One more time, I'm back in Dakar and finally in front of a computer again. I thinkwhen I was planning this trip, I forgot how hard it actually is to deal with the internet in West Africa. Frustratingly slow internet, aged computers, keyboards and mice that don't work and then add on everything is in french... I feel like I'm using one of those first Apple IIEs from the 80s. It literally took me 15 minutes to get to this point in my writing, which is the only reason I am in front of a computer screen.
Anyway, as I said, the trip is winding down and we are coming full circle back in the capital. About 4 weeks ago, we touched down and dropped our bags in the Hotel Oceanic. Most of the kids have since told Laura and I they were nervous and thought the place was a dump. Today when we checked in, they couldn't wait to be in the A/C and have a real shower. On their first full day in Senegal, we took them down to the market where they were bombarded by vendors trying to sell them things they didn't want. Our students ended up with things in their hands and were pulled into shops without understanding what was going on. Today, walking around Dakar was a different story... We were a group of 16 westerners walking through the busy streets of Dakar. We are prime targets for people selling statues and mud cloth, but our students weren't harrassed and no vendors spent extra time trying to get them to buy anything. It was pretty neat to see. Whether or not these kids had fun (which I know they did), they have changed over the course of this month. It's interesting to have an experience like this, which is not unlike my experience in Mali, but watch someone else over that period of time. I'm fasinated to see them communicate in their own broken french (not unlike me!) but to communicate non-the-less. They aren't whining as much anymore... they know the deal and they will figure things out.
This is definitely me getting pre-nostalgia, so it is not a full picture of this trip, but it is something real and important.
As for me, I am starting to try and digest and make sense of my time here. I can say quickly and easily, I'm tired. I have been "on" for the last 4 weeks straight. Sometimes that meant I didn't get to sleep a full night for 4 days and had to be in the hospital, and most of the time that meant I was asked questions and had to make decisions at a moments notice. It was a blast, but being a parent for 14 kids is a handful.
Later folks,
TW
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
My Bambara is useless
Not surprising, but it's pretty true. Wolof is the language of choice around here.
I have the important phrases down though...
lege lege = right now (direct; now now)
tootie tootie = slowly (direct; little little)
I am currently in Saint Louis, Senegal. I highly recommend you look some info about the city. It is beautiful here. The ocean is a great temperature and this place has a cool colonial feel. I think I could stand spending some time here (Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm not looking for any jobs).
This first week with the students has been pretty fun. We arrived in Dakar last Friday... West Africa is in full effect. I stepped off of the plane and onto the tarmac to a hot breeze and the smell of trash burning somewhere off in the distance. Dakar feels a lot like Bamako, but a bit more Western. People are just a little more in tune to Western culture and a bit more connected to the outside world.
The next day, we headed out to chage some money and get our things together to head up to the north where we'll be spening most of the month.
The kids are great... There are 14 kids and they range from rising sophomores to rising seniors. They're from all around the US... as far as California and as close as DC. There is even a student who goes to NCS, which is the sister school to Saint Albans. After the kids there is one other leader, Laura, who is great.
On Sunday, we took a private bus ride up to n'diawdoune, which is about 4 hours from Dakar and about 20 minutes north of Saint Louis. It's a very well put together community and perfect for a community service trip of this sort.
We are staying at the local school and sleeping on the classroom floor. We have mattresses and mosquito nets and then we have a couple local women cooking for us. They will make anything from local dishes (yassa and maffe) to derranged versions of American food (something ressembling an egg sandwich or spaghetti with boiled eggs all over it).
While the conditions seem weird, they are great relative to the Peace Corps. We have purified water coming out of a faucet, electricity, mobile phone connection and ice. It is sort of like a West African heaven.
I know the students would not agree with me, but that's OK, this is their first time over here... and I keep reminding myself what I was like for my first week in Yangasso. In case you have forgotten or I have never told you... I was basically insane for the first week. I felt terrible everyday and had no one to communicate with. I would sit in my hammock and talk to myself about how ridiculous it was for me to be living in Mali without being able to speak Bambara.
Anyway... I need to get back to the kids. We are all currently sitting in a cyber cafe and they need help to find the @ symbol on these french keyboards and someone's shoes just fell apart, apparently. I just became a parent for 14 kids.
Sorry... No photos yet because these computers are so slow.
Later folks,
Todd
I have the important phrases down though...
lege lege = right now (direct; now now)
tootie tootie = slowly (direct; little little)
I am currently in Saint Louis, Senegal. I highly recommend you look some info about the city. It is beautiful here. The ocean is a great temperature and this place has a cool colonial feel. I think I could stand spending some time here (Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm not looking for any jobs).
This first week with the students has been pretty fun. We arrived in Dakar last Friday... West Africa is in full effect. I stepped off of the plane and onto the tarmac to a hot breeze and the smell of trash burning somewhere off in the distance. Dakar feels a lot like Bamako, but a bit more Western. People are just a little more in tune to Western culture and a bit more connected to the outside world.
The next day, we headed out to chage some money and get our things together to head up to the north where we'll be spening most of the month.
The kids are great... There are 14 kids and they range from rising sophomores to rising seniors. They're from all around the US... as far as California and as close as DC. There is even a student who goes to NCS, which is the sister school to Saint Albans. After the kids there is one other leader, Laura, who is great.
On Sunday, we took a private bus ride up to n'diawdoune, which is about 4 hours from Dakar and about 20 minutes north of Saint Louis. It's a very well put together community and perfect for a community service trip of this sort.
We are staying at the local school and sleeping on the classroom floor. We have mattresses and mosquito nets and then we have a couple local women cooking for us. They will make anything from local dishes (yassa and maffe) to derranged versions of American food (something ressembling an egg sandwich or spaghetti with boiled eggs all over it).
While the conditions seem weird, they are great relative to the Peace Corps. We have purified water coming out of a faucet, electricity, mobile phone connection and ice. It is sort of like a West African heaven.
I know the students would not agree with me, but that's OK, this is their first time over here... and I keep reminding myself what I was like for my first week in Yangasso. In case you have forgotten or I have never told you... I was basically insane for the first week. I felt terrible everyday and had no one to communicate with. I would sit in my hammock and talk to myself about how ridiculous it was for me to be living in Mali without being able to speak Bambara.
Anyway... I need to get back to the kids. We are all currently sitting in a cyber cafe and they need help to find the @ symbol on these french keyboards and someone's shoes just fell apart, apparently. I just became a parent for 14 kids.
Sorry... No photos yet because these computers are so slow.
Later folks,
Todd
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