The Mouse Trap

So, I obtained a mouse trap.  I first tried parts of a hershy bar, but the mice don't know what good chocolate is, and they didn't go for it.  so I used some peanut butter protein bar cause they know about peanuts.  there are a lot of peanuts here.  I wasnt so sure about using protein bar at first beacause I didnt want them to just eat the protein bar and then I have super huge muscley mice.  that would be no good.  Fortunately the mice went for it and so far, it has killed 2 mice.

-mike

A Fun Week

So, this last week has been fun! I got to play with chickens during my In Service Training (IST).  which was really great, except that one night a chicken got out of its coop.  we never found it again.  it was a great tragedy.  After the chicken training we learned how to build nursery tables.  It was cool.  I did something stupid with some rusty nails and sliced open my finger.  I might have needed stitches, but I just cleaned it out, and wrapped my finger in gauze and kept hammering. The day after that was probably the best day of IST, cause we got to dig holes.  we dug holes all day!  we dug trenches, and terraces, and swales and berms, and just had some good ole fashion fun in the dirt!  Then  the next day we got to graft mangos, which was also pretty cool, cause I love trees.  the next day I think it was a friday, was quite the roller coaster ride.  I had to go back to the bank.  but on the way there I made my greatest discovery! a group of us were traveling to the bank and we passed by a european run market.  we had to stop in and to my surprise they had the greatest ice-cream bar known to man.  the Magnum bar. I am very well acquainted with the magnum bar.  I ate them in israel quite often, and almost everyday when I was in china.  It is the greatest ice-cream in the world.  although it was expensive, I ate one, and it was the most delicious thing I had eaten in months, possibly even years.  there is no ice cream that can beat a magnum bar, every flavor of magnum bar is more delicious than any other brand.  But then there was the bank, my mortal foe (see posts "Training","Day at the Bank", and "Dakar").  I walk in to try my atm card.  I check my balance (I have 6 digits).  I press the button to withdraw.  the screen says that it refuses my request.  So I call pam, and go back to the training center.  the next day I am on the phone all day with aziz, at the PC headquarters in Dakar trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with my account.  He calls the bank a few times, and they don't know whats wrong.  So then the next day he calls me and tells me that everything will work if I just go and cash a check.  So I go back into the hell hole called CBAO, and sit for a half hour in line.  then I go up to the cashier hoping that this guy doesn't think I am a terrorist like in Dakar, and he looks at my passport, and at my check, and prints out some paper, and tell me to go wait over by a pillar.  I stand there for an hour.  a full hour I stand as he calls people and sends e-mails to people.  eventually he calls me back over and hands me my cash.  I am not in a very good mood, so I go straight to the market and buy another magnum bar, this one was double chocolate.  It really hit the spot.  It is chocolate ice-cream surrounded by chocolate syrup, surrounded by a chocolate shell.  its amazing.  That night, I went to the club with everyone and had a pretty good time.  I got to drag my friend into his bed, cause I found him sleeping on a bench.  


So now I am back in Velingara.  I have started working on my garden.  I did a trash pickup and a rock removal.  I am also making very good important friends.  they run the pastry shop.  its the best pastry shop this side of the Gambia.  The shop is only going to get better because I told them about Bagels, and how white people will buy bagels.  they are very excited about bagels, and so am I.  The only problem is that they are all really horny, and they keep telling me about how they want white women.  They keep dragging women over to talk to me, which is very nice of them, I am just not interested in African women.  Other good news is that even though my friend ripped my pants one night cause he was really drunk and thought it would be fun to jump on my back without me knowing (yes it is the same one that I found on the bench passed out) my host mom took my pants and a Santana patch that I had brought with me to the tailor, and fixed my pants.  of course I had to take them back to the tailor the next day because he had stitched it in upside down.  I also found ninja turtle sheets at the market which are amazing.


So heres a funny story- my mother that I love so very much sent me a great package.  it had bacon, and spam and candy and all sorts of great things.  but it also had the two things that I eat most of here, peanuts and rice.  The day after I got my package my host mom even made rice with peanut sauce.  granted I do like rice and peanuts, please don't send me any. 


-Mike

Another Trip To Dakar

So, I went back to Dakar.  This time it was more for work than pleasure.  Even though, Dakar is a fun place, this trip was not the best time.  I left Thies early in the morning with the rest of the Urban Ags to check out the hospital gardens in Dakar a project that I am very excited to implement in Velingara.  On the way to the Hospital, we come across a man laying in the middle of the highway in front of a car with a large dent in it, with blood coming out of his ears, still breathing.  I wanted to jump out and help the man, but I did not have a Duty to act, the scene was not safe, and I was in a bus with 30 other people.  it was pretty tragic, and I do not think that he made it much longer.  In Dakar, the gardens were beautiful. and I learned a great deal about how to run a garden, and pest control.  After the gardens most of us ended up at the American club to eat some bacon, drink beers, eat ice cream, and swim, in the warm december weather (this is the first time I have ever been able to say that).  During the time spent at the club, there was an art expo being done by the small enterprise development volunteers (SED) with some very cool african artwork and souvenirs.  I bought a nice looking tie-dye shirt, and thought that I would call it a day in regards to buying things.  but then out of the corner of my eye I see them.  swords and knives in beautiful sheaths of colored leather hanging from one of the trees.  I asked him the price for a sword he said 30,000.  I laughed and walked away straight to my bag to get money.  once at my bag, I realized that I did not have much money and so borrowed some.  I got 15,000.  so I go back up to the fellow, and tell him I have 10,000.  he tells me 20,000.  I eventually get it down to 15,000.  so now I have an authentic original african sword.  it is not very sharp like all of the other knives in africa but I plan on sharpening it asap.  so, because I now have a bank card, I figure that things will be much easier withdrawing money.  there wont be lines, and they wont background check me for terrorism (see posts "Training", and "Day at the Bank") I go to the bank with two friends.  Michelle uses her card and takes out money, then I use my card, check my balance (it showed I have lots of money) and then proceeded to withdraw money.  It didn't work.  I tried with smaller amounts, and it still did not work.  my friend Joey then tries his card, and he is able to take out money.  I tried mine again, and it didnt work.  so now I am in dakar, already in the hole 15,000 and my bank card will not work.  So I try to call pam, because she got her card the same time as me, and I then realize that my phone is out of credit.  so now I am in Dakar, without money, and no phone credit.  oh happy day! (please note sarcasm)  I eventually had to borrow more money for dinner and drinks, and had a fairly pleasent evening I just had some depressing thoughts of a dead guy, and my bank not working, and my phone not having credit and how now I have to go back to the bank and figure things out again with a translator because I still don't know french or Wolof.  I went to sleep at the Dakar house in my tent, because there were no more mosquito nets, and slept wonderfully.

The next day was much better.  I woke up, and we played frank sinatra all morning with breakfast.  Then we went back to the club, for icecream and pool time.  after a few hours we went to the country directors house 40 people in total, because we had completed the 5 week challenge (staying out of regional houses/at your site for 5 weeks, although there are some loopholes).  at his house we watched the Lion King, and Grease as we ate fried chicken wings, pizza and drank budweisers.  yes, budweisers. it will most likely be the last time I drink a budweiser or any american beer for 22 more months, and there was ice cream there too.

Now I am back in training, and we are learning about Chickens!!! WOO I got to play with chickens, and build a coop.  it was great.

-Mike

Training

So, I'm back in Thies.  I am doing some more training.  Today was cool because I learned a lot about seed saving.  Nothing much is happening.  It is nice to see my whole stage again.  some girls got fat, some guys got really skinny.

I had an Urban Agriculture summit a few weeks back right after thx giving which was alright.  between that and this training session I was in Dakar.  Dakar was pretty wild.  I went to a great chinese food place, and ate Barak Obama flavored ice cream.  A few of us went to Goree Island off the coast, It is a world heritage site.  26 million slaves went through that island before going to the Americas.  It was very interesting to go there.  The food on the island was 7 times more expensive than on the mainland.  a bowl of rice and fish was like 7 dollars when you could have easily found the same food on the mainland for one dollar.  When I went to the chinese place, it was pretty cool because I was able to talk with them in broken english, french, pulaar, and chinese.  it was awesome.

heres a funny story:

So I don't have an ATM card yet, and have to take out money using checks (see nov 13, A Day At The Bank blog post), and because Dakar is a very expensive city compared to the rest of the country, I had to take out some money.  I decided to go to the bank on the last day of no shave november (I don't shave my beard in November) and so I had a full beautiful beard.  I went into the bank not knowing how to speak wolof or french, and wrote out a check.  I went to the cashier and gave her the check (it was kind of a big check for senegal, lots of zerooos!) and my passport.  she looked at the passport and then back at me.  then I was told to wait as she went to a filing cabinet and took out some pictures of what I could make out as other white people.  she then took these pictures and my passport into a back office with a window facing the lobby of the bank where I was sitting.  Her and the bank manager studied the photos one by one, then looked at my passport, then looked at me, then back at the photos for about 10 minutes or so.  eventually I got my money.  They totally thought that I was a terrorist.  soon, I will have an atm card and I will no longer have trouble at the bank. inchallah.


-Mike