Celebrations, Counterparts and Crying

First of all, a very happy birthday to my friend Jen C! I'm glad that I was back from Dakar in time to help her celebrate. To add to the festivities (although I'm 99% sure this was due to it being counterpart workshop and not Jen's birthday), we had bissap juice and beignets as a mid-afternoon snack. The Peace Corps has been holding out on us, because everything was delicious. I most certainly ate more fried food then I should have, but I really can't feel bad about it. For those of you who aren't familiar, a beignet is a french pastry. Here, it is pretty much the Senegalese version of a donut. In other words, scrumptious. 


Speaking of counterpart workshop, it was... awkward. And I was only here for part of it. I arrived back at the training center at about 10:00am and counterpart workshop started yesterday morning. It was nice to meet my counterparts (Sadjio Ba and Moussa Jaillo); however, I exhausted my knowledge of the Pulaar language in approximately 15 minutes. This leads me to the last part of the title of this blog entry, crying. I pretty much lost it this afternoon and sobbed for about an hour over the fact that I know NO Pulaar and in 2ish weeks I will be dropped off in a village of 500 people that speak no English. Oh, they do speak other languages. French, Mandinka, the occasional Wolof. Unfortunately, none of that really helps me. The region of the country that I am going to is apparently famous for the plethora of languages spoken there. Many of which, I had never heard of until a few weeks ago (Malinka? Jaxanke?), and none of which, are English. 


As I sat on a bench, crying hysterically to my friend Emma, my language instructor wandered over. I'd like to point out that I had almost stopped crying at this point. He took one look at me and said, "you have been crying." This, of course, caused me to lose it again, and I broke into the loud, ugly kind of sobs that make it sound almost like you're dry-heaving (my apologies for the graphic nature of this description). I was horribly embarrassed and didn't know what to do, neither apparently did Sidy (my instructor). Thank god Emma was there to try and smooth things over. I'm pretty sure the entire training center heard my sobs, as such was the loud volume of my hysterics. Luckily for me, I have another 2 weeks (yikes!) to get a handle on this thing. 


Tomorrow, all 46 Peace Corps Trainees leave for a weekend at the beach. Another cause for celebration. We are headed to Popenguine, where all of us will cram into a house for 24 hours of fun in the sun. Caution: debauchery may ensue. It should be nice to finally have a day in which we can all just relax together and have some fun. PST really does run you ragged. I'll attribute my fragile emotional state to my level of exhaustion if that's alright with everyone. Just remember, words of encouragement are always appreciated, in any form (phone calls, texts, e-mails, letters. You get the idea). 


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel

Radiology, Senegal Style

Good news everyone, my ankle is not broken nor does it seem that there is any ligament damage. Yes! I have been at the Med Hut in Dakar since about 3pm yesterday and was given an all-clear by the radiologist and PC doctor this morning. On the downside, my ankle/foot does still hurt, but the PC doctor and I have adopted a "wait and see" attitude. If there is no improvement in a week, we will re-evaluate and possibly make an appointment with an orthopedist in Dakar for further evaluation. I'm banking on some serious improvement in the near future, so hopefully, that will not need to happen. In the meantime, I've got a big, black, ugly brace on my leg, but I'll make it work. Maybe this new trend will catch on. If so, I hope the Senegalese nationals name the trend after me. I'm thinking maybe "toubab couture." 

As I type, Peace Corps is trying to figure out when someone can drive me back to the training center. I hope it's today, as I am currently missing our CPW (counter-part workshop). All of our in-country counterparts are at the training center in Thies getting to know us as well as what it is that we will actually be trying to accomplish in the next 2 years. As I did not have a chance to meet either one of my counterparts while I was visiting my site, I am doubly anxious to get back into the swing of things. Keep your fingers crossed that my transportation will be figured out quickly. 

In the meantime, I will take advantage of the air-conditioning and (relatively) fast internet connection. Currently, I have season 1 of Bones downloading on itunes. I'm very excited about that. I have also been able to get my shopping fix, I'm pretty sure I was going through withdrawal. What can I say, everyone has vices and it appears that mine is shopping. Could be worse. Don't worry Mom, I didn't order anything (at least today. That being said, you might want to expect some packages in the mail. All practical items for Africa, if I do say so myself). I was more "window shopping" on the internet. Really, this little sojourn couldn't have come at a better time, as I have also been able to update myself on all things related to the royal wedding. People.com is currently promoting an article entitled, "Kate Middleton: Sneak Peak at Possible Wedding Hairstyle." I would be lying if I said that I wasn't hanging on every word. Tomorrow I will do everything in my power to get online and find a picture of the wedding dress, as I have been waiting for the dramatic reveal for months now. Everyone is saying that there is way less hype surrounding this wedding than there was for Prince Charles and Diana. I can't really comment on that as it is outside of my realm of memory. 

Back to my current situation, if today has taught me anything, it is that I must learn French ASAP. I barely understand anything that the radiology technicians were saying to me. I don't like being in the dark, especially when it comes to personal injury. I was lucky that everyone at the facility was so nice, otherwise I might still be sitting there, trying to figure out if I was done or not. Any suggestions as to how I might speed up the learning process? I feel a little overwhelmed trying to learn French and Pulaar at the same time, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is necessary. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress, whether you like it or not. 

Asalaa maalekum,

Rachel

The face of my attacker

Insert blood-curdling scream here, here and here! This is the face of my attacker! Ugly, huh? You would run too if this were chasing after you. Readers, please, no judgement. This is a terrifying creature. 

On the more positive side of this tragedy (just kidding, I'm not such a drama queen and I am acutely aware of the war in the middle east. I would never equate these two instances), my fellow trainees have vowed to avenge my injury. There has even been some talk of taking pitchforks and torches to lead a cat-rat hunt tonight. Honestly, I think most people here just get really bored at night and this gives everyone some sort of activity to focus on. However, I will continue to lie to myself that this is a quest of vengeance, not merely for entertainment purposes. 

The PC Doctor will be here tomorrow and hopefully she will just reinforce that this is only a sprain and the only cure is rest, ice and ibuprofen. Honestly, I find it oddly comforting and reassuring that my clumsiness translates directly from New York City to Senegal. 


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel