Hooray One Year!

Hedge Hog friend back for a visit

 I can't believe I have spent the past year here in Senegal! It has had its ups and downs but I definitely wouldn't change it for anything. These past couple months have been incredibly busy with visitors, cookouts, mural paintings, and oh yeah work too!

One day I was chilling in my hut and I get called outside because someone has come to visit. I couldn't think who would be there. Maybe another volunteer has dropped by? No, it was my old friend the hedge hog. He was tightly curled in his ball and the kids had gathered around fascinated by what he would do next. They know what a hedge hog is, but they still like to scream and run around acting like it's an anaconda or something! Eventually the little guy opened up and started wondering around the outside of our compound. I was relieved that no one was going to kill it (usually what they like to do with critters). We just watched him wander around while shrinking back into a ball on and off. This is true village entertainment at its best!

Into a ball he goes!

While we have many animals at our house including sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, a donkey, cats, and our green parakeet, there are not a lot of pets. Senegalese are not too keen on having animals that do not either work for them or feed them. However we have a few "pets" at my house. There's my mom's cat which I have dubbed Frank who gets fed out of the food bowl and enjoys a life of luxury in the coolness of the huts. At night there is another cat, Pinky, who comes around every so often. There's also the neighbor's dog next door, Kia, who is just starting to warm up to me. The newest addition to this motley crew is Henry a young sheep that my brother Moussa acquired a few months ago. This guy thinks he is a dog. If he is loose he follows Mousa everywhere and would rather hang out with people than his sheep mates. Just the other night I was enjoying tea in the evening outside with my family and Henry comes over to be petted. After indulging him for a bit I stopped and he kept nudging me with his head until I would start again. So those are my pets here in Senegal: a spoiled cat, a loud parakeet, and a confused sheep!

Pa Dam future Wildcat!

I was helping my sister-in-law Aisatou and sister Khady cook lunch one day when they asked me when I was going to cook some American food for them. I always talked about cooking when I go to Kaolack but I rarely cook when I am in village. I told them I would make something delicious soon. The next time I was in Kaolack I decided to just go for it and make a family dinner I could bring back to village. I decided I wanted to make something completely different than we would ever eat at home and something very American. Pizza of course! And as a good PC volunteer I wanted to add a health component to it so I made a salad too as an appetizer. I went to the market in Kaolack and bought all the ingredients for a giant salad and a veggie pizza. I made the tomato sauce, grated the cheese, put together the dough and chopped the vegetables. After a lot of work in the kitchen I came out with two baked pizzas with onions, green peppers, and tomatoes on top. I packed everything up and caught a ride to Kaffrine.

My family enjoying salad

With the pizzas done I focused on making the salad. I put together lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions, and salad dressing. Finally it was time for the big reveal. Everyone in the family was called to dinner and my mom Yaay Tutti even did a little dance! Everyone dug into the salad and seemed to enjoy it (We do eat a version of salad here, but rarely). I think they didn't know what to do with so many vegetables!  

Ndeye Rocky and Frank trying out pizza

 Next course was the pizza and I was most curious to hear what they thought of it. All the adults seemed to really like it. Especially the cheese as it is a very rare treat. Ibou, our resident teacher, loved it as he had had pizza before in Kaolack. The kids were less enthusiastic which surprised me since most American kids love pizza. I think overall it went well and even if my family may not have thought it to be the most amazing meal they were really happy that I made an effort to show them something from my culture and spent a lot of time cooking for them. In the end it was all eaten up, so that made me happy!

I have also been busy with work projects here and there like painting murals in my community. The first one I did a while back at our Health Hut on a modified nutrition pyramid. The second one was painted on the outside of one of the school buildings near the latrines to teach kids proper hand washing techniques and to remind them to use soap! I plan on doing more educational murals at both the health hut and inside the classrooms of the school.
 

First mural at the school showing proper hand washing

First mural I painted at the Health Hut about nutrition

At the moment life is good in Senegal. It's starting to heat up again (the low 100s are now a thing of the past), but there have been a few rain showers to lift the spirits. I am busy and happy and could not have asked for a better year filled with new adventures, friends and family.

Baby Ibou and I chilling in front of our compound