Aissatou Konta

I'm back in Thies after my first week at my home-stay in Mbour. It was a tough week in a lot of ways, mostly because we went directly from this sheltered island of American culture at the training center, to living with Senegalese families and trying out our very limited language skills. My host family is very patient and welcoming. As soon as I set foot in the gate they dubbed me Aissatou Konta, which has caught on rather quickly with the people in my neighborhood. There are about 15 people in my house, most of them kids. My host dad is a Marabout and has two wives that both live in the house. Most of my host "siblings" are actually my nieces, nephews and cousins, although I'm still a little unclear about how exactly everyone is related. I spend the most time with 16 year old twins Awa and Adama who speak French and are helping me communicate when my limited Mandinka and hand gestures fail me. Its frustrating that I can't speak more of their language and I sometimes feel like I'm not learning fast enough, but then I remember that I've only been learning this language for a week (it feels so much longer). The fact that I can understand and respond when my host dad asks when I'm going back to Thies and when I'll come home to Mbour is really impressive for only a week.

I have my own room in the house, very simply furnished with a bed, a floor mat and a bench on which to lay out my clothes. I have a good sized window that faces the courtyard and which I keep open most of the day as Mbour is extremely hot in the middle of the day despite being a coastal city. The courtyard is home to a mango tree, an orange tree, a sheep that will continue to fatten until Tabaski in November, and a chicken family that will also be dinner at some point.

On the average day I wake up at 7:30 and enjoy my breakfast of bread and butter and tea in the patio/foyer/hallway/living room/dining room looking out at the courtyard while my host family goes about the morning chores. I have Mandinka class at nine at my teacher's apartment, a short walk from my house. We study for as long as we can, usually about three hours and then go home for lunch. After lunch I usually rest because its too hot to do much else; sometimes I sleep, sometimes I read or write in my journal. Then in the early evening, when it has cooled off a bit, I meet up with my fellow trainees at a school garden where we are practicing the technical skills we learn at the training center. This last week we prepared beds for planting and this week will take seeds back to Mbour to plant. After that I head home for a nice cool bucket bath. My host family eats dinner around 8 or 9 and I usually end up going to bed around 10, totally wiped from the heat and the effort of walking through piles of sand all day.

So far I've been to the beach twice, but have yet to swim. Mbour is pretty sprawling and the neighborhood where I live is a cab ride or hour long walk from the beach. So far we've all been so busy settling that we haven't gotten much time to explore Mbour, although I did see the market and the port where the fishermen bring in their daily catches. I'm definitely planning more beach time for when I go back this week.

Tomorrow afternoon we leave the training center and head back to our host families. The last couple of days have been a welcome respite from the trials of linguistic and cultural immersion, but I'm ready to go back to Mbour and keep working. This next stint will be close to two weeks and then I'll come back to Thies to find out what my permanent site will be and then I leave to visit it for a few days. We found out today that the three Mandinka speakers will be pretty spread out - one of us in Kolda, one in Tambacounda, one in Fatick. I was a little bummed about this, as I feel like Will, Nicky and I have already gotten fairly close, but we'll still see each other and keep in touch pretty well if we want. I have a hunch I'll be the one in Kolda, but we'll see; I'd be happy in any of those regions. So, the next time I'm able to post something I'll actually know where I'm going to be spending the next two years!

Wishing you all peace, health and happiness.

Fo saayin-saayin!

-Cibyl, called Aissatou