What happened to the last month?

Well as before I haven't written in a while as time is starting to fly by and my life here becomes just as normal my life at home ever was. It's amazing how a month will just fly by without even realizing it... I'm going to be home in no time! I forget exactly where I left off last time (I'm writing this from my father's house where there is electricity for my computer but no internet to see my last entry), but I believe it ended right around St. Patties day. I will tell you now, since I'm looking at my calendar of what I've done this past month, this entry will be a bit long! Bonne chance!

When I returned to sight after the holiday I cooked my family an 'American Meal': Beef Stew, as it's easy to cook for a lot of people and whatever I made would have to be able to be eaten out of the communal bowl. In the morning I went shopping with two of my sisters, who were cracking up seeing me interact with people in the market. They see me at home all the time but rarely in public and they got a kick out of some of the sarcastic responses I have to stranger's ridiculous questions. That night I made a really think stew, which as a whole they liked ("Ahmed, no weeli kono a fotti beydu Magi seeda!" : It's delicious but you should add more Magi bullion cubes). I think it was the richest thing they've ever eaten, a heck of a lot heavier and more substantial than the normal white rice, and they all fell asleep almost instantly with heavy stomachs! For once I wasn't in bed far before everyone else.

Later in the week I went out to a nearby village with some people from World Vision, where I'm working to help them with some of the technical aspects of their "Grandmother Project" campaign aimed at ending negative traditions, such as female genital cutting and premature forced marriage) while reinforcing the good traditions such as the importance of family and community. This was a great example of how long it takes to do most anything in Senegal. We spent the morning doing introductions and giving the assembly of local teachers (about 20 of them) these little children's booklets that had traditional Pulaar values in it and asked them to outline the values and how they could incorporate them into class and into which academic domain. Then we left them until the 1pm lunch break, ate, then reconvened. At this point they presented there findings, which were simply things like: "In the [CHILDREN'S!!!] book it described the value of grandmother's wisdom to new mothers and wives. This could apply to language skills." That's it! A whole day for TEACHERS to say what was in an children's book they've already read, and they didn't even do the most important part of the exercise: which was to describe how they could incorporate the lessons into the class. I ended up giving a basic example like having the children go home, ask their grandparents to tell a traditional story, write it down, and then have them present it in class; hence practicing their listening, writing, and presentation skills. That's one of the big problems here, for the most part it takes a LONG time to do even basic things.

It also made me realize a few things about our education system in the US. I'm not sure if this has more to do with the fact that Senegal uses the french system of education, which is already extremely focused on brute memorization, or if it has more to do with Senegal itself, but there are some big differences between the education here and ours at home. In the US we learn not only memorize certain information (multiplication tables, dates in history, etc.) but we also learn and are encouraged to think critically about that information and try to draw our own conclusions. Here I have never seen anything even closely resembling that second part of the learning process. They will memorize word for word a page about an event in history, but if you ask them (most any student) a question about the event that isn't worded exactly like the paragraph they freeze and can't answer the question, There's no 'big picture' behind it... just memorize specific words. Once again I believe a lot of that comes from the French system of education which has been installed here, as I've heard the schools in France operate similarly themselves. Our system is also far more integrated with information from health to the arts. In our elementary schools, for example, you do not simply memorize grammar rules, but read a book that describes some sort of value, like being generous to others, and then talk about the grammar. In this way you are actually learning a technical, grammatical skill while simultaneously improving moral values, general health knowledge (it's good to brush your teeth every day!) instead of simply memorizing all the rules of the past tense.

Another interesting handicap that the Senegalese have as far as education is concerned (one of the many), is that they are not learning in their native language. Imagine going to school and have to learn everything in Japanese. Granted you would take Japanese courses at school from a young age, but it is a language that you would hardly ever use at home or in the town, only at school. In this way it is hard for students to express themselves with a rich understanding of a language which is needed to form and convey complex ideas. This language barrier simply makes it harder for students to learn and more time is lost in the schooling process. Add to that lack of ability to buy supplies, the high drop out rate, the constant teacher strikes (they're not getting paid right now!), illness, etc and it's no surprise hardly anyone ends up with a high school level of education. From my viewpoint it's a shame, because it would be of great economic advantage to the Senegalese if they all spoke a language that is known on the international level, but at the same time nobody wants a world that has killed the vast variety of cultures and languages currently present in favor of one homogeneous group. Unfortunately (and yet in some ways, fortunately... it's a tough question to decide on a concrete answer, whether it's good or bad and how the benefits from both sides can be achieved without hurting the other!) the world seems to be moving exactly towards that end, one giant, homogeneous, capitalist, English/Spanish/French/Mandarin speaking population.

Well I could philosophize on that subject for a while or simply end it with: "I don't know" and move on... I have also since given my first business class at the girl's school. Of course the day before I came down with strep throat, so I was giving my first class in 105 degree weather with a 102 temperature and a throat so swollen I could hardly eat. Needless to say, I took a lot of ibuprofen before going to that class! Overall it went well; at first the girls were a little shy and hesitant to talk, but after I kept insisting I wanted it to be a discussion class and not a lecture class (plus cracking a few jokes with them to lighten the mood up a bit) they started to open up a bit. So the next class is coming up tomorrow (after the schools took 2 weeks of Easter vacation) and I'm excited to continue with the course. The next morning after the class I went to Kolda where I got some penicillin for my throat and a few days later was feeling great again. It seems like I get reasonably sick about once a month here! At this point, being 85% healthy has moved to being 100% healthy.

At Kolda we had the COS (Close of Service) party for a group of volunteers who had completed the 27 months and were getting ready to head home. It's crazy to see these people leave as your fellow regional volunteers become your family in country (that means I have three families now: my family in the states, my Senegalese family here, and the other Kolda Volunteers). The next night the new group of volunteers came down for site visits. They still have another month of training to go but this provides them an opportunity to really see what a Peace Corp Volunteer's life is like, as life at the training center is much different. There are three new volunteers and I'm excited to have the new editions to the Kolda group. It's weird not being the 'newbie' any more! I guess I actually have been here a while now. The trainees coming to visit also helps one to realize how much they really have learned over the past six months. Sometimes, on a daily basis, it is very hard to see progress made; but when I look back at where I was six months ago I realize that I really have come a long way. Like I said, life here seems normal now and if I go back and look at some of my first blog entries it's really interesting to see what I used to think was so bizarre that would now cause me to not so much as blink an eye. In a week or two the new volunteers will be moving down here for good!

To keep moving on this excessively long entry... April 4th is the Senegalese Independence Day and they celebrate in much the same way as we do at home, with parades (minus the beer, BBQ and fireworks)! I was able to get a seat up on the main platform with all the Velingara 'notables,' apparently I'm important enough here to deserve such treatment (... although I was in the back..)! The parade was fun and reminiscent of a local town level parade at home. The various schools had groups of students walk by, as well as karate and sports clubs, the local military and police, the public transport, and a representation of the 'common man' in the form of fishers, chicken raisers, farmers, etc. A few days after the Independence Day I was looking a little shaggy and went in for my first Senegalese haircut. You should have seen the expression on the barber's face when he say all my hair and I said I wanted him to cut it, not shave it (every male shaves their head here). He didn't even have a pair of scissors and had to search, and eventually find in the roofing, the clipper heads. About 20 talibés were in the hut watching in amazement the whole time; but in the end he ended up doing a decent job. I figure I can just keep going to the same guy throughout my time here as he at least kind of knew how to cut my hair. That was followed by a nice relaxing day of watching Star Wars: A New Hope with my family on my computer... they obviously couldn't understand a word that was said as it was in English, and I'm not totally sure they understood that it took place in space, but they got a kick out of Chewbacka and basically love anything with action and flashy effects.

The next weekend, constantly on the lookout for a day to leave Vélingara and get a change of scenery, I went out to the village with Amadou and Ouseman on a donkey charet to get a bed which we brought back to sell in Vélingara. I really look forward to days such as this were I get to see a bit more of the villages and relax all day while still getting the feeling that I accomplished something. I even got to drive the donkey charet for a while and ride a horse a bit. Apparently I needed to beat the donkey harder, because my friends kept saying it would only go slow unless I hit it with a little more force. Ohhh well, guess I'm just not as used to being around work animals like they are. When I go somewhere new I always get a lot of compliments on my Pulaar, which is another plus as that is a constant difficulty; although certainly much better now than before. (... been saying that for a while!)

Finally, and yes I swear this is the last paragraph, I went into Kolda for Easter. Ended up taking it easy there, as usual, and spent three days in a row sitting by the pool at the local nice hotel. Basically feels like your on vacation in some tropical island, and nothing is greater than a pool when it's 105 plus degrees out! Unfortunately we were having power/internet problems at the house and I wasn't able to get on the internet as usual, but overall it was a nice break. Even had Chili Cheese Fries for our Easter meal! Well I will let you all get on with your lives now, I'll be updating photos as soon as I can... I have to start taking some more as well! Jamtun and enjoy the Spring!