Well i havent written in a while and im here in the north where the internet is in ample supply. Im up here for my in service training where i basically get to learn about all sorts of neat agro forestry techniques. Basically i got into Thies on the 31st after spending the night , in Koalack on the way up to Thies as its a hell of a long way for on eday of traveling. its very doable if you feel like sitting in a car literally all day. I mean thats fun and all but unless there is something very serious going on i plan on not doing that. So we stayed in Kaolack for the night with the other volunteers there. There was quite a few volunteers there as most of the volunteers form my stage were making their way back north for our IST(In Service Training). It was a nice night, the regional house in Koalack is pretty nice and they have wifi so that was nice. We didnt get in till after dark which kinda limited our actions in Kaolack but we basically went straight to the bar where the other volunteers were already hanging out. It was really good to see a bunch of people form our stage again as i hadnt seen them since we had been at Pre Service Training. It was me Kevin, Steve, and Shelia who made the trip from Kédougou to Tamba and from Tamba to Kaolack that day.
So we got up early the the next day to beginning our trip to Thies as we wanted to get there on the 31st before we were supposed to be there. This kinda gave us the chance to chill in Thies a day or have something go wrong on the way. We made decent time getting to thies as we had possibly the best 7place ive ever seen in country. That and the road wasnt that bad on the way to Thies. We only had one problem on the way there as we got a flat as we were about 30/40km out of theis. I guess it was flat as a guy next to the road kinda pointed it out by yelling at the car as we drove by. It was kinda nice to have a break from the ride but we were that close to thies i was kinda ant-sy to get going again. They were really good at fixing it and we were on the road again in no time.
The rest of the trip is pretty easy as the driver again made good time getting to Thies and getting to the center from the station was a non issue as the driver let us off at a taxi stand right next to the main road into town. Getting back to the Training center was interesting as seeing all the Small enterprise and development volunteers, who had been there for a week, was very interesting. Some people have changed and some people are the same as i remembered them from PST.
So our IST didnt start till the monday and we didn't really officially get started till then. We basically hung out, took in the familiar sights of thies and had a good time till monday rolled round. When our IST started on the monday, we had a language exam where our respective local languages were tested to see how far we had come in the first three months. As opposed to the ones that i had taken during PST i actually felt good about this one. And evidently i passed as well. All that required was moving up one level from where you were during your PST training. In all honesty i was a little stressed out about it as i figured it would be a little more difficult, but you really dont even notice the language that you pick up. So it was good to get that result and be able to move on to Frecnh and brush up on that really.
So the format of the IST is basically the same as the format for PST we are supposed to stay in our home stay's at night and get bussed back and forth for the day to thies. We'll i suppose i should clarify, during PST the people learning Peula Futa had their home stay's in a town called Pout about 15km away. So again we Peula Futa's are staying there. Unfortunately that means we have to be bussed back and forth every day to the training center in thies. So while i can understand pretty much all of what the one/two people in my family who speak peula futa say i spend the evenings with them only. kinda lame and really not too helpful in my opinion. What ive heard through the grape vine is that this is to keep us from all going to the bar, where i am at right now, to help us better integrate. While i appreciate that, at IST i'd say were well and truly on the way to being integrated, were not Peace Corps Trainees anymore but PCV's true and proper. whatever im learning important ag/fo information during the sessions here even if i have to be bussed away from my friends who dont speak peula futa every night.
So for the tech training that weve gotten while here is quite helpful, as weve been able to see some good species for live fencing and other useful species for ag/fo work. weve had two field trips into the surrounding countryside to see some techniques in action and the specific species that we should be using. Very helpful and good for kinda catching up on what the other ag/fo volunteers from my stage are doing in their respective sites. Weve also learned how to make mud stoves and some decent shade tree species that thrive here in senegal.
Today was all french and i feel like ive been benefiting from the lessons that ive been having as its a really good reminder of what ive been putting off for the entirety of my service so far. we learned the past and the imparfait as well as the basic greetings which i kinda already know but like i said its good practice for work. Thats about it for the time being i think im sure ill have some more entries to post around the end of waist when the all volunteer conference and our meeting with the Israeli Embassy Staff is. hope all is well everywhere! ill be in touch
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