Part 1 of 3 catching ya'll up to date.

Pt 1 of a 3 part blog series, Pt 1- trip to America and realizations, Pt 2, Security issues with Saare Gagna/new Site, Pt 3, Description of new work and site while in Kounkane, Kolda.

Where to begin, where to begin? I realize I haven’t posted a blog entry since late May, but as delayed as this has been, I think as you read onward you’ll be able to afford me some slack for my tardiness.

My last blog entry was written and posted while in America on an absolutely glorious vacation of great food, amazing friends, and tons of quality time with the family. As my 3+ week stint back in America came to an end I realized a couple of really important things about myself: 1-- I ate way too much, but enjoyed absolutely every second of it. 2-- I was extremely motivated to return to Senegal after my vacation not only because I missed my host family and friends in the village, but because the break recharged my batteries and allowed me a lot of time to reflect back on my reasons for having joined the Peace Corps in the first place, and how much had changed during my time spent in Senegal. In order to cut this blog down to under 50,000 words I’ll recap my thought process on these two points as succinctly as possible.

I think I gained about 25 lbs during the week before and time spent in Americaland. Yes, this is absolutely disgusting, and probably more than a little dangerous for my body/sanity, but I have absolutely zero regrets. I came into Senegal last August weighing in at 252lbs give or take. Having gorged on cheeseburgers, pizza, and beer during my 4 years at UR I knew Senegal would double as a fat camp of sorts. During my Pre Service Training of 8 weeks I lost about 40 lbs then would cyclically lose weight while sick, slowly regain it while healthy, then lose more while sick or doing a lot of biking. When I came back for my vacation I weighed approximately 60-65lbs less than where I had started. I knew that my lifestyle in Senegal would allow me to lose any weight I gained, and quite eagerly stuffed my face each and every day while home. Returning to Senegal with an extra 25lbs packed on and back up to around 210lbs wasn’t a lot of fun. I was out of shape, felt bad, and was always tired no matter how little physical activity I exerted. Fortunately, however, the extra weight disappeared in under a month. Due largely to the events of the last 2-3 months, this weight further dropped to my current total of around 175lbs. I don’t have an ideal weight in mind, but would prefer just to be as healthy as possible. Hopefully in the near future I can get the weight loss to flat line and instead focus on building up muscle/endurance.

I tried to spend as much time with my family as possible while home in America while also seeing friends from UR, LHS, and work. It was fun to just sit and relax on the front porch with my parents, drinking a beer with my Dad, or talking about the agricultural practices of Senegal with my Mom. As many of you are aware, my life prior to Senegal involved very limited travel. I spent the majority of my college life only 45 minutes away from home, and have never been West of Kentucky. Being in Senegal was originally a huge culture shock and gut check in terms of homesickness, but slowly but surely I began to fall in love with this place, its people, and the overall idea of travel and expanding one’s horizons. This is a far cry from my mental state when I first applied for the Peace Corps. Yes, I have always had an interest in helping others and seeing new places, but as many of you know a big reason for me having joined the Peace Corps involved the urge to just simply get away from America and memories of a really amazing relationship with an ex girlfriend that fell completely and utterly apart. I don’t know exactly when it happened during my service, but while home on vacation I was finally able to vocalize that my reasons for staying in the Peace Corps were now entirely in line with what I consider “legitimate” motivations. I realized I was over the idea of Senegal as a chance to “get away,” and instead embraced it for what it is, as the opportunity to learn a lot about myself and my limitations while also doing my best to improve the quality of life of some of the people who need it the most in this world.

Somewhere during my service something just clicked, I picked up the language, made friends for life, stopped listening to sad bastard country music, became more confident in myself and my limitations, and was finally able to realize that happiness in life isn’t predicated upon how you are treated by others, but rather, by taking personal responsibility and initiative. I learned my own happiness was furthered by helping others, and no longer bitched and moaned as much about the little snags in life, but instead embraced the simple pleasures of life such as a cold water bucket shower, the first fall harvest after weeks of waiting, or the bi monthly skype calls from home. I’m just now starting to realize happiness means good food, country music, a fridge full of something cold, family, faith, and above all else, the ability to never, ever, take yourself too seriously. I got back on that plane headed for Dakar with a level of excitement that wasn’t present when I had first arrived. I had new work project ideas floating around in my head, the ability to harass the guys standing outside of the airport in their own language, and the confidence that I had made the best decision of my life to have joined the Peace Corps in the first place, albeit for maybe the wrong reasons initially. Although I won’t absolutely set it in stone (nor am I officially able at this time), but I would love the opportunity to extend my service here in Senegal until at least the end of 2012.

To be continued…..I promise the next 2 entries won’t be as cliché. Love you all. P.S., check out my facebook as I’ve updated a lot of the pictures I had taken over the last year.