leaving the PC compound...

So I'm looking at what I wrote as the final line in my journal entry from the first day we got here... It says, double underlined and in all capital letters, "SO SWEATY!" I was too exhausted from a long day of traveling and interviews to write much else, but apparently it was very important for me to get that down. Yeah...its hot here. Also, its super humid, not the dry heat I had deluded myself into thinking that it would be. I just checked the weather and there's 89% humidity at 10 PM. Also, the line above "SO SWEATY!" simply says, "I miss American food." I guess these are the things I will want to remember about my first day in Senegal...? I blame the jet lag.

Anyway, the last few days have been pretty full with oh so exciting things like training/language/cross cultural/safety/tech orientations and my personal favorite: vaccines. We got Hep A and typhoid earlier this week. Still no crying! Its quite a first for me. The typhoid shot is still making my arm sore though, and I got the shot 2 days ago. We've also started on the ever fun malaria drugs. Doxycycline and mefloquine (that's for you Mom b/c I figured you'd be curious). So far no side effects, but today is the first time I'm taking the mefloquine so fingers crossed that I don't have any crazy nightmares or get paranoid or anything.

In other news: on our second night at the training center we had an impromptu talent show, which was AWESOME. There were a couple of tap dancers, a violinist, juggling, and even an acoustic version of "Baby One More Time" courtesy of one of the PCVs. Not gonna lie, we're a pretty talented group. I thought about getting up there as well, but I figured all these people could do without my pitchy rendition of "A Part of Your World" or "The Star-Spangled Banner" (which are among the few songs I know by heart). Although, after the talent show, we were sitting around sharing stories and I contributed the one about my visit to Krakow aka "the time I almost got arrested twice in 24 hours." People seemed to enjoy the story, but I think a few of them were a little scared of that happening here. It also probably could've gotten more laughs, but I have yet to master the art of telling a funny story and not laughing so hard midway through that people can barely understand me. I don't think thats a skill I will ever possess...ohhh well.

Yesterday, after Etienne, PC Senegal's safety and security officer, came and did his best to put the fear of god in us, we were allowed to exit the PC compound for the first time since we arrived on Thursday. Some of the current PCVs took us out in groups for a highlights tour of Thies. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but seeing as this is my first time in a developing country, it was a little shocking. But aside from that, it was great to get out of the training center and actually see Senegal. We also got the distinct pleasure of experiencing our first shouts of "Toubab! Toubab!" from the Senegalese children we passed on the street. "Toubab" is a Wolof word that basically translates to, "white person." So children tend to shout it at us as we pass them. Right now I find this funny and slightly adorable (mostly b/c the kids are so darn cute), but I have a feeling its going to get old pretty fast. On the plus side, they don't speak English so in the future I can vent my frustrations with them without having to feel bad about it.

Also, last night after dinner about 20 of us got together and went to a local bar near the training center to have a beer and hang out. And by bar, what I really mean is someone's house where they have a few tables and sell beers to the locals that hang out there. It was nice to just relax and hang out with everyone away from the center though. Although, note to self: this is Thies, there are no street lamps out here by the abandoned army barracks...must bring headlamp when going out at night. Thankfully, some of the other PCTs are quicker than I am and remembered theirs so I managed to make it home without falling into a pot hole. Success!

Let's see...tomorrow we are off to our home stays for about a week. I'll be in a village about 25 km outside of Thies. Not really sure who I'll be living with or anything about the village really, so it should be interesting. There are three other PCTs headed out there with me though, Jackie, Alex and Joshua, who are SEDs in my French class. Kinda terrified about going to the home stay and having to introduce myself to all these new people, but I guess I'll just have to jump in with both feet and accept the fact that I'll probably sound like a bumbling idiot. Good thing I'm usually pretty good at laughing at myself. So yes, tomorrow its bye bye showers and food cooked to not make us sick and hello bucket baths, "squat toilets" and most likely sickness from food my body can't quite handle yet. Should be good times. But aside from that and being generally a little freaked out, I am excited to meet my family and really start integrating with the Senegalese.

I think thats about all for now. I won't have internet again for a few days, but I will be expecting emails when I get back. (HINT HINT). À bientôt!

welcome to Senegal!!

Senegal...we made it! And so did everyone's bags so a big hurrah for that! Quick post on our first day:

Well, in spite of dosing myself with dramamine and melatonin, I got maybe 30 minutes of sleep on the plane. Thankfully though, after the bus ride to the training center in Thies and some brief introductions, we had the rest of the morning free to take naps/showers. After our rest it was time for my first taste of Senegalese food. We had a rice dish with some veggies, onion sauce, and what I'm told was probably goat's meat. In spite of my lack of adventurous appetite, I thought it was pretty delicious.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with interviews and more getting things organized. We had language interviews to assess our French, which I was rather nervous about. I'm not really sure how that went because I was kind of flustered, but I guess we'll see what there assessment is. In addition to language, I also had an interview with the APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) for the SED program. I think that one went pretty well...she just wanted to ask a few questions and get to know more about us so she could start figuring out who should be placed where. And last, but not least we had a "medical interview" aka "here are your malaria pills. don't forget to take them." So I start taking those today....hopefully my dreams won't become too crazy because of them, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Right now we're all just sitting around in the disco hut chatting and taking advantage of the wifi before dinner...

Here are a couple of pics of the training center. The "disco hut":


And these are the buildings that we're staying in while at the training center. This one is the boys' side, the girls' is just out of the frame to the left.


All in all, I'd say things are going well so far. Today was a bit rough at times, but I think that 99% of that is due to having gotten barely 10 hours of sleep total this week. Plus, the cravings for cheeseburgers and Mexican food were hard to keep at bay given the fact that I've really only been eating one meal a day. I figure after a good night's sleep everything will feel a bit less scary. I'm also still experiencing a lot of, "wait, is this really happening?" feelings. Hopefully it will seem a bit less surreal soon, but who knows.

Bye for now!

Staging

So staging...I was up until 2:30 in the morning trying to get all the last minute things packed to leave for Senegal (and watching Star Trek just because its great). This made for a bit of a rough first day to the whole Peace Corps experience b/c I was a - too nervous to sleep and b - had to be up at 3:30 to leave for the airport. In case you are wondering, this is all the stuff that I decided I couldn't live without and thus, hauled to Senegal with me. By my estimate it all weighs nearly as much as I do...


So after some tearful goodbyes at the airport, I (and all my luggage) made it to D.C. for staging. I met up with some other PCTs at the airport and we hired a shuttle to take us to our hotel. We figured we'd shell out the $17 for an air conditioned van because hey, we're moving to Senegal, so we should enjoy the convenience while we can. WRONG. About halfway to the airport our van decided it just couldn't handle the strain of 7 PCTs and approximately 800 lbs of luggage. So naturally, the transmission breaks down when we're in the left lane going down a rather busy road in the middle of D.C. We figured this was just the first of many adventures so, taking advantage of red lights, we started shuttling our luggage out of the broken van and over to the curb. All in all, it was rather hilarious. Here's just a taste of how ridiculous we all looked...


Our driver assured us that the hotel was only two blocks further and we figured, "hey, we're in the Peace Corps. We're tough...lets grab our bags and walk it." Well, it was definitely NOT two blocks. More like 7. So we made quite the sweaty group, stopping every 1/2 block to rearrange the piles of luggage we were trying to lug in 90 degree weather. Thank goodness for the guys from PC Panama who came along and grabbed a couple of my bags for the last few blocks or I might have had to break down and hail a cab (Clearly I packed waaay too much.) We finally made it to our hotel, checked in and headed straight for the showers. All in all, it was a pretty hilarious start to our service.

Other than that, Staging was awesome. Staying awake during all the policy sessions was a little rough on zero hours of sleep, but it was great meeting everyone. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but there are 48 people in my stage. Everyone is either a SED (business) volunteer or some sort of agriculture volunteer. So far the group seems really cool, plus its just nice to see that I'm not the only one who is a little freaked out by all of this.

Day 2: Got up early and headed to the clinic for our yellow fever vaccine. I didn't cry, woo! Might sound lame, but I hate needles so that was quite an accomplishment. After the clinic we were off to the airport. We got there about 6 hours before our flight boarded so there was a lot of waiting around, but it also provided a last minute opportunity for American food. Yum pizza and Ben & Jerry's!

t-minus 4 days...YIKES!

I've been promising myself I'd write a blog post for about two weeks now and I figured, with tons of packing to do and 17 hours still to go on Rosetta Stone, there's no time like the present... So here's the deal: on August 11th I'm off to Washington, D.C. to meet up with the 50 other fabulous Peace Corps Trainees for Senegal. We'll be in D.C. for a fun filled day of orientation and more shots than I care to think about, and then its off to Senegal on the 12th. If all goes to plan (and I certainly hope it does) we'll land in Dakar on August 13th and then take a bus ride to the Peace Corps' training center in Thiès (pronounced "chess"). I'll be taking my laptop with me and they have free wifi at the training center so feel free to send emails/write messages for me to read when I get there (hint hint). Anywho, we'll have 4 or 5 days of training type stuff in Thiès and then we're off to homestays in the area for more training and integration into the Senegalese culture. All told, training lasts for 9 weeks and once its done we'll swear in and transition from PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) to PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) sometime around mid-October.

In other news, I talked to the Country Director for PC Senegal today and he said that I will "more than likely" have electricity and running water once I get to my site (which will be a few days after swear in) so hurrah for that! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be internet as well, but I figure I better not push my luck. He also assuaged the fears of numerous members of my family who have voiced their concerns about my being able to get sunscreen in Senegal. I felt rather stupid for asking about it, but he assured me that "its the Peace Corps' responsibility to make sure you don't get skin cancer" so I'm set. Chris also mentioned that they are thinking about starting up some Junior Achievement programs in Senegal, which would be an awesome idea in my opinion. I taught a Junior Achievement class to 3rd graders in Champaign last spring and it was tons of fun. Nothing spells a great start to your day like a bunch of kids clamoring to give you a hug and tell you about what they learned from you last week.

Hmm, other info...oh, well I'll be serving as a Small Business Counselor in Senegal's Small Enterprise Development Program. Basically I could be working on any number of business related projects from teaching business classes to expanding the ecotourism industry to exporting the goods of local artisans. For more information (and because they put it much more eloquently than I could), check out the SED section PC Senegal's website.

Oh and last but not least, I've posted my contact info on the right-hand side, but I'll put the address here to. My address during training will be:

PCT Elizabeth Corkery

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 299

Thies, Senegal

West Africa

Some simple guidelines for sending letters/packages: Be sure to write "Par Avion" and/or "Airmail" somewhere on the envelopes so that they have a better chance of getting to me. Its also best to number your letters so I know what was written when in case they come out of order. As for packages, probably best to seal everything inside in plastic bags so nothing gets to them. Oh and write on the customs forms that everything inside is "Used" (and preferably not worth a high dollar amount) so it doesn't cost as much for me to get them back from the Post Office.

I think that's about all for now. I'll try to make my posts more entertaining/witty in the future but well, its me, so I make now guarantees. See you all in a few years!

P.S. Everyone (including the clerks at the stores where I've been spending all my money these days) keeps asking me how I'm feeling, so here it is in brief. At my graduation party a few weeks ago one of my uncles (and I'm sorry, I forget which one) asked me this same question and listed three possible answers: "excited, nervous, scared ****less?" Well let's just say, he hit the nail on the head with that last one!