Nanga def?

Asalaa Malekum! Nanga def? Naka wa ker ga? We’re finally taking Wolof classes to learn the local language! My host family speaks French very well, and speaks a bit of English, but usually they communicate in Wolof, so it will be really useful for me to learn. It’s a pretty easy language in terms of how the phrases are constructed, but still, it’s a whole new vocabulary. I like learning bits of how the world is explained via language, like the word for “ankle” in Wolof literally translates to “the eye of the leg”. I don’t even know where to start, I guess I’ll have to pick and choose the stories to share with everyone. This weekend I went with Dave and Louise (2 of the other Macalester students here) to the beach near our school. The water’s the perfect temperature and there’s big waves. I made friends with a troop of young girls who were using sticks and rubber hoses to pry sea urchins off of a rock. They were going to boil them and eat them, or maybe sell them. One of them took me by the arm and pulled me into the surf to help them out – I got 3! And every time I got one they would say in Wolof, “Hey, the whitey got one.” They were really nice, actually, it was refreshing to talk just to girls who were just interested in being friends. With guys, you always have to be a bit on guard as to whether they’re flirting with you. I haven’t been approached by anyone really creepy yet though. After the beach, I visited Dave’s and Louise’s families – they live in the fancy part of town! We had heard a rumor that Youssou N’Dour would be playing a concert that night, and Dave’s roommate Chris confirmed it, so we took off to this Ethiopian restaurant on a rooftop and walked from there to the concert. It didn’t even start until 1:30 am and it kept going until 4:30. It was fantastic, but we were exhausted. Apparently I was too short to see, but there were some people dancing mbalax towards the front, which is the traditional/popular style of dance in Senegal. Look it up on YouTube, it’s awesome, arms and legs and knees flying everywhere. Needless to say, I can’t do it. I’ve been walking to school every day, 45 minutes each way, usually with friends, and I feel like that’s the point at which I see the most new things about Dakar. Like today, I noticed that there are small mosques built in the median of the street, facing east, so that people can pray as they wait for the bus. And we walked through open sewage bubbling up onto the street. And the air pollution here is really bad because the cars and buses are so old, but the ratio of public to private transportation on the road is roughly 4:1. If Dakar could just take care of its waste problem (among other things), it would be perceived as a top-notch international city. We went on a driving tour the other day of downtown and the suburbs – they tried to say that we also got to see the slums, but the true slums are out on the neck of the peninsula and we haven’t gone there yet. I don’t know if we will. I would like to, because I wrote an entire research paper on that area for my Development class two years ago. I also got a chance to talk to Waly, one of our program assistants, about where I might have my internship. Apparently there’s not many organizations that work with refugees here, and even though there are refugees adn internally displaced people, he says it’s not too much of a problem or a hassle for them to move from one place to the next. But there is an organization, ASCODE, that works with Senegalese immigrants abroad and their families who remain in-country. They have offices in Dakar and in Touba. I’ll probably be placed with them in Touba, which is the religious center of Senegal and the home of the Mouride brotherhood, the biggest Islamic brotherhood in the country. Apparently it’s run under Islamic law (or at least practices), and doesn’t have any drinking or dancing or so on. My work would be in the city (and it’s not that big) but it would also take me to the surrounding villages and more rural areas. I think it would be fascinating to see how people live and interact in such a religious context, so I’m pretty excited for this placement. I bet it’ll feel overwhelming, as the rest of Dakar can sometimes, but I’ll get by. Our classes started this week. We’re in class almost all day, from 9 to 6, studying Development Theory and Senegalese History and Wolof. We each choose a focus for our Development Theory class. I chose Public Health And Social Services, and I’ll also be auditing the Microfinance class. We split our time in these tracks between studying in the classroom and taking local field trips. The food here has been up and down. I have a strong suspicion that most of the other host families feed their students more than mine does, even though I have a fast metabolism and I tend to get hungry more often. Apparently other families are pushing food at the students, enough that they have to insist that they’re full. In my family we have some French bread with butter and tea for breakfast, then I eat lunch out at WARC or at a local cafe. They usually have rice with some kind of sauce and maybe meat for lunch, and that’s just about what we have too. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and always includes rice (or french fries!). Dinner is smaller and tends to be more varied at my house. I have yet to be served thiebujinn. We’ve had salade nicoise, rice and lentils in a brown sauce with beef, spaghetti and fish (dorado) with tomatoes, salad with vegetables and a fried egg... that kind of thing. It’s delicious. And there’s always enough to feed everyone. But I often don’t feel quite full at the end, and I end up having snacks in my room. It’s something to work out and I’m trying not to lose weight. I think I’ll have to go to the supermarket more often for snacks. And I’m still pursuing that perfect dish of thiebujinn – it’s kind of like searching for the best falafel in Israel, except I haven’t had any yet. Anyway. Thanks for the birthday wishes, love you all, and I’ve got some homework to do, so I’m out!

I'm in Senegal! And you'll have to excuse the typing mistakes if I make any because I'm using a French keyboard. We arrived safely in Dakar after a bumpy flight from New York and went to Yoff, a suburb, to crash at a really nice hotel. Dave and I and some friends went up to the terrace on the roof to take in the view, looked down in the street, and saw a herd of cattle passing by! It looked like they didn't have anyone guiding them, but they plodded on toward the main road and seemed to do okay. It's very dusty here and pretty hot, maybe in the 70s or 80s, which is a refreshing change from the winter weather. The next day we had orientation at a woman's house who had worked with our program for 10 years. She made the traditional national dish, thieboujinn (no idea how to spell it), which is fish and rice in a spicy red curry sauce. It's absolutely delicious, and apparently you eat it every day for lunch so that should be fun, at least until I get tired of rice. Yesterday we were dropped off at our host families, and I love mine! They're a brother and a sister who live together and neither of them are married. My host sister/mother is Mantou, and she looks a lot like Helena Bonham Carter. She's awesome, quick smile and an easy manner. Parick is my host brother. He's in his mid 30s and she's a bit older. He's hip and funky but old enough to be steady and to really enjoy teaching Wolof to us. Which brings me to my next bit of news, that I'm living with another American student as well! Her name is Emily and she goes to Michigan. We share a room and we both go to WARC for school. We stayed up until 1 am last night talking and it turns out that we're very similar people, both intellectually and socially, except that she's doing neuroscience while I have no head for chemistry. Anyway, it's awesome to be speaking French all the time again and I'm trying to start learning a bit of Wolof. I only know a couple phrases so far. Our three program assistants and the program director have been very supportive and welcoming. I feel very fortunate to be in such a supportive community. There's much more emphasis here on dignity, respect, and welcoming each other than there is in the States. Every time you see someone, even if you just saw them minutes before - or even if you're already in conversation with them - you ask them how they're doing and how their families are. The point is that you're acknowledging and respecting them as a human being. It's something that you can give to each other and nurture no matter how rich or poor you are. I feel like we've left this behind in the states - if we ever had it at all - and its something that feels important for me to retain and bring home. How, I have no idea. And I'm sure this is just one of what will be many cultural insights in the next few months. All my stuff and logistics are working out fine. I even used my first African-style toilet the other day and it wasnt too bad. The one in my house is a regular bowl, fortunately. My family's pretty well off, solidly middle class, in that they have a nice well-furnished house and a TV and a good bathroom. It's a great time to be on the continent, since it's the middle of the African Cup. We watched two soccer games yesterday, which was a good ice-breaker with my other host brother, Prince. I didn't mention him earlier because he's not a permanent resident in the house. He's a nephew from the Casamance, down south, and he came up to Dakar to try out for a club basketball team. If he gets in, he'll move here permanently, but for now, he's going back to Ziguinchor this weekend. Today is my first day at WARC, the research center where we'll hold our classes, and I'm in their computer lab. Once everyone arrives we're going to take a ferry to Gorée Island, just off the coast of the Cap Vert Peninsula (where Dakar is). It's the island that served as a launching point and as an auction site for the slave trade. Should be a fairly heavy visit, à la the Holocaust museum, and we're writing our first paper on our trip. I think that's all the news for now. I haven't seen Dave yet since we dropped him off at his host family, but we've both been doing great. Love you all, à bientot!

last-minute details

I'm pulling together the last few things before I go, starting to actually pack (and probably re-pack), all the last-minute details. It's funny how milestones seem to come in groups for me, not just one at a time.... This week I'll be celebrating my 21st birthday and I'll also be leaving to live on a different continent for the first time. The feeling of it is reminding me of when I graduated high school, turned 18, and left home for the first time... all in one week. That was January 2005. I've been looking forward to studying abroad for so long that, now that it's finally here, I feel like I have more emotions than I can listen to at one time. I'm sure I'll feel very differently once I actually get there, so I'm trying not to set up any expectations about it. For now, I'm cruising through the final details and seeing friends and family. If I haven't seen you yet and you're around, call me.

Let's give this a shot

Bonjour tout le monde! I just created this blog so that all of you, my friends and family, can share in my travels this spring. I'll be in Senegal on a study abroad program between January 20 and May 11, 2008. Feel free to email me or contact my parents if you need to actually get in touch with me, or leave messages here. Just know that I won't be on the internet too much, even though I'll do my best to get back to you... and I'll still love reading your notes!

Stay tuned for some more posts before I take off!