One Year Down

and one year (and a month or two) to go!

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(The below is taken from a mass update email I just sent, so don't worry about reading it again, but I just wanted to put it up...)
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Hey Everyone!!!! [Please be warned that this is a long email...but it's a once-a year thing]

Well, I'm not at the official One Year in Senegal, but will be there on Friday, March 13. Yes, Friday is the one year mark when myself and 38 other young Americans landed in Dakar, after two days Staging in Philly, a full day of flights, and God-only-knows how many months or years of application and preparation for the life in the Peace Corps. Since I will most likely be in my village on Friday, I thought I would send the one year email a few days early. I am quite shocked that the year mark has hit, and I know several others who came in with me are as well. One year is three times as long as I spent in Brussels and six times as long as I lived in Paris, yet in many ways they are even still more familiar to me than Senegal. Maybe not, but it's definitely been and will continue to be a much longer journey.

So what has this year held for me? Really, what has it not? (Marriage proposals have been plentiful, but none accepted, so no worries!) It has probably been the hardest and most challenging year of my life, but one where I learned way more than I ever have over a 12 month period and I thought it would be interesting to reflect on this year based on the things that I have learned--knowing full well that I still have SO MUCH to learn about life in Senegal and my work. I've learned a lot about Senegal, health, development, culture, education, myself, my friends, and more--too much to even begin to put into words. I know when I come back in April/May 2010, it will take me awhile to process through it all, but here's a start.

Some things (in no particular order) that I have learned include:
Two different languages (Serere and Wolof, to different degrees)
How to bargain for goods at the market, cabs, etc
How to travel in West African public transport (eek...)
Who in my life will make the effort to stay in touch (def had some surprises there)
How to garden (in the ground and in random containers), do a tree nursery, to plant trees, collect seeds
That I'm capable of more than I sometimes think I can handle
How to pull water from a well and then carry it on my head
To use a squatty toilet
That I had absolutely NO CLUE what I was doing when I signed up for Peace Corps, which was probably a good thing
To paint murals
That waking up to a rooster's crow is not enjoyable or cute
To hand wash my laundry (pull water from the well, add soap, soak clothes, agitate/scrub, squeeze out, rinse, squeeze, hang on the line, soak feet in rinse water, dump leftover water on garden) and realize the value of a washing machine
To bathe with a bucket (one big one, one little)
How to ride a charette (ish)
That I actually love raw milk with millet (and a little sugar)
How to defend my marital status in multiple languages and to know when to lie about it as well
How to read Senegalese indirect communication (they don't like to directly say no, so you need to know when they say yes but actually mean no)
How to tie a hairwrap-ish
To distinguish the sounds of the cries of 25 different children as well as baby animals
That mangoes are INCROYABLE
The value of the cold season
The importance of long-distance phone calls
The beauty of letter-writing and letter reading (though I sometimes feel like I write more than I receive)
How lucky I am to have been born in a country that values mens and womens education and rights (relatively) equally and not to suffer oppression based on my gender or ethnicity
The oral-fecal cycle and how to explain it to people, how to prevent it (hand washing with soap), and other basic health lessons
The importance of education in development and how lack of education (through strikes, the government not paying, poverty, etc) can cripple several generations of potential
The tragedy of tallibees and how it really is a human rights abuse taking kids away from their families for "religious education" only to make them beg on the streets and their begged money go into the pockets of ridiculously rich religious leaders with fancy homes, cars, and cell phones, while the kids wear rags and starve...and yet, know that helping the kids really only helps the system, so what is one to do?
To design my own clothes (then get them made!) and (horribly) patch holes in my clothes
How to pound millet and make Senegalese couscous
The true meaning of the phrase "to grow like a weed"
To laugh at myself (I think I learned this during years of mission trips, but I really value it now) and to JUST DANCE!
About breastfeeding and pre and post natal care
That the Harry Potter books are absolutely fabulous!
That no matter where I am, I still love/appreciate the value of a good cup of coffee or glass of red wine
To travel lightly, yet still be prepared and probably overpack
About all sorts of health issues like reproductive health, Malaria, hygiene and sanitation, clean water, and many other issues
To appreciate the environment (not like I didn't before, but still...)
About mangroves as an ecosystem and really understand the problem of deforestation (Senegal is quickly turning into the Sahara Desert)
That vacations are AMAZING in so many ways--esp around the holidays to see friends and family
How to rely on the kindness of strangers and non-strangers, but also know when to be aware of people trying to take advantage of you
How to sit around (and why one should ALWAYS carry a book on your person)
The necessity of a delicious and nutrient-packed meal after weeks in the village (or after Ramadan)
The amazingness of peanut butter (peanuts in general) as a nutritional substance, esp with bananas!
That care packages in the PC are 500% better than care packages in college
How amazing going to church is after not being able to for several months, even if it's in a crazy French/English/Serere mix, that I only partially understand--it still means a lot
That I am soooo thankful capital punishment is no longer allowed in schools and that beating your child is NOT acceptable in the States--that breaks my heart here
How to really be creative with cooking and with limited supplies in general
That I can no longer spell correctly in any language or hold a normal American conversation (after we get past name, job, hometown, weather, marital status, I'm at a loss for words--actually it's a problem many PCVs here have, we can only hold Senegalese style convos...)
That I still have no idea what I want to do post-PC, where I want to live, or what exactly I want to study for grad school
That I have amazingly supportive family and friends who haven't once told me that I should just get up and leave--ie quit PC, or not do it at all, and I am very blessed for having that
That as hard as it can be, this is where I need to be right now

Ok, well that list is long enough for now, but is really just the tip of the iceberg of learning experiences here in Senegal. I'm sure if I sat here long enough I could double or triple that list, at least!

Work has been picking up a lot the past few months. I am doing a mixture of stuff in the village (gardening at the school, a latrine project, getting community and school educational health sessions going, working with teachers), stuff in my nearest town slowly coming together (girls' group and English club, maybe a summer camp?), regional activities (preparing for a Girls' Leadership camp next summer, learning about the mangroves and reforesting them), and training activities for future PCVs (I've done a lot of work with the cross culture training of the newest groups of trainees, including a cross culture book, plus I'm working with a fellow PCV to write a Serere-English dictionary). There's also a ton more things that I want to do in this next year, but probably won't quite have time for (in part because things move much slower here as well). I need to make sure to find a balance between work (in and out of the village) and personal time, because just like in the States, I seem to have a hard time finding it. Either I feel like I'm sitting around too much reading in the village (for fun and work) and that I need to be doing a lot more, or I'm just constantly running around doing things (in and out of the village) and then feel exhausted and horrible because I don't have time to sit with friends and family in the village, or to visit fellow PCVs. I still haven't seen much of Senegal at all, so I want to spend time visiting fellow PCVs around the country, and see it because for such a small country, every region is sooo different, and maybe a trip to some neighboring countries. We shall see.