Thies, Senegal. I do not remember seeing many spiders in Senegal (too dry?), but this one was, in our Peace Corps training compound, was a healthy specimen.

Thies, Senegal. Andrea Hough, Sean Mackey, Bennett Buckles, Charles Chopak, Cindy Bowers, Ted Kaskow, Phil Carls. Otherwise knows a Fatou Sall, Ousanu Fall, Samba Ba, Ibrahima Diene, Khadi Sow, Abdoulaye (?), Ibrahima Wane.

Thies, Senegal. Ted Kaskow, Moise N'Diaye, Charles Chopak, Sean Mackey, Phil Carls. Our open-air classroom was in session from 8-12 and from 3-6:30. At the time a biology major was required fisheries volunteers. In retrospect, French would have been a good idea, too….

Thies, Senegal. Our living quarters were repurposed military barracks. Note the makeshift mosque, outlined by bricks.

Dakar, Senegal. On my first Christmas eve in Senegal, I attended midnight mass in this cathedral.

Dakar, Senegal. Thanks to whomever decorated the cake at our swearing-in ceremony in Dakar. Good luck to the new volunteers.

Waves at Mboro. (To a kid from Iowa the ocean is amazing.)

Mboro, Senegal

Mboro, Senegal. Until this point, I didn't have a Senegalese first name. This fruit vendor decided I was an Ibrahima, and that was that.

Ricard Toll, Senegal. Johnny Poisson had several years of experience in fisheries as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire, and helped design the fish hatchery. M. Toti was the lead engineer for CSS, and instrumental in the construction.

Mboumba, Senegal. New Village, new backyard.

I remember thinking that I'd be in Mboumba/Senegal for the whole year. As a 22 year old, that sounded like an awfully long time….

Mboumba, Senegal. Walking back to Mboumba, I could see my place--the tallest tin roof to the right of the mosque.

Mboumba, Senegal. The Mosque from my east door.

Mboumba, Senegal. Ababacar Sarr. My Eaux et Foret counterpart & I used our fancy new level to select and map out our initial pond site.

Mboumba, Senegal. The pond site adjoined the village's irrigated rice fields.

Mboumba, Senegal. Every evening the women gathered to water and tend the garden.

Mboumba, Senegal. Note the line of women carrying buckets of water from the river to the garden--and to the village.

Mboumba, Senegal. Large mortars and pestles were used to pound the the millet seed in order to separate the grain from the chaff. The rhythmic pounding was part of the village soundtrack, sometimes accompanied by song.