In Service Training

For the last two weeks I have been learning what is expected of me as an agriculture volunteer in more detail than we have ever had before. Some of the second and third year volunteers demonstrated what they have done at their sites and we had endless power points. I have some great ideas of how things should roll and I'm so ready to be back in my hut. I'm also too broke to stay in the city any longer. Also, since we had our agriculture summit and all vol the week before I have been away from my village for three weeks! That's just ridiculous. I plan to spend a lot of time convincing everyone that I'm not going home. I never want to hear some of the trainers talk again, I would rather take their place and prepare for the class than sit through jumbled English on a subject that has been repeated so often I want to shoot myself.
I am ready for my first Christmas and New Years here and plan to be very busy. I hope to visit some of the more picturesque parts of Senegal. Although they will have to be short trips because I have a lot of work to do. Farmers to train, bed nets to distribute, and overall teaching my village how they can make money! The past weeks should be the longest time I will ever be out of site and I'm glad because it is a pain to travel with more than a day or two of clothing.

All volunteer Conference

This week we had all the volunteers in Senegal get together and share our most successful moments and projects. It was really informative and cool to talk to everyone. I have some ideas for my garden now and know more than I did before about how we can use trees to reclaim the soil and improve farming practices. It is also nice to share all of the frustrations that are the same across the country and sectors. For example, your cab driver didn't really know how to get where you were going, your host brother wants to marry you, your acne from teen years has returned, and my favorite question how many pairs of underwear have you ruined? Also, after being in village for 6 weeks not having electric and taking bucket baths it is nice to be back in the center using the internet for free and having a free flowing shower. I did have to do my laundry in brown water this morning. It may be the center but it's still Senegal :)