Personally, I Prefer Whitey McWhite

I’ve been here a week and I can’t believe it. My first day I remember thinking the day would never end and then six more came and went. And here I am!! A stronger woman for it! Tamba really isn’t a bad little town and I’m figuring my way around just fine. I anticipated difficulty adapting to a different environment than that I had become accustomed to in Thies, which hasn’t really been an issue, but meeting a new family wasn’t even on the radar of things freaking me out… A new family I’ll be living with for the next two years! How I didn’t give thought to this is beyond me….
My family is middle-class for our area (one of the poorest regions in Senegal) and there are tons of kids and babies in my quartier, something I was definitely hoping for, but before my arrival I hadn’t really given any thought to whether or not I’d be what my family wanted. Were they hoping for a guy? An older person? Taller? Someone a little less cool? The possibilities are endless, but never once did it cross my mind that my being white would be an ‘issue’ (not to say that it is a major issue currently).
Sure, I’m ‘white’ and I stand out in a crowd here, and kids point and scream Toubob (white person) at me in the streets and they did in Thies also, but that all stopped once I got to my street and definitely once I was in my house. My family in Thies refers to me by the name they gave me, not the shade of my skin, which I for one feel is reasonable considering once I got here I had to take a Senegalese name (because volunteers don’t give enough of ourselves by joining the Peace Corps. for two years…Keeping our real names is asking entirely too much).
My family here in Tamba apparently didn’t get the memo that they should have named me Toubob and not Khadi, if that’s what they were going to call me, and I’m not referring to the kids, the children call me Khadi, my parents (ADULTS) refer to me as Toubob. Aggravating.
Children I can understand, they don’t know better or they are just trying to get some attention, and once I tell them my name they generally stop with the Toubob ish... But there is NO excuse for an adult to call someone Toubob. People here can’t understand how we, the volunteers, could possibly leave our families for two years and come to a foreign country. Countless people have asked how I could possibly leave everyone in the U.S., because they feel it would be entirely too difficult to leave their loved ones. Clearly, pointing someone out for being different and referring to them as the white person instead of by their name makes it easier for them to leave their family, move to a foreign country, and give two years of their life to help other people. Clearly.
My family has informed me that the only other volunteer they hosted was Senegalese (and black, because they felt they needed to tell me that). I am their first white person (which would explain why, upon arrival, I was greeted with a bunch of crying little kids/babies) but luckily for them, I’m AWESOME!! After me, they are going to be hoping for a ton of little white girls… In other news, now that I’ve been here a week the kids are no longer terrified by my existence and have chosen that instead they can’t get enough of the Khadi. I am their personal jungle gym. I kid you not; I fight them off to get to my room.
So there is my rant for the day. I hate the fact that the subject of race even got this much face time because it is about the last thing that crosses my mind when I meet/see people. Apparently, there are a lot of people that think differently than me here in Senegal.
CLOSING QUOTE- (translation from Wolof) “haha She’s a clever Toubob”- My Tamba Dad… At least he said I was clever!! And I understood him, which caught him off guard because my parents are usually busy talking about me in Wolof and how I can’t speak/understand anything. So, ha!

I’ve won the kids over, maybe in a week or so the parents will come around…

So this entry may seem a litle negative but I'm actually really enjoying myself here!! Things are definitely getting better! And now, a pico f me this morning with the random donkey that was chilling outside my window!

Some Pics from Swearing In!!

Im sorry that some of these pics are random but I wasnt able to view them before posting so I wasnt quite sure which I chose. Nevertheless, these are some pics of me and my friends at the Swearing in in Dakar!

I'm here!!!

And the computers at the cyber near my house are wonderful and have English keyboards!! Woohoo!! Now, I PROMISE I will get my pics up because I have a ton of good ones.

Anyhow, I've moved my things into my room and I have a little outdoor latrine for the time being because my family is having a big, nice house built right now and we are scheduled to move in in about a month (inchallah = God willing). In the mean time I don't have any furniture or anything and will try to only buy the necesities because I'm not sure how big my space will be in the new place. I live with my mom and dad whose names I don't know because they were really long and difficult (and I, therefore, forget them), my mom's 25 yr old sister and her 20 yr old brother (whose names I've also forgotten for the moment), my 17 yr old sister Hadama, my 14 yr old brother Allaj, my nine yr old sister Mamahaddie, my five yr old brother Suelemon (I've also decided he is my Senegalese boyfriend because he is the cutest boy ever!), my two year old sister Haddie Gaye (also adorable), and my one year old brother Papa who looks like Don Cheetle (spelled that wrong for sure) but is still a cutey patootey. Oh, and I forgot to mention, my name is Haddie Dieng (pronounced Hottie Jang). I think my parents like the name Haddie.. what do you think?

Yesterday, the Peace Corps staff dropped me off at my house and I've been on my own since, sooooo I've been out on the town exploring everything and talking to people. I had my first work meeting with my counterpart and my supervisor this morning and it went quite well. We planned what we will be doing next week and decided it would be best for me to get settled in at home for the remainder of this week (which I really appreciate because the move has been quite difficult for me since I've been sick for a week). Now I can begin to make a home for myself and study some French/Wolof because if I can test out of Wolof in three months I will be able to start learning a third language (Pulaar)!! I also forgot to mention that on top of electricity, running water(which apparently is free for me because my dad works for the water company),and a refridgerator, I was also given a stove which is being installed this Friday!! So I will start learning how to cook for myself. I am very excited for the possibilities.
Tamba is a really cute town, decently clean, my family is cool, the people seem very nice, my supervisor and counterpart seem like they will be fun to work with, and I've already met some Americans from NGOs (NonGovernmental Organizations) living here that are interested in working on things with me!! I'm definitely glad to finally be here. And it's not even that hot!! Which isn't really surprising because it's the cool season now(and it is definitely not cool, I am sweating, but it is bareable)... But all is good in my hood for now.. The only downside... You can't get chocolate ANYWHERE here, no chocolate or ice cream at all, not even in the toubob (white person) stores.. so if you want to send me some I can put it in my fridge (chocolate that is ;)... ps- I just learned my address.
PCV Ashleigh C. Lovett
B.P.320
Tambacounda, Senegal
West Africa

Oh!!! I almost forgot! There are a ton of NGOs in Tamba and a very kind American couple has invited some of the other volunteers and me over to their house tomorrow for Thanksgiving dessert which is awesome and will make my day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I hope to get back here soon with pics!

My Digits So You Can Call Me!

For those of you in the states-0112213000302

If you live in any other country its- 2213000302 (and there may be an additional country code at the begining of the number depending on where you live.)

Call and show me some love for Thanksigiving:)!!

Happy Early Thanksgiving folks!!

Sooooo, I am officially a volunteer!!! I was sworn in yesterday and tomorrow I move out to Tamba for my first three months at site. I expect it to be challenging but the time will most likely fly by, espcially since Ive already been here for two months(and it only feels like a couple of days)... Sometimes the days drag but the months fly by.

Also, this upcoming Thursday is Turkey Day!! I am very jealous of everyone in the States enjoying delicious food and football... As for me, the current volunteers in the Tamba area are cooking me and some other new volunteers a Thanksgiving-ish dinner tomorrow night because on Thursday Ill be out at my site and wont be able to celebrate with anyone (so try to call and make my day bc I may get kind bummed!!)

Anywho, I hope all is well and everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I miss u all!

A brief update and movin on....

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for almost eight weeks!!! But it’s a true story… In the scheme of things eight weeks is nothing but when the first eight weeks are training and week seven coming and going means I’m going out to my permanent site soon it’s kind of crazy.
I think I’ll miss Thies (the city where I’ve been living/training for the past seven and a half weeks) and I’ll definitely miss hanging out with other Americans… some of whom I’ve grown fond of… but I guess that’s why they call this the toughest job I’ll ever love. I’m finally getting a solid grasp of Wolof and feeling independent here in Thies, and I’m up and moving yet again to a city I don’t know, just this time I’ll be alone. For these reasons and others (such as my discman dying!! Bastard!) I’ve felt bummed now and again but luckily for me the blues have not kept me from recognizing some of the ridiculous stuff that happens to me on a daily in this country (and how truly lucky I am for being able to take advantage of this opportunity). Enjoy!!

Hmm.. where to start.. where to start…… So, last week two trainees and I braved the mid-day heat in search of an open cyber café so I could get in touch with many of you fine people (since the occurrence my Dad has informed me it was only about 85 degrees here.. but mid-day or shall I say mid-sweat, in the direct sunlight right along the equator and somewhat dehydrated, I’ll just say it was about 110 degrees). Long story short, after about 40 minutes of walking to and from the one cyber open in town and one hour actually spent in the un-air conditioned cyber which smelled like the most intense b.o. I’ve ever experienced (p.s.- no one wears deodorant here, among other things, like shirts… but I digress) I’m around the corner from the training center when, I kid you not, a foot long lizard falls out of the sky six inches in front of me onto its back. At this point I was sure God must be punishing me for something… but to top it all off.. after the damned thing falls at least 40 feet from the tree it flips back over and runs away. Gross. After calming down I realized that my friends and family would definitely get a kick out of this crap happening to me.

ALSO, I HAD ONE OF THE BEST WEEKENDS EVER!! Well… here in Senegal at least… Last weekend was my friend Steven’s 23rd Bday so he and two of my girl friends decided to get some people together to spend Sunday night in Dakar (the capital of Senegal). We rented out a sept place (seven person cab/ burnout shell of a station wagon) to bring us from Thies to Dakar and upon arrival we found a place to crash for 10 bucks a night (totally nasty, SHOCKER!). You can’t beat it.. especially when you are broke…

We explored the city which proved to be really nice on Sunday because most things were closed and it was quiet and pretty, for the most part. Afterwards, we cleaned up and dressed in our best for drinks at a really nice French bar and bday dinner at this Thai restaurant Steven wanted to try (I even wore my stilettos!!! I was very excited). Unfortunately for Steven, but luckily for all of us the Thai restaurant was closed and our night took a turn for the AWESOMEST.

After the initial disappointment of Steven’s bday dinner plans being ruined had faded we ventured out into the city in search of food and stumbled upon a little Chinese restaurant that wasn’t Thai but we figured would do the trick…. Little did we know, they had karaoke…. And that is where the night began…

As we walked through the restaurant door I truly believe we left Senegal and entered any restaurant in Chinatown, New York City. I’ve loved my time in Senegal but being in this restaurant reminded me of home at a time when that’s just what I needed and it turns out we weren’t the only ones there to party!!

The restaurant was filled half with Chinese people and half with our party and then they whipped out the karaoke…. (ps- people here love Madonna!!! And apparently the Chinese are no exception) After a stellar (if I don’t mind saying so myself) performance of Like a Virgin with my friend Krystal and some mean Ace of Base classics it was clear we were in a karaoke sing-off of sorts with the Chinese. Tons of laughs and poorly sung songs later the Chinese won (bc the judges had a clearly Chinese bias) but we all had a great time and hopefully Steven had a great bday!!

Honestly, only in Senegal would this experience be noteworthy, but under the current circumstances with a group of newly formed friends it was better than I could have ever hoped for….

Sorry that this isn’t as long as I’d originally hoped it to be but I’m busy getting everything ready for my move this Sunday!! Craziness I know.. lots of stress… C’est la vie!!!

WOOHOO

Dems take the house and hopefully the senate. Basically the best news Ive heard in a long time!!!! Id be lying if I said I wasnt a little bit sad to be so far from DC on such an exciting day :(. Cest la vie! I hope everyone at home is celebrating for me and keeping their fingers crossed that we can take the senate as well. Love and miss you all!!

ps- i got your package aunt cleo!! it was fabu!! thanks so much, xoxox

Ill be posting again tomorrow or Friday hopefully but I was on the web and felt it was nesecary to address our big win...