It has been such a whirlwind since we got here. The flight to Senegal went all night and so we got to Dakar at around 4:30 am. It was all black and then out of nowhere we could see the coast, and about a minute later we landed. It was amazing! It was also the first time I spoke French to someone who does not also speak English, when I frantically asked someone "Ou les toillettes??"
After that was taken care of, we took a 6 hour bus ride to Mauritania. Senegal is beautiful. I tried to watch everything out the window but once I started falling asleep I couldn't stop. We arrived in Rosso early in the afternoon, and there was a huge line of people at the training center to greet us. Previously the Peace Corps did training in a high school in Kaedi when it was out for the summer, but this is the first year that there is a permanent site.
We have spent the past 24 hours mostly on cultural training and a little bit of language-now I can say "Hello, how are you" in Soninke, Pulaar, Wolof, and Hassaniya (and French). I have realized that my French is not as bad as I thought, although to be fair I have only been talking to other Americans. Another interesting thing is that we all eat with our hands out of a communal bowl, and only with our right hand, since our left hand is reserved for bathroom related activities. In 5 days we leave to spend 3 weeks with our host families, which is when the real cross-training will begin, which is both exciting and terrifying! I have to go do some medical stuff now, but I will try to write again soon and include some of my more interesting personal thoughts in the next post.
Email me or post on the blog!!
4 comments:
It's great to read your update. We're so excited for you!
omg jessica. you are amazing. i am shitting my pants already and i still have 3 months. cant wait to here more!
Oh my goodness, Jessica! I just logged onto facebook to send you a really specific message. It was going to be pretty short. It was just going to say "where in the world are you now, Miss Farley?" but Facebook answered the question before I could ask it. I can't believe that you're already in Mauritania. WOW. I'm so excited for you! I hope that you're loving the Corps de la Paix. I'm loving your blog so far (what an amazing adventure!), and I'll be checking it often. Let's do an experiment. I just dropped a postcard in the mail...let's see how long it takes mail to get to you! I miss you!!
WOW. I can't wait to hear more about your adventures. You are quite incredible. :)
Post a Comment