Sesame, Hyenas, and more Watermelon.

OK, so I know I haven't updated this in a really long time. Sorry mom. I've been distracted by trying to prove that white people can work in the fields. Oh, and watermelons are back in season so I guess "chalit naa." In Wolof, this means that I got distracted by food or ate so much that I forgot about something. I try to eat them as frequently as possible. I hope this doesn't mean that I'm "chaliting" all the time. The other day I was biking home along the road in the middle of nowhere when I came across this boy who I'd seen before killing squirrels. Not that weird in itself but he is usually followed by a pack of dogs. (One day the boy was all excited because the dogs had just killed a baby bush pig.) Anyway, I stopped to say hi and asked him what he was up to. He replied, "I'm looking for birds. Umm...I mean I'm selling watermelon." I looked around and didn't see any. I asked him where his watermelons were and how much one was. He ran into the bushes and came out with one big watermelon costing 15 Dalasis. Quite cheap. A little voice in the back of my mind said that he had stolen it. But I really wanted watermelon and it was so cheap so I bought it. It was delicious.

So the soy project was a failure this year. The seeds weren't viable and not even the government research institute that we got the seeds from in the first place could get them to grow. We planted 4 kilos at the school in the next village over from mine and 3 plants germinated. A friend in village planted 1 kilo and got 12 plants. He's going to save the seeds and plant them next year. Efforts once again focused towards getting new seed from outside the country.

My latest project has been working with Amie, my host mom, and a local extension worker, Dauda, on recording the amount and type of sesame being grown in the region. Record keeping can always be improved here. I'm learning a lot about sesame growing in the process and about 61 hectares are being grown by people in my village alone. In recent years, sesame has replaced groundnuts as the cash crop for farmers. Dauda and I always have great conversations. Most recently we were comparing sesame fields around my village and discussing soil fertility. He pointed out that fields are like pregnant women, they need nutrients to produce healthy and abundant offspring. I'm not sure if I like thinking of women as sesame fields that will be sown and harvested but he did have a point. And sesame is a womens' crop here so its not they are being sown and harvested by men, right? Haha.

I haven't heard the hyenas in a couple weeks. But just talking about them makes me feel like I'm in a horror movie. You know the Ghostbusters film with the giant mutant dogs? It's kinda like that. So, they keep killing sheep and goats. Last week 7 sheep and 3 goats were killed in the forest about 3 km from me. Good thing I've never seen one in the wild here. I think I'd pee my pants. My host brother, Babu, has this creepy story about driving a horse cart in the bush at night on his way home from another village. For about 1 km, between 2 small villages, a hyena followed him. The moon was bright so he could see it the whole time. Jeepers Creepers.

After the sesame harvest starts at the end of this month I'm going to be super busy helping weigh and record it in my area. Amie is a national executive committee member for NAWFA (Natl. Women Farmers' Assoc) and she will be the middle woman between NAWFA and the farmers - weighing and purchasing sesame in the area. My goals for the project this year are improved record keeping and receipt giving. Last year we didn't have receipt books so we just did it very informally on scraps of paper.

I'm going to go buy some cheese. I never thought I liked cheese that much but I find myself craving it constantly here. Is that a sign of some nutritional deficiency or did it just take coming to Africa to make me realize my love of cheese?

Hope you are all doing well!

Love,
Mandy