The Day I Made a Boat

So, because I don't have any good garden space at my new apartment I decided that it would be in everyones best interest if I made my house into a demonstration for container gardens.  I got a bunch of woodchips and manure, and I started filling up rice sacks, and plastic bottles and things around my house.  I planted potatos in the rice sacks and beans in plastic bottles that are hanging from my window.  They look like boats, so I am calling them bean boats.  I also found a pair of pants, so I sewed the legs shut and planted beans inside.  I also plated lettuce and tomatoes and chives and good stuff all over the place.

So, after things sprouted I invited a bunch of ladies over for a workshop on container gardens.  We looked at what I had done around the house and then I took them inside to a room that I made into a makeshift classroom (I put a national geographic poster on the wall)  I talked a bit about what was going on outside and how it is done.  Then we all went back outside and made a bunch of container gardens.  I passed out seeds so that everyone could have gardens at their homes.

So, after everyone leftCharlene came over and painted on my front gate the Star Wars Rebel Alliance symbol, and on my "garage" (the building that was supposed to be a kitchen but I keep my bike in it) the Batman Symbol cause I always wanted a batcave.

Mike

The New Place

So, I first want to apologize for not writing anything for a while. it's been a little busy here for me.  To begin I guess I have to talk about my arch enemy the bank.  As a jew, it seems strange that the bank is such an enemy to me, but thats just how it is.  So the other day the ATM ate my card.  there was no real reason for why it ate it, but it did.  so I had to sit in the bank for a few hours till they could give me my card back...sigh.

So, this was my second Ramadan in a Muslim majority country.  Ramadan really isn't that bad.  I wasnt able to go to many restaurants, but that was ok because my mom send me lots of fun american food to eat like Raman noodles, and cans of chili.  I ate oatmeal for breakfast with raw honey and bananas.  it was delicious.  my dinners were late because I would go to a families house for break-fast/dinner.  People kept asking me if I was fasting.  I told them no.  they were very confused, and told me that I need to fast because it is a senegalese holiday.  I told them that im not fasting because im not muslim, and that it is not my holiday.  they told me that it was a senegalese holiday, and that because I am here to be senegalese I should fast at that point I was just annoyed (keep in mind multiple people are asking me this and I had to go through this exact conversation daily).  I eventually changed my answer to yes I am fasting, but I start after lunch.  People seemed to recieve that answer much better and thought that it was silly and laughed.  They then would say something like oh that is very good that you are fasting.  During Korite (the end of Ramadan aka Eid in other places) I decided to hide in my house, because I did not want to go all around town in a very very hot, and annoying ceremonial boubou, and be the center of attention wherever I go.  I ate Raman and watched movies instead.

The day after Korite I hopped in a car and drove down to Kolda for my host families baby naming.  I figured it would be the last time I would probably see them all together and I didn't want to miss it.  So I rode my bike from Kolda into the bush played with some kids and ate some goat.  took pictures of the family, and left.

If you are confused as to why this may be the last time I will see my host family it is because My host father is a teacher, and he got a promotion.  because the government runs the education system, he was promoted to a bigger city.  I hadnt seen my host mother or sisters since march, because they went back to the village for a religious pilgrimage thing.  from april-august it was just my host dad and I, then for ramadan, he wanted to be in the village with his family.  I had been by myself for almost all of august, in a huge house in africa.  towards the end of July my host father tells me that he got a promotion and that I needed to move out by the beginning of september.  Most of my ramadan when I wasnt being annoyed with the demo garden, I was searching for houses that would meet peace corps security specifications.  I eventually found a nice 3 bedroom apt just around the corner.

So, now that you are caught up...I moved into a new apartment just around the corner that is much smaller than where I had been living before.  it has an exterior kitchen and an interior bathroom with western amenities (english toilette and shower)  and it only leaks in the front porch area (the old house leaked in every room except for my bedroom).  when I moved in the water wasn't turned on, but I was able to use the well for washing and cooking.  I plan on making the front yard (its all concrete so its not really a yard, but im not sure what else to call it) into a container garden demonstration area.  I have been getting manure and substrate like peanut shells and sand, and wood chips and have been planting things in containers everywhere.  I am very excited for this new place.

why am I so excited? I plan on building a grill and a distillery in my compound.  I plan on making some delicious steaks, and some hearty moonshine over the next year.  there is more than enough corn for whiskey, and potatoes for vodka.  I have the space, time, and money right now so why not?  I may never be able to make moonshine again I might as well try while Im still young.  I plan on first making mead and then moving to harder beverages.  No, the grill and distill will not be next to each other.

So, next to my water faucet (which is outside) is a small bit of un cemented soil.  I asked my landlord if I can make a small garden there and he said it would be fine.  I began to dig.  The first plot was great, the soil is kinda rocky but I can deal with that.  so then I begin on the second plot.  suddenly I hear a strange noise.  a hissing out of the bowels of the earth.  I don't look down right away.  I think to myself well this could be one of two things. 1. I struck oil and my landlord is rich and will hopefully give me a cut for finding it. 2. I hit the water line.  it was thought number two.  not only did I hit the water line, but it isnt even my water line.  It was the line going to my neighbors house.  they were not very pleased.  I had to call the landlord and explain.  he didn't seem to upset, and I offered to pay for the repair.

Thats all for now.

-Mike

I Just Want a Sandwich.

So, I woke up early this morning because today is the first day of the Demo Garden construction...woo.  Things started off good.  My fencing boys were not only on time but early (which is absolutely unheard of in Senegal)  and we got right to work.  I did the basic white guy foreman thing watching over and making sure things were done right.  Of course through every step of the way my counterpart told me things were being done wrong, and I had to go out and fix them even though it was like little details that probably didn't need to be addressed.  My counterpart also kept telling me that the fence was bad.  he didn't give me much more criticism than it was bad.  he told me it would not work.  as of right now, there are like 22 holes in the ground without any cement or fence posts in them.  how he knows the fence is bad already? we'll find out once its up and then assess the situation.  the chief of agriculture is very concerned about pigs.  he says that the pigs will dig under the fence and get in.  I disagree.  the plan is to have a thorny live fence made out of thorny species of shrub like trees, just inside of the metal fence to demonstrate that you don't really need to buy a fence if you don't have the money.  they don't quite get it yet, but they will.  I might buy some barbed wire if the agriculture guys get really upset about the pigs.  I think that if a pig or any animal gets into my garden without my permission, I have the right to use a slingshot and kill it and eat it.  if someone comes to me looking for damages, ill ask them for the damages for the crops that were eaten.  then I will offer him half of the meat (the organs cause they are gross but people like to eat them here I will split the liver with him cause liver is tasty).

So, then it was lunch time.  becauase it is ramadan I have been making my own lunches.  Today was sandwich day.  on my way to pick up a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery I get one of the worst calls you can get.  Pam called and in a slight panic she asked "how do you stop the bleeding? it wont stop!" I then rushed over to her and assessed the situation: she cut herself pretty bad.  about one cm long 3 sided flap kind of cut.  it got pretty deep definetly into the fatty tissue layer.  She most likely needs a single stitch, but if taken care of properly she wont need anything besides me (wink).  I asked her what she did, she told me that she was cutting meat with a sharp knife and then she sliced her finger.  she then told me that the first thing she did was use antibacterial soap to stop the bleeding, and that because the soap didnt work she decided that the next best plan of action was to spray the wound with perfume to stop the bleeding.  She then asked if she was to put salt in it, if the bleeding would stop...  I made her rinse it again and grabbed her med kit.  then I forced her to sit down and take an ibuprofen.  it was very difficult to get her to sit down and stop moving her finger.  we put pressure on it until it stopped bleeding called med and wrapped it up according to the way med wanted me to.  then I was on my way to getting bread again.  I made a delicious sandwich.  spam and cheese with bbq sauce with some warm kool aide.  it was a very tasty lunch.

So, my arch nemesis is back...yes thats right the bank! (ooo scary right?)  the ATM has been down for like 2 days now and I'm going to have to pay these guys for the fence soon.


-Mike

The Morning I Went On A Quest to Pick Up a Radio Show

So, if you didnt read the post "Whats it Like!? Transportation" a few weeks ago, this is another example of just how ridiculous it is to travel about this country.

So, I woke up early and went to the garage bought a ticket for a car, and ate my delicious egg sandwich.  I got the first seat, so I knew I would be waiting a while.  As the car filled up and we were entering the vehicle, I noticed the ground.  normally this wouldn't be weird, except that I noticed the ground from inside of the car.  I turn to the driver and ask "is this car safe?"he doesn't really respond, and seems confused by the question.  I get in anyways.  If you are sitting in the passenger seat of the car you are required to wear a seatbelt.  I find it covered in mud, and stuck.  I ask him if this is normal, and he said yes, it is broke.  Then the car starts and we are on our way.  After about 10 km (6.2 miles) we stop.  he gets out of the car plays with the front tires.  then pours a clear liquid that I think must have been water into a hole somewhere in the engine, and gives it another try.  it works for the most part, but the driver is not satisfied.  he decides then to get a second car so instead of driving us back to the garage he thinks it best for us to wait on the side of the road.  after 30 minutes or so a car shows up.  to all of our surprise there is another passenger in it.  the passengers form the first car tell me not to get in, and I don't.  It is ramadan and people get angry when they don't eat.  the driver and some guy argue in Wolof and French for 5 minutes.  I can imagine the argument they are having.  then the guy arguing decided it is best for us to just walk back to Velingara.  The driver doesn't like that and makes the lady in the car get out and wait for another vehicle to come by for her.  I eventually get to my destination grab the radio show, and get on a mini bus back home.  a few km out we stop for a few minutes, which is not normal.  I look out the window and see a cow tied to a tree.  Then I see some men grabbing the cow, and wrestling it to the ground and hog tie its feet.  the cow does not agree with the situation and poops on one of the men.  then one man grabs the horns and head, one grabs the legs, and one man grabs its testicles and tail and lift the animal on top of the mini bus.  the rest of the trip is without complications and I get back to site.

-Mike

Whats It Like!? Travel.

So, traveling in Senegal kinda sucks.  In America I am a huge supporter of public transportation.  I used to work on a train outside of Cleveland. I was also happy to take a grey hound from Cleveland up to beautiful New Hampshire, even though It took me 27 hours, and a layover in NYC's Port Authority, where I met some very colorful characters (one of whom told me that he stole a bullet proof vest, a shotgun, and a tazer from a police car a few years back).  I tend to enjoy the scenery on those long excursions, and I get to experience a different part of America.  However in America the planes, trains, and automobiles are all set to schedules.  very strict schedules which of course sometimes have delays.  Of course when delays happen, you know that it is happening, and you know when to expect the transportation vehicle to arrive.  You are also told your own estimated time of arrival for your designated destination.  So you know when you will depart and when you will arrive from any given destination.  this system is fantastic, although there is some organization issues with it, the system is still wonderful.  One more thing to add about the greatness** of Americas public transportation system is that the places that you have to wait for things like trains, and bus's are all inside.

So, Senegal is very different and it kinda sucks.  To begin, the roads are bad.  they are bad because stupid NGOs and Governmental organization dumped a bunch of money into the country and built roads without any sense of how Senegal is going to do maintenance.  So a road that is built up real nice one year, may fall apart after 3 and will never be repaired until another NGO or something comes in and dumps a bunch of money again.  the potholes are tremendous.  what is interesting though is that many of the dirt roads in the country are much better than the paved roads.  I sometimes don't understand the need for so many paved roads when they are many times more dangerous than the dirt roads.  Then there is the vehicles themselves.  There are two kinds; the 7-place, and the Al-ham.  A 7-place (french place so it is pronounced pl-ah-ss) is a broken down station wagon with tacky stickers that range from an american flag giving a thumbs up, and pictures of Barack Obama,  to stickers that show the image of Osama Bin Laden with a military jet in the background with the caption "Osama Bin Ladens" (Many times the Obama, and Osama stickers will be right next to each other.  Things can get confusing)  A 7-place is called a 7-place because that is how many people are supposed to fit inside.  Although it was made for 6 people, sometimes as many as 20 people will ride upon/inside one of these vehicles.  sometimes the windows work, the AC is just a button to make the car look fancy, and the upholstery is in pieces.  many times the car will not start right away, sometimes there is no key, sometimes the key falls out while the car is in motion, sometimes the key is actually a screwdriver that the driver uses with the engine.  For luggage, you must bargain with the driver for a good price.  The Al-hams are very similar but they range in size from the VW mini bus-like thing  20 person van, to a much larger 40 person van/bus thing.  you can put cows on top!  there are five people per row no matter what.  there is no aisle, instead they put in a seat with hinges so that people can sit right in the middle.  These vehicles will stop wherever you want them too, and they will.  and they will stop for anyone on the side of the road.  What should have been a two hour trip can quickly turn into a five hour trip in one of these.  One of the worst parts about this kind of transportation is that you could be squished between two very large people with no AC and limited wind for hours at a time.  You never know when a vehicle will be leaving.  There are no schedules.  The cars leave when they have been filled with people.  if there aren't enough people, the car does not leave.  you need to know the day of the week and where weekly markets are to help with your decision on when to go to the garage.  For instance I know that there is a huge weekly market every wednesday, so for me traveling that direction on wednesdays is really easy for me to do.  but on a saturday, it may take hours of waiting in a garage for me to get into a car, because no one has to travel.  I work in a village 40km away (25 miles) and it could take me anywhere between 1-5 hours for me to get there.  I could be waiting all morning in the garage, or there could be many stops along the way or both.  Also if you plan on traveling in Senegal, make sure to use the bathroom before going anywhere.  there are no rest stops on the side of the road, and the bathrooms at the garages are nasty.

-Mike

**it should be noted that Americas transportation system kinda sucks because it doesn't have high speed rail.  This is a huge flaw in the American transportation system that needs to be addressed.

Whats It Like!? Rain.

So, this is what happens when it rains.  you wake up and it is a very enjoyable morning.  there are a few clouds, but mostly sunny skies.  as the day goes on it gets hot.  it gets extremely hot and extremely humid, almost as if you were at a sauna, and you will not be able to dry off because of all the sweat.  you may try again and again with towels and fans but in the end it will not work.  eventually you will fall over and curl up and say to yourself "öh how can I go on in this heat and humidity!?" then suddenly when you think you are about to shrivel up and die a great huge gust of wind like Wizard of Oz Style comes out of nowhere with great huge ominous, impending doom, villain clouds, and throws dust and sand into your face.  things start flying everywhere.  The clouds will quickly consume the sky, and appear as if they were giant disco balls lighting up in every direction.  then with a loud crack of lightening and impressive burst of thunder out of the great grey blanket of clouds it will begin to rain, and it will rain hard.  the rain will come down in great drops that pound on your body like you are being struck with thousands of water balloons, and you will be standing in the middle of it thinking that perhaps you will see Noah and his ark floating by, and you will scream out "when will it ever stop!?".  Then it will stop just as suddenly as it started.  There is sometimes a beautiful full rainbow.  The rest of the night is cool but humid.

So, because of the rains everyone is getting sick.  lots of rashes, infected cuts, fungus on tongues (that didn't happen to me, but it looked gross) I have diarrhea again, and a nasty looking rash developing.  The worst part about rainy season though are the flies.  the flies are on every cut like white on rice.  if they aren't covered, the flies will land and try to eat you.  flies are really gross here because of the lack of sewage treatment.  there is fecal matter everywhere, animal, human, and other.  the flies go from the poop to the cuts, and you food, and it is just terrible.  there aren't many flies during the hot season, cause it is way too dry.   there are also no to little mosquitos in the dry season, its just too dry for them to reproduce.  I am not a big fan of this rainy season.  I will admit, living here has gotten more exciting lately because now I have to go on adventure every time I leave the house.  every street has a different amount of water filling it.  some are walkable, some are jumpable, and some I have to find a new way to get around the river-streets.

So, in other news I finally have money for my demo garden.  I am going to buy chain link fencing, and supplies for it and start working in it asap!

-Mike

The Day It Rained a lot, Then I Ate Some Goat.

So,  The rainy season is definitely here.  all morning it rained.  The rain has its pros and cons.  Its great because its cool, and smells good, and you don't have to water stuff.  You also don't have to go to work because its so wet, and sometimes you cant ford the street.  yes, I said ford the street because the streets turn into 10 foot wide rivers that are sometimes unpassable.  The rain kinda sucks cause it brings with it disease, and mosquitos and its gross and muddy, and you can't go anywhere.  I decided to stay in bed, cause i didn't have anything better to do.  I read the Cleveland Jewish News my mom sent me It came out the first week of february, but that is still current news to me.  Then I watched Star Wars A New Hope.
So, I gotta say that I really like living with teachers.  I have lived with a teacher almost my whole life (my mother) and it has been pretty wonderful.  why is it so wonderful? you may ask, well its mostly because of the ridiculous gifts people give their teachers.  I wait all year for winter break and summer vacation, not because I get out of school but because of all the gifts that people would give my mom.  sure sometimes the gift is a mug, or a sweater or something weird, but most of the time it is delicious chocolates and cheeses.  They were delicious, and I would like to take this time to thank all of her students the cheeses were really tasty.  In Africa it is very similar except there isn't any cheese or chocolate for miles around.  but there are many goats.  So my host father being a teacher, received a goat the other day from a student.  While I was watching Star Wars he knocks on my door asking for my sharp knife.  I hand him the Spanish Steel I bought during my trip to spain.  The knife worked very well to slaughter the goat (unfortunately it happened right outside my window) They then took out my machete to butcher the meat.  They gave me a bunch of ribs that I now have marinating.  Tonight Pam and I will have a delicious feast.

-Mike