First stint in homestay

WOW. I just got back from my first week at my CBT (community based training) site. We headed out in groups of 3-5 to our training villages. My site is Darou and I am so happy with it. Thies is a bit overwhelming for me so it is nice to be in a smaller village. My family has lots of kids and they own a boutique so there are a lot of people coming and going. They gave me a new name-- Mamahwaa-- and I love it. I decided I will only answer to Mamahwaa hence forth. Its so surreal to be in another town, without knowing the language, and trying to survive. I am basically like a newborn-- the family tells me where to sit, what to eat, when to shower, etc. I am really lucky because my host sister speaks French. Of course my French isn't fluent, but I can get by and not make a fool of myself (hopefully). I have language classes for about 4 hours a day, eat lunch and dinner with my family, and then attempt to communicate with local Pullo Funta speakers. Lunch and dinner are quite the cultural experience. We all sit around 1 bowl and eat with our hands, spoons, or bread. Typically we eat fish with rice and vegetables. There is rice or cous cous or millet with every meal, and all I can say is I am glad I like rice! When I was packing I wanted to bring some Uncle Bens rice packets because they are cheesy and delicious, but I am SO glad I didn't! For heaven sakes we eat rice every meal. At least it isn't goat. I have been learning to count my blessings every morning- many days have been like emotional rollercoasters. I have really good moments where I feel affirmed and understood, then there are those moments when I seriously wonder what I got myself into. I was really prepared for the homestay, which is good, but there are still so many cultural things that sort of shock me and that I just have to get used to. This is my new normal and as I sit in the protective bubble of the training center, I am reminding myself that these moments with wifi and English speakers are really nice and I should enjoy them. On Wednesday we head back to our villages for a 13 day stint (which will be the longest). Everyone says that training is the hardest part so if I can do this, I am confident I can make it 2 years. I will try to update with more details and respond to emails. I know I keep promising pictures so I will try to upload those too! As always email me at hhines77@gmail.com-- I love hearing news about you even if you think there is nothing worth telling. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the prayers. 

Day 3

salaam meleykum! today we had a cultural fair where we learned more about the culture, obviously. we learned about islam, foods, dress, appropriate manners and habits, etc. suprisingly the senegalese dont mind cleavage, however you can never show your knees. we had lunch and dinner same as everyday we have been here, so i am quickly falling into a routine. its a good feeling, but i know the protective bubble of the training center will burst soon. i am also realizing that so many things about me are going to change here and when i get back home. for example, waisting the time to blow dry my hair just seems so stupid now. its such a process to even take a shower. not recycling used to bother me before, but now i cant imagine not recycling and composting. trash disposal is such a problem here and i really took for granted the small things - even being able to throw something in a trash can and not on the street. also today i played basketball! i know this is going to shock some of you who know me well...and those who dont...because i am very vocal about my hatred of all things sport. apparently i am less inhibited in senegal and am willing to shoot hoops. who knew? oh and i even WON a game of horse today. thats right-- i won it. somehow this eases the painful memories of being cut from the jr high bball team. i will have much more exciting news when i begin my homestay although i wont have access to internet to blog about it immediately after. stay tuned! love you all!
p.s. if you get bored, email me with news about you or questions-- it feels weird to talk about myself on this thing so answering questions would be fun-- hhines77@gmail.com

Day 2 of the great senegalese adventure

Bonjour! Today was more interviews and more orientation including a french test to see where we are. i was fairly confident with my test, and hopefully i will be learning a new exciting language soon. Tomorrow we begin cross cultural training and language training. it has been unseasonable cool and i am sitting outside with longsleeves on right now! i was very surprised when they offered (very delicious) vegetarian options. the training center is sort of meant to acclimate us to senegal while still giving some comforts of home-- for example we can still use american toilets and showers until we move into our homestay families next week and use squat toilets. once we are at our homestay there will be less access to internet, so bare with me if i am slow in postings! the homestay experience will be really exciting and i am ready to jump into full immersion. we had placement interviews today and were able to express fears, concerns, and preferences. they asked us to be honest, so when they asked if i could bike 20km, i laughed and said absolutely not. who knew peace corps volunteers wouldnt have diplomatic vehicles shuttling them from place to place?! (ha) i did however say i would sacrifice access to electricity to be close to other volunteers. also i told them being next to a church would be a huge bonus and they said it wouldnt be a problem getting to church. tomorrow i might be able to venture out of the compound so stay tuned for exciting info on the bustling metropolis of theis! i hear lots of promising sounds including donkeys and lots and lots of birds. (ivy, you would die.) i love you all very much and thank you for all the prayers!!

Arrival

YES! I made it to dakar and then to theis (pronounced "chess") safe and sound. Today was one of the longest days of my life- not because it was a bad day or anything but because so much has happened in such a short amount of time! I feel like I have been here for a week- at least. We had our staging in dc, which is just a long orientation, then headed to the airport the next day. We got to theis at maybe 9am? Then it was breakfast, nap, lunch, and tons of information. Tomorrow we have interviews and such to find out where we stand on language capabilities and technical skills. I am safe and happy... so mom, you can breathe a little tonight. Love you all and will update soon with pictures and more details.....

Packed and ready to go

This is  glimpse of everything I attempted to pack in 2 bags. You might be thinking "Hey that really doesn't look like a lot! You could get that in 2 bags without going over the weight limit" But oh how wrong you would be. I am quickly learning to stop freaking out when things don't happen like I want them to. I want to take everything I will need for 27 months because everyone says you have to make yourself happy and that you should take what makes you feel like yourself. But you just can't pack 27 months worth of Clif bars. I had my first Peace Corps breakdown while trying to cram my pillow in my bag. I threw the pillow, blanket, and a couple other things out of my bag, promptly zipped it up and declared that was it. I was not unzipping it again. I had to take SEVERAL deep breaths and leave the room. After my mom put the pillow in a space bag and vacuumed out the air until the pillow was wafer thin, I was able to squeeze it in and finally be content with my packing job.

After a week (literally) of packing and repacking, I think I'm done. I am actually very at peace with leaving. I am so over being sad about going. Last week I said a lot of goodbyes and it was REALLY hard. So this weekend before I leave on Monday, I am trying to be positive and relax. I'm leaving but I will come back. It's not my funeral so I'm over being dramatic and saying long goodbyes. These are really great intentions but talk to me on Monday and see if I make it without breaking down again.