Man on Wire

Time seems to drag on during staging and the first few days of Pre-Service Training (PST).  I've only been here for 6 days now and it seems like I've been here at least two weeks.  My concept of time in general has changed.  I have to remind myself what day it is because we currently have classes from 8am to 6:30pm every single day.  This will change when we go to our first Community Based Training to live with our temporary homestay families in a few more days, but it's rather exhausting for the time being.

For those first few days in the training center, you feel like you're not really in Africa yet.  Trainees are forbidden to leave the training compound until night 4 of PST and its high walls prevent you from seeing that much of the outside environment.  It's like an oasis designed to trap trainees, temporarily of course, in a space between America and Senegal.  They use this space to slowly introduce the Senegalese language and culture in a way that is as digestible as possible even to those who had never been to underdeveloped nations before.  To date, classes have focused on culture, health, and safety.  What are the major do's and don'ts in different situations and how, once you leave the training site, do you mitigate the risk of becoming ill or being the target of a crime?  These classes are taught by a combination of seasoned volunteers who are either close to ending their service or have extended for a third year and professionals who live primarily in Dakar.  I can't speak highly enough about the staff so far.  While some of the material has seemed repetitive, I can tell the staff are able to provide us with the best possible instruction and care regardless of location.

I'm going to hold off on giving my first impressions of Senegalese culture until I've returned from my first visit to my temporary homestay.  We've been spoon fed that portion of the curriculum so far, so that will really be a trial by fire.  We also have yet to be assigned languages and have only been able to pick up a few words and phrases that the instructors and mentors have taught us along the way, so communication will be difficult.  Most people at least understand French, so I'll always have that to fall back on, but Peace Corps has emphasized how important it is to them that we learn whatever local language we are assigned, so that will have to be the priority. 

I don't really have pictures right now nor do I think the internet would be fast enough to get them up in a reasonable amount of time right now, so you'll have to settle for a wall of text right now until I'm no longer in a situation where 60 people are trying to use only a few routers.