Kod mi ko Saare Aladji

In English, that directly translates to, my town is Saare Aladji. That's right ladies and gentlemen, we found out our site placements today. In a most dramatic fashion if I do say so myself. After lunch we were all brought out to the basketball court in the training center which has a map of Senegal painted on it. We were given blindfolds and told to put them on and forbidden from talking or making any noises. One by one, we were led by the hand to a place on the map that corresponded to our site placement. Once everyone was at their spot, they told us to take off our blindfolds. The screaming that ensued was ear-shattering, but in a good way. I am in the same regions as several of my good friends; Hailey, Emma (who by the way is psyched because she just found out that the Japanese Peace Corps has a site 18k away from her. She wants to find her Japanese soulmate.), Cady and Hilary. I am also close to several other people that I am very much looking forward to getting to know a lot better (Marie, Nicky, and Anne). 


I will be the first ever PCV in my village. "Oh brave new world that has such people in it!" (that's Shakespeare in case you were wondering. The Tempest) The village of Saare Aladji is located in the Tambacounda region of Senegal. Since I am learning Pulaar, I was actually expecting to be placed up north, in the Linguere region, as I was under the impression that that is where most of the Futa (Pulaar) people live. But instead I will be located in the south central part of the country, above the eastern most part of the Gambia. I will be about 8 hours away from Dakar, but my site is only about 10k away from the regional capital which is where the PC transit house for the region is. I could not be happier about this. Even though my direct site will not have electricity or running water, I will only be about a bike ride away from civilization. I've been told that in the city you can even find cheese. Yay!


According to the information I have, my village has approximately 500 people living it in. I will be living in the compound of the village chief, and supposedly my hut should be ready for me by the time I swear in as a PCV (they're just wanted for Peace Corps to bring them the necessary supplies). I will have a thatched roof and a cement floor, as well as locks on my door and a fenced in backyard. Pretty swanky for Senegalese village standards if you ask me. I've also been told that it is a village with many animals, so there may be a horse in my future.


I'm thrilled to report that my closest PCV will only be 1k away from me! There are also 3 other PCVs that are about 10k away. Each in a different direction of course. But I figure I could bike 10k in about an hour. Ok, maybe 2 until I get the hang of biking on roads made of sand. I hope to have some killer leg muscles by the end of my 2 years of service. 


On Tuesday I will leave for a 5-day "volunteer visit" with a current PCV that lives close to my village. I talked to him on the phone today and I'm really excited for next week. He said that we'll get to see the Gambia River, my site and possibly even some cool wildlife (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!). I mean, this is Africa after all.


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel