Asalamalakum
Helloooo there friends!
How are we all doin. (haven't quite figured out the question mark on these Senegalese keyboards). So yes I did indeed make it over here and have as of yet hardly stopped moving. I got here about 2 weeks ago today and have since been half way across the country, thrown into my new host family, and inundated with technical , x cultural, and language training. As approximately 1/3 to1/2 of you reading this are currently serving in the peace corps I'd imagine you know what I'm talking about. But life is good! While at the same time somewhat overstimulating things are beginning to settle into some sort of routine. I have begun my language lessons in Jaxanke (pronounced, ja-honk-ay, yeah call me a honky if you need to), a class I share with 2 other volunteers as it is not the most widely spoken language in Senegal. The positive side of this is that I have a good idea of where I will probably be placed as they only speak Jaxanke in the Kadougou (sp) and Tambakounda regions of the south (we're shooting for kadougou). The negative side of course being that I won't be able to communicate with most of the people in the country as they speak wolof and pulaar (again sp, question mark). However my french is quickly improving which is positive of course as it is not only how I communicate with my family and, in general, people everywhere, but it is also the language I am learning Jaxanke through. Yes, challenging indeed.
Last week we made a trip down to Tamba for our "demystification" experience during which time we met with current PCVs, stayed in one's village for a few days and generally saw how we're going to be living for the next couple years. Despite temps over 110 I came back reassured and encouraged. I'll do my best to go into further detail later as the fam is expecting me but the projects that we came across and the volunteers we met were incredibly inspiring while also maintaining a grasp on reality we haven't tended to get from the recruiting and staging offices.
At this point we have about 6 more weeks of training and then we're off! I do hope all are well back home and around the world. Please please forward this to any and all who are not on the list and might be interested, and let me know so I can add them next time.
Much love to you all,
willie
