We interrupt your regular programming to bring you the Africa Cup of Nations…

The women in my household have been cranky over the past couple of weeks.  Their favorite soap opera Marina (a Mexican telenovela dubbed in French) was bumped from its primetime slot by the Africa Cup football (soccer) matches.

Every afternoon and every evening all the men (and a couple young girls) gather around my family’s tiny TV to watch and cheer on their favorite team (Senegal didn’t qualify, so everyone picked different teams).  And it wasn’t just my family.  Every single household in Kedougou brought out their little TVs or radios to watch and listen to the games.

When 20,000 people are all watching the exact same sporting event on TV it is almost like being at the actual match.  You can take a walk down the road and still follow the match because the commentary is blasting in stereo from everyone’s house. The whoops and screams echo throughout the neighborhoods when a team scores a goal.  And if you aren’t by a television when the cheers erupt, you rush to find one to catch the instant replay.

I am not exactly a sports fan, but I enjoyed watching the games with my family.  Although, I have to admit, I am ready for Marina to come back on.  I really want to know if Marina and Ricardo end up together…

On average I would say I spend at least half of every day in a state of utter confusion.  While my Pular skills have improved massively since install—I am still in “survival” mode every time I have a simple conversation.  A couple months ago a fellow volunteer, KC, posted some sample conversations which I think do a great job of conveying the utter confusion we volunteers face on a daily basis.  Inspired by her, what follows is a quick example from this week—translated for you from Pular to literal English.

Scene: A Saturday afternoon.  I have just returned from the market and sit in a chair in the middle of my family compound  next to my two younger sisters, Adja (18) and Rokhaya (16).  Sannu my baby nephew plays nearby.

Me:  “The sun is hot today”
Rokhaya: “Yes, the sun is very hot today.”
--Long awkward silence--
My aunt walks by with her newborn baby.  Sannu bursts into tears for no obvious reason.
M: “Why him cry—errr—is he crying?”
R: “Because he is jealous.”
M: “Jeelloouusss?  I do not understand.”
R: “Hesawthebabaynowhewantsattentionbecausethebabyisgettinglotsofattention.  Do you understand now?”
M:  “No.  I do not understand".”
R:  “He. saw. new. baby. He. is. crying. because. he. is. jealous.”
M:  “Oh.  I think I understand.  He is crying because he is pregnant. (the Pular words for jealous and pregnant sound almost exactly the same).”
Adja: “Hahahaha say it again! Say it again!”
M:  “What?  What did I say?  No laugh.  I not make joke?”
A: “He is not pregnant, he is jealous.”
M:  “That’s what I said, pregnant.”
A: “No, jealous.  repeat.”
M: “j-e-a-l-o-u-s.”
R:  “Good.  That’s good!”
M:  Okay.  I understand.  So, Sannu is crying because he is pregnant.”

Sannu

It is really hard to be an “adult” here. What I mean by that is, I struggle with my limited language skills and constant cultural blunders to fit in with adults. The first hour is usually fine. We can talk about America or Senegal or my job, but beyond that there really isn’t much more I can say. The result of this is that I spend a lot of time with the “kids”. And the person I spend the most time with is my 8-year old niece, Fanta.

Fanta is the daughter of my oldest sister, Hãr (remember the brave one?). Fanta is my constant defender and protector. She yells at the kids who call me “toubab”. She keeps me filled in on the neighborhood gossip (did you know Ahmed’s dog had puppies?). And perhaps most importantly, she listens to me.

She doesn’t laugh at my accent or when I mispronounce something. And unlike other people who assume that I am stupid because I can’t express myself, she has an uncanny understanding of my frustration. When I get upset because I can't say something, she will smile, tilt her head, and say, “Mi andii Rokhaya, Pular no saatii.” (I know Rokhaya, Pular is hard.) “Hida waawii!” (You can do it!). And she patiently waits for me to figure out a way to say what I want to say.

It can be hard, waking up every morning, knowing I am going to be laughed at, mocked and misunderstood. I am going to make countless mistakes. I will unknowingly offend half a dozen people and possibly frustrate myself to the point of tears. But I am so grateful to have Fanta, who every day tells me how good I am doing and that I can “waawii”. I can only hope that I show others at least half the patience and kindness she has shown me.

Unfortunately my computer has been out of commission for the past couple of months. Hopefully I will have it fixed in February when I am up in Dakar. Uploading photos is next to impossible on the internet café computers, but if you would like to see some visuals of what my life is like here is Senegal you should check out my friend Kate’s flickr account at www.flickr.com/katepc

An impulse decision brought me to Dakar for New Years. Myself and a fellow new volunteer had plans to stay in Kedougou, but after a little convincing we joined a couple other volunteers for the trek up to Dakar. This is the first time I have left Kedougou since installing in October. Which is probably a bit too long to go without a Dakar-break.

Dakar is amazing (see previous post), but after being in Kedougou for three months, it seems like the promised land. So much food! And grocery stores with real isles! And I drank a latte! Sure is cost 6 dollars, but I drank a latte! I got a nice hotel room with a fellow volunteer and we watched TV! Sure the only channels in English were MTV and CNN, but I’m not complaining. It was amazing.

New Years was unbelievably fun. There were quite a few of my fellow volunteers from my stage in Dakar plus a lot of new faces. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to ring in the year 2010.

It is crazy to think that this will be my “Africa year”. An entire year spent in a different country, on a different continent. I’m not sure what 2010 has in store for me, but I’m ready! Bring it on!

PS – A huge thank-you to Dad and Debbie who funded this trip. I was able to really splurge (ie 6 dollar latte) and enjoy myself for a couple of days. Thanks!