Creak creak creak

Rusty old blog.

I'm going to recycle a little bit of an email (sorry, Kim!) just to have something to put up here and let you all know that I'm still here, mucking around on my little island (quite literally, in fact, during the rainy season):

Things in Mar Lodj are good. I still haven't found really inspiring or fulfilling work projects, but I'm coming to terms with that aspect of Peace Corps. Not every site has a big, remarkable, scene-changing project. And, I just keep holding on to the thread that even my boss has told me she doesn't expect much to happen in Mar since I'm the first volunteer there; I'm mostly laying the groundwork for future volunteers. It's not comforting, and you can't put that on your resume, but at least I know it's not my failing (a cop out, yes). In the meantime, I'm working with one sand-painter artisan on product development: I'm trying to get him to switch to making greeting cards in addition to his plywood paintings. Ideally, I'll sneak in some lessons on costing and pricing and record-keeping, but that, too, will happen very slowly. Also, I continue to randomly hover around one of the very active women's groups, helping them when I can with minor admin stuff. Plus, I'm helping to put together some marketing material for a big PC-Senegal-wide travel guide book which will target the expat community in Dakar. The idea is to get them out vacationing at sites in Senegal that they might not otherwise consider, but which us volunteers know are awesome and safe and worth visiting. And I help Thomas, my counterpart, with IT stuff whenever he gets confused about transferring photos from his digital camera to his computer. Yes, he's exceptionally hi-tech.

So that's the run down. I still miss home and my family EXCEPTIONALLY. No matter how comfortable I am slowly becoming here, there isn't a single day when I wouldn't rather be back in the States. I know that's not the case for all volunteers - many are quite content in Senegal, to the point of extending their service - but I'm just not in that place. That said, the place where I am is stunningly beautiful and paradisaical and I appreciate that.

Sunset over the mangroves

Rainy season clouds