Turkey Day

Happy belated Thanksgiving! Hope you were as I stuffed as I was.

After a 3 day French seminar in Thies, I headed back to Pout on Tuesday to teach my Junior Achievement classes for the week. Normally I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I needed to cram them in after the French class and before Thanksgiving festivities, so I did both of them on Tuesday afternoon. This week we talked about the pros and cons of 3 new business ideas for a hypothetical empty business space in Pout's market. It took quite a while for the students to understand that the "pros" of opening up a bakery in lieu of other businesses does not just mean writing down types of cookies. I think they eventually got the hang of it. In the end the students voted on what business would be best based on the pros and cons that the various groups had presented. I probably had one of my proudest moments as a Peace Corps volunteer when both classes collectively voted to not open yet another boutique (as there is literally one on every corner). If that's all I achieve while serving in the Peace Corps, then I'm totally satisfied.

Wednesday I was up early and headed to the garage to catch a car to Dakar. Once there, I headed to the Peace Corps office to meet up with my friends, and to pick up some major antibiotics. Turns out my crazy bout of sickness during the week of Tabaski was amoebas (as in little tiny creatures with what felt like pick axes attacking me from the inside and making me sick...that's the technical term for it anyway). So now the Peace Corps medical squad has prescribed a 13 day regimen of antibiotics to kill the little guys. Luckily I'll finish the meds the day before I head home for the States. So soon!

After spending some time at the office and hitting up the local grocery store for all sorts of cooking supplies, my friends and I headed back to the regional house to start preparing for our Thanksgiving Eve party. Our party was geared towards welcoming the new volunteers to the Dakar region as well as celebrating one of the biggest party nights back in the States. It was themed as "First Thanksgiving" and costumes were required. We ended up having a couple pilgrims, turkey twins (me and Katherine), several Native Americans, John Smith, a stick of butter, a Thanksgiving centerpiece, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (not exactly Thanksgiving but totally acceptable), and my favorite - small pox. Major points for creativity. Even though not everyone dressed up, we still looked pretty darn good. We made a huge vat of chili and homemade cornbread and everyone ate and celebrated the night away.

party fowl!

Katherine in hand turkey glory

Alyssa as a pilgrim

The Nina, The Pinta, and the Santa Maria

The next day my friends and I headed to our boss's house to spend the day cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. It is so much easier to cook somewhere that has actual cooking supplies, knives that can actually cut things, and best of all, air conditioning! But before tackling the Thanksgiving dishes we would be bringing to the US Ambassador's house we had a glorious brunch complete with BACON. It's amazing how instantly happy everyone becomes when bacon is involved. You just can't go wrong. We spent the next several hours making huge pans of homemade stuffing and cheesy squash casserole. It was really great to spend the day among friends (eating cookies along the way) and making dishes that I am now obsessed with. I have informed my mom that we will be repeating Thanksgiving when I am home and I will be making squash casserole again. So good!

Hours of cooking obviously requires a power nap, so after snoozing on couches for a bit, we dressed up in our Peace Corps finest and headed to the Ambassador's house. I had forgotten that it is possible to look like a real human being in this country. Among the many things I was thankful for this year, the thing I enjoyed the most was being able to share Thanksgiving with other Americans. When you are detached from your culture so long, you forget how important those moments are. I would not have spent Thanksgiving in Pout for all the money in the world. Our Thanksgiving night started off with an open bar of wine and beer around the Ambassador's outdoor pool.

attempting to look like normal people

The party then moved inside to tables with fine linens, real silverware, and wine service. Seriously, a different world! I stuffed myself to the point of passing out, and I must admit our squash casserole and stuffing totally stole the show. After overcoming the tryptophan induced coma and eating at least one more piece of pie my friends and I decided to check out a local luxury hotel right down the street from the Ambassador's. We wanted to end the night on a high note and it turned out to be the perfect ending; enjoying a post dinner cocktail pool side with the ocean waves crashing in the distance. I fell asleep that night perfectly happy and content.

Yesterday it was back to reality. After a brunch in downtown Dakar, Alyssa, Erin and I hopped in a sept-place and headed back to our stomping grounds. I basically collapsed upon entering my house in Pout and was completely ready to call it a night around 9 pm. I was shaken awake however around 10 with my brother banging on my front door yelling something about water. I stumbled outside and found my entire family gathered around the pipe that leads from our robinet (the water source in our courtyard) into my shower. Turns out the pipe had somehow broken into several pieces and water had been flooding into the courtyard for at least an hour before someone realized it. My family claims that the evil cats who live on my roof broke it on purpose. After shutting off the water, my mom was able to call a plumber who was there with in 15 minutes and had the heavy plastic piping patched and repaired within the hour. Talk about service. That wouldn't happen in the States! Not to mention we paid him the equivalent of a dollar. Pipe crisis averted.

Now I'm gearing up for my last Junior Achievement class on Monday and Wednesday. On Thursday I'll be headed to Thies for the West African Volunteer Conference where all of Peace Corps Senegal plus several visitors from neighboring Peace Corps countries will be in attendance. Should be a roaring good time.

New pictures are up in the album "End of 2010."

Ciao!