March Smells like Home

I woke up on the 1st and it smelled exactly like March, like sunshine through new green leaves.

I've been in country for 6 months now. Time is flying by and things are only getting better and better. I completed my In-Service Technical Training and am back in village now working hard, specifically on pest identification and organic control methods. I'm also working with the Master Farmer Program to implement demonstrations on new technologies, techniques, and species in a one hectare space as a permanent learning/training source for surrounding communities. I'm working on a secondary project researching the traditional medicinal knowledge of plants and trees and I am establishing a network for volunteers to share and compare their knowledge, projects, and resources on the subject . You know me, I'm staying busy.

March is my month. It's getting warmer and warmer here as we enter the hot/dry season; but, the mangoes are ripening! It's incredible that trees are fruiting in the middle of the dry season. I'll also get to try cashew fruit for the first time. Everyday is truly a new and unexpected adventure.

I'll be traveling to Kedagou, in the southeast part of Senegal, in order to hike mountains and climb waterfalls for my Golden Birthday--I'll be turning a quarter of a century old on the 25th of March! Life is grand.

Here is a glimpse into my volunteer life...

(Me, Aviva, and Jessica in Dakar dressed up for WAIST. I was a Spanish--upside down--exclamation point for my region's theme of "South of the Border.")

(Peace Corps love during In-Service Training at the Thies Training Center. There are a lot of great people with me here in Senegal!)

(I'm enjoying a strangely flavored Senegalese version of a mallow--but mallow nonetheless--at a campfire at the Training Center. Not only great people here but also fantastic musicians!)

Living and loving life,

!