Another Day in Paradise
Pardon me for noticing, but aren't the White Sox in the World Series? Someone told me that a few days ago, and I thought they were completely shitting me. If hell froze over, I'd be a happy camper, too, but this is a close second.
Yesterday was payday, so once more I have the forty spare cents necessary to communicate with the outside world for an hour or so. This will be a weekly tradition, at least until the post-payday poker tournament is established and I'm bled dry by my own vice. I joke, of course, and although our salary is modest, or downright third-world by standards, it's more than enough to buy whatever we want in the free time that we have. Coke is 40 cents, a burger or chicked dinner a dollar. You get the idea.
For those of you who care, I am still in Thies, still enjoying training and the relative comforts of city life. Besides electricity, these include running water, cheeseburgers, and cold beer. One also has the option of cookies and ice cream, if that'll get you through the day. There are two Lebanese supermarches in town, which stock a modest cornucopia of accesories to human needs. Otherwise, if you buy off the street or in a boutique, you're stuck with the fruits of the earth, Coke, and Nescafe.
For those of you who asked about my dietary situation, I'd like to inform you that it is good. Despite the fact that Senegal is poor, women here have time to prepare food, which means that most every dinner is beter than the spaghetti and meat sauce I prepare myself back home. The problem, generally, is monotony, because almost every meal involves rice and usually fish, though with different spices and different names. There are quite a few variations, however, and a few times a week we get to eat chicken and beef at the training center. Also, from time to time I get macaroni and french fries at my homestay.
After spending time here, I think I've reached a better understanding of both human nature and culture, as well as the division between the two. For example, it is an element of culture that people greet each other by shaking hands. It's an element of human nature to spend a big chunk of disposable income on beauty products and clothes. Also, if anyone remembers from sociology or social studies the hierarchy of needs, there have been a few applications in everyday life here. The most basic needs that people have are food, clothing, and shelter, followed by the more intangible needs like companionship. Believe it or not, I tend to believe conspicuous consumption is also one of these human needs. Indoor plumbing is also a human need, but somewhere below electricity and cable television. Given a choice, people would also own cellphones above, say, having a refreigerator.
Every week there are a few Peace Corps volunteers who come and help direct training activities. This week there's a girl from a village, an ag volunteer. She has one of the best stories I can think of, involving percieved life and death situations. During her first week at site, after getting dropped off in the dust all alone at her site and barely speaking the language, she had a headache one night. Deciding that asprin would probably be a good cure, she decided to locate the bottle in the dark, scrummaing around her medical kit in the dark. She found the bottle, popped a pill, and swallowed. Hmm, she thought to herself, that pill seemed awfully large. She thought again to herself, "Did I remember to remove the silicate packet from the bottle?" She got out her flashlight, examined the bottle, and confirmed her thought. New bottle, not silicate packet. In a situation like thi, there's not much one can do not to embaress oneself in the eyes of others. Her options were to call the med office and explain her stupidity or remain silent. So being human, she naturally had to ponder the value of embarassment. So she stayed in bed that night thinking to herself, "If I die here, right now, in my hut, am I ok with that?" After a few minutes, she decided that it might be worht it to call medical. And so she did. And so they instructed her to go to the regional house as fast as she could.
Being new to her site, the volunteer lacked the full resources to communicate her situation to her family. Nevertheless, the Wolof that she managed to garner communicated well enough the concepts "emergency" "leave" "me" "NOW", and lucky for the poor volunteer the villagers were able to provide not one, but two donkeys to transport her to the regional house. When she arrived, there was a crowd of people there worried for her health and happy to see her alive. She was fine in the end, not even sick from the experience.
And that is where we get the expression "two donkey emergency".
Yesterday was payday, so once more I have the forty spare cents necessary to communicate with the outside world for an hour or so. This will be a weekly tradition, at least until the post-payday poker tournament is established and I'm bled dry by my own vice. I joke, of course, and although our salary is modest, or downright third-world by standards, it's more than enough to buy whatever we want in the free time that we have. Coke is 40 cents, a burger or chicked dinner a dollar. You get the idea.
For those of you who care, I am still in Thies, still enjoying training and the relative comforts of city life. Besides electricity, these include running water, cheeseburgers, and cold beer. One also has the option of cookies and ice cream, if that'll get you through the day. There are two Lebanese supermarches in town, which stock a modest cornucopia of accesories to human needs. Otherwise, if you buy off the street or in a boutique, you're stuck with the fruits of the earth, Coke, and Nescafe.
For those of you who asked about my dietary situation, I'd like to inform you that it is good. Despite the fact that Senegal is poor, women here have time to prepare food, which means that most every dinner is beter than the spaghetti and meat sauce I prepare myself back home. The problem, generally, is monotony, because almost every meal involves rice and usually fish, though with different spices and different names. There are quite a few variations, however, and a few times a week we get to eat chicken and beef at the training center. Also, from time to time I get macaroni and french fries at my homestay.
After spending time here, I think I've reached a better understanding of both human nature and culture, as well as the division between the two. For example, it is an element of culture that people greet each other by shaking hands. It's an element of human nature to spend a big chunk of disposable income on beauty products and clothes. Also, if anyone remembers from sociology or social studies the hierarchy of needs, there have been a few applications in everyday life here. The most basic needs that people have are food, clothing, and shelter, followed by the more intangible needs like companionship. Believe it or not, I tend to believe conspicuous consumption is also one of these human needs. Indoor plumbing is also a human need, but somewhere below electricity and cable television. Given a choice, people would also own cellphones above, say, having a refreigerator.
Every week there are a few Peace Corps volunteers who come and help direct training activities. This week there's a girl from a village, an ag volunteer. She has one of the best stories I can think of, involving percieved life and death situations. During her first week at site, after getting dropped off in the dust all alone at her site and barely speaking the language, she had a headache one night. Deciding that asprin would probably be a good cure, she decided to locate the bottle in the dark, scrummaing around her medical kit in the dark. She found the bottle, popped a pill, and swallowed. Hmm, she thought to herself, that pill seemed awfully large. She thought again to herself, "Did I remember to remove the silicate packet from the bottle?" She got out her flashlight, examined the bottle, and confirmed her thought. New bottle, not silicate packet. In a situation like thi, there's not much one can do not to embaress oneself in the eyes of others. Her options were to call the med office and explain her stupidity or remain silent. So being human, she naturally had to ponder the value of embarassment. So she stayed in bed that night thinking to herself, "If I die here, right now, in my hut, am I ok with that?" After a few minutes, she decided that it might be worht it to call medical. And so she did. And so they instructed her to go to the regional house as fast as she could.
Being new to her site, the volunteer lacked the full resources to communicate her situation to her family. Nevertheless, the Wolof that she managed to garner communicated well enough the concepts "emergency" "leave" "me" "NOW", and lucky for the poor volunteer the villagers were able to provide not one, but two donkeys to transport her to the regional house. When she arrived, there was a crowd of people there worried for her health and happy to see her alive. She was fine in the end, not even sick from the experience.
And that is where we get the expression "two donkey emergency".
posted by Unknown at 8:23 AM
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