Travels with Tavish

Here is the latest update on the books I have read. I am doing this book post a bit sooner because there are a lot of books I want to discuss: Strength in What Remains: An amazing story (non-fiction) about a man who escapes genocide in Burundi, moves to the US with virtually nothing, and ends up with a career in the medical field. My previous awareness of the history of the genocide in Burundi and Rwanda came mostly from watching Hotel Rwanda a few years ago. This book greatly expanded my awareness of that relatively recent conflict. On the US side of the story, it was illuminating to see how a few random acts of kindness and an incredible amount of determination can change someone's life in a very positive way. Little Women: I think that I am not the intended demographic for this book (male, 23 years old at the time I read it). Needless to say, it was not my favorite of the young-adult books I have read here. On the plus side, less than a week after finishing Little Wome...

During the last full week of April, I attended Cashew In-Service Training (Cashew IST) in Toubacouta along with about 30 other Peace Corps Senegal Volunteers from all over the country. We met in Toubacouta, a village in the Fatick region of Senegal, for three days to learn about cashews. The first day of the training was spent in a classroom learning about the basics of cashew propagation, harvesting, orchard management, and nutrition. We took a field trip on the second day to a 40-hectare local cashew orchard for some hands-on demonstrations of harvesting, identifying pests, and eating cashew apples. In the afternoon we learned about beekeeping and its importance for establishing a successful cashew orchard. On the third and final day of Cashew IST, we visited a local cashew processing plant to see how the product is transformed from the raw cashew nut (RCN--this green-shelled nut is what you harvest from the tree) into the cashew kernel we are familiar with seeing in grocery store...

By the time that this post goes live on the blog, Ramadan will be in full swing. It is set to begin on May 5th, give or take a day based on the moon. Everyone except for young kids and pregnant and nursing mothers will be fasting in my village. This means no food and no water from sunrise (around 5:30 or 6:00am) until sundown (7:00 to 7:30pm). I am planning to join them in abstaining from eating, but I will be going into my room every now and then to drink water. I am planning to be in my village for approximately the first 10 days and last 10 days of Ramadan--in between I will be going on a short vacation to the beach with a couple other volunteers. Fasting is something I have been interested in trying for a little while, and this is a perfect opportunity. In the US, I never skipped meals. Food was always around and I rarely got sick, so there was no reason not to eat. In Senegal, there have been a few days in my village when I have been sick and not felt like eating. On these days...

Pictures from my village in April: After biking back to my village from Kedougou. It was a little dusty and a little hot that morning This used to be a garden (onions, jaxatu, and lettuce). Cows broke the fence, entered, and ate every last scrap of green in sight My host mom's garden, formerly full of jaxatu, okra, onion, mint, and lettuce. This is the same garden I have posted pictures of in previous months. The cows broke in here as well. The back fence was rebuilt by my other host mom, whose garden lies behind it. Cows ate only 75% of her garden One of the potential culprits for breaking the garden fences The new shade structure outside the mosque. There were two work party days in the village for the mosque: the first to build this shade structure and the second to make the concrete floor of the mosque Drying mangoes in my backyard My cucumbers finally dried up. They did not get enough shade. I'll make some improvements to my garden space afte...