Guest Blog by Cindy: The Little Mother

Jan wrote a comprehensive blog entry - I'm not sure how much I can add to it, other than to express my fascination with Senegal, the Peace Corps, and the lives you are all living there. I am so glad that Kate managed to get us over there, and all the way to her village (NOT an easy trip!), and could share her Senegalese family with us. Wow.

I'm trying to remember my most/least favorite parts, and already, only two weeks later, so much of it seems like a dream. I have a feeling that, if I live to 100, I'll be sitting in an old folks home (OFH) talking about the mud huts and African imams and primitive conditions I so briefly experienced, and the aides at the OFH will be winking at each other and telling each other to humor me, that I've just watched too many old movies. I can't begin to imagine the incredible adjustment that all the PCVs have when they return to the States.

So....least favorite parts (with the obvious exception of seeing K get so sick, which was in its own class of terrible): the heat and dust, and feeling like I would never again be anything close to clean. The bouncy/jouncy, knock-your-teeth-out, 8-Advil-A-Day-won't-cut-it, sept-place rides.

Most favorite: the amazing graciousness of the "village people", and seeing their daily lives.

Oh - and most bizarre part: Again, the "village people". We were enough of a novelty to them that they were entertained by our mere existence. I never realized that I could amuse a whole village just by sitting, and that my eating dinner could mesmerize hundreds (well...dozens?). And I wasn't even the important one - Jan, as Kate's real mother and not just the "little-mother" (their interpretation of "aunt"), was truly a crowd pleaser!

So, in summary: There is SO much to learn and see in Senegal, and I didn't have time to even scratch the surface. The adjustment of the PCVs is amazing. I am incredibly proud of Kate - she has done so much, in a country that doesn't speak her language, in a village that is as remote as you can get. In a place where women are considered second-class, she cowed all the men I saw her with. Strong, independent, caring. AND - she managed to find Matt out there in the back-of-the-beyond: amazing! These are good people, folks, though if you're reading this, you already know that!