So we received our language assignments today and I am currently learning Pulafuuta (pronounced POO-lah-FOO-tah) which is a regional flavor of Pulaar.  Because of the language I am learning, there is a really good chance that I will be placed in the region of Keydagou.  Pulaar is one of the most widely spoken languages in West Africa, so it should come in handy if I decide to travel. 

Last Monday I was dropped of at my homestay family's compound. I when I say"dropped off" I really mean it. I was quite literally pushed out of a landrover with nothing but a backpack and my water filter, and the only words I knew howto say were "hello" and "my name is..." My language trainer said he would check on me in the morning and then he drove away.  Seriously.

My homestay family is quite liberal my Senegalese standards (the women work, there is a divorcee and some illegitimate children running around). My Neene (mother) is a first wife, her husband took a second wife a couple years ago and he is hardly ever around. My Neene has 5 sons ranging in age from 10-25 years old. I was a little worried about her having so many boys, but as it turns out they have been very kind and complete gentlemen towards me. Most of the other female PCVs have had to fend off the advances of their skeezy Senegalese host brothers but mine have treated me liketheir own sister. Or maybe I am just ugly by Senegalese standards. Who knows?

My new Senegalese name for the next two months will be Haddie Sow (Haddie is myfirst name, Sow my family name). In Senegal you always have a namesake (not much creativity in names here). My namesake is the wife of my Neene's oldest son. Haddie Gooto (Haddie #1) is probably the person I spend the most time with here. I'm not sure if this is because it is her "job" to take care of me, or if because for the first couple of days I mostly hung out around her because she was the only person who's name I could remember.  Haddie is probably my same age, and she just had her first baby a couple of weeks ago. I joke with her that he will learn to speak Pullafunta before I will...

So after a long flight from DC (made even longer by a two hour wait on the runway).  I have finally arrived in Senegal!  Honestly it really has yet to hit me that this is my new home for the next two years.  We were picked up from the airport by the Peace Corps and immediately shuttled to the Peace Corps training compound in Thies.  I will be here for a couple of days getting shots, safety training, and cultural training.  Soon I will find out what language I am learning, then I will be dropped off in village outside the city of Thies, to live with a Senegalese host family.

Peace Corps Senegal has recently switched to a Community Based Training model (CBT).  With this model, I will spend the majority of my time in a small village setting, living with a host family that speaks the language I will be learning.  There will be 4-10 other volunteers living in the same village and learning the same language.  Once every couple of weeks we will return to the training center in Thies for technical, medical and safety training. 

Life in the training center is great.  The compound is lush, green, comfortable, and has western toilets with toilet paper!  We have very little contact with the “outside” world.  In fact we jokingly call the training center the “American Compound”.  Life here is good, but I am anxious to leave the center and to start living in the real Senegal.

The first photo I took in Senegal. A snail in the training center.

Before leaving for our assigned countries all Peace Corps Trainers must first report to a U.S. city for “staging”.  Staging is essentially an orientation session.  The two days are filled with a couple of icebreakers, immunizations, and sessions on Peace Corps policies.

The current staging numbers:
Number of airports – 5
Number of delayed flights – 2
Number of vaccinations – Only 1 so far!
PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees)  in my Stage – 50
Hours of sleep – 10 in 3 days

Later D.C. !   I’m Peacing Out!

“All we are, we are. And every day is the start of something beautiful.”
--Matt Nathanson

Tears stream down my face as the speed of the airplane taking off pushes me back into my seat.  I get one final glimpse of the beautiful Columbia River.  Inhale. Exhale. As the lush, evergreen landscape below transforms into dry brown Midwestern fields—my sadness slowly becomes excitement.  Inhale. Exhale.  This is it.  The beginning of the rest…

It’s tough to pinpoint when exactly my Peace Corps journey began.  It had always been an option, but I never seriously entertained the idea of applying.  I never thought I was brave enough, adventurous enough, or committed enough to be a Peace Corps Volunteer.  But perhaps the greatest barrier was my reluctance to relinquish control over my future—where I would go, what I would do—to the Peace Corps administration.

But then things changed.  I got caught up in the excitement and hope surrounding a different kind of  presidential candidate.  His faith in the kindness and greatness of the American people echoed the lessons I had learned during my summers spent exploring distant countries.  I was motivated by his call for young Americans to serve at home and abroad. 

So I decided to give Peace Corps a chance.  As the days, weeks and months of the application process went by, I became more and more convinced that the Peace Corps was exactly what I should be doing.  I answered the call and joined the Peace Corps.

Life is calling…

Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today.  
--Jonathan Larson, Rent.

Two days away from departure and I cannot stop thinking about all the things that I didn’t get to do, the people I didn’t get to bid goodbye, and the stuff I probably should have packed…  It is starting to stress me out.  When I am stressed, I make lists…

Melanie’s List of Regrets

1)  I am sure I didn’t drink enough coffee.  I really wish I could have had one more White Lie  from Sure Shot on the Ave…

2)  I probably should have packed a pair of sneakers or boots… my Keens are hybrid (close toe sandals) but none of my shoes require socks.  My biggest concern is that I will have to stomp a big bug—and the thought of stomping a bug in a pair of sandals gives me the heebie jeebies.  Although Kat is quite insistent that the lack of hiding spaces in my sandals will mean fewer scorpions actually crawling into my shoes at night….

3)  I wish I had eaten more pork.  When I spent a summer in the Middle East I craved pork so much that I came home and ate nothing but bacon and pepperoni pizza for a month.  How the hell am I going to survive 2 years without pork?

4)  I probably should have tanned.  Usually before spending a bit of time in a warmer climate I prepare by spending a couple weeks in the tanning bed—so my skin can acclimate.  However, recently my Mom has taken to calling tanning beds cancer coffins…  Every time I parked outside the salon I kept hearing the words “cancer coffin” over and over.  I never could bring myself to go inside.

5)  I should have bought Ramsey a bigger bone.  Poor dog is being abandoned for 2 years and left in the care of my Mom.  He is also being forced to keep company with her crazy dog.  My best friend and loyal companion deserved a bigger bone.

Peace Corps volunteers are allowed 2 bags.  The dimensions of the bags must not be greater than 107 inches (length, width and depth combined).  The bags cannot weigh more than 80 pounds combined and no single bag can weigh more than 50 pounds.

So how do you fit two years of your life into 80 pounds and 107 inches?  Start with a list.

12 Tank tops
16 short sleeve tees  (all cotton or cotton poly blend)
8 lightweight long sleeve tees  
2 polos
Zip-up fleece
Rain jacket
2 American Apparel multi-wear dress/skirts
2 Multi-wear wrap skirts made from recycled saris
5 pairs of lightweight pants (cargo and linen)
Jeans
PJ Pants & Shorts
Underwear (too many.  Stopped counting at 30)
Bras (too many.  No Victoria’s Secret Stores in Senegal) 
Bathing suit
A couple of scarves  
Shoes 
     Chaco sandals
     Keen H2 hybrid closed toe sandals
     Reef flip flops
     Dressy flats

Towel & washcloth
Three pairs of prescription glasses
Sunglasses
Year supply of disposable contacts
Year supply of contact lens solution
2 in 1 Pantene Volume shampoo and conditioner
Olay soap
St. Ives facewash
Schick Intuition Razor and a two year supply of refills
2 sticks of deodorant
3 soft toothbrushes & 3 tubes of toothpaste
Tons of hairbands & bobbypins
Small Mirror
Fingernail & toenail clippers
Tweezers
Cosmetics (waterproof eyeliner and mascara)
Burts Bees lip balm
Vaseline Protecting Body Lotion with SPF15
Bug repellent
Sunscreen
3 months of Birthcontrol (Peace Corps supplies prescriptions after training)
Divacup

Hand sanitizer
Nalgene & Sigg waterbottles
Nonstick frying pan & spatula
Large and Small Ziplock Bags
Gummy bears/worms
Chocolate candy
Hard candies
Mexican seasonings
BBQ seasonings

Digital camera and memory cards
Unlocked cell phone & charger
Rechargeable AA and AAA batteries
USB flash drive
Laptop
Ipod & Iphone
Extra Headphones
Solio solar charger
Blank CD/DVDs (For backing up photos and documents)
Plug Adapter 
Leatherman multi-tool 
Shortwave radio
Sleep sheet
Warm blanket
Pillow
Battery-powered alarm clock
Headlamp

Plastic document/file folder
Pencils & pens (RSVP fine tip-my favorite)
Moleskine journals & notebooks
Stationary & envelopes
Scissors
Duct tape
Photos of family and friends

Books 
     501 French Verbs
     French Dictionary 
     Pride and Prejudice  --Jane Austen 
     The Symposium --Plato
     Three Cups of Tea  --Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
     I have a couple dozen books uploaded onto my iphone via the Stanza App

To carry it all a Northface daypack, Eagle Creek maidenvoyage travel pack & large rolling duffel.  Whew.

So there it is!  I will come back an update it with a commentary after I have been in country for a year and let you know what is helpful and what wasn’t worth its weight.

So I’ve been shopping and stocking up on essentials for almost 3 months now.

         
Panicking a little bit…

My Kedougou address:
PCV Melanie Chamberlain
B.P. 37
Kedougou, Senegal
West Africa

Be sure to write “Par Avion” and “Air Mail” somewhere on the envelope!

I know that sending care packages to Africa is expensive.  And I know not all of you can afford to show your affection for me in such an extravagant way.  What I would love most of all is letters and photos of your adventurous lives without me.  Write me a funny story.  Tell me the latest gossip.  Clip that funny cartoon from the New Yorker.  Go into detail about all the minute and seemingly boring things that are going on in your life—I promise, life in Africa gets boring and I will find them very interesting. 

Oh!  And I would really love it if you could take the time to print the email you were going to send me and mail it the good old fashioned way.  This way, I can treasure your letters and re-read them over and over again in my hut when I am lonely and homesick.  Seriously.  My thanks and my love…

Care Package Instructions:
Care packages are the way Peace Corps Volunteers judge each others' popularity.  I would be eternally grateful for a package.  Not just because of all the awesome things inside, but also because it will help improve my "rep".  Also, I will repay each package with a wonderfully detailed letter of how amazing everything was, and you will have some cool used Senegalese postage stamps.  Oh and I will include a shout out in my blog.  Internet fame, fo-reals.

Now, the nitty gritty.  Seal everything in Ziplock bags.  This will protect the contents from rodents and water .  Plus, I get to keep the bags, and I really  love Ziplock bags.  Allegedly the US postal service has these standard-rate envelopes and boxes.  I hear that is the cheapest way to go—and the box/padded envelope is free.

Do not write the actual value of anything on the customs form.  Everything inside should be "used" and shouldn't have a total value of more than $10.  In fact, if you can find a way to describe everything in the package as "used school supplies" that would be the best way of ensuring everything get to me and not the family of a Senegalese postal worker.

Wrap the box/envelope in a couple layers of clear plastic packaging tape.  Make it really really hard for anyone to slice open a corner and take a peek at what’s inside!

Write "Par Avion" and "Air Mail" on the package.  You do not want to send it via boat or it wont get to me until I am back in the states.  Really.  A list of contents is a good thing to include, in case the package gets damaged--looted--in transit.  I will have to pay a couple of dollars to free each package from the post office, so don't send two different boxes if it will all fit into one.

Here is a wishlist, but feel free to get creative: 
- Magazines (Trashy: Elle, Cosmo, US Weekly, People.  Classy: The Economist, National Geographic)
- Newspapers (The A-section of the Washington Post and New York Times)
- Dried Fruit (raisins, craisins, apricots, etc.)
-  Instant Oatmeal (Especially the Cinnamon Roll and Maple Brown Sugar flavors)
-  Splenda Packets
- M&Ms and other chocolate
-  Watermelon Sour Patch Kids (hard to find-but I would love you forever!)
- Drink Mixes (Crystal light, Coco, Cider, etc.)
-  Instant sauce & soup mixes
-  Scented bars of soap
-  Nail polish and nail polish remover (nothing like a pedicure to make me feel almost beautiful)
- BBQ Sauce (goes awesome with our warthog sandwiches)
- Ground coffee beans (we have a coffee press!)