Final Impressions. Home at Last
I’m home! What a crazy concept. I don’t know what to think. I got my worst illnesses of the trip when I got home. Diarrhea, then a non-eating day of sleep and movies, then some threats of a cold, of which I’m still waiting to see the outcome. I guess my body prefers the exotic microbes of Africa (or it was just—very kindly—waiting for a time to get sick when I could relax with all my American creature comforts). But despite the inevitable illnesses, this experience is worth it! So read on for final insights, tips, and other exciting tidbits.
Clean and green on Goree Island...
More...
Comfort in Pit Toilets, Inspiration from Football
It is almost the end of this experience. In the days since we returned from the villages, nothing very exciting has happened, but I don’t mind that at all. I feel comfortably assimilated into life here—just attending classes, finishing PowerPoint’s, loan proposal defenses, and personal reflection papers; talking with friends; and going for long runs on the beach. Just as I am beginning to be comfortable, the end is threatening to sweep me away.
The classic combination: pit toilet on one side, "shower" on the other (in the villages, the shower typically consists of a tile floor and a bucket. In Yoff, all of our families had showerheads).
More...
Inquiring Appreciatively...and Great Conversations
We started our work in Ndiaye Ndiaye yesterday, holding our always-late meeting in the street (a wide strip of sand between two walls). Drums played for a long time before the meeting started, and the president hooked up a loudspeaker and walked all over the city to attract the crowds. When he went to Ndiaye Ndiaye 2, he learned that a 30 year old woman had just been killed in a car accident. So the president cancelled the welcome we were going to receive, and we commenced with the meeting. Eight women’s Economic Interest Groups exist in the village, but one group did not attend the meeting because of the recent accident. So our time in Ndiaye Ndiaye was shrouded by a quietness that we were not accustomed to.
The street outside the president's home.
More...
Foreign Aid?
This morning, we were served a traditional breakfast to send us off from Louly. It was millet with sour milk and sugar. It’s a very interesting meal that we had at our homestay family’s house for dinner one night. I can’t say it’s my favorite, but at least it broke up the monotony of bread and margarine.
Our group and the village elders in the Louly Ngogom schoolroom.
More...
Becoming Comfortable...at last.
Last night was the first night that I felt like I wanted to stay here and didn’t want to go home so soon. The village has totally relaxed me and restored my normal-feeling stomach. I’m just more interested in open spaces and nature in general, so being in Yoff and Dakar has felt stifling and claustrophobic. I’ve been longing for some room to move and breathe, and the villages have given that to me. In the villages, I am healthy and happy. Life isn’t polluted with noise, schedules (albeit extremely flexible ones!), and classes. There is only the cool wind, the people, the trees, the sand, the brush, conversation, and a little bit of interesting work. I feel like I am assimilating into life here, and am finally becoming comfortable. I wonder if this will last when I get back to Yoff.
More...
Meetings and Eating, Rest and Relaxation
Time is passing so quickly! I would like to explore the village and the landscape more, but it is difficult because of the midday heat and the cultural boundaries. I feel like I have to rely on my Senegalese partners to show me exactly what to do and when, so we have mostly been sleeping a lot and resting indoors during most of the day. But we get out on occasional walks, which is refreshing and always interesting.
The president's home.
More...
First Village Experiences
It’s already January 5th! Time is rolling. Today, my group and I left for the villages. I went with a University of Vermont student, a female Senegalese student, a male Senegalese student, and two (of the coolest) staff members. We took the 7-seater cars that are the dominant form of comfortable, long-distance transportation. Senegal actually has wonderful transportation systems that really make having a car unnecessary. Cabs are cheap (we’ve never paid more than 2500 FCFA—or about $5.00—for a ride) and a seat in a 7-seater car is 5,000 FCFA. There are also overcrowded buses that I imagine cost very little to ride.
Diary buys mandarins from a roadside vendor. There is no time that the car is not surrounded by vendors selling fruit, nuts, crackers, tissues, stuffed animals, flags, hats, even blow-up dinosaurs.
More...
Bodies in Motion
The last few days have gone by in a blur. I wrote last before the New Year’s Eve festivities began. On New Year’s, we all met outside of the center to go to a club. Almost everybody had eaten chicken with peanut sauce and French fries, and loved it. Almost everybody had also been told that all the clubs were closed because Senegal’s religious leader Serigne Saliou Mbacke had died three days earlier. But David, an extremely generous Senegalese who is always up for an adventure, made the rounds to several clubs and found us a good one. We grabbed cabs and took off to our unknown destination.
Random cab ride picture.
More...
Beach Parties, Leisure, and Really Strong Tea
I got so carried away with SEM and economics in my last blog that I didn’t have time to include the most interesting part of the day. After classes, we had a “beach party.” We walked with the Senegalese students to an interesting part of the beach that is populated with straw-roofed huts, sunbathers, the occasional brave swimmer (the Senegalese say the water’s very cold this time of year), runners, and soccer/football players. We sat I talked to one Senegalese man on the way over, and he asked me one of the most common questions I’ve heard: “How do you find Senegal?” Of course, I say I love the place. It’s beautiful, bright, warm, and the people are congenial, fun to be with, and welcoming. The food is also delicious. I tell him the traffic is frightening, though, and he laughs and says he is going to learn to drive soon. I cannot imagine learning to drive here. Yesterday, when we took our first cab ride into Dakar, was the first time I saw a road sign. There was also one stretch of road with faded lines. Our conversation also led us to the educational systems in America versus Senegal, the reasons behind American obesity, Senegalese leisure time and unemployment, future careers, and a few Wolof language tips. This is how most conversations go—they are all-encompassing and rarely shallow.
The beach at Yoff.
More...
Getting off the Treadmill
We had our first real classes today. My roommate Karaline and I woke up to our house mother knocking on our door, telling us Fatou had called and said we needed to be at the center at 9, so breakfast was being served. Karaline and I were very confused, as both our watches said 6:57, but we thought that perhaps it was a cultural thing to wake up early. It was totally dark in our room and I felt like I could sleep forever, but we got up and ate some more bread and margarine to a chorus of our mother’s “Mangez! Mangez! Il y a un kilo de pain pour chacun!” When we were rushed out the door at what we thought was 7:57, we realized that we had set our watches an hour earlier than we should have. We had gone through a whole day without realizing we were an hour late to our meetings. But in Senegal, having your watch set an hour late doesn’t really give you many problems. Time is different here. People stroll slowly, lunchtime last hours, and everyone has time for long greetings in the streets. Getting our time straightened out, then realizing it didn’t really matter that much was our first experience on our journey of cultural exploration.
A snapshot of one of the posters from a class exercise showing the Senegalese students' impressions of American culture.
More...
NEXT page
Final Impressions. Home at Last
I’m home! What a crazy concept. I don’t know what to think. I got my worst illnesses of the trip when I got home. Diarrhea, then a non-eating day of sleep and movies, then some threats of a cold, of which I’m still waiting to see the outcome. I guess my body prefers the exotic microbes of Africa (or it was just—very kindly—waiting for a time to get sick when I could relax with all my American creature comforts). But despite the inevitable illnesses, this experience is worth it! So read on for final insights, tips, and other exciting tidbits.
Clean and green on Goree Island...
More...
Comfort in Pit Toilets, Inspiration from Football
It is almost the end of this experience. In the days since we returned from the villages, nothing very exciting has happened, but I don’t mind that at all. I feel comfortably assimilated into life here—just attending classes, finishing PowerPoint’s, loan proposal defenses, and personal reflection papers; talking with friends; and going for long runs on the beach. Just as I am beginning to be comfortable, the end is threatening to sweep me away.
The classic combination: pit toilet on one side, "shower" on the other (in the villages, the shower typically consists of a tile floor and a bucket. In Yoff, all of our families had showerheads).
More...
Inquiring Appreciatively...and Great Conversations
We started our work in Ndiaye Ndiaye yesterday, holding our always-late meeting in the street (a wide strip of sand between two walls). Drums played for a long time before the meeting started, and the president hooked up a loudspeaker and walked all over the city to attract the crowds. When he went to Ndiaye Ndiaye 2, he learned that a 30 year old woman had just been killed in a car accident. So the president cancelled the welcome we were going to receive, and we commenced with the meeting. Eight women’s Economic Interest Groups exist in the village, but one group did not attend the meeting because of the recent accident. So our time in Ndiaye Ndiaye was shrouded by a quietness that we were not accustomed to.
The street outside the president's home.
More...
Foreign Aid?
This morning, we were served a traditional breakfast to send us off from Louly. It was millet with sour milk and sugar. It’s a very interesting meal that we had at our homestay family’s house for dinner one night. I can’t say it’s my favorite, but at least it broke up the monotony of bread and margarine.
Our group and the village elders in the Louly Ngogom schoolroom.
More...
Becoming Comfortable...at last.
Last night was the first night that I felt like I wanted to stay here and didn’t want to go home so soon. The village has totally relaxed me and restored my normal-feeling stomach. I’m just more interested in open spaces and nature in general, so being in Yoff and Dakar has felt stifling and claustrophobic. I’ve been longing for some room to move and breathe, and the villages have given that to me. In the villages, I am healthy and happy. Life isn’t polluted with noise, schedules (albeit extremely flexible ones!), and classes. There is only the cool wind, the people, the trees, the sand, the brush, conversation, and a little bit of interesting work. I feel like I am assimilating into life here, and am finally becoming comfortable. I wonder if this will last when I get back to Yoff.
More...
Meetings and Eating, Rest and Relaxation
Time is passing so quickly! I would like to explore the village and the landscape more, but it is difficult because of the midday heat and the cultural boundaries. I feel like I have to rely on my Senegalese partners to show me exactly what to do and when, so we have mostly been sleeping a lot and resting indoors during most of the day. But we get out on occasional walks, which is refreshing and always interesting.
The president's home.
More...
First Village Experiences
It’s already January 5th! Time is rolling. Today, my group and I left for the villages. I went with a University of Vermont student, a female Senegalese student, a male Senegalese student, and two (of the coolest) staff members. We took the 7-seater cars that are the dominant form of comfortable, long-distance transportation. Senegal actually has wonderful transportation systems that really make having a car unnecessary. Cabs are cheap (we’ve never paid more than 2500 FCFA—or about $5.00—for a ride) and a seat in a 7-seater car is 5,000 FCFA. There are also overcrowded buses that I imagine cost very little to ride.
Diary buys mandarins from a roadside vendor. There is no time that the car is not surrounded by vendors selling fruit, nuts, crackers, tissues, stuffed animals, flags, hats, even blow-up dinosaurs.
More...
Bodies in Motion
The last few days have gone by in a blur. I wrote last before the New Year’s Eve festivities began. On New Year’s, we all met outside of the center to go to a club. Almost everybody had eaten chicken with peanut sauce and French fries, and loved it. Almost everybody had also been told that all the clubs were closed because Senegal’s religious leader Serigne Saliou Mbacke had died three days earlier. But David, an extremely generous Senegalese who is always up for an adventure, made the rounds to several clubs and found us a good one. We grabbed cabs and took off to our unknown destination.
Random cab ride picture.
More...
Beach Parties, Leisure, and Really Strong Tea
I got so carried away with SEM and economics in my last blog that I didn’t have time to include the most interesting part of the day. After classes, we had a “beach party.” We walked with the Senegalese students to an interesting part of the beach that is populated with straw-roofed huts, sunbathers, the occasional brave swimmer (the Senegalese say the water’s very cold this time of year), runners, and soccer/football players. We sat I talked to one Senegalese man on the way over, and he asked me one of the most common questions I’ve heard: “How do you find Senegal?” Of course, I say I love the place. It’s beautiful, bright, warm, and the people are congenial, fun to be with, and welcoming. The food is also delicious. I tell him the traffic is frightening, though, and he laughs and says he is going to learn to drive soon. I cannot imagine learning to drive here. Yesterday, when we took our first cab ride into Dakar, was the first time I saw a road sign. There was also one stretch of road with faded lines. Our conversation also led us to the educational systems in America versus Senegal, the reasons behind American obesity, Senegalese leisure time and unemployment, future careers, and a few Wolof language tips. This is how most conversations go—they are all-encompassing and rarely shallow.
The beach at Yoff.
More...
Getting off the Treadmill
We had our first real classes today. My roommate Karaline and I woke up to our house mother knocking on our door, telling us Fatou had called and said we needed to be at the center at 9, so breakfast was being served. Karaline and I were very confused, as both our watches said 6:57, but we thought that perhaps it was a cultural thing to wake up early. It was totally dark in our room and I felt like I could sleep forever, but we got up and ate some more bread and margarine to a chorus of our mother’s “Mangez! Mangez! Il y a un kilo de pain pour chacun!” When we were rushed out the door at what we thought was 7:57, we realized that we had set our watches an hour earlier than we should have. We had gone through a whole day without realizing we were an hour late to our meetings. But in Senegal, having your watch set an hour late doesn’t really give you many problems. Time is different here. People stroll slowly, lunchtime last hours, and everyone has time for long greetings in the streets. Getting our time straightened out, then realizing it didn’t really matter that much was our first experience on our journey of cultural exploration.
A snapshot of one of the posters from a class exercise showing the Senegalese students' impressions of American culture.
More...
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