What a travel “day”…Dakar, Senegal to JFK-New York, New York to Chicago O’Hare, Illinois to Cleveland, Ohio

Bright lights everywhere. Excessive advertising (that is not out-dated). Modern artwork on the walls. Huge panes of glass. Christmas music. Winter coats, gloves, hats. Shockingly cold winter conditions. Choices of food at the food court. Expensive things (comparatively speaking to what I was spending in Senegal). Too many difference.

Well, I have arrived stateside, and what an adventure it has been. I have never traveled around the holidays—going through two of America’s busiest airports (JFK and O’Hare)—nor have I been put up in a hotel by an airline.

My story begins with complete culture shock as I landed stateside in JFK with Myra after a nine-hour flight from Dakar. We weren’t ready to leave, but we had to. We had to leave family and friends behind. We had to realize that four months of memory making was coming to a halt, as we would be entering a new reality. We had to say goodbye to carrapides, goodbye to cebujen, goodbye to beautiful 80-degree weather, goodbye to so many things that would have to wait for our return in the future.

JFK was filled with toubabs, too many to be exact. I was looking around for all the boubous and wax print outfits—there were none. We made out way to immigration, then baggage claim, then customs. We took in all the different things, questioning the need of so many of the tangible things that we were seeing. It was wonderful to be able to travel back with a friend; it made it a little easier to enter the states—to go through the same things with someone else.

We arrived at about 7:35AM and after going through customs and the start of culture shock together, struggling with all of our heavy bags and random souvenirs in hand, we had to head our separate ways—Myra to terminal one, myself to terminal eight.

My flight was scheduled to leave JFK at 5:25PM…I had a ten-hour layover (or what I thought was going to be that short). I bought a double espresso (3.75 USD), a cranberry muffin (2.99 USD), and The Sunday New York Times (4.00 USD), and then just sat for a while in the terminal, talking with friends and family on the phone, reading The Times, and watching some CNN and an NFL game. I tried to take everything in, appreciating everything a little more than when I had I left; I walked around with a calabash lamp in hand and waited patiently for what was going to be an exciting departure. Well, I didn’t exactly depart on time from JFK; the cold weather conditions in O’Hare had caused problems for many departing flights to and from the city. At first, the flight was delayed 15 minutes—not a problem…then the flight was delayed until 6:35, then 6:50PM, the 7:15PM. At this point, I was extremely exhausted after a very long day of traveling…they traveling day that I thought was going to be about 24-hours…was becoming longer and longer.

My connecting flight in O’Hare for Cleveland was to leave at 8:30PM…there was no way that I would be making that flight, so I frantically called the American Airlines customer service line, my mother, father, and sister, and spoke with a representative at JFK. I explained my situation and I was told that I would most likely have to spend the night in Chicago, not exactly what I wanted to do after leaving Dakar at 3:05AM the day before. All I wanted to do was get home and see my family and friends…I now know how so many people feel around the holidays and traveling with delays and cancellations. Not enjoyable!

 

I was on the plane by 7:20PM…we finally took off from JFK at about 8:30PM because of so many planes on the runway. There was even a point where the engine was turned off, we were told we could use our cell phones, and drinks were served—they knew we would be waiting sometime. I slept and tried to relax after only 2-3 hours of sleep during my entire travel day.

During the landing we were all notified of our connecting flights and whether they had already departed or not. I was in luck, my flight to Cleveland had also been delayed because of weather. I had a slight chance that I would be returning home that evening…just a little bit later than expected. I got off the plane and immediately asked where the gate was and if my flight for Cleveland had left already…I was informed I had just missed my flight by 5-10 minutes.

I waited patiently in line to be helped, so that I could have a ticket booked for the following day. American Airlines was going to put up all the people that missed their connecting flights (about 15-20 people) in hotels for the night. I spent the night in a hotel and was going to fly out the next day at 6:50AM for Cleveland!

We sat on the runway for 30 minutes to warm up the oil because it was too cold to take off. I was still freezing in my light sweater and button down—no winter coat! The flight was about 50 minutes and when I arrived in Cleveland I was so excited. I waited paitently to get off the plane then head straight for baggage claim to see my mom and sister! They were holding signs that said WELCOME HOME ALEX!

Happy to be home…but definitely missing the warmth of all my friends and family from this past semester and of course the weather! Signing off for some time! ALEX 

 

JAMM AK JAMM SENEGAL!

You know that your time is almost up when you only have to take ONE more malaria pill before you leave!

So, you’re sitting on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean right now. In the distance a 5-star Radisson Hotel and shopping mall are being constructed, there are about ten soccer players running up-and-down the sandy beaches of Mermoz, and I am sure that there is a group of talibe somewhere.

It’s hard to look back at the past 3.5 months and reflect about all the things I loved, hated, enjoyed, and wanted to do again. It’s hard to look back and remember where I was, who I was with, or what exactly I was doing everyday. It’s hard to look back an imagine day one—hot, sticky, a mentality of “Why did I want to study abroad in Senegal”! It’s hard to look back and thank everyone who made this more than a life-changing experience, but a truly learning and growth experience—the friends, the professors, the coordinators, the guards, the family. It’s going to be hard in a couple of days to think “Wow, I was just in Senegal, now I am in the states…where did all this time go?!”

I want to take so many things away from this study abroad trip—the memories, the people, the food, the occasional drunken gas station night, the tangible, the everything! I want to look back 5, 10, 15, 50 years from now, not only thanking my mother, my father, my grandparents, my sister, my college, my friends, and my everyone else who mad this trip possible, but I want to look back remembering a country that will always be home to me, a language that will always be exciting and challenging, a group of people that will always be suma waa kër, and an experience un-like any other one I have ever had.

 

I wanted to figure out a way to summarize my experience in Senegal without writing for hours, so I have decided to make one final list—a list of memories and the numerous things that: (1) I will never forget, (2) I will always miss, and (3) I will need to come back for!

 

·      Fresh fruit stands everywhere—you know you’re not in Dakar anymore when you have to get in your car and drive to buy a banana

·      Walks and runs on the Corniche with Chelsea and Thomas

·      Papa Samba and his overly enthusiastic greetings about five times a day

·      Random drunken nights at the MyShop gas station

·      Burning trash piles

·      Open sewage water everywhere

·      Wearing flip-flops in December

·      Having Junior and Samba play on my computer

·      The constant “qu’est-ce qu’est ca?” and “donne-moi”

·      Local juices like bissap and ginger juice

·      Amelia’s rooftop

·      Everyone in my family

·      Yoff, Hydrobase, Mermoz, and all the other beaches Anna and I frequented

·      Candied covered peanuts that cost 25 CFA that you can find on practically every corner in Dakar

·      Chaikry-to-go at gas stations and corner boutiques

·      The random outburst into song…of the Lion King’s A Circle of Life

·      Swinging, picking-up, and spinning Samba, Junior, and Mange when I walk in the door, after coming home from school

·      Carving watermelons

·      Walking around people that are praying

·      Marie Gaye and Mustapha and Thiane in St. Louis

·      The amazing ice cream at La Gondalebm

·      The architecture of the Grand Mosque in Touba

·      Aux Delices in St. Louis and all the delicious pastries

·      Electing Barack Obama the next President of the United States of America and my incredible election story that goes with it

·      Having little Senegalese children come up to you and shake your hands and say hello on a regular basis, just because you are white and look different

·      Talibes and other children that beg

·      Jamming to 7 Things with Alejandra

·      fixed prices on things like fruit, nuts, and cookies….bananas are always 100 cfa, apples 250 cfa, grapefruits 300 cfa, etc…

·      Professor Ba and his insults towards Anna

·      Professor Ba and his obsession with calling me Obama

·      Thomas and his constant use of the wireless at the Baobab Center

·      C’est a cause de toi que there are thorns on my trousers

·      Marche Kermel and all the vendors that think I am some sort of Asian buyer/local that can speak Wolof fluently

·      Chomping on sugarcane and riding in the back of a pick-up truck at CSS

·      Rooftop shenanigans with Senegalese students in Ross Bethio

·      Cold showers

·      Alejandra’a family

·      Walking on sandy roads

·      Getting clothes tailor-made

·      Baobab trees…why haven’t these been installed in the states somewhere?!

·      Americans/toubabs in headscarves

·      Brocage and everything else butter is good with

·      Nyum…Nyum…Nyum…

·      Erin and the fact that she breaks everything

·      Dead ram parts floating in sewers after Tabaski

·      Power outages, not just every so often, but 2-3 times a day

·      The random things that you see people walking down the street with…fake Christmas trees, balloons, plastic toys

·      Carrapides

·      Gazelle, Flag, Royal Dutch, cheap gin/vodka/rum….

·      Walking down the street and not getting looked at funny for saying hello to everyone you see

·      Shaking everyone’s hand when you walk into a room

·      Tuna sandwiches at the corner stand

·      Seeing everyone dressed up in a boubou on Fridays

·      Women in wax print boubous

·      Taking “where the flip am I photos” with Thomas

·      My little wonton soup with Myra, Alejandra, and Val

·      Bus breakdowns…happening more than once a day

·      Making attaya

·      Baobab 4 and all the other places frequented by our group at night

·      Attempting to watch the first presidential debate with Nadia

·      “A Little Christmas Magic”…a cultural experience

·      Skipping DIT for drinks at the French Institute

·      The European Film Festival and “Entres les Murs”

·      deedeet, waawaaw, am, deggna tutti, asalaa maalekum, baax na, ana _____-bi, …and all the other Wolof phrases that I know

·      Asking Marieme what the easiest way to get to point B from point A is, via carrapide or bus because taxis are too expensive

·      Having to scale a 7-8 foot wall to get into my house after I go out because I don’t have a key anymore (I got it stuck in the door and broke it…); the funny thing is I really enjoy scaling the wall

·      Waking up to prayer calls at the local mosque or trying to fall asleep to Baye Fall chants after midnight

·      Eating around the bowl with my right hand

·      ching-ching…or any other form of “classification” because I am of Asian descent

·      Being okay with wearing the same pair of jeans for 2 months, the same shirt five times before it needs to be washed, and washing underwear by hand

·      “Talking with Tricia”

·      The cost of living, the weather, the everything that is going to take a lot of adjusting to when I get back home

·      The simple luxuries that Senegal has taught me to appreciate: hot water, toilet paper, silverware…

·      The sound of the women pounding the filling for cebujen

·      Waxal-ing (bargaining) for everything on the streets

·      Broken shoes/sandals…or whatever else Chelsea claims to wear on her feet

·      Random walks to Casino Mermoz, Quatre Vents, and of course the Post Office

·      Buying stamps to send love home

·      Airplanes flying over Mermoz in the middle of the night because the only time that flights fly out of Dakar is between 12-4AM, so they can arrive in the states and Europe at reasonable hours

·      Professor Diallo…enough said.

·      Pirogue rides down rivers, through bird sanctuaries, and through mangroves

·      A beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean only five minutes from my house

·      The bright colors and colonial architecture of St. Louis and Goree

·      Anna taking photos of herself on my camera

·      Excessive amounts of trash on the streets, in the median of the VDN, in the ocean, in the sewage, everywhere

·      The education system and the way it works here… or doesn’t work here

·      Cleaning intestines with Mami

·      The walk to CESTI

·      The constant need to buy phone credit

·      The 30 minute bus ride that give me a huge headache going downtown

·      La galette

·      Egg sandwiches for lunch

·      Breaking fast with the family…attempting to fast for a day

·      The “academic” work that I did this semester…videos, papers, presentations…

·      The “wildlife”—birds, sheep, the occasional rare goat, lizards…its very exotic here

·      Walking to class with Val every so often

·      Watching out for your bag in markets

·      Marche HLM

·      Thanksgiving in Dakar

·      The walk from Mermoz to Baobab

·      Chocopain…the real nutella-like substitute!

·      Just walking around

·      The Spanish soap operas dubbed in French, the Wolof TV channels, the Wolof soap operas, TV5Monde: Afrique

·      The fact that Senegal has taught me that I can live a certain lifestyle, and that I really don’t need all the things that I think I do.

·      Brioche Doree…and any other pastry shop that made my day over the course of my sejour here

·      Zator and his Wolof class

·      Tricia’s mom…JOAN!

·      Alejandra, Anna, Anne-Marie, Amelia, Chelsea, Daniel, Erin, Kalen, Myra, Nadia, Sarah, Stephen, Thomas, Val…THE AMAZING GROUP!

·      Erin and her constant rushes to the restroom/bathroom

·      Watermelon babies and boobies (Anna, Sarah, and Myra)

·      All the beautiful sunsets

·      Cold December mornings (65-70 degrees) that are not cold at all

·      All the construction that is around…from office buildings to apartments to houses

·      ACI Baobab Center

·      cebujen, laax, yassa poulet, yassa poisson, maffe, and all the other delicious dishes Senegal has to offer

And all the other things that I can’t remember right now, but will never forget. This is truly just a sample of so many things that I do not want to leave behind, whether likes or dislikes…this experience was incredible and truly life changing! I’M STATE BOUND…leaving Dakar in less than 

A Little Christmas Magic

Oh, Licorice sticks!

Merry Christmas Holly!

Uhh…Merry Christmas Noel…

So, what happens when Santa’s elves fall asleep after the end of the year Christmas party and do not wake up until September? There are no toys made and there might be a spy in the workshop. How will the elves manage to save Christmas in just three months?

For the past few weeks I have been preparing for my theatrical debut in Dakar, Senegal. I have been cast as Carl in A Little Christmas Magic, and star in a thirty minute children’s play with Holly (Claire), Noel (Yvette), Ivy (Chelsea), Snowflake (Ada), Garland (Andy), Joy (Sylvie), and Fruitcake (Daniel).

There’s nothing like bring Christmas to a country that is 95% Muslim…but again, the play was performed at Club Atlantique (an upscale ex-pat club), where everyone practically celebrates Christmas. We did two shows, and definitely brought the feeling of Christmas to Dakar for a couple of days. We ate sugar cookies and listened to Christmas music. We took pictures with Santa and listened to lists of what little kids wanted Santa’s elves to make. We had a faux Christmas tree with mismatched lights, a handful of ornaments, and over-the-top garland. We had almost everything…I mean except for the fact that it was 80 degrees, we were overlooking the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, there were more palm trees with lights (than evergreens), and there was not a hint of snow (even fake snow) in sight.

Well, won’t I be in for a shock when I return to “sunny” Chagrin Falls, Ohio in less than 5 days! Wish me luck!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Dakar!

ALEX

 

Ana sa xar? TABASKI

After putting on my bright orange boubou (that looks like a well tailored inmate jumpsuit); saying baal ma aq to everyone in my family, my quartier, and pretty much anyone I came in contact with; buying 8 kilos of bread; and waiting for the men to come back from praying at the mosque, we finally sacrificed two huge rams to start the celebration of Tabaski.

***DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF THE SACRIFICE MIGHT MAKE YOU FEEL UNEASY. 

It was about 10AM when the men returned from praying at the mosque, and as soon as they entered the house, they changed out of their boubous, put on shorts and t-shirts, and went to the back porch area to get the rams. At first they wanted me to slit the throat of one of the rams, but I politely refused, saying that they were not my rams to sacrifice. Each ram represents a male head of household, and it is a Senegalese tradition for each male head of household to buy a ram for his wife. We had one ram that was purchased buy Cher for Diouf and one that was from Papa Gaide Seck for Aïssatou (my host father did not purchase one for my host mother because she is in Mecca).

They tie the four legs together, and then they take a sharp knife and slit the ram’s throat. Easy as pie, right? They face the ram in the direction of Mecca, and the respective male head of household slits the throat. After the throat has been slit, the blood is flushed down a drain or put into a hole (in my house it was flushed into a drain) and then the ram is picked up and placed on the floor to be skinned. The worse part, after the throats were slit, was watching the rams twitch and move…this happened for about 5-10 minutes after they were “killed”. After standing and watching for a couple of minutes, I was told to change out of my boubou (I was still wearing it with hope that I would not have to assist). They wanted me to help in the skinning process, so I grabbed the left hind leg and watched them pull the skin off the still warm ram. It was uncomfortable to watch, but I definitely gained and learned something in the process.

In my house after we killed and skinned both the rams, we immediately began to cook the foie. It was really interesting to see where my meat was coming from, and to know that the night before they had eaten watermelon and bread. In the states, it seems that we do not really appreciate all the work that it takes to get our food to our plates. We are so caught up in getting things done quickly, that the middleman and everything before us is essentially obsolete. 

***OKAY FOR THE UNEASY TO READ NOW.

So, after the rams had been fully opened, I had the job of cleaning out the intestines with my host sister Mami. It was “enjoyable” to squeeze the intestines clean, so that they could be later filled to make sausages. Talk about eliminating the middleman in sausage making! Anyways, after a while of squeezing, I ate ribs and foie; it was delicious! I then helped in delivering pieces of the xar to non-Muslim families in the Mermoz area (people say that non-Muslims usually have more xar on Muslim holidays than do the actually Muslim families). By the time I had returned, the xars were in pretty manageable pieces and it was time to eat again! We ate and ate and ate!

After eating, I helped the family clean up the house by scrubbing the floors and sweeping up any “parts” that were left. All the left over pieces are thrown into the streets…this includes the horns, skins, and all other unused body parts. In about 4-5 days, Dakar is going to smell wonderful!

My Tabaski activities did not end there…it was about 4PM and I decided to visit all of my friends and their respective host families in the Mermoz area. It was wonderful to see a handful of the group dressed in their boubous and to see at what stage of the xar process each family was in. I met up with Val (pink Giraffe boubou), Anne-Marie (blue/green wax print boubou), Anna (blue pant and top boubou), Amelia (Myra’s pink Korite boubou), Myra (blue wax print boubou), and Sarah (blue boubou)—everyone else was too far or in another town (Kalen-Rufisque; Erin-St. Louis; Alejandra-Kaolack; Stephen, Chelsea, & Thomas-Baobab, Nadia-Sacre Cœur; and Daniel was just MIA). We are all having a “WEAR YOUR TABASKI BOUBOU DAY” this Friday, so we will all be able to see each other in our finest. 

Well, now that Tabaski is over, the next “events” that I have to look forward to are the Christmas play I will be starring in on Saturday and Sunday, all the final projects/papers/presentations I have to still do, and the fact I am leaving Senegal in less than 10 days!

See you all SOON! Inchallah! ALEX

 

 

P.S. Ask me if you really would like to see my Tabaski photos of the sacrifice…I have about 50 or so!

P.S.S. Ana sa xar?­ - How’s your ram? (Literally: Where is your ram?)

 

A Dakar Thanksgiving!

CONFITURE A ORANGE: 990 CFA

FRUITS ET LEGUMES: 200 CFA

PIGNONS DE PINS 50: 2890 CFA

PATE FEUILLETEE: 1990 CFA

COULOMMIERS 350 gr: 4750 CFA

CREME FRAICHE PAST: 950 CFA

CHOUX DE BRUXELLES: 1890 CFA

BUERRE: 500 CFA

I wanted to make homemade cranberry sauce, but instead I will have to eat canned. I wanted to have a real sweet potato pie, but instead I will have to settle for a pie that uses two white sweet potatoes, not two orange ones. I wanted to make brussel sprouts the same way that I do in the states, with heavy whipping cream, fresh marjoram, and chicken broth, but instead I will have to use crème fraiche, dried thyme, and chicken bouillon cubes.

If Senegal has taught me anything, it has been to be more flexible and understanding. In Senegal, things never go the way that you want them to, and there is always a curve ball thrown your way. I cannot be thankful enough for all the amenities I have in the states.

I emailed my mom requesting three recipes (sweet potato pie, cranberry sauce, and brussel sprouts). It has become a tradition to eat these three things on Thanksgiving Day, of course with mounds of other things. My mom happily sent the recipes my way, reminding me to be flexible and wishing me the best of luck with tweaking the recipes (as she knew that some ingredients would be hard to come by, or non-existent).

Erin, Chelsea, Sarah, and I carrapides-ed it to the Sahm’s Casino in Medina, where we all hoped to find the necessary ingredients to finalize our dishes. Erin needed the ingredients to make a green bean casserole, Chelsea and Sarah were in search of pecans, corn syrup, and cornstarch for their apple, lemon meringue, and pecan pies, and I was in search for all the ingredients I would need to make cranberry sauce and brussel sprouts (Nadia was going to do her own shopping for the ingredients to make the sweet potato pie). No marjoram. No fresh brussel sprouts. No cornstarch. No corn syrup. No chicken broth. No cranberries. No whipping cream. No fresh green beans. No chicken broth. Luckily, however, we did find $5 bags of pecans and pine nuts and lots of other expensive things that no Senegalese person would ever think about using in their cooking. I ended up spending 14,160 CFA on ingredients at Casino…it is actually kind of cool that I can say that I spent fourteen-some-thousand on ingredients for two dishes. I bought the “ingredients” to make brussel sprouts and stuffed brie with orange marmalade.

I woke up at 7AM to head to the local patisserie, so I could pick up some fresh pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat for Tricia, Joan (Tricia’s mom), and the rest of her family; I was going over to her house to help cook Thanksgiving dinner! Tricia and her mom were responsible for the turkeys, stuffing, vegetables, salad, cornbread, pies, and so much more, so I jumped on the opportunity to get my Thanksgiving Day cooking fix. I was picked up by Tricia’s kids nanny and arrived chez Tricia at about 8:30AM to start cooking.

I was greeted by four wild turkeys that had been soaking in brine over night, and was told that I was going to be buttering and seasoning them, then chopping up some vegetables for them to cook in. After we had finished the turkey prep, Trisha and I went and ran errands to a restaurant called L’Endroit to drop off the turkeys because nobody in Senegal has the oven space to cook four 15lb turkeys, Club Atlantique (there is a duty free shop—we bought a lot of nice bottles of wine), Mermoz Boisson to buy ice, one of the fifty-billion fruit stands to buy fruit for our fruit basket centerpieces, and many trips to and from the Baobab Centers (where Thanksgiving dinner would be held at 5PM). When we returned to Tricia’s house, I finalized my prep for my baked brie and cooked the brussel sprout dish; we left her house to head to Baobab III to prepare for dinner around 4PM.

There were five tables covered in white tablecloths and on each a fruit basket centerpiece. The room was set for as many as 50-60 people and we were all hoping that our potluck style Thanksgiving would provide us with enough food. We had plenty! 4 turkeys. 25lbs of mashed potatoes. whipped sweet potatoes. green bean casserole. brussel sprouts. mixed vegetables in garlic sauce. baked brie. fresh bread. stuffing. salad. macaroni and cheese. lots of wine. Senegalese fruit juices. potatoes au gratin. lemon meringue pie. pecan pie. sweet potato pie. pumpkin pie. apple pie. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD THANKSGIVING!!!

We all ate until we were about to explode. I had three plates of food and then five “slivers” of pie...I felt like I was going to die! We all doubted our abilities and thought that the event was just going to be okay…we were all complete wrong! It was such a wonderful evening to spend with my friends, teachers, and other Senegalese students, and though it was not the same as making Thanksgiving dinner with my mom or heading to Michele’s house, it was an unforgettable evening. After dinner, we watched Love Actually and finished off all the wine and beer. We all were so tired and full that we just sat in the Baobab Center till almost midnight (before many of us realized that we should head back to our respective homes or at least not spend the rest of our night in the building that houses our classrooms)!

I ended my night with a call home…I was able to talk for 26 minutes and 56 seconds before my 3,961 CFA worth of credit cut me off mid-conversation with my sister. All in all, it was the perfect way to end another amazing Thanksgiving Day!

Questioning whether I want two feet of snow in my backyard or the beach and 80 degree weather. ALEX

Such a good day… I don’t want to leave in 37 days! (11/12/2008)

Was it because we spent our Wolof class at Marche HLM looking for fabric for our Tabaski outfits or because we ate “The Best Pizza in Dakar (according to Zator)” at La Galette or because we went to L’Insititue Français and had drinks or because we skipped our Dakar en Transition class to take our work “into the field” by exploring downtown Dakar for the entire day or because we saw “Entre les murs” in La Place de l’independence or because some of us are now elves in a Christmas play for American children in the Dakar-area that our day was amazing?

So, today Sarah, Chelsea, Daniel, Thomas, Stephen, and I…along with some others who didn’t quite make through the entire day with us…did all of the above from 9AM to 7PM. We started our days by heading to Marche HLM for a special four hour Wolof class; everyone on the Kalamazoo-Beloit Program went to the market to learn more about “waxalee-ing” (bargaining in Wolof). We took four cabs to the market, which is about a 5-7 minute drive from the Baobab Centers, and when we arrived divided into our respective Wolof classes (Kalamazoo 1: Chelsea, Daniel, Thomas, Stephen, and I…Kalen was “absent”; Kalamazoo 2: Sarah, Anna, Nadia, and Alejandra…Amelia was also “absent”; Beloit: Erin, Anne-Marie, Myra, and Val) to discover the market…many of discovering the market for the third or fourth time. I did not purchase anything because the Friday before I purchased 3 meters of white (2000 CFA) and 5 meters of burnt orange (7000 CFA); the white is going to be turned into a top for everyday wear and the burnt orange is for my Tabaski outfit (tentatively December 8).

After our Marche HLM excursion we (Sarah, Chelsea, Erin, Daniel, Thomas, Stephen, and I…Kalen was going to meet us there) headed to get pizza at La Galette. Zator waxalee-ed for our cabs (in his Ray Ban sunglasses and fisherman’s hat, while holding a plaid umbrella to shield himself from the sun). It was quite a sight watching him go through about 10 cabs…just so we could get a price of 1000 CFA…instead of 1500 CFA (approximately a 1 USD difference split between four people…) OH ZATOR!!!!

We got to La Galette, some of us more quickly…my cab was driven to La Gazelle, which fortunately is just a couple of blocks from La Galette, at around 2:30PM. When we walked into La Galette it seemed like we had been picked up from Dakar, Senegal and put back down in New York City. The shiny granite countertops, fresh salads in plastic containers, the businessmen and businesswomen dressed in Western business attire, and the hand dryers in the restrooms were not expected. I got a three-cheese pizza (goat, Roquefort, and gruyere), which was incredible. I also had a bissap juice (juice made from hibiscus flowers…which are in season now, or the middle of November). Other people got vermicelli salads, reine pizzas, and vegetarian pizzas…all of it was delicious, and also not too expensive! After lunch, we went next door to the patisserie portion of La Galette…there I got a chocolate brownie with ganache in a dark chocolate shell (1100 CFA); it was to die for! I am so happy that Zator told us about this place…it’s too bad that he couldn’t have joined us.

We left La Galette with the intention of walking around downtown Dakar for a bit before our Dakar en Transition class at 5PM at CESTI (UCAD’s journalism school), but instead got slightly sidetracked and went to L’Institute Français and had a drink. We went to L’Institute to get ride of a vendor that had befriended me; he was attempting to take me to his shop where there was no tax and all the prices were better. We ended up staying at L’Institute longer than anticipated and after a while we discovered the “Festival du cinema europeen: 11 au 22 novembre 2008- Dakar” that was going on. We looked at the program and decided that Dakar en Transition was not happening and that we were going to go see Entre les murs instead, which just so happened to start at 4:30PM. We were talking our class into the field…all six of us! The film festival is run by the European Union; there are movies from all over Europe that are being shown. The event is complete French…and there was no sign of anything Senegal-like as we entered an inflatable dome with at least ten air-conditioning units, where we would be watching the movie.

“Entre les murs” Laurent Cantet (2008) was the winner of the Cannes 2008 Film Festival’s Plame d’or (the highest honor at the festival in Southern France). The film is about a teacher, Francois, who teaches in the 20^th arrondissement at high school for difficult students. He is a French teacher that does not hesitate to push the students to their limits, often times putting his job in jeopardy. If you haven’t seen it…go and rent it!

So, the entire time during the movie we had to come up with a story as to why six people just so happened to not be in class. We got our professor’s cell phone number and texted him. Our text messages were mostly of this sort: “Prof. C’est _____. Je suis desole que je ne suis pas en classe…j’ai mange qqch mal pour le dejeuner et les autres aussi. Je vais parler aux autres pour les notes.” We all received text message back… Prof. Diallo simply said, “OK”. According to the 7 American students that were in class (there are 15 of us) and the 11 West African students (there are 15 of them) the class was not the best it could have been. Our professor wanted us to pick our groups and topics for our final projects, but since half the class was missing that was not possible to do. I guess we will have to “faire le brainstorm” at our next class on Monday (11/17/2008). Sorry Prof. Diallo!

So, Chelsea, Daniel, and I ended our day by heading to Club Atlantique in Mermoz (the same place that the election party was held) and began our first day of elf practice. We are in a play called “A Little Elfin Magic” that will be performed for the children of Americans in Senegal. It should be a lot of fun; it is a 30-35 minute play about these elves that sleep in until September and do not have enough time to make all the toys they need for Christmas. There is an evil aunt elf, a spy elf, and six other elves that try to save Christmas. It comes down to them using elf magic to make all the presents that are needed. Trisha is our director and there are other Americans playing the other roles. We are supposed to have shows on the 13^th and 14^th of December…we have about three and a half weeks to memorize lines, build a set, etc. This is going to keep me quite occupied until I leave.

Well, today was an amazing day! I can’t wait till my next excursion downtown! Love and peace from Senegal!

ALEX

My first ORAL EXAM in Senegal…

So, that entry that I wrote a few weeks ago, the one complaining about the Senegalese education system and how there was no structure, how the professors seemed to not care, that one…well, I am going to take some of it back, or at least in regards to my History of Islam class! Dr. Ba does care and he has a very clear syllabus with 9 readings and lots of work! The entertaining thing is that we received the texts/readings and an overall summary/syllabus of the course four days ago…I mean what type of professors give out syllabi on the first day of classes!?

I had my first oral exam today (11/10/08), and all I can say is that it did not go exactly how I wanted it to go. But, how often do exams go the way you expect?! It was my first oral exam in a non-language class (though the exam was in French) and it consisted of my professor giving me a general subject; then giving me 10 minutes to prepare an oral response, which I would present to him; and finally ending with me answering a series of short answer questions on the same topic. My topic was “La conjoncture Islamique: 9^e-12^e siècles”…I was not happy when I heard this, nor were Anna or Amelia, who both had the same topic. The problem with our topic, not to complain…but I am going to, was that the class technically starts with the 10^th century and the amount of time that we have actually spent on this period of time (9^th-12^th centuries) is contained on approximately a page of notes, if that, compared with pages and hours of discussion on topics that I will mention below. I didn’t have much to work with!

I had studied for hours: FRIDAY NIGHT, ALL DAY SATURDAY, and ALL DAY SUNDAY. I gave up a night out to Baobab IV (our Toubab bar), a trip to L’Ile de Madeleine (National Park in Dakar area), and who knows what else by studying things like: the three sects of Islam, the Islamic schools of thought, the differences between foreign and local marabous, the divisions that were created between politically engaged Islamic leaders and those that married into royal families to spread Islam, the Atlantic slave trade and its effects on the Islamic movement, Jihads, Nasr ed Din, etc… However, among all this complaining, I can say that I have a better understanding of Islam from the 10^th-19^th century, I just wish that my topic would have had more information that I could have talked about!

So, after I presented on “La conjoncture Islamique”, I was asked questions about Bilad es Sudan and the Berbers, Arabs, and Mauritanians…I answered as well as I could and noticed that I received a plus sign…the people before me (topic: prosélytisme et commerce) received stars and scores like 15 out of 20 (French grading system). I am hoping that my plus sign turns into a score of 9 or 10 out of 20… I can only hope! Anyways, it was an experience with Dr. Ba interrogating me on a subject that I really didn’t know too well or have much information on. The overall consensus was that our “group” (Anna, Amelia, and I) had the hardest topic and people genuinely felt bad for us. I will hopefully be a little luckier with our second oral exam and I will for sure work my butt off on our final paper (which I have decided to write on the differences between the French and Koranic school systems and their effects on Senegalese society). 

On a final and other note, today we started classes at UCAD (University of Dakar)! It was a good way to end the day. In our “Dakar en Transition” class there are 15 African students from all over western African, most of whom are journalism majors, and all of the Kalamazoo/Beloit students. The class is at the journalism school at the university and meets MWF 5-7pm…not excited about the evening class time, but the class is going to be really good! It is a continuation of a class that we were taking prior to leaving for St. Louis, except now we are at UCAD and there are African students in our class. I think that after having a class with Senegalese students in St. Louis we all have a better understanding and sense of how to go about interacting in this class at UCAD.

All in all today was definitely a roller coaster of emotions and events! All I can think about now is that all I need to do is pass…grades do not transfer…everything is pass-fail…

ALEX

Side notes: before class we ate chocolate cake at Anne-Marie’s house for her birthday, on our way to class we took a car rapides, on our way home we got ice cream!

This is MY election story!

NOVEMBER 3, 2008
8:15 AM: wake-up...I am going to get my absentee ballot at the "Service des colis postaux" in downtown dakar...a package has been waiting for me since OCTOBER 6, 2008!!!! too bad I was four hours away in St. Louis and could not get it until today! I feel like absolute crap...I ache and I have a pounding headache..but I am determined to vote!!! MY VOTE MATTERS!!
8:35 AM: leave for Baobab I to tell Zator that I will be missing class to go to the post office and then the US Embassy to drop off my absentee ballot
9:00 AM: Erin and I take a taxi (1,500CFA) into downtown Dakar...I need to pick up my ballot and drop it off and Erin just needs to drop hers off
9:18 AM: arrive at the service des colis postaux...and what an experience it is
9:20-10:00 AM: I am shuffled from window to window, office to office, door to door, I have to talk to the Head Director who thinks I am a Chinese national and questions why I would have an absentee for a US Election, I then have to go through customs to have my package opened to see if it safe....they even open my absentee!!! I finally get sent back to the post office portion and have to pay 2,800CFA to have my package...then wait 15 minutes just to get change and my package that has been re-packaged with tape...WHAT!?! WTF!!! To put the icing on the cake the entire building is under construction and Erin is almost hit with a piece of falling cement!
10:05-10:37 AM: Erin and I begin walking towards the US Embassy...it is a 3km walk from the post office; we decide that it is not worth taking a cab.
10:40 AM: we are on US SOIL!!! we show them our passports, we enter (after walking through metal detectors, having them ask me to smell my hand sanitizer, and having them take away our phones and cameras, etc...)
10:45-11:50 AM: waiting...waiting...waiting... though we are US citizens and sent into a special room so that we can be assisted faster, there are still about 6 people ahead of Erin and I...all we want to do is have our ballots postmarked and sent to the states!!!! I am feeling more and more sick...my fever is sky-rocketing and my stomach is uneasy...I am have hot spells and cold spells....
11:55 AM: Erin helps fill-out a write-in ballot for a Senegalese born American citizen...a vote for OBAMA in Kentucky!
12:00 PM: we get a cab back to Baobab III just in time for the second half of the History of Islam
12:05 PM: I leave class too sick to see, listen, or comprehend anything the professor is saying...all my friends say I NEED to go to the doctor ASAP...I am WAY TOO HOT!!!
12:25 PM: I make it home...I pass out in my jeans and t-shirt...under a fleece blanket in 90 degree heat!
12:30-6:00 PM: sleep....sleep...sweating to death...shivering to death....dying....also at some point I decide to call my mother and scare her half to death...
6:00-8:45 PM: Val and Myra take me to BIO 24 to get a malaria test, I buy bananas (first thing I have eaten since breakfast), BIO 24 tells me I do not have malaria (Amelia is already sick, Chelsea and Erin are becoming sick), I take lots of medicine, I go to sleep...I THINK I HAVE THE FLU...YUCK!!! this is the most pain I have every been in! please let me wake up better tomorrow to watch the returns...though I have determined that if I am still sick I will still go and die, while watching...
NOVEMBER 4, 2008
8:02 AM: my host mother peers through my window and asks how I am feeling, she says that I should shower, eat breakfast, then take my medicine…oh suma yaay!
8:15 AM: wake-up (meaning actually get out of bed) for Wolof class..today is ELECTION DAY and I am in Dakar, Senegal
8:30 AM: ate breakfast (bread, café Toubab)
8:45 AM: get ready to head to the Baobab Center for Wolof Class with Zator
9:00 AM: Wolof class is supposed to begin…it does not exactly begin on time
9:07 AM: Wolof class begins (during class we learn how to describe people with adjectives like: tall/short, fat/skinny, pretty/ugly, black/white; and write a dialog that uses these phrases…Stephen and I write a dialogue between a “Stephanie” and Alex who are taking about a married man that only has one wife that “Stephanie” should marry)
11:00 AM: Wolof class ends and Thomas and I decide to buy Senegalese newspapers for posterity…we find headlines like “Presidentielle Americaine: Jour de Verite por Obama et McCain” (le Soleil), “Obama, le jour le plus long” (le Quotidien), and “Coup dur pour le favori a la presidentielle a la veille de l’election: Barack Obama perd sa grand-mere” (L’AS).
11:30 AM: we have a heck-in session with Trisha to discuss the election party at Club Atlantique and our plans for the evening after classes, to hand out the schedule for the remaining time I am in Senegal, to pass out our 40,000CFA stipends, and to as we all like to call it have our “Talking with Trish” session
12:25 PM: session ends, we are all magically 40,000CFA richer and I hurry home, so I can head to Quatre Vents (bookstore) to buy more headlines/newspapers
12:50 PM: I arrive at Quatre Vents Mermoz and buy the “Liberation” a French based newspaper with the headline/cover story being “Peut-il encore perdre? A 24 heures du scrutiny, Barack Obama conserve une nette avance dans les sondages. MAis le dernier jour de campagnie comme le vote peuvent reserver des suprises.” I wanted to find “Le Monde”….unfortunately it was not available because all the European papers were for 11/3/2008.
1:15 PM: arrive back home and start reading the papers I have just purchased, le Quotidien is the best Senegalese paper as far as content goes, but le Soleil has the best picture on the front of its paper (an artists portrayal of both Obama and McCain)
1:40 PM: eat lunch with the family (fish meatballs in a dark red sauce, white rice)…it is interesting now because my host siblings are at school from 8AM-1PM and 3PM-5PM, so I wake up and they are gone and we both come home around the same time to eat and then leave again for afternoon classes
2:05 AM: leave for the Baobab Center, I need to get water
2:20 PM: arrive at Baobab I, fill-up my water bottle then slowly proceed to head over to Baobab II for our Kalamazoo seminar course
3:09 PM: our seminar course starts late…our professor was at the wrong building and we were locked out of the correct building…typical Senegal and its communication! Class consists of a discussion comparing St. Louis and Dakar and a recap on the various assignments that are quickly piling up.
5:03 PM: seminar class is over, we all head to Casino Supermarche to buy ingredients for are “All-American” potluck/meal!
5:20-5:45 PM: shopping for ingredients, Alejandra and I leave the Casino Supermarche in SICAP Baobab for a large Casino called Sahm’s Casino in Medina…we need fresh basil and avocados for our dishes. When we walked in, it was like we were in a French grocery store…it reminded me exactly of the Casinos in France this summer (though the lower end ones).
5:50 PM: cooking is already underway at Baobab III, we are going to be eating macaroni and cheese, nachos, cookies, piccalilli, and bruschetta! Anna is grating cheese, Sarah is cooking pasta, Kalen is preparing the cheese sauce for the macaroni, Erin is chopping tomatoes for the nachos!
5:55 PM: I head home before making the bruschetta to inform my family of my whereabouts and that I will not be home until early morning and I will be eating with my friends at school…my host mom says I should sleep at the club because I should not walk home at dark in Dakar!
6:05-8:45 PM: preparing and eating food…and getting ready for what we all hope will be a historic night
8:45 PM: we all leave Baobab III for Club Atlantique, we attempt to woo our cab with Wolof and tell him that it is Anne-Marie’s birthday at midnight (it really is!), so that he will lower the cab fare from 1,500CFA to 1,000CFA…all cabs are negotiated and bargained in Dakar before you enter
8:55 PM: our cab driver has no idea where the heck Club Atlantique is located…he takes us to Club Olympique and we attempt to explain to him where we need to go. We finally call Trisha and she is able to better explain to him the location.
8:59 PM: Daniel calls me, their cab driver has no idea where Club Atlantique is located
9:10 PM: we arrive at Club Atlantique…somehow…someway. We have our bags checked and a few of us have to get checked by metal detectors…Club Atlantique is owned by the US Embassy
9:45 PM: we are all told we have a free drink (500CFA towards a non-alcoholic one) and we discover that they are serving “red state” and “blue state” drinks…”red states” are gin, vermouth. campari, and soda water… “blue states” are vodka, orange and pineapple juice, and blue curacao…they both are 1,500CFA a piece
10:02 PM: about one hour until the first polls close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky…
10:25 PM: CNN releases footage of Senator Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton voting, exit polls also say that 63% of voters who said iraq was top issue voted for Obama
10:27 PM: CNN releases exit poll that says 62% of voters say the economy is the number one issue in this election
11:04 PM: CNN makes first predictions…Kentucky (8) goes to McCain, Vermont (3) goes to Obama
11:45 PM: I get my first and only drink of the night…a blue state that is…as I anticipate what I want to be a quick call in Ohio as the polls close in about 15 minutes… I should keep on dreaming that Ohio would be called so early!
NOVEMBER 5, 2008
12:04 PM: Obama 77, McCain 34
1:00 AM: first signs of fatigue in our group as six people (Erin, Anne-Marie, Alejandra, Anna, Daniel, and Nadia) take a nap!
1:03 AM: Obama 174, McCain 49…we are all so excited at this point…we feel it happening!
1:35 AM: Virginia… state that hasn’t voted democratic since the sixties is still unpredictable! McCain 50% (1,109,309), Obama 49% (1,093,473)…North Carolina Obama is ahead be 85,069 votes…still no call! OHIO OBAMA 56% AND MCCAIN 43% (WITH ONLY 15% OF THE VOTES COUNTED)
2:34 AM: call home, OHIO HAS JUST GONE TO OBAMA!!! I feel like this is the earliest Ohio has been called in a long time! NO REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT HAS EVER WON THE WHITE HOUSE WITHOUT WINNING
OHIO!
2:36 AM: Trisha Lawrence calls me, missed call because I am on the phone with my mom
2:45 AM: Anderson Cooper attempts to do the math to see if it feasible possible for McCain to get 270 electoral votes…he cannot figure out a way…unless he gives him California, Washington state, or Oregon!!!
2:55 AM: CNN cuts in Dakar, Senegal…WHAT!!! this can’t be happening…wait it can we are in Senegal! it is restored and we resume watching…THANK GOD!!!
3:24 AM: Kalen finds an article in People Magazine “The Veep Next Door”…
3:25 AM: CNN: “TWO SENIOR MCCAIN AIDES SEE ‘NO PATH TO VICTORY’ GIVEN RESULTS SO FAR”, Obama 207, McCain 129
3:59 AM: we begin counting down like it is NEW YEAR’S EVE because we know that California, Washington state, and Oregon will put Obama over the magic 270 in less than a minute!!!
4:01 AM: CNN “officially” declares BARACK OBAMA THE PRESIDENT-ELECT!
4:02 AM: call Jackie
4:08 AM: Trisha Lawrence calls, she sounds as if she is practically in tears
4:21 AM: McCain gives his concession and congratulatory speech to Barack Obama and all his supports…I felt like it was from the heart…he had an extremely tough campaign to run..it was not the year for the GOP after George W. Bush, but also his V.P. pick didn’t help him.
4:43 AM: we are all waiting for Barack to speak to his supports..the popular vote shows that he has the largest margin since Johnson! Obama 51% (45,696,497), McCain 48% (42,596,936)
5:02 AM: he speaks!!! he walks out with his family…all in matching outfits (red…why!?) His speech is moving and brings at least 60% of the people at Club Atlantique to tears…yes, me included
5:20 AM: Biden joins him on stage!
5:21 AM: Obama and Biden families join on stage!
5:25 AM: the Club Atlantique people are looking at us like why aren’t you all leaving, this is over, it is almost 6AM! GO TO BED!!!
5:45-6:06 AM: Anna, Amelia, Alejandra, Daniel, and I (the Mermoz gangstas) walk to our respective homes from Club Atlanique, Amelia insists on going to the Elton gas station to buy a drink, then tries to mooch 1,000CFA off me for cigarettes…I say no
6:07 AM: arrive at my house, notice that the lights are on in my host mothers room, proceed to look in the window and see that she is in the middle of praying…I decide to wait until she is done to knock on the door
6:10 AM: bread man drops of bread at the corner boutique, I am standing outside my house like a lost puppy with a book bag and sweatshirt on
6:11 AM: I call my mom to ask her to please save the newspapers from today, so I can read them when I return to the states (I have already collected numerous newspapers covering the election from the Senegalese perspective)
6:18 AM: my host mother lets me in to the house and I let her know that Obama is the President-elect of the United States of America, she explains that she has listened to a little bit of it on the radio
10:04 AM: I wake up…four hours of sleep what!? I run downstairs and out the door to purchase newspapers…today’s headlines read “Obama President Historique!” (le Soleil), “Obama President?” (le Matin), “Presidentielle Americane: Ras-de maree en faveur d’Obama” (Walfadjri), “174 grands electeurs contre 64 pour son rival a 3h GMT: Obama provoque la Revolution americaine” (L’AS), “In Pocket!” (le Pop)!

AMERICA...HELP IS ON THE WAY!!! 1-20-2009!!! ALEX

The two things I DON’T like about Senegal

This experience has been life changing, so far, and has exposed me to so many new and different things. The culture is bright, lively, and full of unexpected twists and turns, the people are exciting and inquisitive, and the fact that everything is unlike anything I have encountered before, has made this an unforgettable study abroad. I am extremely fortunate to be abroad right now, and wouldn’t exchange it for anything. I can’t thank enough people for this opportunity.

However, as much as I love this place, one quote will always resonate with me in regards to going through the infamous STAGE TWO. A fellow American on the program says, every time I am frustrated, angry, or sad about being in Senegal, I just remember that I don’t have to stay here, nor do I really live here, and that I am American. Now, as much as that quote may make it seem like I want to get out of this place ASAP, I really do not. I am simply in stage two. Stage two, or cultural confrontation, is characterized by confusion and frustration with feelings that have shifted from very positive to extremely negative, a view that is monopolized by wanting to do things back home, and discouragement or doubt with whether adjustment is even possible. So, here are the two things that really frustrate me about Senegal…

1. THE WAY THE EDUCATION SYSTEM “FUNCTIONS”:

The Senegalese education system has made me realize how fortunate I am to have an education in the United States of America. The value of an education in the states is so valuable, and I would not exchange anything for my college education at Wooster. In Senegal, there are no plans or syllabi, everything is about being “flexible”, and classes are driven more by the students, not the teachers. Teachers expect students to have questions (which in the states is very much encouraged), but they expect you to have questions on topics that they have not given you any information or readings on.

Also, there is no sense of ownership in Senegal; there is plagiarism left and right here. I witnessed a Senegalese student completely cut and paste an entire presentation. Unfortunately, there is no explanation for why students, and even professors, do this. As American university students, it is hard to explain what copyrights are and what the concept of ownership is because everything in Senegal is about sharing and teranga…what’s his is mine and what’s yours is hers!

2. BEING CALLED “CHINOIS” OR “CHIN-CHIN” AND BEING MOCKED FOR BEING OF ASIAN DESCENT:

It’s not racism, but it is the classification of people based on looks and perceptions. In Senegal, they classify everyone and I know that it is part of their culture, or so they say it is, but it makes me feel uncomfortable. I don not like it.

There have been an infinite amount of times when I have been walking down the street and someone points to me and says one of the following: chinois, chin-chin, de chine ou de japon, or ching-chon-chi-king. I respond with I am American and they laugh at me, I respond with ca va and they say don’t pretend your French, I respond with oui and they continue to mock. There has never been a time in my life where I have been ashamed to be Chinese or of Asian descent. I am an Asian-American. I ate rice when I was little. I celebrate Chinese New Year. I know a few things about being Chinese. I eat dim-sum. I even speak a little bit of Chinese.

So, maybe I am just confused, am I American or am I Chinese? If I am Chinese then Daniel is Irish. If I am Chinese then Sarah is German. If I am Chinese then Myra is French and Mexican.

SIGNED, frustrated "american"

Parc National de Langue de Barbarie Excursion

“This park includes the far southern tip of the Langue de Barbarie peninsula, the estuary of the Senegal River (which contains two small islands) and a section of the mainland on the other side of the estuary. The park covers a total area of 2000 hectares, and is home to numerous water birds, swelled from November to April by migrant birds from Europe. If you choose to come to the park independently, you must first go to the park office at Mouit to pay your entrance fee. At the river you can hire a pirogue (traditional canoe). ” -Lonely Planet Book: Senegal

On 10/24/2008 (our last day of class before we would begin working our final projects), we had an excursion to the Langue de Barbarie. This has been one of the highlights, of not only my stay in St. Louis, but during my entire stay in Senegal. The park was absolutely gorgeous, there were no trash piles, the water was clean and “blue-ish”, the amount of green, lush vegetation was almost overwhelming, and there were lots of migrating birds. As a group we had a chance to ride in pirogues down the river and had an informative talk on the birds of the region, as well as the park. Our pirogue ride lasted about an hour and was followed by a picnic (catered by La Louisiane, featuring yassa poulet and Swiss cheese sandwiches, bananas, watermelon, and fruit juices) and swim on the beach. We had a really good opportunity to spend time with the Senegalese students, jumping and swimming in the water with our clothes on (because only about three people brought bathing suits).

**Random tidbits about the day: There were two Spaniards that we picked up and spent the entire day with, Myra had a mild a mild case of malaria, Val was at Myra’s side in the hospital the night before until 4AM, Anne-Marie became extremely ill half-way through the day and was driven back home with Yakham…

Ross Bethio Visit/Stay (10/16/2008-10/19/2008)

Our first attempt at some sort of a “rural visit” began with a visit to Ross Bethio. Ross Bethio is about an hour northeast of St. Louis (75km) and was rural in the sense of a midwestern farm town that most people just drive through on road trips…not exactly what we were all expecting. We were all expecting huts and no running water, but instead when we arrived in the 2 gas station, 12 boutique, 3 welder, 1 mosque town, we pulled into a “gated compound-like hotel” or “conference-like facility with bedrooms”, where we would be spending three nights and four days.

The straight out of the 1970s, bright pink, art-deco building was well furnished, had “running water”, eight bedrooms, a “restaurant”, and numerous other amenities (roof access and a wonderful view of the farm fields). However, don’t think that we were in any sort of five star resort; it was just a lot nicer than our expectations. Overall, the best part about the visit and stay was the opportunity to get to know the Senegalese students better. It was nice to get out of the formal classroom setting at FEPRODES, and have a three-day field experience (which helped put the content of our “La Vallee du Fleuve, lieu de Culture et de Developpement” Course in better perspective). Our three-day visit was highlighted by: (1) Kassack Nord, (2) Les périmètres de la SAED and Thilène, (3) A Charbon Vert Factory, (4) La Compagnie Sucrière Sénégalaise (CSS), (5) rooftop shenanigans Senegal-American style, and (6) les pneus crevés (flat tires).

1. Wait…there are theme songs for Toubabs in Senegal?

Kassack Nord is what could be considered HUD housing (Senegal version), in the sense that the village infrastructure has been completely funded by the government. Kassack Nord is a village just outside the Ross Bethio area and is home to numerous homes, a school that enrolls 327 students, a clinic, various other structures to accommodate the population of 3000, and (most importantly for our visit’s purposes) a very extensive irrigation system. The irrigation system was developed by the government and is used to bring water from the river valley into the rice fields. Unfortunately, the government created rice fields have generated a limited source of revenue for the community, and, furthermore, provided the village with just barely enough food. The village, as our professor has said, is all of the problems of Senegal in one place. Kassack Nord does not have electricity, a good running water system, and when we arrived we could see the hunger in many of the children’s eyes. The village has been forced to choose education over health, and this choice is very visible.

So, theme songs… When we got off the bus at Kassack Nord, we were greeted by what appeared to be the entire village (or at least the entire village under the age of 16) and two loud speakers playing Senegalese hip-hop/rap/something music (later we were told that the village played the music using the energy from a car battery, since they do not have electricity). It was quite a welcome, and as we descended the bus we were greeted with TOUBAB! TOUBAB! and lots of smiles and handshakes (even the Senegalese students were welcomed in this fashion, or at least more or less). We all got off and, like toubab, we took pictures and videos of the children and used our limited Wolof, later to find out that most of them only spoke Pulaar (another regional language in Senegal). We were off the bus for about 15-20 minutes before we got back on to head to the rice fields, where we would see the irrigation system and the harvesting of rice. As we got back on the bus…more music!

So, more theme songs… YES! When we returned from our trip to the rice fields, music, screaming children, and clapping elders again greeted us. We were given a tour of Kasack Nord (the schools, the medical/clinic facilities, the housing plan, etc.) and then had the opportunity to talk with the local government about their role in constructing the village, the village’s influence in Senegal, and how they have used the river valley to their advantage. We were also served beverages and cookies…definitely a highlight because it was about 3PM and we still hadn’t eaten lunch (breakfast was at 8AM) and the weather was about 85-90…in mid-October!

2. Back to the homeland…the rice fields

At Kassack Nord, I learned how rice is grown and harvested! I was “back in the homeland”, as many of the others enjoyed saying. Anyways, it was really interesting to see how the village was able to irrigate such a dry area of land into an extremely green and lush rice field. The government chose this region because of its impermeable soil that is perfect for rice culture. We were shown the various pump stations and secondary canal systems, as well as the machine that removes the rice from the stalk. On each rice stalk there is about a teaspoon of rice, so you can imagine how many acres of rice fields there were. Senegal has started to grow its own rice because it is becoming more and more costly to import from Asia. As our professor likes to say, “Senegal is without a doubt the largest consumer of rice, after China”…I can attest to that statement and say that I have eaten pounds of rice in my first two months (probably about 1-2 cups of rice per meal)!

Also, at les périmètres de la SAED I was able to work on the rice fields; I helped/tried to water the rice fields using a tube, and after about 20 attempts was successful. At SAED, they water the fields with 1-inch tubes, using physics and suction of air to pull the water from the canal over a small mound into the rice field. It is extremely interesting, and seems completely counterintuitive that water is going up a hill against gravity...but somehow it works. After I embarrassed myself, we watched a group of farmers take harvested rice stalks and put them in a machine that removed the rice grains.

3. Typha to Charbon Vert!?

Typha: a water plant that has been extremely devastating to the river valley region; it started to grow in the river valley after the building of the Diama dam and has caused problems with fish populations.
Charbon: charcoal (in French).
Vert: green (in French).

So, there is a company associated with SAED, in the Ross Bethio region, that uses typha and turns it into charcoal. This factory was very interesting because it illustrates how the Senegalese are using a devastating plant and turning it into something that every person in Senegal uses on a daily basis. I did not know that anything like this existed or could be done, so I found this visit very beneficial. Unfortunately, it was so late in the day that many of us were extremely tired and could not appreciate the visit as much as I think we would have liked to. I am definitely going to look more into how this charcoal is made and whether or not it is good for the environment. When we were in the factory, it appeared as if they might have been using more energy to make the charcoal then the charcoal actually produces. Also, it seemed that they were polluting a lot when they were burning the typha. It made it very apparent as to a huge difference between the US and Senegal—the lack of government regulation. There are no environmental laws, and I do not think the government is going to take any steps in the near future to correct their mistakes. This is just one of many differences that I am experiencing by living in a third world country.

4. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Senegal edition)

By far the sweetest day that I have had in Senegal (pun intended)! We visited the Compagnie Sucrière Sénégalaise (CSS) on 10/17/2008 and saw acres of sugar cane fields, the molasses/alcohol factory, and learned about how sugar cane is turned into cubes, grains, molasses, alcohol, etc…

We started our visit by being denied access into CSS, but after we were let in we headed to the sugar cane fields. The fields were huge and the sugar cane was at least 10-12 feet high. We were told about how the sugar cane is cut with a machete, and how it takes one man an entire day to cut down 2 hectares (200m2). As we were going from field to field we kept looking at each other trying to figure out when we were going to actually get to sample/eat the sugar cane…when we finally did arrive at the “chosen” field we were like little kids in a candy store. We broke the stalks and peeled back the hard stem casing and started to chew on the stringy center. It was my first time trying sugar cane…and it was delicious! We all looked like panda bears in a bamboo forest, except we were eating sugar cane, covered in cane juice, and had nowhere to wash our sticky hands. I think that everyone enjoyed eating the sugar cane and I know that some of the Senegalese students even took full stalks home with them! Another highlight of the CSS visit was getting to ride in the back of a pick-up truck! On a hot day in Senegal it was so nice to be able to cool off in a truck bed. Unfortunately, I got a lot of dust in my eyes, but it was worth it in the end.

5. Diversity Day

Note to self, Ross Bethio is not Dakar and does not have any sort of nightlife. We (as in the Americans) decided to look for “beverages” in Ross Bethio, so that we could have a proper celebration of American and not-so Senegalese values! During our last night in Ross Bethio, we (Americans) bought our “beverages” from what appeared to be the back room of someone’s house. We then had a roof party with the Senegalese students…and as Amelia likes to say we “integrated” ourselves. Well, it was a lot of fun because basically all of the American students made fools of themselves in front of the Senegalese students, though we know they appreciated and loved every second of it. The Senegalese students were dancing with us and singing our American hip-hop and rap songs that were played...Akon and Beyonce are definitely favorites in Senegal!

The roof party was also highlighted by Alejandra, Myra, and my ethnic nicknames that we decided to give each other…every ethnic food from quesadillas to wonton soup to kimchi to baguettes to queso cheese… (FYI: Alejandra is Venezuelan, Myra is French and Mexican, and I am Chinese.) This entertained us for a good hour or so, and it still does… my little kimchi. my little queso-baguette. my little wonton soup. my little egg roll with duck sauce. my little queso. my little quesadilla. my little strudel. my little rotten potato. my little yassa poulet. my little fried ice cream. my little beef and broccoli. my little blanched asparagus…oh the list goes on.

We made a lot of progress and “broke the ice” with the Senegalese students after our experience with them at Ross Bethio. Everything from this roof top party to Kalen and I learning how to make attaya with Ousman to Anna talking with Mairetou about “appropriate” skirt lengths to Thomas teaching Penda and Ndeye-Fatou how to play Texas Hold’em to learning the “ventilateur” dance.

6. Les pneus…CREVES!

I can check off my list of things to do in Senegal: (1) get stranded on a road in the middle of Senegal because of a flat tire, (2) get stranded on a road in the middle of Senegal and have to change buses because the spare tire has already been used, and (3) start walking 15km because it might be faster than waiting for the replacement bus to come.

We got two flat tires over the course of three days…that’s what happens when your bus goes off-roading like a four-wheel drive hummer! The first flat tire we got was on our way from CSS to our “hotel-like compound”. It was really exciting because we all got off and wondered around the “Serengeti of Senegal”, looking for lions, tigers, elephants, gazelles, and other big game animals (like donkeys, goats, and sheep). We found the latter three. Our second flat tire occurred 15km outside of St. Louis on our way home from Ross Bethio. By this time, we were already used to the drill of getting off the bus and waiting patiently. However, instead of waiting, Anna, Anne-Marie, Amelia, Djibril, Absa, and myself started to walk back…thinking that walking 15km might be faster than waiting.

The walk…well it lasted about 30 minutes, and after 1.5km we stopped to pick thorns off of Djibril’s trousers. Amelia, Anne-Marie, and I decided that it would be a good idea to wander off the road and go exploring…Djibril insisted that we not go anywhere, warning us of serpents…we continued and Djibril followed. Djibril, somehow, ended up in a thorn bush and his trousers were covered with little thorns. He said, “C’est a cause de toi que there are thorns on my trousers”. Amelia then proceeded to pick them off of him like he was a five year old (he is 29). We ended up having to get on the replacement bus and did not get to walk back…

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Well, that’s my update for the week, or at least until something else worthy of a blog entry happens! FYI: this blog entry is being awarded “THE LONGEST BLOG ENTRY TO DATE AWARD”!

ALEX

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COUNTDOWNS:

10 days until HALLOWEEN
11/12 days until we return to Dakar
13 days until I can go to the post office in Dakar to pay X CFA to pick up my absentee ballot
14 days until ELECTION DAY…go blue!
29 days until THANKSGIVING
49 days until TABASKI and another NEW OUTFIT!
61 days until I leave SENEGAL…what!? ☹ I have only been in Senegal for 45 days…