Belated Birthday Reflections

From my journal. Dated Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I'm now 24. Weird.

Yesterday, I celebrated my 24th birthday by listening to Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th President of the UnitedStates. History was made as Jaime, Jessica, and I sat on the ledge of Jess' front porch--Jess with her left arm extended out, holding up her radio to get the best reception of the Inauguration possible from BBC on her notoriously unreliable radio. It was a classic Peace Corps moment and a birthday that will forever stand out in my mind.

Jaime and I decided to spend our joint birthday (she's two year's my senior) in Sokone, a kind of touristy town in the mangroves where a few PCVs are located. It's not too far from Djilor, but involves changing cars in Passy, a small garage town I greatly dislike (and this dislike was proved yet again, but oh well). Jess, our gracious host, opened her beautiful house to us at last minute and helped us make sangria and chocolate peppermint pudding... We wanted and planned on watching the Inauguration on TV with one of Jess' friends, but the power was out all day (as was the water...annoying). Instead we had to rely on Jess' small and unreliable radio, on the edge of her porch (the only place that it gets reception). We had a delicious meat maffe lunch, walked around the market, stopped at a baptism (someone from Jaime's village), researched things for a Kaolack regional project, watched the Inaugural parade at a cellphone boutique (running on generator since the power was still out), and supped on chicken with salad and frites at a local restaurant (for $2!). I also talked to my parents and sister, which was nice (maybe more people will be familiar with skype by next year :) ).

Here's some pics of the day:

We're ready and excited, even without power in Sokone

Jess and Jaime, eagerly waiting for Obama to "swear in"
note: He took basically the same oath PCVs take...the difference? President of the United States of America vs Peace Corps Volunteer, but the whole "Protect and defend the Constitution..." Yep, the same. Cool, huh?

Jess and I, pudding and sangria in the candlelight (love the settings on my camera!)

It wasn't a perfect birthday, but it was perfectly Senegal. I can't imagine a better way to spend my birthday in any way that more perfectly encapsulates my Peace Corps experience than listening to BBC's broadcast on a disfunctional radio.