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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

First Impressions

I have arrived in Senegal! I started my journey from Princeton, New Jersey, after visiting grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for the holidays. I filled up on Italian food and was sent off on Thursday morning with a breakfast of Belgian waffles, maple syrup, and hard boiled eggs�my final American fare. I hopped on the shuttle in downtown Princeton, which was extravagantly decorated for Christmas and full of people dressed to the nines. After a three hour shuttle ride, I made my...

Preparing for...Something Exciting

I�m not sure what to think as the departure date approaches. I have read the Course Handbook, I�ve perused other blogs, I�ve studied agriculture in Senegal for my Politics of Developing States class and I�m about to embark on another research project about Senegal, but I have no idea what to expect. I picture myself going to New Jersey to visit my family for Christmas, just like I have every year of my life, and then�getting on a shuttle to the JFK airport and flying to Dakar? If this were...

Living Routes: Senegal 2008 Winter