The morning after we got back from Dakar, it was time to pack-up and head out to Tassete for one last time. Which of course meant, only one more week of training, final language tests, swear-in and then that’s it…training’s over and I’m off to Nioro on my own. YIKES! But first, the last week of training…
Right before we went to the beach, we had our third language placement interview. I had passed out of the required level of French during the second interview, but they wouldn’t let me start learning a local language just yet because the other people in my class still needed to get the required level in French and we only have one LCF in Tassete. But the good news is, A – I went up in my French level between the second and third interview, so while it was frustrating not to be able to move on, at least I learned something. And B – Jackie passed out of French during the third interview and we got Simone (the language coordinator) to agree to split our classes. So this time when we went back to Tassete, we had two separate language classes. Jackie and I started learning Wolof, while Alex and Josh worked on perfecting their French.
I was excited to finally start Wolof, but man…I’d forgotten how incredibly frustrating starting a new language is. Jackie and I had class for about an hour and a half to two hours every morning, after which we’d work on our homework while the boys had French. Then we’d break for lunch, and repeat the same class/homework schedule in the afternoons. Roughly 3-4 hours of class a day might not sound like a lot, but it was completely exhausting. At least when I first started French there were common grammar structures and even some of the same words to fall back on. However, that is definitely not the case with Wolof.
Everyone keeps telling me that Wolof is easier to learn than French because it doesn’t really have much grammar and rules, but starting out…that is really hard to get used to. Especially when trying to switch to that from French, which has its own academy for regulating the language (L’Academie Française), it loves rules so much! Basically, for the first three days of Wolof I felt like someone had taken an eggbeater to my brain by the time I collapsed into bed each night. Plus, I’ve never been very good at being patient with myself when I don’t understand things, so at times; it was hard not to scream in frustration.
Thankfully though, we started classes on Tuesday and by about midway through class on Friday I had a bit of an epiphany and things started to make more sense. And not a moment too soon, let me tell you. I can now form a fair amount of necessary sentences in Wolof such as “I’m hungry.” “I am a Peace Corps Volunteer.” “I can’t marry you because I already have a husband.” (oh the fun of daily marriage proposals…) etc. It might not seem like much, but after a mere 6 days of Wolof classes…I’ll take it.
For some reason what is hardest for me right now is understanding people’s questions, not so much formulating responses to them. I find that a little weird since at the beginning of training, I could understand more of what people said in French than I could articulate myself. Oh well…I suppose it will all come with time.
Aside from learning Wolof instead of French, the last week of community-based training (CBT) was pretty much the same as all the rest. I had hoped that the cold season would immediately follow the end of the rainy season, but no dice. It didn’t rain all week so it was hotter than ever in Tassete. Which of course meant that we spent most of our time at my house enjoying the shade of the big trees (trees that provide shade really are the best thing ever in this climate) and either having class, studying or lounging around. We also went and cheered Tassete on to victory in the semi-final match of the local soccer tournament. Jackie’s brother even scored the winning goal! (We had already left town by the time they played the final, but they won that too. Yeah Tassete!)
Oh and the other big theme of the last week in Tassete was procrastination. I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that I was asked to give a speech in French for our swearing-in ceremony. I was definitely honored to be one of the ones chosen (there are PCTs giving speeches in Mandinka, Pulaar and Wolof too), but I’m not so much a fan of public speaking. Plus, I’ve never had to give a commencement type speech before. So naturally my reaction (surprise surprise) was to procrastinate writing it for as long as possible in the hopes that something brilliant would come to me eventually, lol. (Don’t worry, I didn’t wait until the night before the ceremony before I wrote it, but more on that later).
Well I think that about covers it… Ba beneen yoon! (which means until next time in Wolof)
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