http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.xml Senegal 2008 Spring en-us Sun, 11 May 2008 18:24:37 GMT Sun, 11 May 2008 18:24:37 GMT http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.xml http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1245 We have recently returned from an out-of-program trip to St. Louis for an international jazz festival. We had a wonderful time (those of us who hadn't left yet, we all wish Valerie could have gone) staying with Birane's family. We saw great jazz had lots of fun at night and during the day we recuperated and ate great food. I am currently at Piya's house hanging out and using internet as she packs for her flight out tonight. I leave tomorrow night, and that's it. I do wish that I had... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1243 I leave Sénégal in one week. In one week I'll leave the family who took care of me and fed me for four months. I'm leaving the sun, the beaches, the terriffic food, and the relaxed lifestyle. Most of the time after our return from the village was spent scrambling to do everything left to do in Dakar and by gifts for people back home, and then writing our final reports and reflections about our time spent in Sénégal. Personally I feel strange and have felt strange since Mbam. I left a lot... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1242 Sorry it took so long to update but something was wrong with this server or.. something like that... any how: We’re back. Three weeks in Mbam was an experience we will never have again unless we go back. Even another village of 4000 in Senegal would be different, different people, different food, the Bissap wouldn’t compare. This trip let us really develop the relationships we started in the previous two visits. We were also able to bring our Service Learning projects to life with... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1225 On Saturday we returned from our second visit to Mbam. We were all happy to see our old friends again, Binta Basse, whose cooking is heavenly and who’s house we use as our home base, the kids, especially Binta and Mustapha who are sure to be married in a couple of decades, Emanuel, one of the few village 20-somethings who has stayed to try and develop his home instead of moving to Dakar to try and find a wage job, and the experts who help us with our development projects, without whom we... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1224 ... well, we're half way finished with the program, and there are varying reactions from everybody. We are all happy with our integration into the community here in Yoff, some more than others. We all miss Mexican food and sushi, but we're being strong, we'll make it through. This week was spent putting together our plans for our next visit to Mbam, which starts tomorrow (at 7 AM!!!). Today Piya, Rachael, and I made a trip into Cente-Ville to do some shopping for friends and fmaily back... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1221 This weekend was terrific. Saturday was Ken’s birthday. Molly, Rachel, and I went into Centre-Ville (downtown) to La Marché Kermel to buy supplies for chips and salsa. We found good, fresh vegetables and I finally found a shirt made form a certain Malian material called Bogolan, which normally I can’t afford, but I talk down the price as much as I could. We got back just in time to make the salsa and rush it over to school, which was kept open for us to have the party, and surprise Ken. We... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1219 We recently returned from a small village called Ndaye-Ndaye in the area of Ngoy. The village had no electricity or running water. Their daily activities surrounded the production and processing of millet, and pulling water from wells. The lack of water left us with no way to escape the 100-degree heat other than to find a shady spot in which to nap. There were a few gas refrigerators but their owners had no money to buy the gas for them. The people of the village were, as always, welcoming... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1209 Feminism is a word I hadn’t heard in Senegal up last week. On Thursday we had a woman give us the rundown on the brief history of women’s rights in Senegal. Legal action only started taking form in the 90s and the only long stride taken has been a more widespread knowledge of the issue amongst both men and women. The lecture was interesting, but the best part was the discussion afterwards. There was yelling and there was glaring. It was one of the more frustrating conversations I’ve had but... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1204 As the title suggests, I regret the delay in updating the blog. I always feel like it's OK to wait one more day but here it is... who knows how long it's been since we got back (I've really lost all sense of long-term time.) and we've learned and done SO much. We've attended a variety of amazing lectures by teachers from U. Cheik Anta Dioup and others including classes on water issues in Senegal, Femenism, Sustainable Development in Senegal, Sustianable Development theory, and others. We... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1199 Get ready for a rather long entry. We got back from the village of Mbam on Saturday afternoon after a week long stay. We were there to learn about the village, meet the villagers and learn about the development projects that the villagers wanted to start/ continue. The road to Mbam was long and bumpy and very hot. Mbam is located to the south of Fougndiougne in the Fatick region (south of Dakar, not very far north of The Gambia). There's 4000-5000 people in the village (and about 1000... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1189 We've been here since Monday, only 4 days, but it feels like forever. We were all very excited to meet everyone else in the program and get to our homestays. Fortunately, many of us live close together and Yoff is easily navigable with the ocean being an easy reference point. The beach is beautiful and extends for miles upon miles, and though the sand is sometimes covered with trash, the water is clear and cool. We've started our Wolof class with some simple phrases of greeting. The phrases... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1178 So, I'm on lunch break of the last day of French classes at the ACI Baobab Center. It's been very helpful, especially in terms of getting ot know the city of Dakar. Yesterday our teacher, Thomas, took us on a tour of a few famous markets. Last night we randomly met Colin, our student coordinator when we went to see Suleiman Faye, an awesome musician, play at a place called "Just 4 You." Seeing him really drove home the fact that we're leaving to start Living Roots in a few days.... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1144 I'm on lunch break of my first day of school at the Baobab Center. We did some short essays about ourselves which we then corrected after reading aloud. Then we took a short tour of the surrounding area, but Molly and I are already fairly familiar with the neighborhood as we did some exploration yesterday. My homestay family is wonderful. There is the father, Alain, who is the principal of a local high school. He talks with me about everything including politics, religion, the... http://www.livingroutes.org/weblogs/weblogs/senegal/2008_spring/senegal_2008_spring.php?id=P1121 My plane leaves Sea-Tac Airport in 34.5 hours. The scariest part for me is leaving what I know behind. I know it'll all be there when I get back, but I dread missing it. On the other hand, I'm really excited to start this adventure. I can't wait to meet all the students I'll be sharing this experience with, to meet my host family, and to start exploring Dakar! I'm also anxiously anticipating the independent work. It seems like an opportunity to really research or do something about an issue...