A little sick in Senegal

This is my bed w/ pillow. Too hot for any sheets and the sheep are right outside my window.

This is the Western-style toilet in a small room on the room. Right to the right of the toilet is a shower and a small window, where light comes in (You can't use this bathroom at night because there are no lights).

I don't have a story regarding the orphanage today because unfortunately last night I was sick and had to stay home today to rest. First of all, I hope this is the only time I get sick while I'm here because it was miserable. Last night I didn't feel well- I think a combination of the heat, fatigue, new foods, and bumpy car rides. I didn't eat dinner and went to bed instead and took some upset stomach medicine. However, within five minutes of laying down I had to grab a plastic bag and was thowing up. To make matters worse, I realized the bag had a hole in it and was leaking all over my towel. I sent the two young girls that sleep in my room to get their mom and although she was reassuring and kind, I didn't have the right words in French to tell her I was sick and sorry and embarrassed and I am missing home more than ever right now. I wound up sleeping with a fan in my room and a couple more plastic bags which I had to use throughout the night. It sounds disgusting and it was to be honest and still this morning, I apologized to my host mom and tried to tell her I was very embarrassed but she was very kind to me and for that I am grateful. Today I felt better but I mostly slept the entire day and just tried to relax. The past 20-or-so hours have been challenging but I am glad to feel better now and get a chance to read my emails and talk with my family. I miss everyone terribly.

Ousmane

For my mom, who always asks me, “What is the funniest thing that happened to you today?” I have the following story:

Today I worked in La Grande Section, which encompasses about 20 two-year-olds and one in particular named Ousmane. When I arrived this morning, Ousmane seemed to immediately attach himself to me, making the Maternal Assistants mutter “toubab” to each other and glare at me. In any case, Ousmane was adorable and he sat on my lap for pretty much the entire day, doing nothing but looking at the other kids and sleeping occasionally.

Now, for reference, I hope you have all heard (or heard of) the Dane Cook CD where he jokes that he wants to name his future children Megatron, Skeletor, and then have a child just named “RRRRRRR,” pronounced like a tongue roll, like when you roll your R’s in Spanish. If you haven’t heard this joke, please look it up because 1.) It’s funny and 2.) It completes the story.

When it came time for Ousmane to nap in his crib, he was obviously upset. He didn’t even want to be held by the Maternal Assistants- only the toubab. But I had to go eat lunch and clean up and I put him in his crib anyways and he started crying a little and kinda sorta wailing like babies do but then he would just cry and go “RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!” with his tongue. At that moment, all I could think of was the Dane Cook skit (“Come here, RRRRR! Don’t you do that RRRR!”) and even though I wanted to keep hanging out with Ousmane, the noise he was making to show me he was upset- it was hilarious. Really, imagine trying not to upset the poor thing by putting him in his crib but then thinking his being upset was pretty much an epic allusion. Thank you for the joke, Dane Cook- and for the funniest thing that happened to me today.



The front of my house, where we sat when the power went out last night
(Yes, power outages are common apparently)

Donnez-moi un photo! (Give me a photo!)

I mistakenly thought it would be a nice idea to take some pictures of Senegal for my first post, you know, show where I live now and such. I went out to our front yard/street where the young girls I live with (in the first picture with me) were playing to get some shots of the house and them and what was a nice idea became a complete frenzy, attracting about two dozen young kids shouting, “Donnez-moi un photo!” Nobody actually wanted me to give them a photo but everybody wanted their photo taken and then to look at it right after via the recall button on my camera. I meant to take only a couple pictures and I think I now have around forty or fifty, taken in 15 minutes. Even as I type these words on my computer right now, the two young girls of the house I live in are sitting next to me, following the type with their fingers. They are too young to read and hardly anyone here speaks English anyways- the two young girls only speak Wolof, the indigenous language of Senegal- but while cell phones and Internet seem common here, I think cameras and computers are uncommon among the youth.

In addition to the two young girls, about elementary school age, there are four other “kids” who live here (including myself) and two adults. I live with an associate director of the orphanage I volunteer at, Vivre Ensemble (To Live Together) and his wife, their 20-year-old daughter, a 25-year-old son, the two young girls, a nine-month old baby boy and there is another volunteer here, a 16-year-old French boy who does construction at Vivre Ensemble. In addition to the humans here, there’s a kennel in the back of the house with several sheep and some chickens flying around. There are no pets here- the sheep and goats are for food and any dogs and cats are wild.

Life here is very different from that of the United States. Another volunteer told me that my family lives in the wealthy area of town but there is/are no A/C, only one television, one house phone used primarily to connect to the internet, and only one western-style toilet (although there is another stall downstairs that has just a drain on the floor but I don’t know how to use that nor do I care to learn); in all of Senegal, there are (allegedly) no traffic lights, street signs or traffic lanes, the Senegalese do not hold “normal” business hours, and garbage pick-up service doesn’t seem to exist. Our house has one trash can but for the most part, it appears that trash just goes on the street or that at least, service is very irregular. Food is also served differently: everybody in the family eats some sort of dish with rice with sauce and a meat (fish or beef) out of one giant bowl. I use a spoon for myself but traditionally, one eats with their right hand (not left because of religious belief). I ate lunch at the orphanage today as I will do on weekends, and because it was my first day, I forgot to bring a personal spoon and had to eat with my hand, no easy feat. As proof, I am very hungry right now.

For my first week at the orphanage I will be observing five different areas and then next week, choosing one area in which to volunteer for the remainder of my time here. Today I worked with children aged 12-16 months, which was nice for me because they don’t talk yet. Nobody here speaks English (only French) and some people only speak Wolof. Wolof doesn’t sound like anything I recognize so the only word I know is “Toubab,” foreigner, something I am hearing (and feeling) a lot right now.

I will end this post because the young kids are running around in my room and the baby is crying because a chicken flew to my window and made lots of noise and scared him (it’s really quite funny but the kids are riled up and it is difficult to write in peace). Please email me or whatnot and feel free to ask lots of questions! For those of you who would like to call/text, my Senegalese number is 221-77-349-6700. Don’t forget to dial to dial the country code (011) first.