Year In…Im getting Tired

So originally, I was going to post a perturbed PC volunteer piece but after a day of reflection, I decided perhaps it wasn’t necessary. Suffice it to say I was in a salty mood cause:
*the power had been out and it had been raining for the past two days
*I had cabin fever
*I was missing the comforts of America.
But I’m a little better now...Alhamdulillah. Even though it’s been raining off and on all day and the power went out for a few hours.

Saturday I went to a Gelle(sp). It’s a traditional Serer Celebration of people born in the same year and it’s usually done 4 years at a time. For example, Men and women who live in close neighborhoods born in 1970-1974 get together and hold monthly meetings to plan their annual party. So Saturday I hung out with my friend Edward and his family cause I was invited to his sisters Gelle. It was slightly delayed cause the power was out but after they got a generator they started it. There were about 50 people who had outfits made in the same colored fabric who marched in circles and danced to traditional Serer music. I always enjoy going to traditional parties and taking in and enjoying the culture of Senegal cause I know there are few Americans that have/will do that. So unfortunately the generator kept going in and out so the music would start and stop. There were drummers and they weren’t affected by the power outage so people continued to dance with out lights. There were tons of children as always and there was a man with a rather large stick keeping them from getting in the way. Every 20 mins there would be a swarm of children running out of the public place where the fete was held. I think I must have stayed for 4 hours cause the power was out all the things I really wanted to do I couldn’t so I figured I might as well stay and take in the “flickering sights”. About quarter to 10 I decided it was time to go and I started walking home and thinking about what I wanted to do with myself. Just as I was getting to my street, the power came back on. Took a shower, at an apple (dinner) and went to visit my friend Bara. Not bad for a Saturday.

[written Sunday Aug. 24]

gnilan

Back to Basics

Made it back to Joal Tuesday night. I returned to a relatively bugless room, 1 spider, 1 waterbug and lots of dust. The power was on so I quickly terminated the insects and proceeded to eat dinner (a mango) before it went out or I saw any more insects. I would have been a lot more comfortable eating outside but it was raining so that was a no go. On a normal day it usually takes me anywhere from 2.5-3 hrs to go from Dakar to Joal (68 miles), but yesterday it was raining and I left during the equivalent of rush hour traffic so it took 5hrs…oh how I love public transportation. I really didn’t wanna leave Dakar but I have to keep myself from getting too comfortable there cause life in Dakar and Joal is very different. Plus im low on funds till the end of the month and Dakar is expensive. I was in Dakar because my mom came to visit for 2 weeks. Im so glad she was able to come out and see how I live and do things on this end of the world and that she was able to come to Africa. It was great having her here but also a bit stressful. But then again, when is traveling with a parent not stressful? She left Monday and I’ll be heading home on the 15th December, I’ll start the countdown Sep 15. I think I recuperated very well at Meme’s house with her WIFI, Wii and “real” kitchen. So this week is going to be a short one since I’m only available 2 days out of the work week. I’ll probably pass by the community center, and the compost facility to check in. And maybe Friday I’ll go to the Finio…ugh. The politics there really pisses me off and makes it hard to do my job. My region is throwing a party on Saturday and even though it’s only a 700cfa ride down the road I’m probably not going. I’ve just spend 2 weeks away from site and there’s things I need to do here.

[gnilan]

"Virgil Brigman Back Online"

It seems like every year I attempt to revive this damn thing. We'll see how long this comeback last. Since last I wrote I've temporarily relocated to Joal, Senegal. as I am a Small Enterprise Development Volunteer with the Peace Corps. I’ll go into details about what exactly that means in a later post. I’ve decided to start this up again cause I decided to come to country with out the Apple cause I didn’t know if I was going to be some place with electricity and cause it was fried. But my mom just came to visit me and brought me a new one (Thanks Mom). Expect new changes to come in the very near future...

:gnilan: