Tuesday, March 22, 2011

It's been a hard days night

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be out of internet range for about the next two weeks, we're going back to our homestay villages (Nguekhokh, is the name of my village in case anyone is interested) for more language and cross-cultural training. But that doesn't mean that you all can't still send me e-mails/letters/packages... just a thought. I'll be ecstatic to get them upon my return to the training center. 


I'm tired today, and I don't really feel that well. A lot of us are actually not feeling 100%. We're blaming it on the rabies vaccination we had yesterday. It's also been getting steadily warmer. I can't wait for the hot season. Almost as much as I can't wait for the rainy season. The rainy season here is apparently beautiful, but its also when we can expect to get the sickest with bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Hookworms, malaria and kidney stones, oh my! We had a medical session this morning, and the sentiment that we walked away with was basically, "you will get sick...and die." Gotta love those medical sessions, very uplifting. 


Today was a lot of technical stuff. Baby weighings, the health system in Senegal, an overview of the education system, an overview of the government, an overview of water and sanitation methods, nutrition information, etc. I'm exhausted just listing them. I sort of wish the Peace Corps would give us a little bit of a breather so we could recuperate. Just a day, or actually I'd settle for an afternoon. Not only did they throw a lot of technical jargon at us today, but once we were finished I still had to venture into downtown Thies for some "just in case" food to bring to homestay. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the food isn't good, it's just that we eat the same thing every day, sometimes twice a day. I was so hungry before lunch today and when we sat down and took the cover off the bowl, I saw that it was exactly what we have for lunch at my homestay, everyday. I took one bite and suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore. Now I know why they call it the Africa diet. 


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel

2 comments:

  1. OK i am officially now all caught up with the blog of awesome.
    1) stay strong this blah feeling will pass - it's probably a mix of the excitement wearing off and the whole "missing home" part setting in.
    2) don't get PCV-itis. that's my technical term for the peace corp equivalent of "med-student-itis" where you basically think you have every disease you are currently learning about.

    ok those are my words of wisdom.
    mwah!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rachel,
    My name is Wendy and my daughter is Nicolette Ulrich...you may have met her. She was in your group March 7th. She is now in Mbour. Just wanted to let you know your blog helps me and my husband out in understanding what you all are going through...thanks so much and take care.
    Fondly,
    Wendy

    ReplyDelete