Bread and Sugar

It is really amazing to be living under a sky rather than a ceiling for most of the day. In training village one morning, Jenna (a fellow trainee) and I asked her host brother what time the naming ceremony in our village was going to be that day. He pointed to the sky and motioned to where the sun would be at around 11:00 am. With little light pollution, the night sky in village is incredible. I have now come to recognize changes in the moon. Never before has the shape of the moon affected my life (besides full moon superstitions), but now it determines whether I need my headlamp when walking in the village at night.

In training village one night after dinner, my host sisters, Fatou and Penda (Image: Fatou and Penda), and Fatou's children, Jenaba and Lamin, and I sat on a woven mat on the long cement step in front of my room. Someone from another village had brought bread (long french loaves) and sold them to Fatou. She bought the loaves and was selling them to people in the village for D5 (D27 = $1). The loaves sat in a long cardboard box on the cement next to us. Fatou asked if I wanted to buy a loaf. I opened the box and felt the thin loaves, which were still warm from their evening baking. I slipped my sandals on and went into my room, headlamp on, in search of D5. Along with the D5 bill, I brought out a small bag of sugar, which you can purchase from a local cornerstore for D6. Back on the mat, I untied the plastic bag and grabbed a loaf of bread from the box. I tore off a piece and dipped it into the sugar. I passed the loaf around to the others on the mat and we all took turns dipping the warm bread into the sugar. It was delicious. Penda asked me to take her back to America when I return in two years. In basic and broken Pulaar accompanied by hand motions, I said that in two years I would pack her in my suitcases and bring her to America to visit. I explained that she would need many jackets and that all I would let her do is eat and sleep, no washing clothes or dishes, no cooking or cleaning, no children. The night was simple and sweet under a blanket of stars.















This is in my training village compound. The hut in the background is used for cooking. There is little ventilation so the smoke from the cooking fires can be overwhelming. The women and girls of the compound spend much time in here; I can only imagine the effects of the smoke on their health. This is one of my host sisters, Jenaba, and my host twin cousins, Sani and Sana. Initially they were wary of me, but eventually I couldn't walk anywhere without them holding my hands.















All of these kids live in my compound. Life here is mainly outside. The kids (if not in school) are always roaming the village playing with any objects they can find to entertain themselves whether it be sticks, tires, pieces of trash, or batteries. Favorite activities are running while pushing tires and setting up a high jump with sticks.



This is my host son (my host sister's son), Yaya, and one of my host sisters, Fatou. Yaya is my absolute favorite.