The BIG Move - Installation Day

Well tomorrow is the big day when I finally move into my permanent village site! I arrived in the regional capital of Tambacounda on Sunday with all of my belongings in tow. Peace Corps has regional houses in many regions across Senegal where Peace Corps volunteers can gather periodically for meetings, use the internet, cook an American meal, and just generally hang out. We have one in Tamba, so that's where I've been for the past 2 nights.

There is one other new volunteer, Dario, installing out of Tamba as well. When we got here on Sunday, we were met by a few current volunteers who have been in charge of taking us around to buy anything we need. For many of you, it will come as no surprise that I've already been made fun of for my incessant list-making: 1 shopping list, 1 list of furniture to get made in village, 1 list of things to do tomorrow, etc.  It has been pretty intense though trying to purchase everything you think you might need for the next 2 years, at least the big stuff. So GO LISTS!!!

Tomorrow morning, a couple of Peace Corps staff members will arrive at the Tamba regional house to take Dario and I to our sites. First we will go around to a number of important members of the Tamba community to introduce ourselves - the police chief, the equivalent of the major, the regional hospital chief since we're both health volunteers. Then it's go time! I'll get driven to my village with all of my possessions, introduced to my family, and then left.

My village is only about 10K from the regional capital, so if I forget something or want to use internet, it's only about a 30 minute bike ride into the city. In that regard, I have it much easier than many other volunteers. Dario is actually based in the regional capital so it's nice to have a friend located so close to my site. In my village, I will finally have my own hut and bathroom. After two months of living out of suitcases, moving around a lot, and sharing all of my space, I am excited to have a hut to call my own. It is in my family's compound, but I can paint it and really nest! No electricity, but my family does have a solar panel (pretty fancy for a village!) so they have a few lights around at night.

I think I should feel more nervous right now than I do, but honestly I am very excited! My language has a long way to go, but I'm a big fan of the immersion technique because I think it works, so I'm confident my language will just continue to improve! Also excited to start learning more about my village and gathering ideas for what I can do to improve the health of my community.

Next stop - Saare Aladji, population 750!

Thanks for reading. Peace & love.

NEW ADDRESS!

Sorry for 2 posts in one day, but I want to make sure everyone has my new address. This is where any mail for me should be sent for the next 2 years :)

PCV Lindsay Swisher
BP 320
Tambacounda, Senegal
West Africa

I've also updated it on the right-hand pane with the rest of my contact information!

Tomorrow It Becomes Official!

So it's finally the end of our 9-week training. I swear in tomorrow as an official Peace Corps Volunteer at the US Ambassador's residence in Dakar. Training has been a very intense time, if nothing else because the schedule is so packed full of sessions, activities, home stays, and tests that you have no time to stop and really process anything. It has been a whirlwind that I have loved.

Last weekend I stayed with my training host family for the last time. It was just a 3 night stay, so the time flew by, but it was great to visit with them again before I move to Tamba. There have been a few times during my stays with them that I get really irritated by the kids because they constantly want to touch my stuff, and a lot of times they do it without asking! But then I remind myself that they are just genuinely curious about almost everything I have because it is so new/shiny/intriguing. My parents sent me balloons to give to my host siblings during my last stay, and I have never seen a group of people enjoy balloons as much as these kids. After we blew them up, they wanted to untie them so they could save them for later. My language skills have been improving, but I had a really hard time explaining that balloons don't really work like that! It was a wonderful reminder to look at the pleasure in even the simplest of things, something this family has constantly been teaching me these last 2 months.

My Siblings and Their Balloons!

Saying goodbye to my host family the morning I departed their house was by far the hardest day I've had in country so far. However, I know I'll come back to visit them as often as I can. It was fun though because that afternoon, Peace Corps hosted a family party where a few members of our host families got to come to the training center in Thies for a thank you celebration. We had a great time eating, dancing, and listening to Senegalese drummers. My family even brought me a very incredible and humbling gift of a traditional Senegalese outfit. I put it on and my mom was so thrilled! I know my family doesn't have much, and this gesture moved me beyond words (especially trying to express gratitude in Pulaar!).

My namesake and me at the Family Party

My host mom, namesake, and me in my new outfit

In addition to saying goodbye to my host family, I also have to say goodbye to my language group in a few days. This may be even harder because I have grown really close with these people and they are my support system in this country that I see and talk to every day. I am pretty bummed to be living about 6 hours on average away from all of them, but it gives me lots of excuses to travel around other parts of the country. We all got matching clothes made that we wore to the family party on our last official day of language training, so I also have a skirt now to remind me of them!

My language group

I can't believe that 9 weeks has flown by so quickly. I'm beyond excited to swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer tomorrow. Of course it's also daunting because, on the 14th, I get dropped off in my village with all of my belongings and that's where I'll live for the next 2 years. I feel like I've done so much already that sometimes it's hard to believe there is another 2 years to come!

Thanks for reading. Peace & love.