new digs

Here we go, I'm finally joining the group and using a blog. considering my computer's recent death by dust; I've had to turn to less favorable ways of communicating--- so now email might come a bit more slowly, so bear with me.

okay, they finally freed us from Thies and training center. The big news was the swearing in ceremony, which was held in Dakar at the Ambassador's residence. It was particularly ridiculous because Peace Corps asked us to perform a skit to illustrate what our work in Senegal is-- we ended up doing most of the skit in pantomime (could this get any better?) because there are so many national languages that we wanted to respect and include. It was supposed to be a very solemn celecbration which we punctuated with a bunch of toubabs (white people) dressed in formal traditional clothing (think flowing robes and lots of sparkle) running around pantomiming farming; etc. went off without a hitch.

since that day its like we're entirely new people-- language exams are over and we've all moved out to site. up until this point we were so confined to the training center-- and virtue of being a government organization, there was a mile of red tape to go through before we could do anything, now I feel like I've got my feet on the ground. Unfortunately all my beautiful technology is down for the moment, but I'll pass photos along as soon as possible. So, a few words about my site. I am in a city called Louga, roughly 100,000 people strong, although they say it is an urban village-- tons of people but lacking infrastructure. The city is only about 3 hours from Dakar, which will be extremely convenient, but it is also in the North, which means it will be hot--- really really hot. I'm already working on getting a fan installed and it's the cold season now...

When I moved here on Monday I was so sick from eating bad chicken at an aluminum shack with a poster of bin Laden on the wall (who would have thought?) I'm sure it is only the first on many many illnesses. Ever since spending some time in bed I am back on my feet and moved into my house. My family is wonderful ( and enormous-- there must be 15 kids under the age of 8). I have been re-baptized Fary Sarr and my namesake is my mom. Normally I would be bummed because this name so closely resembles Farty, but my mom is too awseome not to be proud of it-- she is a grandmother many times over and extremely kind and attentive-- she is also president of a major women's group in Louga. She is just one of those people who goes out and gets things done, which I think is hard to find-- plus she just takes care pf everyone, and she has a sweet traditional tattoo over her mouth and chin. THis is a lot to start-- so more later; promise!