will be sure to update all of you about what I'm up to. I imagine my next post will be pretty interesting...

So, until then, ba benaan yoon.