~Two Month Mark Update~

Hello everyone!

I hope you celebrated great Thanksgivings!

Since I last updated you all, a lot has happened! I had a wonderful trip south to my permanent village. There, I lived with the volunteer I'm replacing (my ancienne) for four days with my future host family and got to know them and members of the 150 person village. Everyone was extremely hospitable, and I can't wait to permanently move there in just a few short weeks! Here's a picture of me with my ancienne and future host mom:

While in Kolda, the region I will be permanently living in, I was able to see some of the amazing work my ancienne did with community members during her two years of service. Specifically, she worked with women from a neighboring village to create a wonderful women's garden. I can't wait to continue working who those dedicated, energetic women. When I mentioned to one of the women, Kemba, that I love peanut butter, she told me she would make me some and ended up giving me three pounds. I share this just to give you a taste of the hospitality I experienced :)

I also just returned from a three week stay (without wifi!) with my wonderful host family that I've been going to during the past two months of Peace Corps Training. They are so open, welcoming and kind and this stay I was truly able to feel comfortable living with them. I love joking with my host siblings (I have 12 of them!) and am lucky that many of them are around my age. The time spent with the family was also terrific for language learning. We had daily 3-hour language classes, and then when I was home I tried my best to ask my family questions using the new verbs and words we had learned. Being able to speak an intermediate level of Pullu Fuuta, my language, allowed me to better integrate into my host family and navigate more easily in the host community. French also helps tremendously, when I'm negotiating in the market over the price of a skirt, having an outfit made at the tailor or trying to buy a can of Coca Cola! Below is a picture with my host mom, Mariama, and host siblings Jennaba, Mamoudou, and Tanu: 

In addition to spending time with my family, the Peace Corps volunteers and I had various tasks to complete in a garden in the community to practice the gardening and planting techniques we are learning at the training center. This time, we had to transplant vegetables that were grown in a nursery to another bed, pre-treat and plant various seeds in our tree nursery, flip and continue to water our compost piles, identify which pests were affecting our garden, and get water from a nearby well to water the garden twice a day. Spending time in the garden proved to be a great time to get my hands a little dirty, work up a sweat, and learn a lot! We also had to create a map of our ideal garden using the space we were given, which really got us thinking about the best uses of the land and what sorts of veggies to plant to sell at a local market! The Peace Corps agroforestry instructors, our teachers, tell us that this garden space is our "laboratory." 

To relax this stay, I sometimes went on beautiful evening runs with my friend, and fellow volunteer, Maggie, in the bush. As the sun was setting, the baobab trees looked amazing:

In addition, we celebrated Thanksgiving! In our host community, the eight Peace Corps volunteers and I went out to dinner with one of our wonderful language teachers, Alessan. It was the most different Thanksgiving I have ever experienced, but the company and the Senegalese notion of hospitality, or terranga, made it worth it. I am beyond grateful to be having this experience in Senegal. Now that all the volunteers are back at the training center, we're having a Thanksgiving celebration with all  50 of us tonight! This time, we're making some American classics. 

I'd love to stay posted on your lives as well and am sending you all much love!

Best,

Sophie