Thursday, November 17, 2005

Root of All Problems

An NGO(Non-government Organization) is giving my village 5 ,000 US Dollars to fund a new project for a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation is a technique that transfers water from a large source to a smaller source, ie...a garden. The money is going towards the local school in my town, so its for a good cause. I talked to my villagers today and they were very excited about the project. They had heard rumors that they might get it. The Volunteer before me was the one who applied for the grant. Well, the grant was excepted after his service was complete. So I get to steal his credit. Though I made it clear to my new friends that it was not my project. They dont seem to care. They are so excited because Im here to help them find substainable sources of income, food, etc... I hope this irrigation furthers their growth as a developing village, so that some day they do not need a Volunteer. Not having a Volunteer is a good thing, because that means they dont need one. If they dont need us, then they're doing something right.

Wanna play with my monkey?

Today I met two young men from my village, Bobacar and Mamadou. They're freaking awesome. They were describing the village to me in Seereer and it sounds amazing. The nake is Bobougar MAlik Ndiaye. If you look on a map online, its near a town called SOKONE. Its near the Atlantic Ocean about 10-15 miles away, though in between the ocean and the village there is a series of twists and turns formed by rivers. But I live near a lazy river where I can go out a swim without the fear of being eaten by snakes or crocs. THERE ARE SNAKES AND CROCODILES NEAR ME. Whats most important are the monkeys. I have yet seen a monkey here in Senegal, but I live inside a national park with many tropical birds (pelicans, flamingos, etc..), tropical animals, and monkeys. I guess there are monkeys just hanging out, chillin on the side of the road. Oh, if you could only imagine...Me and my pet monkey. The men in my village all like to fish and they have boats. So Im going to spend the next few months trying to convince my village to build me my own boat. I can hire a few monkeys to service my new boat and save the angry/evil ones to stand guard. I think im set for the next two years.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Dakar

Today was my first visit to the Capitol, Dakar. I didnt really do anything special. I visited the US embassy. Then I went to the Peace Corps main office, which was nice now that the weather has cooled down quite a bit. The only really good thing about my trip to Dakar was the giant supermarket we went to. This place was better than your normal Hy-Vee( or for my friends from work BETTER THAN CUB FOODS). They had everything you could possibly fathom. For just one simple second, i totally forgot I was in Africa. No kidding. The store just did not belong there. Though, I dont really belong in Africa either, yet Im still here.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

God bless the US Postal Service

Sending packages can be a total hassle. Mom and Dad sent me a package via UPS and paid an arm and a leg to get it here. If you feel the need to send me anything, please send it through the US Post Office, not UPS or FedEx. It will take two or three weeks to get here, but an average package will only cost around 20-30 bucks for taxes. You can save a lot of money that way. Though you can also send a lot of money by not sending me anything. But there's no fun with that. I will post my new address soon so you can at least send a letter to me in the next two years.