So it’s the new year and one more year of living here in Kedougou. I’m not going to lie, this past year went by slowly due to all the adjustment, language learning, and cultural struggles. But now that I’ve learned enough about how to be comfortable with the work flow and village life, I think this last year will cruise by. That being said, one of my New Years resolutions is to share as much as I can about my time remaining here in Senegal. Amongst the occasional lows of living in Kedougou, so many ridiculous, hilarious, inspiring, heart warming, and amazing things happen in between and that makes this overall experience something to write about.
So anyways I did something dumb the other day ago and decided to bike 50 km through the bush. Why? Well to greet the new master farmer in Nafadji (his village) of course! It might be a feat to do something that seems so unimportant...but the Senegalese take greetings very seriously and definitely would remember that one peace corps volunteer that stopped by their place 10 years ago. I also did it because since biking is the only way I can leave village, I’ve started getting into it a lot more. I’ve done a couple bike tourneys with the peace corps volunteers in the area where we would bike 100+ km in 5 days so I thought I could handle it.
Well the bike ride came with ups and downs (literally). Just like life, going up the hills was a major pain in the butt, but going down them was so much fun. Up side: the scenery, monkey sightings in the distance, and the master farmers family. The down side can only be described in three (or mayby two...?) words: tse tse flies. These ass holes are all over the Saraya region and swarm you especially if you’re alone in the middle of the bush. Their bite hurts almost like a bee sting and they just love to burrow into your chacos just to sting you in the same place over and over again. They were there going to Nafadji and ESPECIALLY on the way back (me being tired and the strong sun didn’t help the situation either). Despite the flies trying their best to ruin my trip, the scenery was incredible. The Saraya region is pretty but there isn’t really a landscape until you start heading towards Guinea. Nafadji happens to to be almost on the border of Guinea therefore on the way there I was blessed with a great view of their blue ridge mountains.
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| The fam chilling after lunch |
Anyways, this master farmer and Nafadji was worth all that biking. The Senegalese are the most hospitable people I know and they treat their guests like VIPs. When I came rolling in with my tse tse fly posse the master farmer was there waiting for me by the breakfast stand. He walked my bike over to his home where his grand children and wife were there chilling outside in the shade. He gave me breakfast and coffee and then showed me his new field where he single handedly outplanted over a hundred mango and cashew trees. We went back to his house to eat lunch and watch TV in the shade and then I was on my way back. That whole stay was very humbling and him and his family really made an effort to make my time there comfortable.
As I write this my legs and arms are pretty sore, but a good kind of of sore because I did something different that day. I’m one year in my service and staying in village can be hard because nothing much ever goes on in a town of 200 people. So hopefully I can work up the courage to get on my bike and see more Kedougou before I leave!
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