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