The Day in the life of a Galoyabe volunteer :)

Hello!!

            Soooo much has happened! I installed at my site almost a month ago! I love my family, my village, the other volunteers in my region, (other volunteers in general), the work I’m doing! Literally everything I had hoped Peace Corps would be, is way better in every sense so far!

So as soon as I installed I set up a routine. In the morning I wake up, work out in my room, my nene brings me breakfast (bread and coffee), I read and eat, then get dressed, open my door and study Pulaar, agriculture, or read for fun in my room until lunch time. Sometimes I greet the village chief, my master farmers family, and my counter parts family during this time instead of studying or sometimes I cook. But usually I study or read. Lunch is around 2:30. I like to come out of my room around 1:30 and play with the kids and hang out with my sisters for a while. Then we eat (it’s always delicious!) after lunch we all hang out on the mat together drinking tea, chatting, napping, sewing, dancing, and a lot of laughter and happiness. This is my favorite time of the day! There is such an amazing feeling of love and happiness shared between these people, it reminds me so much of home! It’s like the holidays, except all year round. Anyways, after lunch and family time, I go to the gardens and dig some beds, make some maps, talk to the women about their gardens, discuss with my master farmer about projects, basically I actually do work! Then I go home, shower, call some PC friends, hang out with the fam some more, dance, teach the youngins to step, sing, wait for dinner, which is always delicious! After dinner, read for a while, then go to bed. Wake up and do it again!!

But also, Christmas was awesome! Came into the regional house! We had a wonderful lunch (chicken, mashed potatoes, squash, green been casserole, pumpkin cake, and chocolate cake with mint icing! AMAZEBALLS!!!!) We did a gift exchange and everyone had stockings and it was wonderful! So much fun! Now I am back for New Years! We had a wonderful lunch! I bought stuff to learn this cool embroidering all the women in my village do! Oh and I bought a live chicken and some potatoes and corn and cooked my family in village a Christmas dinner! I had to bike 3 hours to village with all that stuff strapped to my bike! It was quite a challenge! Tomorrow I am buying 2 baby chickens and bringing them back to my site! I am going to raise them in my douche (back yard/ bathroom/ my safe haven!) and eat their eggs and have them eat all the ants that munch on my cookie crumbs!

Things I love most about this country include: peoples wiliness to help strangers. This is exemplified by many specific situations including: me getting lost and people walking me 20 minutes to where I need to go, me biking home with all the stuff strapped to my bike and people helped me put the chain back on after it came off not once, but twice! People taking the time out to help me learn Pulaar, people helping find what I am looking for in the market… Really, everyone here is so genuinely good, all of time! I also love how relaxed and chill everyone is with each other. I love how much time people spend with their families here. I love how much time people spend outside! It’s just a wonderful place!

Some issues I hope to address during the course of my service include: proper livestock management (seriously overgrazing is a huge problem and no one even eats any of their livestock, they just raise animals so the can die! It’s mainly for prestige and their sort of bank account), seed saving and improved variety seed extension to improve crop yields, basic accounting for farmers, nutrition education, soooo much! There is so much to work on, I can’t wait till my language is at a  higher level so I can make a bigger difference!

Some of my favorite instances so far include:

·      One afternoon I was playing with the toddlers in my host family, causing a ruckus, then I got tired so I climbed up a tree to escape them and chilled there for a while till the moved on. Then my nene came bye and said “Aissata! Why are you in a tree” I told her not to worry about it and so she shrugged her shoulders and sat down curiously to watch me. Then when my little nephew was walking bye I jumped out of the tree on him! It was sooo wonderful!

·      Another great time was the day I learned this complicated stitch and all the women were like, “Wow, she can, she really can!” and then anyone who didn’t already know the stitch was obsessed with learning and wanted me to teach them!!

·      There was the night I caught a frog, showed all the kids. They thought it was hilarious that I caught one. They thought it was especially hilarious when I named it and put it in my backyard douche so that it could eat the ants.

·      I had mice in my room that my predecessor warned me about but that neither him nor I had the heart to kill… But then they had babies. Five babies… I came to terms. I had to do it. So I bought poison and left it out for them… Two days later, I went on a search to find the dead mice and I stepped on one… I have never before squished something so it’s guts came out… So gross!!!

·      The other day I got a thorn up my foot, but I ignored it. The pain is probably temporary, is what I told myself. But the next day, when it still hurt, I decided to investigate further… It was much more than your average thorn… It was a 1 inch long, 2mm in diameter piece of wood so deep into my foot I had to cut it out with my sharpest knife… Nbd

·      The birds here are soooo amazing! All of the brightest most brilliant colors I have ever seen!

·      I love the days when the littlest girls come running into my room asking to play! And then when we play so much that they fall asleep on my lap.

·      I love how clear and brilliant the stars are every night!

·      I love how my sisters are always so happy to see me and teach me!

I just love being here and can’t believe its only been 3 months since I have been in Africa! So much has happened and I have learned so much!

It’s a new year! Happy 2015! This past year, I graduated and moved to Africa. It’s crazy to think that for the next year, for the first time in my whole life, I will be in a completely different country, completely different continent, for the whole year! I feel like I have already grown so much! I can’t wait to see how I will change! I hope to become much better at Pulaar, gain the trust and respect of the people in my village, do some great projects that promote better food security, make new friends, make great memories, promote a love of learning, promote a positive image of Americans, learn more about Senegalese culture so that I can share that with Americans. There is so much I want to do this next year! Should be an amazing adventure! I miss and love everyone!! Hope all is well!

Love,

Heather McGettigan

Swear In, Thanksgiving, and the Regional House!!

Hello from Orrisogea!!

The last couple of days I have been in the regional house preparing to be installed into my permanent site. I install December 4 and then I will be at site for 5 weeks. I will have no internet, no electricity (except for one solar panel that lights the compound and can charge my old school cell phone), and limited language. Should be an adventure! I can’t wait to stop living out of a suitcase and gets some roots in the ground! While in Orrisogea awaiting install I have acquired some things for my permanent site. I got some Senegalese clothes made; I got a tea pot and mug, some paint for my walls, some cleaning supplies and some food!!! Another misconception I had about coming to Africa: I thought I would be eating a lot less, but I haven’t found that to be true at all! I have eaten sooo much since being here! The main difference being that all the meals are heavy in carbs, so they say male volunteers lose weight while female volunteers gain weight.

Anyways since my last post so much has happened! I was sworn in as an official volunteer! That was pretty cool. We all got dressed up and there was a buffet (which I didn’t get any of because there wasn’t enough food, but that’s alright) and our host families from CBT were there. Lots of pictures were taken and hugs and farewells were had. Overall it was so very lovely! There was an awesome Senegalese band there and lots of great dancing occurred!

After swear-in we went to the beach for Thanksgiving! That was absolutely amazing! We partied all day and night! Woke up early Thanksgiving day and butchered and cleaned 2 turkeys on the beach with tail feathers in our hair while dancing around! The turkeys were roasted over a bed of coals. After cleaning the turkey, I spent all day at the beach, playing in the waves and building our version of  the 7 wonders of the world in the sand and then we battle royaled over our creations as if we were Godzilla and Mothra. Dinner was absolutely phenomenal! We had squash soup for starters then stuffing, veggies, potatoes and the amazing turkey! It was soooo delicious! It was served in big bowls Senegalese style and we ate with our hands, it was pretty awesome! We all sat around our bowls and said what we were thankful for and it was a powerful moment. I have never felt so much happiness in a room. Two months before none of us had known each other, but we had made it through training, through the struggles of tech exams, language acquisition, and cultural integration. We had supported each other through the loneliness of missing home and being scared of what was to come next. We had all been sworn in and then were/are about to start the next part of our journey. It was a great place to be. And this Thanksgiving might have been the best I have ever had!

The day after Thanksgiving we were taken back to the training center for the night. We had one last hurrah together and now we’re all off on our own. Some of the best friends I made during training are scattered in other places across the country. Hopefully I will get to visit them at some point! Now just to focus on my site and getting better at the language and earning the trust, respect, and love of the people of my village. I need to learn what they want and need and how it is that I can aid them in attaining their goals. It will be a challenge. But I know I can do it if I keep getting the wonderful support from my friends and family back home and in country! Thank you to all of you! I enjoy your letters and packages and phone calls! They brighten my day and make all of this easier! I love you! Hope you are well!!

Love,

Heather McGettigan aka Aissata Sen

Some highlights/crazy stories:

•      Women invited us to see her garden. And we got to practice our Pulaar and give her some technical advice. And it absolutely made her day!
•   When every one in my CBT group passed all our exams, our LCF (language teacher Oumar Tall) had the pleasure of telling us we passed. He was so proud of us because everyone only had positive stuff to say about us. He was so proud he cried and then we all cried (except Justin) and group hugged and it was so beautiful!
•  Pooped for the first time in 10 days!!
• Cooked for myself!
•    Had an icecream like substance! It was delicious!
•    Got packages from the family with lots of amazing stuff in it! Ate all of the reeses in about 10 minutes!
•    Had a dance party with my CBT little sisters on the roof under the stars!
•  Climbed the water tower in the training center! Could see everything!

• Recipe I learned in country: Fresh peanut butter, soy sauce, lime, sugar, bell pepper, and onions sautéed! Soooo delicious!

CBT is over and I'm counting down to Swear-In!!!

Hey so it’s been awhile! And so much fun has happened! CBT round 3 for almost 3 weeks has come and gone. My language skills are really coming along. I can successfully discuss with my little sisters about what they did today, what they want to do tomorrow, and what they want to be when they grow up. I have had some interesting discussions with my mom about Senegalese polygamy vs American monogamy, the idea of women working and being independent in America, as well as the foreign idea of men cooking and cleaning in America. In Senegal, men would never do any kind of cleaning or cooking, so that blew her mind.

My days at CBT have been very relaxing as I have gotten into a lovely routine. I have so much time to study, garden, read, dance and sing with my family. It has been so lovely. Also, side note, I had this misconception that I would not be able to bath very much in Africa, but I actually shower twice or maybe 3 times a day. I love it! I feel so healthy and clean and productive all the time. And I am learning so much, so very quickly, it feels great!

Also the good times spent with the other peace corps volunteers have been so much fun. We all met at the beach, twice!! It was so beautiful and relaxing. We also had an amazing Halloween party and I was very impressed by the craftiness of the costumes created with minimal supplies by the volunteers. We had a talent show (so hilarious! And a bonfire! And we went to church (which is the name of the only bar. It’s called church because it is run by the Christians. Muslims aren’t allowed to drink or sell alcohol) and had a grand old evening! Us volunteers know how to have a good time. Today we all had our tech finals. Aced mine! Whoop! And we are working on our final presentations on our work objectives at site and we have to do presentations in our local languages. Should be interesting!

Also today all of our counterparts at our local sites have been pouring into the training center. I am so excited to see my lovely counterpart again (I met her while on VV). Her name is Rugy Cham and she is a doll, she reminds me of my wonderful grandmama Ruby! Fyi: A counterpart is a person in our permanent site who is not only a work partner, but they help us with language acquisition and cultural integration. They are the person who guides us in the community, who helps us find work projects, gain credibility and they will facilitate meetings and trainings for us. I am so glad my counterpart is such a sweet woman. The next couple of days we have counterpart workshop where we work with the counterparts of communication techniques and they are introduced to some of the common challenges the volunteer faces when at site (communication and cultural challenges primarily). It should be very helpful.

We swear-in in less than 2 weeks!!! I am so excited! The ambassador should be there, which will be really cool. I got a pretty dress made to wear for swear in. Then after swear in we will be having Thanksgiving at the beach, before we finally go off to our sites! I am sooo very excited! Ahh time sure does fly when you are working hard and having fun!

So some crazy stories/ highlights from the past couple of weeks.

·      I got super sick and was projectile vomiting. I reminded myself of the girl from the exorcist. Fourteen times in one day. It was insane. But I am much better now.

·      I sleep nearly naked, because it is so insanely hot here. And one night a lovely little cockroach scuttled across my body. It was terrifying! Then I got out of bed turned on the light and chased that giant monster around my room for about a half hour trying to kill him. I did that till I finally gave up, crawled back into bed and super tucked in my mosquito net. Then I listened to him crawl all over my mosquito net and ruffle through my stuff till I finally drifted off to sleep… He comes back every night… I have come to terms with my cockroach friend(s).

·      When we were all at the beach, a crowd of children formed around us and the kids distracted us with wrestling and of the Peace corps trainees had her phone and some money stolen. And some disrespectful little kid drank nearly half of my water!! Muyanni! (Not good!) I yelled at him!

·      A goat jumped on my friend Justin when we were studying pulaar one day. One minute we were listening to our teacher teach and the next there is a goat on Justin’s tummy! Hilarious!

·      Our water was out for 5 days. So we went to the well to get water. I carried the buckets of water on my head like a real Senegalese woman! Proud moment for me!

·      I learned a new Baba Mall song and dance (Baba Mall is the biggest singer in Senegal, look him up!!!)

·      When I was sick and in Dakar, I had pizza!!! And DONUTS!!! It was amazing!! Also I got to cook for myself!!! It was soo amazing. Cooking is probably the thing I miss doing the most.

Anyways I should go! But I hope all is well!! Ask me questions and I will answer the call!!!

Love,

Heather!

Galoyabe!! My permanent site!

Hiiri e jam (Good evening!)

So much has happened! I found out my permanent site. I am going to a small village of ~1,500 people called Galoyabe. It is in the Matam region which is in the North of the country. It is very dry and hot. It reminds me of Wyoming. But I absolutely love it there! I went and stayed at my site for 3 days with my predecessor and it was absolutely amazing! During my time at my site I got my new name, which is Isata (or Acca, pronounced Acha) Sen. I met my family, there are so many of them! I have 3 brothers and there 3 wives who live in my compound. In total they have 9 young children who are absolutely adorable. And my host mother and host father who are very sweet. And there are a couple other people that I’m not quite sure how they are related.

We visited my master farm, which has so much potential. Future projects, my predecessor and I discussed include: building a chicken coop, grafting some fruit trees, demo beds with field crops (chemical vs. natural pesticides, amendments vs no amendments, double digging vs topsoil tilling, etc). I met the master farmer, who I will work very closely with, his name is Djiibi (pronounced Jeebee) and he is very helpful and excited to work with me.

After we visited the masterfarm we visited the women’s garden that my predecessor worked very closely with (he actually acquired a grant to have it built for them). The women all greeted me and said the absolute sweetest things about my predecessor and their joy and excitement to work with me. I almost cried it was so touching.

I met the Jom Wuro (Village Chief) of my village. I met the vice principal of the school in my village. I hope to work very closely with the school; hopefully I can set up a school garden and do some classes on nutrition with the children. I met the Jom Wuro of the neighboring village, it’s called the Fulbe village.

The Fulbe village is actually a group of refugees from Mauritania, who left because of the violence occurring there. I don’t know much about it now but I plan on learning much more about the conflict in Mauritania. I am very close to the border of Mauritania. I am also very close (I think 15km) from the nearest city, Orisogea (not spelled right at all, also this is where my regional house is, so I am very close to internet).

Anyways back to village life. I ate with the women of my host family, one day we fit about 12 people around the bowl. At night we slept on the roof, which had an amazing breeze. The stars in the north of the country are unlike anything I have ever seen. The air is so dry, the sky is so clear, and there is absolutely no light pollution… It’s phenomenal!

I am so very excited to start working in my village after having visited. My predecessor did such and amazing job gaining the respect and love of the community and now they are very excited to have me and that is wonderful going into. I am excited for all of the projects I will get to work on. I am excited to get to know the members of my community better. I can’t wait to go back!

But right now, I am back at the training center, doing tech classes (which are super great and helpful) and Saturday we are going back to CBT for the next 2 weeks. I am excited to see my host family again. I called them twice since I have been away. Talking on the phone in Pulaar is so extremely difficult. But my nene loved hearing from me! Also finally talked to my parents back home! Please call me again and give my number to the family so they can call me too (It should be free for you to call me!) Anyways! I love you guys!! Ask me questions!

Cultural Based Training Basics!

So it has been about 3 weeks since my last post. Since then we have gone to CBT (cultural based training sites) for a week, come back for intense training at the center for 3 days, then been back at CBT with our host families for another 2ish weeks.

I love my host family! I have a mom (nene am), her name is Hooraye, and a father (baba am), his name is Abu (who is working in France, so I haven’t met him). I have 4 little sisters (two of them aren’t living in the compound right now, they are living with family in other regions of the country) which I love, since I have never had little sisters before! They are so much fun! I think of all the good times I’ve had with my big sisters and I’m so glad I get to be a role model for them. My sisters are very bright! My one little sister Miram speaks Wolof, Pulaar, French and she has studied some English, she is absolutely amazing. We love to sing. I have already learned a song in Pulaar and a dance and we sing it and dance frequently. We also frequently discuss food (because it one of the only things I can talk about and I love all of the food here!!), they love to joke about putting cats, rats and people in the food. One night I asked where my baby sister Isata was (she was eating at a friends) and they told me I was eating her. They love to joke and mess with me all the time! I love it! Reminds me of home.

Also living in my compound are Hably (my dad’s cousin) and his wife Isata and their 3 adorable children, Hooraye (5), Abu (3), and Atia (1). There is also Katia (who is the wife of my father and Hably’s cousin) and her young son, Musa (who is soooo adorable I can hardly handle it!).  Then there is Fatimata (Fati or Fatu for short), her husband (who I can’t remember the name of), and his son (from a previous wife) Sali Man. They are not related to us, they are renting. They are from the Cassamance, where there has been an ethnic war going on since the 80s. Anyways, those are all the people who live in my compound. It was very confusing the first couple of days, trying to figure out who every one was related and how I was ‘related’ to them, especially not knowing the language. Luckily my French is passable enough to have really great conversation with some people.

            Now that I have explained my family, let me describe my mealtime experience in Africa for you.

·      Breakfast (around 8am): Bread with either butter, onion sauce, leftovers from the night before, cheese, or plain along with Café (coffee, which most people drink), but I drink a powdered sweet milk (that I LOVE!)!

·      Lunch (around 2-3pm): is the main meal of the day: out of a big bowl there is usually rice or millet, some veggies and fish (sometimes goat meat). There can be anywhere from 4 people around the bowl to 12 people around the bowl. Sometimes there is not enough food for everyone and children are not the priority. They will throw me (because I am a guest), and men more food than anyone else. And children often only have a couple of bites. I find myself not eating much because I don’t want to take food away from the children.

·      I frequently go to the market and buy fruit to bring back for my family. Oranges and bananas are my favorite thing!!! I also have a stockpile of cookies in my room. They are the sweetest and most important comfort on the roughest of days.

·      Dinner (around 10-11pm): usually a sweet porridge or rice and bean dish. It is usually not very much. One day we had an amazing salad, that was the best!

All of the food here is sooo delicious. I absolutely love eating here and have completely gotten over eating with my hands. I don’t even burn the tips of my fingers anymore! Also I cooked for the first time the other day (mostly helped). That was an adventure. I scraped the scales of the fish, cleaned out the innards, cut the eyes out, ripped out the spine… But all the bones are still left in the fish, and we pick them out of every bite while we eat… That’s just apart of life. Then we fried the fish, with the veggies steaming on top… It’s really cool how they cook, I couldn’t explain it in a way to do it justice.

            Average day at site!

·      Bathe

·      Eat breakfast

·      Go to my language teachers (Omars) house 9-2. We study language that whole time (except for during our attaya/café/soda break). This is also our time to talk about unsettling experiences. These sessions really calm me if I am stressed.

·      Home for lunch and resting with the family. Also some studying happens.

·      Back to Omars house for gardening around 4. We built 3 beds, 5 field crop beds, a baby tree nursery, a baby plant nursery, a moringa nursery (magic nutritious tree! look it up!) and 2 compost piles.

·      Back home for another bucket bath.

·      Hanging out with the family.

·      Studying.

·      Dinner.

·      Sleep time.

·      Wake up and do it again!

So far my experience has been amazing! I love my family. I love my language group. I love my teacher. I really enjoy being here in Senegal and learning all that I am.  Wednesday we find out our permanent sites and then we get to go visit them! I can’t wait! But I miss my family and friends back home greatly! Hope all is well! I could write more but its off to dinner and studying for me! 

Haa booya!

Heather

Hello! Or should I say, Mbada!!

This is my first post and I have so much to talk about so I’m just gonna jump in! My name is Heather McGettigan. I am currently a Peace Corps volunteer (in training) in Senegal, West Africa. I arrived to Senegal, Sunday (Sept 21) morning, after a 9 hour redeye from New York. This first week of training has been so exciting! It started with learning not only the names of the other 58 volunteers, but also all the training staff. And let me tell you, learning African names I’ve never heard before has been quite a challenge. But luckily in Senegal there are a lot of repeat names. Every one has a namesake in the family! When I go to live with my host family next week, I will be getting a namesake J! I can’t wait! Also since I have been here, I have been going as Eva (my middle name) since it is the 7^th most common Senegalese name interestingly enough, also it is much easier to pronounce in French and Wolof than Heather. But it is pronounced Awa here. Our cultural trainer is also named Awa, we call her Mama Awa and she says that I am her namesake and a lot of people have started calling me Awa J! Every one here is so friendly! Greetings and stopping to say hello to everyone is very important in this culture! I learned how to say in Wolof, ‘Hello. How are you? What’s your name? How did you sleep? How is your family? Peace be with you’ in less than 2 days, because you greet literally everyone!

            But yeah since Sunday, we have been through many sessions learning about Senegal culture, history, geography, history, and geology, as well as the really boring, but completely necessary sessions about safety, health, the rules, the layout of the program, how training will work, etc. Anyways after all those sessions we finally had our interviews! We had a French, medical and technical interview! The technical one was great, cause that’s what really determines where you go. Which we don’t find out until the end of training, but we did learn what language we will be speaking! I will be learning Puular du Nord. J I am very excited to be learning Puular because they speak it in a number of countries through out Africa!

            Which can I just tell you how amazing the way we’re learning the language is! There are three of us learning Puular du Nord from Omar, who is wonderful. Three of us!! That’s it! Coming from Virginia Tech where there were 300 people per class, the personal attention is AMAZING!! Also every lunch we (in groups of 5) sit around a big bowl of amazingly delicious food (nehna torop! In Wolof J), and we get to talk in our languages, ask questions, practice, and learn all about the culture. It is so different here!

Some differences worth sharing:

·      Going to the city (which is unlike anything I have ever seen in the US), the people all know a number of languages. You can talk in French, wolof, puular, mendinka… it’s amazing!

·      Also! The food they eat (at least here in the training center) is heavy in carbs (rice, couscous, small noodles), there is a main meat (fish, chicken, sometimes beef) in the middle of the bowl, veggies that are cooked till they’re so soft!

·      Also the way they eat is soooooo extremely different! In the training center there are bowls that 5 people eat out of at a time. You eat with a spoon, but apparently in some part of the country you just use your hand. You cut off pieces of meat and veggies from the middle and bring it to your side of the bowl. Also NEVER use your left hand (that’s your poop hand) for eating or passing anything. Senegalese culture is so different than in the US. You eat, you don’t talk, and when your done you get up and leave the bowl, because in the village someone will be waiting to eat once you get up. Which is crazy when compared to the US culture of going out to eat, we can’t just sit around and talk, we have to go out and spend money to do that!

·      But the Senegalese definitely get there social time! They do that over attaya (tea). People sit around and drink attaya and talk for hours!

·      Also bathrooms! I poop in a Turkish toilet now! It is a hole in the ground. And I wipe with no toilet paper, just water! It is so environmentally friendly and I think it is more comfortable! I’m pro: Bring the Turkish Toilet to the States!!!

Anyways, I will have more differences to mention once I start to live with my host family! So I will let you know more later. But I am soooo excited to meet my host family. I can’t wait to start learning Puular and learn more about the culture and play with the little kids. Apparently all the families are gigantic in Senegal, with lots of children running around. Families stay together and don’t move away J They live in a compound. I can’t wait to go and meet my new family! But I do miss my family back home sooo much! I love you guys! And hope you are well! Glad Angie’s baby is healthy, I can’t believe I just barely missed it!

Anyways I could go on for hours, I have learned so much. But I will write more later! If you have any questions about anything! Ask me and I will answer you J

Love always!

Heather aka Eva