It is the rainy season. We get lots of rain. In fact, we get rain almost every day.

There are things that come along with lots of rain. Things like lots of mud and vegetation and bugs. My door swells so it won't close. The seasonal variations of "hot", "hotter" and "hottest" just become "hot and wet" or "hotter and wet" or "hottest and wet" (what I usually just describe as "miserable") in the rainy season.

But I have experienced one rainy season and survived so I was prepared to make it through one more. When the steady rains started a month ago I was ready for the mud and vegetation and bugs. I knew what to expect. What I didn't remember was the MOLD!

The mold is taking over my life!
Ok, that might be a little dramatic. But it is certainly alive and well.

When I got back to village after two weeks out of site, I found my favorite CamelBack backpack covered with green fuzz simply from hanging on the wall. Wet wipes and some serious time in the sun took care of the problem.

I then went to hang up some dirty clothes on a rope in my hut until I wash them. When I lifted the tarp to hang them up I found the same green fuzz meandering across some socks, a pair of pants, and a t-shirt that was not worth salvaging.

My latest concern is that my quick dry towel is already a foamy green color - dangerously close to the pale green shade of mold that's been popping up everywhere. I just have to believe that the makers of the Original PackTowel know what they are doing and I'm not drying off with a moldy towel every night.

I don't recall such aggressive mold last year, but I'm doing my best to keep it at bay. The sun helps dry everything out - when it is shining. And I have made an effort to do laundry more often (ok, correction: to have my laundry done for me). And that's about all I can do.
So don't feel too bad about the random vegetable that's been in the crisper too long. At least your walls aren't growing fur!

REALLY BIG BEETLE!

(and it flies with precision accuracy right toward your face!)
oh, yeah and it was in our regional house...

What did you say?

Fact: When teaching a foreign language, repeating the same word or phrase LOUDER does not actually help comprehension.

I have been frustrated on numerous occasions over the last 15 months with this very same technique as I attempt to learn better French and Pulaar. When I am at a loss for the correct translation, an alternate explanation - versus an alternate decibel - would be appreciated.

And yet, despite my recent adventures in learning a foreign language, I caught myself adopting the LOUDER is BETTER philosophy on several occasions this past week as I taught English to 80 middle school kids in Dakar. Talk about a hypocrite!

Every summer the US Embassy hosts summer English camps as an extension of their Access English program in the schools. Peace Corps Volunteers have the opportunity to work with these middle schoolers for one week in the summer to help maintain the progress they've made over the last 3-4 months of formal English classes. At the end of next school year, 10 of the participating students will have the opportunity to go to America to study at a public high school for one year. It is literally a life-changing opportunity and one that is not taken lightly.

One the other hand, camp was a ton of fun for students and Volunteers alike. Our job was to get them to speak in English as much as humanly possible for 5 days... FINALLY, something I am qualified to do linguistically!!
We kept it simple. Simon Says, Pictionary, Olympics and BINGO all had their place. We gave them "American" names and we were blown away by their knowledge of American history and all things Obama! (The Senegalese are very big fans of the current President, and that comment spans all age groups). We finished the week with a Talent Show and snacks like PB&J, rice krispy treats and we even found Cheetos at the one big grocery store in Dakar. It was a huge hit!

I am sure that more than half of what we said was lost on them - even if it was said loud enough to be heard:) But it was a great week, albeit tiring (I am not used to structured activity - something I need to readjust to quickly when I get back to America), and summer camp remains a staple of growing up... in any language.