What is The weather like there?
Right now it is very hot and humid. We have seasons here too, they're just not the same as New England. Around November it will get "cold"- around 60 degrees at night, but that's pretty cold when you don't have a comforter or a warm sheet. Then we'll go into hot season, where it can be over one hundred degrees! Thankfully people don't have a lot of work then (most people are farmers), and we just rest for a couple months. Then we come to rainy season. Down south this means rain almost every day and up north in the desert it means maybe once or twice a week. This is the planting and harvesting season and peope have lot's of work!
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| The Rice Field |
What kind of animals Have you seen?
Senegal is not known for it's wildlife. Up north there are camels and down south there are monkeys and baboons. Everywhere has lizards and salamanders and chameleons. Mostly I just see chickens, donkeys, cows, goats, and sheep, none of which are penned up.
What part of Senegal do you live in?
I live in Kolda! Down south where it's nice and humid and more green than anywhere else!
Do you have pets?
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| My cat, Asamau |
Does everyone there speak French?
More people here speak French than English. School is taught in French, but not everyone goes to school or goes far enough to have a high level of comprehension. Cities have a higher literacy rate than rural areas, and generally have better schools and more motivated teachers. Often kids have to go into the city for high school, and if it's too far or their parents need them to help out at home they will have to drop out. Generally, more boys than girls go to school and go to school longer. A lot of people know a little French, but a lot of people here know a little of many languages. Everyone here constantly amazes me with their language skills!
What is the main method of transportation in Senegal. Do they mostly walk? Do they have trains? Buses?
There are all different kinds and it depends on where you live and how much money you have! My preferred mode of transportation is my bicycle, but not everyone has a bike. The women in my village mostly walk places to save money. The men can usually borrow a bicycle from a friend or have someone give a ride on their motorcycle. Charettes, donkey pulled wagons, are also an option for short distances. In the city you can take a taxi or a moto taxi. You can also take these into the bush but they can get expensive and dangerous depending on the quality of the road. When traveling far distances we take a sept place (7 spots), which is like a station wagon, or you can take and "alham," which is like a hippie bus. All of these cars are foreign models and rarely are they high quality.
We also want to know more about the culture of Senegal. Do they have festivals? Or holidays?
I could talk about this forever! Senegal is a Muslim country, with approximately 95% of the population identifying with Islam and the remaining 5% divided between Christianity and Animism. They follow the Muslim holiday calendar. So far I have been here for Ramadan and Korite, and Tabaski is coming up soon. Ramadan is a month of fasting. Everyone wakes up before the sun comes up (around 5) to eat and drink water, and then they do not eat again until the sun sets (7:45 pm). This does not include children or pregnant women. Everyone still has to work. It is a rotating calendar, so Ramadan moves up a couple weeks each year, and this year it was during one of the hottest and work-heavy times of the year. At night we would break fast with bread and coffee, then eat mogni (a sort of soup), then around 9-9:30 we would eat dinner. It was a lot of eating in a short amount of time. Ramadan's end is celebrated with Korite, which is a big long party. A holiday here means you wake up early and spend every moment around people. You get a new outfit made at the tailor, the more extravagant the better, and sometimes give out small presents or change. The village this year slaughtered a cow and we all ate meat, which is a real treat. We also saw more vegetables than usual too. People really go all out. I'm expecting Tabaski to be similar, but since I'm not really sure I'll let you know in couple of weeks!
"Denabos," or baptisms, are another huge event that happen fairly regularly. When a baby is born the parents wait a week to give it a name. They mark the name giving day with a huge party. They shave the baby's head, slaughter an animal, and invite the whole village over to celebrate their new bundle of joy. The mother will get a new outfit made and have her hair done, and people will bring her presents and chant her name and literally sing her praises. All of her friends cook and there is food all day. In the afternoon a DJ usually arrives and everyone dances until the sun goes down.
I could talk about this forever! Senegal is a Muslim country, with approximately 95% of the population identifying with Islam and the remaining 5% divided between Christianity and Animism. They follow the Muslim holiday calendar. So far I have been here for Ramadan and Korite, and Tabaski is coming up soon. Ramadan is a month of fasting. Everyone wakes up before the sun comes up (around 5) to eat and drink water, and then they do not eat again until the sun sets (7:45 pm). This does not include children or pregnant women. Everyone still has to work. It is a rotating calendar, so Ramadan moves up a couple weeks each year, and this year it was during one of the hottest and work-heavy times of the year. At night we would break fast with bread and coffee, then eat mogni (a sort of soup), then around 9-9:30 we would eat dinner. It was a lot of eating in a short amount of time. Ramadan's end is celebrated with Korite, which is a big long party. A holiday here means you wake up early and spend every moment around people. You get a new outfit made at the tailor, the more extravagant the better, and sometimes give out small presents or change. The village this year slaughtered a cow and we all ate meat, which is a real treat. We also saw more vegetables than usual too. People really go all out. I'm expecting Tabaski to be similar, but since I'm not really sure I'll let you know in couple of weeks!"Denabos," or baptisms, are another huge event that happen fairly regularly. When a baby is born the parents wait a week to give it a name. They mark the name giving day with a huge party. They shave the baby's head, slaughter an animal, and invite the whole village over to celebrate their new bundle of joy. The mother will get a new outfit made and have her hair done, and people will bring her presents and chant her name and literally sing her praises. All of her friends cook and there is food all day. In the afternoon a DJ usually arrives and everyone dances until the sun goes down.
What do you eat there? Do you have a main kind of food? What do you drink?
We eats lot's of rice. Most meals are rice based and sometimes it's cous cous based. We eat communally. The Pulaars (the ethnic group I live with) seperate the men from the women while eating; little children eat with their mothers but when the boys are around 4 they move over to their fathers' bowl. Chebugen is the national dish. This is fish, with an assortment of vegetables over rice. We also eat a lot of "mafe" which is sauce; this can be made of peanuts or hibiscus or okra. On special occasions we eat an animal, usually cow, goat, or sheep, and once in a while my family will kill a chicken. Onions are in most dishes, but everything else is seasonal. Our "treats" are also seasonal. Right now were are in corn and cucumber season, so we have been snacking on roasted corn and a cucumber dish with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and mustard. We've also had a cashew season, mango season (my favorite), cashew apple season, and peanut season.
The healthiest thing to drink here is (obviously!) water. Culturally, however, people LOVE to drink tea. It's a hot tea they boil over a small stove. They add sugar and pour it back and forth to make a foam. They can cook the leaves three times and then it doesn't really have a taste anymore- the third one tastes like sugar water to me. When people are resting or just hanging out or they have a guest they'll cook tea.
I eat with my family when I'm in village, and all meals are cooked by my host mothers. I pull water from a well almost daily, and I use this for drinking (although I use a filter), doing laundry (by hand), dishes, and bathing.
What does the Peace Corps do and what is your job? What do you want to do when you get back?
I am a preventative health volunteer, which means I teach people about how they can live healthier lives. Peace Corps Senegal's main focuses are nutrition, malaria prevention, and healthier lifestyles, which includes promoting latrine use and handwashing. My service is 27 months long, and I will be coming home for good in April of 2015. I would like to go to law school or work for the foreign service when I return.
What is a normal day for you in Senegal?
Right now a normal day in Senegal begins around 7 when I wake up. The family eats around 8 and then the men and women begin their work: men go to the fields, women clean, or do laundry or go work in the rice paddy. I use this time to go to different houses and get to know my community. We eat lunch around 1, and then the family and any guests will usually sit around and drink tea. This is the hottest time of the day so it is also acceptable to lay down or take a nap. Once it cools down a bit is the perfect time for an activity. This is when people are most likely to have the time and energy, so we do our causeries in the late afternoon. If there's no work to be done I continue to visit with my family or neighbors, tend my garden, or read a book. Then I'll pull my water for bathing and drinking the next day (I put it through the filter at night), and right around when I'm done dinner is ready. After dinner people usually like to made tea again, but I don't drink it at night because of the caffeine.
What are the houses like?
In village we live in huts. My hut is square and made of cement, but the others in my compound are circular and made of mud. In cities people live in houses made of cement and also often have running water.
The healthiest thing to drink here is (obviously!) water. Culturally, however, people LOVE to drink tea. It's a hot tea they boil over a small stove. They add sugar and pour it back and forth to make a foam. They can cook the leaves three times and then it doesn't really have a taste anymore- the third one tastes like sugar water to me. When people are resting or just hanging out or they have a guest they'll cook tea.
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| Add caption |
I eat with my family when I'm in village, and all meals are cooked by my host mothers. I pull water from a well almost daily, and I use this for drinking (although I use a filter), doing laundry (by hand), dishes, and bathing.
What does the Peace Corps do and what is your job? What do you want to do when you get back?
I am a preventative health volunteer, which means I teach people about how they can live healthier lives. Peace Corps Senegal's main focuses are nutrition, malaria prevention, and healthier lifestyles, which includes promoting latrine use and handwashing. My service is 27 months long, and I will be coming home for good in April of 2015. I would like to go to law school or work for the foreign service when I return.
What is a normal day for you in Senegal?
Right now a normal day in Senegal begins around 7 when I wake up. The family eats around 8 and then the men and women begin their work: men go to the fields, women clean, or do laundry or go work in the rice paddy. I use this time to go to different houses and get to know my community. We eat lunch around 1, and then the family and any guests will usually sit around and drink tea. This is the hottest time of the day so it is also acceptable to lay down or take a nap. Once it cools down a bit is the perfect time for an activity. This is when people are most likely to have the time and energy, so we do our causeries in the late afternoon. If there's no work to be done I continue to visit with my family or neighbors, tend my garden, or read a book. Then I'll pull my water for bathing and drinking the next day (I put it through the filter at night), and right around when I'm done dinner is ready. After dinner people usually like to made tea again, but I don't drink it at night because of the caffeine.
What are the houses like?
In village we live in huts. My hut is square and made of cement, but the others in my compound are circular and made of mud. In cities people live in houses made of cement and also often have running water.
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| My compound |
