January 4, 2004
This is from a Christmas song, the line goes, "And there'll be no snow in Africa this Christmas. Do they know it's Christmas Time at all!" Answer: NO! They are predominately Muslim! Just a little pet peeve. Anyway...on to the good stuff! (Sorry, it's kind of long...I had a lot to say! ;) )
Welcome back to �The Peace Corps According to Paige�! First let me say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Belated I know, which makes me want to say secondly, I�m so sorry for the delay in a new e-mail! It�s ironic how much time I�ve had on my hands (I�ve read 10 books in 3 weeks) and can�t seem to get into the e-mail schedule. My fave cyber caf� had connection problems, and the one in my town has weird hours. So hopefully now that the hectic holiday season has passed I can get into a routine.
I trust everyone had a good and happy season? I had a decent one here, considering I�m in Africa. Senegal being a Muslim country it was surprising how many people had a �fete� (party) for Christmas. I just think the Senegalese love an excuse to dance and eat good food. I�m not sure most people really understand why they�re partying; they just do it! Christmas Eve I ate Moroccan Couscous and played the Bunny Hop, Limbo, and Chicken Dance for my family here. Later a couple of us walked around town at about midnight to say hi to people. It was nice, calm, with quite a bit laughing. I spent ALL day the 24th making cakes and beignets and couscous. Until about 3pm when I went in my room and had a decent cry. I mean it was my first Christmas from home. It was actually a lot easier then I�d thought it�d be.
New Year�s Eve is HUGE here! I even have my hair with hair extensions for the event: it�s down to my waist and curly where the braids end, very diskette-ish! (Senegalese for coquettish) I went to Thies with some volunteers friends for a party. They lived in the Catholic neighbor during training in Thies. And the Catholic neighborhood is where you go to party. This brings me to an interesting point: Senegalese Catholics are about the equivalent of regular people in the States. Allow me to explain: The Muslim faith is very widely practiced. But not in the way that religion is widely practiced in the western world, what with a large number of people going to church every Sunday just for show and what not. The Muslims here fully believe in what they do. (However they have managed to keep some animism woven through for culture�s sake, but that�s a whole nuther e-mail) They do not drink, they pray 3-5 times a day; they follow the 5 pillars very closely. Now, go the Catholics here. To someone is Catholic in Senegal is almost the same as saying, �Oh they drink alcohol�
It amazes me how much focuses on drinking here. When I told people I was Catholic (they don�t distinguish Christianity really, if you believe in Jesus, you�re Catholic) one of the first things they said was, �Oh you drink, wear pants a lot, and eat pork�. So you can see why if you want to have a rollicking great time for New Year�s it�s best to hang out with Catholics. One quick side note: all the volunteers who want to date (especially the males) want Catholic Senegalese, because they �indulge� in drinking, dancing, and, uh, other things. Quite ironic really.
But I digress. So New Year�s Eve: I go to Thies and party it up with the Catholics. We spent about an hour trying to find a place for me to sleep, for no reason. I just didn�t sleep. I waited until it was light again and just took a bus home! The party was still in full swing when I left too. It was very fun, and very cold. It must have been only 70 degrees; we were freezing with teeth chattering and everything! ;) Sorry, had to indulge. The big high light of my night was eating barbequed pork kebabs! Complete with tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onions�just like home! I almost started asking for buttered corn on the cob! In all it was a fun filled, dance filled, pig filled night. The Iowa girl in me was fully sated.
New Year�s Day went to visit another volunteer with my family. My host mom�s family lives about 2 hours north of us and we up there for 4 days. It was a nice break and I got to brush my teeth in a real sink and use a real toilet, albeit I did forget to bring toilet paper�ah well, when in Rome, n�est-ce pas?
A few of the changes I�ve started noticing in myself: I�m a lot less shy with strangers, I�ll talk to just about anyone on the street who doesn�t insult me as I walk by! In addition, I seem to be developing a fairly keen sense of direction�shocking I know. Oh! Speaking of shocking! This will just about shock everyone�s long underwear off! I have taken to eating peas and green beans if they are served at dinner, and onions and cooked carrots. I still draw the line at cooked cabbage. And I�m not to the point of purposely seeking out green things on my own�but baby steps will lead the worthy. Sufficiently shocked? I know, I was too.
I�m just about finished decorating my room. Notwithstanding the glaring lack of furniture (read sleeping on a mattress on the floor still) But the painting is coming along nicely, I�ll send pictures soon�promise! I�m hoping to get the bed issue handled this next week. And hopefully find a Wolof tutor. I�m sick of people trying to talk to me in Wolof. It usually goes like this: They say something in Wolof, I look confused, they repeat the phrase louder and with more force. I look confused, they say it louder and with a touch of rancor. As if by simply saying words louder, the linguistic gods will hear and suddenly bestow upon me the gift of tongues, and voila! I�ll know Wolof. I hate feeling stupid, more then that I hate the look people give me that screams, �God are all Americans this stupid?� I�m smarter then most of the people who do this! Given that if you can�t speak French here it means you didn�t go to school beyond age 9. My ego is struggling.
The Fates in an effort to combat the Ever Diminishing Ego has offered me an equally wearisome antidote: I am seemingly irresistible to 70% of Senegalese men. I feel like a regular Helen of Troy with the amount of marriage proposals and declarations of undying love I�m receiving. Most notably is the owner of the corner store I frequent. Every time he proclaims his love to the highest heavens. Just today, I went to buy milk and soap and he turned the other customer standing there and decreed, �I love this lady! I really do!� He said this in English. It�s all well and fine until I tell you that this guy about 45 years old and already married. I try to tell him no, he does not love me. But he insists he does! Somehow I feel that he doesn�t love me so much as he loves my American Citizenship. Ah but They do have a sense of humor, those Fates. Sheesh. It could be worse, they could utterly despise me.
I would like to take this opportunity to give a couple of shout-outs to some people. First of all Thank You Judy Knight and Family! The Christmas CD you gave me at my party helped keep me in the spirit this year J And Cathy Petersen for keeping me fully updated on the �boring, mundane� everyday happenings at the bakery that make me feel still connected to you guys! Your letters truly brighten my day. And to Grammy for Turtles and Kool-Aid. I heard a rumor that I have a package waiting for me so next e-mail will surely contain more thank you�s.
New additions to the list things most valued by Paige in Africa: Ranch Mix Packets, sauce packets (just add water!) Pictures of my darling Iowa, Recipes! Italian dishes are easy to make here, pasta being readily available. I�ll positively kiss anyone who can send me a good recipe for homemade marinara sauce. I�m cooking my own lunches and have run out of ideas. Okay it�s time for dinner, so I�m going to head out off. I�ll promise to do a better job at e-mailing after this�Promise! Much love and peace and happiness and togetherness to everyone! I miss you all!
Much Love, Paige
P.S. Just wanted to tack a quick little adventure: Yesterday tried to come to Thies to do e-mail, but couldn�t because Public Transport was on a one day strike. Apparently people were lined up on the major roads trying to flag down private cars! My host uncle said it was crazy. I was very frustrated but turned the wasted day into a day of beauty with facial, manicure and pedicure! It was fun.
Journal #8
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