From the Rolling Hills of Bakel

I have been in my village for about 2weeks now. Pulaar is coming along and i have enough now I can get my point across most of the time. Problem with Pulaars is though that they are so against critisism that when i do say something wrong they dont correct me. Kind of frustrating when you are trying to learn the language.

For the most part life is good. I feel a little timidated because though the last volunteer left early he was really well liked. Not sure where Ill fit in. At one point though I really want to be weary that I am not just everyones friend but also someone they respect. The last vol told me that they would not take him serious sometimes. .

Out of my first 6meals at my new home 3 have been cow stomach. This has raised a lot of questions. The first, where is the REST of the cow? For some reason we eat a lot of stomach but not once yet has my family te the actuall cow. 2nd, so there is some drama in the family. Which is great becaus otherwise I would die of boardum. So my dad, chief Jieng, has 3 wives. Two live with hm in his house in Gounoung and the third still lives in her village. The reason for this is that the 2 wies did ot qgre to him marrying the 3rd wife. So regardless he travels back and forth between homes. And everytime he returned we ate cow stomach. So there is two logical explanations: first, that he hates cow stomach and the wives are starting a munty through the food (i like this one because selfishly it is more drama filled and entertaining), and the second being that it is his favorite meal. Besides that I ate rice every day with veggies and say 3 times a week fish. Diet has been radically different then I am use to be I am use to it now.

Life Dilemma: I hate cockroaches and a couple live in my douche. Right now we have a partnership not to see each other much but like a sissy I always look before I go into my bathroom. This seems odd for someone in PC to hate cockroaches. Well I do. I am fine actually.

Been mostly working in the fields wih local farmers.That and asking as many questions as possible. Been checking out a 25 hectar irrigation project next to my village. It is really cool. The bad/good thing about it is that it is mostly Sandinka speakers from a nighboring village that work there. None speak Pulaar. Good because some, mostly the president of the project, speaks French. Gives me an excuse to brush up on my french. Now though my french is a bit rough so it would be nice if they spoke a little Pulaar. Helped clean out the irrigation canals. Was in muddy water up to my knees shovling mudd. Schistole here i come!

Amongst PCVs there is a friendly constest to see who will schistole first. One lives by a lake, the other a swamp and now after working with the irrigation project I am in the running. Not a contest I aim to win. It is fine though because it takes schistole a year or so to become active an to start showing symptoms and I get tested for everything under the sun every 6 months.

Other projects: started my garden and planted guava trees in a pepinear. Thinking about doing a math class at the local elementary school. The level of math at all ages is sad. The Senegalese education system outside of Dakar is pathetic to say the least. That and a lot of kids in rural communities go to Koran/Islamic school. Mixed feelings on them. On one side some of those kids probably would not have gone to school at all if it was not for Koran school and at least they receive some form of education develop educational skills. On the other hand they also take some kids out of the French (public) school system and do not provide them with basic math or other skills.

Right now I am in the 5 week challange. Basically it is to not go to your regional house for the first 5 weeks. I believe I am about 2 weeks in so it should be good. I have Erick, another vol; 6 k away and Phil, a vol in Bakel. So we will be hanging out a lot for the next few years.

That is all I got for now. If you want to call please feel free.

PLEASE SOMEONE TEXT ME THE MSU FOOTBALL SCORES

Wih Love from the rolling hills of Bakel,
Baba Ding Jieng (Oh yeah, that is my new Senegalese name)
Brian Bartle

Training "Gasyii"

So I've been long over due for a quick update. As of now I have finished my Pre Service Training. I am extremely glad for that to be over with. It wasn't bad but I really just want to start my actual service. That being said though at times PST seemed long in actuality it flew by. The most important aspect of the PST is the language training which I believe is one of the best training programs. I learned a lot of Pulaar du Nord (Pulaa Toro) in 2 months. Though at times I feel like I don't know the language at all I'll run into someone else and I can understand everything.

Right now I am in Tamba at the PC regional house. Basically meeting all the other regional volunteers and buying some things I'll need in Bakel. I head out to Bakel on Wednesday and then install into my site on Thursday. Then it is village life until December. In December I go back to Thies for In-service Training. My basic responsibility in the first 3 months is to just continue learning the language and get integrated into the community. That is a big reason why I install when I do. That gives me a couple of months to integrate into the community and learn the language before the next field crop season which isn't until the wet season in July.

Besides that all is well. Especially now that I'm in site I will be happily accepting care packages. I would enjoy anything but especially gatorade powder, protein bars/cliff bars and reading material. Though I'd accept anything.

My address is
Brian Bartle- Corps de la Paix
BP 320
Tambacounda, Senegal, West Africa

Besides that I hope to update everyone again after I've been at site for a bit. I'm not suppose to leave for 5 weeks. Not a requirement but just a recommendation/challenge.

Also no word on the mongoose but heard about Mauritanian black markets with everything you'd ever need. A good place to start. Until then I might get guinea hens or a camel. We'll see.

Peace and Love from Africa,
Brian

Quick Update from Bakel

So I just got back to the Peace Corps regional house in Tamba from my volunteer site in a village just outside Bakel. It has a lot of really cool things to offer. On my journey (and from a hill in my village) I got to see the Malian and Maurtanian boarders. In fact in the dry season I can just swim across to Maurtania (then swim back because it is Maurtania). Addictionally I can just walk into Mali down the road where the river dries up. It is really pretty though. Like I said there is a hill and surrounding hills in the landscape. Maybe it is because I'm evlavation deprived back home in Michigan but I love my little mountains.

I will be living with the cheif of the village. Except for a couple of cerimonial things the cheif is more of a person of respect not of any actual power. That being said he is actually kind of poor in regards to the rest of the residents of the village. That is largely due to the fact that he has no family abroad sending him back remittances. There are a couple of real "Patron" families that have relatives working in France or what not. It is a interesting dynamic. Unfortantely that means the food is not always the best at my place. The good news is that in Senegalese culture it is prefectly fine to walk around town and get invited into dinner or lunch with another family.

Now the negative: It is hot. Not right now but supposidly it gets up to 120 degrees F. This will be interesting. So no one figure on visiting me from March to June as the dry hot season gets a little rough. That and it is a bit out there and a bit isolated. There will be three of us in close proximity to one another which will help a lot but getting to the next volunteer and the regional capital is a 4hrs bus ride. And that is Tamba. Which is fine and all except if I need or want to get to Dakar or the PC offices in Thies it is another 8hrs or so. I guess I can't complain too much as I have to cover the entire country to get there.

Besides that all is well. Meeting some of the other volunteers is a lot of fun. Spending the night in Tamba before heading out to Thies and then back to my homestay.

No word on the mongoose but was told that the volunteer before the current one serving there now had a pet monkey. Thus there is hope for a mongoose. That or I might be forced to switched to a monkey that eats peanuts and distracts the "toubob" screaming children (not all children though just the "toubob" yelling ones)

Quick Update

Probably by the time I come back to the states you will all refer to me as "quick update" which is all i seem to be giving you lately. Thus is life in Senegal. A key point is my site switch. My last post indicated I was going to Kaolack. Well as is life in Senegal things happened. I am now going to Bakel on the Senegal/Mauritania boarder. Things happened with volunteers going home early so I got rotated. It is going to be hot I am not going to lie. It is in the desert and though it is on the Senegalese River it gets up to a 130 degrees in which the river dries up. This will provide an amble opportunity to run across the boarder to Mauritania.

That being said I am excited about it. It is suppose to be really pretty. That and the people in my village are suppose to be extremely nice. That and I am going out to that area with two other really cool people. It should add up for a fun time (except maybe when it gets up to 130 degrees during the hot dry season.)

Other updates: the pictures of our my host family during Korite (the last day of Ramadan). It was all together a cultural experience being my first Korite. Great food and awesome outfits. The only thing is it is a bit anti-climatic. So the girls basically spend all day getting ready (putting weaves in and make up on). Then during the evening they put on their fancy clothes. And then.. And then... And then...nothing. They might go visit a friend but most just watch TV and then go to bed. It is so interesting to see this lead up to something and something never coming. It is my first extremely culture shock.

Additionally, the picture of me and a goat you might see on facebook is how i am named after. That is right. I am named after the goat. I think it was the second day my sister pointed at the goat and then pointed at me and said Amadou. She continued to repeat this but I clearly understood what she was getting across.

News from Senegal

Hey everybody!

Sorry I haven't updated this more religiously but I guess that is expected in a developing country with not the same internet access as the US. But regardless so much has happened since coming to Senegal so I better jump right in!

So I've been in Senegal for around 12 days. The first 8 days I was in Thies at the Peace Corps training center. It is actually really cool. It is part of the old french military barracks. My time mostly consisted of medical (shots :( ) and technical training which consisted of classes on different projects and ag strategies that they are using or pushing in Senegal. Additionally they have a interview process to get a better feel of where you would be best fit. Like a lot of my peace corps adventure this has been the most frustrating part: not knowing. So most of my time has been centered around thinking about where I'm going and what I'll be doing (and of course what my situation will be like).

Luckily, I found out my assignment. We actually don't find out till September 8th (and I could potentially be switched) but the PCV (peace corps volunteer) I am suppose to replace is leaving her assignment early to start grad school. You can leave the PC up to 2 months early to start grad school or a substantial career. So anyway she tracked me down to tell me so she could pass me some advice about the area and projects she had started. To be honest we haven't gone into too many details and am hopefully suppose to meet up with her this weekend. So I'll be in a village just outside Kaolack (about a 10mins. bus ride she said once you get to the main road which is about a 5k bike ride). The village is called Bane. The PCV before me, Natalie, was a agroforestry volunteer which is really exciting because a lot of agforestry is long term type of projects. So all the agforestry projects already have a good start. She said her family is really fun! They are a middle class Senegalese family (which obviously a middle class Pulaar family in rural Senegal is a bit different then the US) and have cows! That is big in a Senegalese Pulaar family and Natalie said she has milk everyday. So basically it is sooooooo nice to know where I am going. Can't wait to talk to Natalie and get a lot more details. So many questions!

So because I am going to a Pulaar village I am learning Pulaar at my homestay now. Pulaar de Nord to be exact. I'm in a local village just south of Dakar called Nguekhokh. It is about 8k from the coast and am hoping to go there this week! My family is amazing! My Senegalese is Amadou Ly and my babam (Senegalese father) is Mamadou Samba Ly. Really loved my name until my little sister Fatamata pointed to the baby goat and then to me while saying "Amadou" which I roughly translated into the fact that I was named after the goat. Nice. My family is HUGE! There is due to the fact that my father has three wives. It is interesting to say the least but I love the opportunity to live/get a first person perspective of a polygamist family. It is a really strong family bond that is awesome and extremely inviting. I'm currently back at the training center in Thies until Wednesday but really can't wait to get back! It is tiring though with basically the entire day being a language class trying to communicate with them and practicing my Pulaar in between classes. It is extremely helpful. I am by no means good but what would of taken a month in a language class I did in a week. It is literally a 12 hrs language class everyday. I couldn't escape Pulaar even if I wanted to. That and if I tried my little sisters and brothers would run me down and quiz me again (we have moved on to high numbers and asking how to get around).

That is about for now. I have one more rabbis shot before I am done with my medical. I'm going back to my homestay for 2 weeks this time. Then i come back to the training center and everyone finds out their placement and then go on visits to their sites as long as it is in relative distance from Thies (i believe). Though I got my assignment unofficially already I did talk to some of the PCV's whom said there are still some positions that haven't been decided yet. This is mostly in the Woloof community as there is a lot of positions that require that. There are only 5 of us learning Pulaar du Nord. So we all have placements already because there is only so many positions that require Pulaar du Nord as is similar with other minority languages in Senegal.

That is all for now. If anyone wants to give me a call it is about $0.26 a minute through skype and free for me to receive.

Intro post

So this is my first blog. It is bound to be a work in progress so bare with me everyone. I guess to back up a bit introductions are in order. My name is Brian Bartle and I am a recent graduate from James Madison College at Michigan State University. I majored in International Relations with a Specialization in Western European Studies. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to take on many adventures from studying abroad in Europe to volunteer work in Honduras and New Orleans and interning for an amazing organization in South Africa. This blog will be about my next adventure as a Peace Corps volunteer working in Senegal.

I have recently been official accepted for a position working in sustainable agriculture in Senegal. My official title is a sustainable agriculture extension agent working with the Senegalese Department of Agriculture implementing their policies on the community level in rural villages. Yet I’ve been warned that you really never know what you are exactly doing till you get there. Anyway I am heading out for a pre-departure orientation on August 9^th. Then I’ll be heading to Thies, Senegal for about two and a half months for an orientation/training program. This will mostly consist of work related training along with an intensive language program to get me caught up to speed with my French (which is definitely behind) and also learning Wolof I believe. I get sent to my host family in October and where I also get started and introduced with my work.

Yet I think I may be getting ahead of myself. I still have a mongoose to worry about. The mongoose story is a bit of an inside joke in regards to some friends taking a safari in South Africa. While at Kruger National Park their guide had a pet mongoose that I guess was very affectionate. Long story short I became obsessed with this thought of how awesome a pet mongoose would be. They are actually illegal to own in the United States due to being an extremely harmful invasive species. In Porto Rico they caused an estimated seven reptile and amphibian extinctions after being introduced there. Yet in a native environment they are exceptional pets that work equally efficient as pest control-especially with snakes like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. This was by no means my primary reason for joining the Peace Corps to go to Africa but once I found out I would be placed in Africa I set it as a primary goal of mine-if for nothing else to keep the snakes out of my bed.

Anyway, on to my quest for a pet mongoose. In all honestly this has probably been regulated down to my number 2 or 3 priority behind learning the language and job skills so I know exactly what I’m suppose to be doing at my job in Senegal. But closely following those two priorities is finding a pet mongoose. Luckily Senegal has six native species of mongoose. Initial research has led me to favor the Marsh, Egyptian and Banded mongooses. Leaning toward either the Marsh or Banded mongoose at the moment. Yet concern arises with both breeds with the description like that of the Marsh mongoose of being a “voracious carnivore …and extremely territorial” while also “considered tame and very clean if raised from a young age.” I’m not sure how “voracious carnivore” and “tame” coincide with one another but I guess if other people have tamed the mongoose it must be worth a try.

Thus the quest continues……