Hello!!
Hey everyone! This is Julia...I am in Idaho, hanging out in the snow. It's always a white Christmas here in the mountains. I am really excited to go to Senegal and meet everyone! I have no idea what to expect but I know it will be a fabulous experience...
more later!
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Madrid
I am en route to Dakar...currently I am hanging out in the Madrid airport, where I have a 10 hour layover. I wanted to go into the city, but it is really cold here and I don't have the proper clothing. Also, I didn't want to have to go through customs and then worry about getting back on time..so the airport and I are becoming close friends! I ate a yummy baguette with cheese, and will leave in 4 hours to arrive in Dakar at 9:30 tonight. The adventure begins!
Settling In
I arrived safely in Senegal, and have now been here for 2 nights. Today will be my second full day here. There are so many things to say! I feel I should describe my setting, so create a picture in the minds of my readers. I live with a wonderful family. The mother’s name is Nday Sam, and the father is Papa Ndoye. Although it is taboo to talk about how many children a family has (people aren’t counted, it is thought to be rude), there are four children, two girls and two boys. The girls (Fama and Nanu) are older, about 18 and 20, and the boys, Mustafa and I don’t know the other one’s name, are about 7 and 12. I don’t know exactly how old they are. Our home has three bedrooms, one for the parents, one for the children, and one for me. I feel bad that the children have to share a room cause I’m here. There is also a kitchen, cold-water shower and sink, Turkish toilet (which is a squat toilet, a hole in the floor, which is flushed by pouring water down it), living room area, another room, and an outside area where the clothesline and garbage can are. There is a television, which is always on, and all the floors are tile. They speak a combination of French and Wolof, the local language, so I am having a bit of difficulty with understanding and speaking to my family. But I am hopeful that it can only get better from here, and I feel that I will become more confident with speaking as time goes on.
the toilet, and bucket of water to flush with
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Nafi Ndoye
My new name is Nafi Ndoye. They tried to give me this other name that i couldn't pronounce, but ended up changing it to Nafi, which is much more simple. Now I am a part of the Ndoye family.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. We went on a tour of Yoff, the village where we live! We learned a lot about the history of the town, and about difficulties people have here with the differences and complexities between public and private land. There are a lot of conflicts surrounding this issue, because it is a relatively new concept. One example was shown to us in the street. It was a building that hadn’t been completed. There was unfinished construction, and there were power lines running through where the building would have been. There were arguments because both parties involved, the power company and the construction company, both thought that they had the right to that space. Another frequent argument is about who is responsible when a power line falls over a tin-roofed house or stand that was build directly under it. This is a huge hazard, but neither party is willing to lose control over “their” land.
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Friday February 3
Almost one full week in Senegal – I wanted to wait to post until I had a good chance to take in everything that has shaped the beginning of what promises to be an absolutely life changing, affirming, trying, inspiring experience. Even now I am overwhelmed… where to even begin? A million images, words, faces, colors, sounds, smells, tastes, and emotions come to mind at the prospect of putting these last days into words. After this week all I can think of are moments and scenes in time that will always define this space for me. I will begin with a small part of an email I wrote to my friends and family after first arriving here:
“The little of Senegal I have seen is raw but soft, intimidating but inviting, active but relaxed, absolutely complex, overwhelming, strange… but at the same time simple, quite familiar – it is my home now.”
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Iles de Madeleine
Today is Saturday, and we went on an outing to The Madeleine Islands State Park, which includes 4 islands (I think), Ndor, Yoff, and two others, including the one we went to today. [I apologize for the inconsistencies in my reporting, but there are times when I really don’t know what is going on. It is hard for me to understand all the French I hear, especially in noisy areas, so I end up missing a lot of information.] We took taxis to the park entrance (more on that in a the next paragraph), and traveled in boats to the island.
I got to ride in a traditional fishing boat like this one. They have motors now, but didn't traditionally.
What a beautiful place! I will post pictures asap, but my rechargeable camera batteries died and are charging. After I get it working again I’ll share the photos. They’re worth the wait.
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4 february Iles des Madeleines
We had an incredible visit today to L’Ile des Madeleines, one of the islands that are just off the coast of Senegal. The island is uninhabited and was turned into a National Park about 30 years ago after the Sommet de la Terre in Rio. It escaped various attempts by the French, British, and US to buy it for various reasons – including a US military base. I cannot express how happy I am that that space has remained a peaceful beautiful place.
There is a corps of Ecoguides, young people who are committed conserving the zones designated for preservation in Senegal. They have about 3,000 visitors to Ile des Madeleines each year; 20% of the revenues go to the surrounding communities, like Yoff and other places surrounding Dakar, for community building projects. The other 80% goes towards salaries for the Ecoguides and conservation. Our guide knew a ton of information and was able to answer all of our questions. He took us on a tour of the island, including beautiful baobab trees – I got to taste the baobab fruit for the first time – bird’s nesting places, and wading in the natural pool. It was great to see an example of a working ecotourism/ sustainable development project in Senegal and to experience its benefits first hand. At the same time that the project is generating income for Senegal, the communities of Dakar, and creating jobs, a beautiful natural zone is being conserved and protected.
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6 february cours de danse
We had our third dance class tonight…so great! The four of us jumped on the opportunity to have West African dance lessons here and I am so glad we did. It was something I really wanted to do when I got here. We are planning on going three times a week for an hour each. The classes cost 2,000 CFA each, about $4 dollars. After being here a few days that amount seemed a little steep - $12 a week? It’s amazing how quickly your perspective changes; for the last semester in Paris I paid more than $4 at least once a day for a café! The classes have turned out to be well worth the effort. Our teacher is amazing – passionate but very patient with us. We have our classes at 6pm at a community center near CRESP, so we are in class during the beautiful African sunset right outside the window. It feels so good to move around, the dance itself is so dynamic, so full of energy; the whole moment is a true representation of a certain spirit here.
Learning the moves...
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Jamm Rekk
Today is Tuesday of our first real week of classes. The schedule so far has been discussions in the mornings about sustainable development, then a break for lunch from 1-3, and class again from 3-5. Yesterday afternoon we had our first Wolof class, for the foreigners. Wolof is the native language spoken in this part of Senegal, before French was introduced. (Jamm Rekk means "peace only," and is the answer to many questions here, it's good to know) The official language of the country is French, but the majority of the people I have encountered outside the school setting have spoken primarily Wolof. It’s a very melodic language, with many variations in volume. It is spoken so fast that it can seem to be mumbled to the foreign ear. Greetings are a huge part of Wolof culture, they greet constantly. I listen attentively as the words are rhythmically hit back and forth like a vocal tennis match.
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Dakar
Today we went into Dakar for an orientation/tour. Dakar is on a large triangle-shaped peninsula, and Yoff, the town where we are living, is on the north side of the peninsula. It took about 25-30 minutes to get there in a taxi with traffic. Speaking of traffic, I forgot to mention the worst part about driving here-the emissions. After the ride home I felt like I had taken a shower in foul smelling, black emissions. I thought having the window open would help to reduce the smell, but it just messed up my hair, so now I look AND smell awful! Oh well, c’est la vie, right?! I just can’t imagine living with that all the time; I really sympathize with taxi drivers and anyone who has come to accept the smell as normal. It’s really too bad.
On a happier note, I got some really interesting photos in Dakar…
This is the big cathedral in Dakar...a rare sight among all the mosques
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