If you are hungry, reach for something besides cashews

I want to sart this post by referring to the night last week that i almost killed myself. Before you continue reading, please note that I am alive and well..... OK so to start the story... There has been a shortage of food in many of the villages in Senegal. The senegalese economy is suffering much like that of america. Rice and other food prices are skyrocketing and many people have resulted to theft to feed their families. My family is suffering as well. Last week, we ate millet and water every night for dinner. I have described millet here a few times before and lets just say water does not help the taste much. After about 3 bites of scrumptious millet, i went back to my room starving. It was about 9:30 pm as I scrambled around my room to find some peanuts and cashews to snack on before bed. (I found 6 cashew fruits the day before and saved the nuts...) I took a big bite out of the first cahew and noticed that MY MOUTH WAS ON FIRE... i immediately spit the nut out and began rinsing my mouth out with water... At that moment, i remembered another volunteer saying something about fresh cashews being extremely poisonous and many people get rashes from just touching them. I soon felt my throat beginning to swell as i washed my entire mouth out with soap. The skin on my lips began peeling off as the acid from the cashew set in. The taste buds on my entire tongue were burning off as well. I ran to my medical kit and downed 3 benadryls and 2 zyrtec. I wasnt sure if i was going to overdose on Benadryl but i new i was having an allergic reaction. I called the nearest volunteer and she biked over to be sure i was going to be ok. Keep in mind that it was pretty late at night to be riding a bike. There is no emergency service in this country so we sat there and waited it out. Luckily, after about an hour, my throat began to feel better. My lips and tongue have taken several days to heal. I finally started to be able to taste food again but im still not 100%. Today i told a few other volunteers about what happened and they were shocked that I am alive. They told me horror stories about others doing the same thing I did and not having the same luck as i had.... I dont know who is praying for me back at home, but thank you! As of now, I am finished with cashews!

After a visit to the doctor last week, i have been informed that I AM FINE... not the answer that i was hoping for because "you are fine" does not explain the fevers, vomiting, etc. (ill leave it at that)... the process to find a parasite is not fun and involves certain bodily functions im sure you dont need to hear about. Anyway, im fine and my health is slowly coming back. Maybe my stomach is just weak and cant handle the GOURMET food i am being served haha.

I arrived back in the village a few days ago and have stayed quite busy. Today i planted a small garden... AGAIN... i have not had much success in having a garden in the small space behind my house. Im not sure if the soil is not good, the sun/shade is not correct, or if i just suck... maybe all 3. After several tries and zero luck, i decided to move my garden elsewhere. I chose a spot in my counterparts garden. I sent out photos of his garden a few months ago but if you dont remember, it is beautiful and he is a wonderful gardener. I am hoping with a little coaching, i can actually get something to sprout! I am growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and brocolli. People here have never seen brocolli and dont know what it is. I bought plenty of extra seeds in Dakar and have extended a few of them to friends throughout the village. I am hoping this catches on and they like it. It is difficult to get people to think outside the box and try something new here so i only gave out the seeds to people that seemed really interested. My friend Cisse lived in Italy and he knows about brocolli and became my spokeman for the afternoon. People seemed more interested in the seeds after they heard him talking and not just me....Im still the NEW toubab in the village and people dont always trust what i say.

I am in the process of starting an Enlgish club. Most teens in the village have studied English for several years but rarely get the opportunity to practice with a native English speaker. I talked it over with the headmaster at the school and he agreed to let me use one of the classrooms after school. I am planning to do classes 2 times a week. I have been doing a lot of private tutoring and it is getting time consuming. I am hoping the classes will eliminate most of the private sessions and i will be able to reach out to more students.

My project with the elementary school is coming right along and i should be able to turn in the budget within the next two weeks. After i have the budget complete, i will just have to wait and see if the project gets approved. If so, construction of the fence/garden and well should start soon thereafter.

As of now, things are going great other than the fact that it is getting extremely hot. It was 105 degrees in the shade last week! I am adapting the the heat quite well though. I dont notice it much unless i am directly in the sun. Hopefully mother nature will continue being nice and bless us with cool evenings for a few more weeks. I am dreading going back to sleepless nights and sweaty sheets...

I hope everything is going well for each and every one of you keeping up with my travels. Take care and more to come soon:)

The joys of being a mother...

Ok, dont worry, i did not run off and give birth; however, I have basically taken over the mother figure role for one of the children in my family. His name is Ablaye and i just love him to death. He is extremely neglected by most people in the family and has been quite sick lately. I spend time with him every single day and have made it my personal duty to get him healthy. I recently created a online photo album and he is in many of those photos. In the past two weeks baby Ablaye has opened up to me and has even started talking. He is going on 3 years old and is tiny and can barely talk. I am hoping that this will change in the next year or so....

Things have been going well in the village. This week i was invited to attend a village meeting at a local elementary school. I a planning to put a well and a garden in this school. The director came to me the night before the meeting at aroun 11 pm and said to just stop by the meeting the following day if i had time and he would possibly mention my project. So the next afternoon, I was really busy and barely made it to the meeting but indeed, i was there. The meeting commenced and i noticed that there was one chair in front of the room.... the next thing i know, i am being summoned to sit in the chair and was told to explain my project. THE MEETING WAS FOR ME AND NO ONE EVEN TOLD ME. About 50 men from the village showed up and luckily i was prepare and had the budget for the new project with me. This was the first time i have led a meeting in Sereer. I was quite surprised at how well i did on such short notice. The meeting lasted almost 4 hours total. After the first fifteen minutes, i just sat there and listened to the men discuss and argue the details of the project. They were trying to figure out where they were going to come up with the contribution to the project (they need to contribute 25%). The meeting was great and everyone approved the project. I am currently rewriting the budget for a garden that is 50M-50M and a well that is 15 M deep. This garden will be used by the students in school as a way to teach gardening and business skills. Most village families are supported by earnings from gardens and field crops. I heard that the school has been trying to get garden going for years. I am praying that this project i a success....

Work has been picking up lately and i have been quite busy. I am in the process for applying for a job within the peace corps community. I am applying for a leadership position among volunteers. The Peace Corps Volunteer Leader is someone that acts as a liason between the Peace Corps offces in Dakar and the volunteers in the village. The leader is also responsible for the regional house in a given region. This is a big job on top of regular volunteer duties but i am up for the task. Theposition will not be available until August but applications are due friday. I finished mine today. In general, this position usually goes to a third year volunteer... i will only be going into my second year in August but am keeping my fingers crossed that the director will give me a chance... say a little prayer for me :)

Tomorrow I am heading to Dakar to see the doctor. I have been quite sick for about a month and am almost certain i have a parasite or amoebas or something of that nature. I will keep you updated. Again, dont worry.... im not dying... Peace and Love-Can

I didnt realize it had been so long since i last posted on here. Sorry for the delay. Yes, I am alive and well. Things have been going much better around here lately. I am super busy with work and have started a new project in my village.... well i dont know if its a project but its been great. I decided to eat lunch and dinner with a new family every week. I am about to start my third week and couldnt be happier with the way things have turned out. I have gotten to know a lot of people and have made a few new friends. Making friends here is sometimes difficult because every single girl in the village thats around my age is definately mqrried and has children.... not that i mind this. it just makes it difficult to find things in common. In general, girls my age are cooking, cleaning, and washing. They rarely have time for friends. This week has been great because the family i am currently eating with is huge and they are all soo nice. I have been welcomed completely in their homes.
Yesterday was a Senegalese holiday; It was the celebration of the birth of one of the prophets. Last night there was a big market that went all night long. The village had a large gathering for prayers and for celebrating. Everyone gets so dressed up for holidays. I participated fully and wore traditional Senegalese clothing and sat at the market until about 2am with my friend Maymuna Sarr. She definately stayed later than i did but i was quite proud that i mqde it until 2 am... i NEVER stay up that late here. The holiday was good and things seem to be going my way lately.
I also discovered that i live beside a small paradise. I took many photos of this beautiful place and plan to send them out this weekend. The women in my village have a garden that is located about a 15 min walk outside the village. This place is gorgeous. There are palm trees everywhere and everything is green. The water table is only baout half a metter below the surface so there is fresh ground water everywhere. This may not sound as beautiful to you as it does to me but you have to keep in mind that Senegal is full of sand and at the moment everything is dead. It hasnt rained here since the first week of Nov. The rains will come again in late Juneish. Until then all remqins dead and sandy and ugly.... but not in this beautiful garden. I am actually going there today and cant wait. I will send out photos asap.

The rest of my week is filled with work... which is great! I hope everything is going well in America! More to come soon....