Christmas in Kedougou
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I left my site early in the morning on Christmas Eve to come into the Kedougou Transit House and spend the holiday with other volunteers from the region. My village is halfway between Kedougou and another large town about 80km away. Drivers generally leave the town to go to Kedougou with a full car, so I had to call and reserve a spot the night before. Unfortunately the driver does not speak Jaxanke, so my neighbor called on my behalf and spoke to him in Pulaar. Sure enough, at 7:15am on Christmas Eve his sept place came hurtling down the hill that leads to my village. The headlights flashed and I crossed the street to the approaching car from my friend's house where I was sitting in his yard waiting for the car. During the ride, a woman called me "patron," or "rich guy" for paying the 3000 CFA pass with a 5000 CFA bill. To me this seemed a reasonable bill to use. The one hour ride went quickly as my anticipation to be back in Kedougou rose.
I got about one hour alone at the transit house before anyone else arrived. It was really nice to have the space to myself in the quiet morning. I put on the Michael Buble Christmas Album and sat down at my computer to check the internet for the first time since I installed at my site three weeks earlier. After a nice bean sandwich with lettuce and fries for breakfast, I went to the market with a few other volunteers to buy some things I needed, most notably some fruit to eat for the next two days. I feel fortunate that another volunteer headed the cooking operation for the holiday; I had to only sit back, relax, and enjoy the feast. Dinner on Christmas Eve was an Indian dish over rice with a salad. Other than the rice, it was nothing like I ever eat at my site.
After dinner, we decorated paper stockings and hung them on the wall in hopes that presents would appear. In total there were 13 volunteers that came to the transit house for Christmas. In the evening we watched a Seth Rogan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Christmas movie called The Night Before, which was surprisingly good. The feeling of sitting on a couch to watch a movie after a great meal felt like a novelty; I was able to appreciate the opportunity in a way I had not on so many nights where I did the same thing during my time at Northeastern.
Christmas morning came and with it some presents in a trunk under the stockings and candy with our names on it in a bucket. One of the volunteers had found unused games in the rec room at the transit house and wrapped them in Christmas paper; I felt very thankful for my present, a 500-piece Space Needle jigsaw puzzle. It is amazing how these little surprises, especially when they are not expected, can provide joy. The identity of the volunteer who bought candy from the nearby boutique for everyone is still unknown.
I spent most of the day working on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle in the outdoor living room area at the transit house while listening to Christmas carols. As soon as I started working on it, I knew the puzzle needed to be finished before I could head back to my site from the transit house. A couple other volunteers helped me, and just as the sun was starting to set we finished the puzzle. It was only missing three pieces. Dinner was a delicious pasta with chicken, a salad, carrots and green beans, garlic bread, and cookies. It was fantastic, as was the food the night before. Some more movies ensued on Christmas night after dinner. I went to bed stuffed with food and happy to be spending my first Christmas away from home with fellow volunteers.
I spent the 26th eating leftovers, buying fruit and veggies at the market to take back to my site, and doing a lot of writing. Between the few of us who spent the night at the house, we finished off the copious food that had been leftover from Christmas. By the afternoon, I was itching to get back to my village. I felt that I had done what I needed to do in Kedougou (taken a break, eaten some different food, gone on the internet, watched a movie, etc.) and was ready to get back to my day-to-day life. When the sun set the four of us left at the house watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, another Christmas classic.
Some pictures from Christmas:
I left my site early in the morning on Christmas Eve to come into the Kedougou Transit House and spend the holiday with other volunteers from the region. My village is halfway between Kedougou and another large town about 80km away. Drivers generally leave the town to go to Kedougou with a full car, so I had to call and reserve a spot the night before. Unfortunately the driver does not speak Jaxanke, so my neighbor called on my behalf and spoke to him in Pulaar. Sure enough, at 7:15am on Christmas Eve his sept place came hurtling down the hill that leads to my village. The headlights flashed and I crossed the street to the approaching car from my friend's house where I was sitting in his yard waiting for the car. During the ride, a woman called me "patron," or "rich guy" for paying the 3000 CFA pass with a 5000 CFA bill. To me this seemed a reasonable bill to use. The one hour ride went quickly as my anticipation to be back in Kedougou rose.
I got about one hour alone at the transit house before anyone else arrived. It was really nice to have the space to myself in the quiet morning. I put on the Michael Buble Christmas Album and sat down at my computer to check the internet for the first time since I installed at my site three weeks earlier. After a nice bean sandwich with lettuce and fries for breakfast, I went to the market with a few other volunteers to buy some things I needed, most notably some fruit to eat for the next two days. I feel fortunate that another volunteer headed the cooking operation for the holiday; I had to only sit back, relax, and enjoy the feast. Dinner on Christmas Eve was an Indian dish over rice with a salad. Other than the rice, it was nothing like I ever eat at my site.
After dinner, we decorated paper stockings and hung them on the wall in hopes that presents would appear. In total there were 13 volunteers that came to the transit house for Christmas. In the evening we watched a Seth Rogan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Christmas movie called The Night Before, which was surprisingly good. The feeling of sitting on a couch to watch a movie after a great meal felt like a novelty; I was able to appreciate the opportunity in a way I had not on so many nights where I did the same thing during my time at Northeastern.
Christmas morning came and with it some presents in a trunk under the stockings and candy with our names on it in a bucket. One of the volunteers had found unused games in the rec room at the transit house and wrapped them in Christmas paper; I felt very thankful for my present, a 500-piece Space Needle jigsaw puzzle. It is amazing how these little surprises, especially when they are not expected, can provide joy. The identity of the volunteer who bought candy from the nearby boutique for everyone is still unknown.
I spent most of the day working on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle in the outdoor living room area at the transit house while listening to Christmas carols. As soon as I started working on it, I knew the puzzle needed to be finished before I could head back to my site from the transit house. A couple other volunteers helped me, and just as the sun was starting to set we finished the puzzle. It was only missing three pieces. Dinner was a delicious pasta with chicken, a salad, carrots and green beans, garlic bread, and cookies. It was fantastic, as was the food the night before. Some more movies ensued on Christmas night after dinner. I went to bed stuffed with food and happy to be spending my first Christmas away from home with fellow volunteers.
I spent the 26th eating leftovers, buying fruit and veggies at the market to take back to my site, and doing a lot of writing. Between the few of us who spent the night at the house, we finished off the copious food that had been leftover from Christmas. By the afternoon, I was itching to get back to my village. I felt that I had done what I needed to do in Kedougou (taken a break, eaten some different food, gone on the internet, watched a movie, etc.) and was ready to get back to my day-to-day life. When the sun set the four of us left at the house watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, another Christmas classic.
Some pictures from Christmas:
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| Jigsaw puzzle (1000 pieces) completed on Christmas |
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| Christmas Eve dinner |
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| Group picture in the kitchen |
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| Group picture with some new faces. Christmas dinner on the table |
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| Christmas cooking crew |
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