CBT

14 Mar 12

(Community based training) If you’ve never been placed in an environment as far from anything your used to that you can imagine, let me tell you, there are some ups and downs.

Some of the downs: cockroaches running from your stream of pee out of the pit latrine (like five or six on the 1^st night!), mice scurrying about your room and imagining it’s a giant rat going through your bag (but the positive is that it was just a tiny mouse and not a big giant rat), not knowing any language but for a few greetings, blank stares, sharing a large bowl of food with a lot of people, not knowing anything, so much sand everywhere it doesn’t matter how much you sweep, lack of vegetation (I never imagined one could crave fresh cut grass, and just general green vegetation so much when surrounded by dessert sand, but one can), lack of vegetables, heat so hot and dry that if you don’t keep hydrated you develop dry scratchy eyes, a scratchy throat, a grumpy mood, and border heat exhaustion, five to six hours between meals, dried fish pounded into every food bowl (when your just not a big fan of fish or meat in general), and not as big of a deal, but poor sanitary practices can lead to major downs as well (fortunately I’ve been safe so far).

Some of the ups however include: patience and accepting from your family, having your own room with a locking door, a mosquito net and filtered water, being given one of the cooler rooms in the house, learning enough language to ask your sister to see what’s upstairs and finding an open roof top open to a cool breeze, singing to your sisters on said rooftop and having them legitimately enjoy your “talented” voice, sharing a large bowl of food with a lot of people, having your family learn that you like vegetables and begin to make delicious salads for everyone to share, learning Wolof from your persistent sister who won’t give up until you get it exactly (even if you have no idea what you’re saying which can also be a down at times but is mostly an up), not going through this alone, i.e., knowing there are 67 or so other trainees going through similar ups and downs as you and having that support network from fellow PCT’s, PCV’s, and your LCF’s (language and culture facilitators).

Typically I don’t like to dichotomize like that and like to view everything in a positive light but honestly, the first night in my homestay was a series of shocks as it was an environment I could have never prepared for. It feels silly now to recall how much the roaches and the mouse bothered me as they seem like mild deterrents now.

After that first night and getting over those minor adjustments, I really started to appreciate my house and could honestly begin to feel at home there. And this is where I think the Peace Corps really shines; that this U.S. government organization has the ability to ask two cultures that are oftentimes as far from each other as possible, to live together as a single family unit, and that they do to the point that those formed bonds can sometimes even last a lifetime.

In Senegal I’m Mbèn Tsèn (sounds like Ben Sen) numero do named after my fourteen year old sister. I have a yaay and a papa (a mom and dad), four sisters ages 4, 13, 14, and early twenty something, and two brothers ages 16 and early 20 something (I think). My oldest sister has two children which in this culture makes them my children so I have a three year old son and a seven year old daughter. And I believe my oldest brothers wife is the other woman in the house but it’s possible she’s my dad’s second wife but I think she’s my oldest brothers wife. My dad and oldest brother work in the larger city most of the week so I only see them very infrequently. Regardless of who is home there is still a fairly consistent ten to twelve of us sharing a bowl of food.

And regardless of who is who and what which is at first hard to wrap my mind around for this culture, they all seem like the most lovely of people and have been nothing but kind and loving to me. I love them all and truly feel like a part of their Senegalese family.