Hello everyone, this is just a quick post saying goodbye! I am leaving for Kedougou on Monday morning (the day after the elections–the goal is to get all of the SIT students out of Dakar in the aftermath of the elections). Kedougou is a rural town about a 14 hour car ride away from Dakar, … More To the Bush!
This week we had classes in batik. It was tons of fun, but also a surprising amount of work. Monday we had classes and then after lunch went to our first batik session. We got a in-depth description of the different forms of batik (there are about 5). I can’t remember their names, but the … More Batik!
Let me start off this post with saying that I am perfectly safe and there is no chance that anything harmful will afflict me in the near future. Things in Senegal have been escalating in terms of the political situation. The youth movement, M23 is very upset about Wade’s refusal to step down. In the … More Les Manifestations
This weekend I moved families. My last family did not make me feel very welcome or involve me in anything around the house or in Dakar. I felt like I was not learning and was not having a good host-family experience, so I decided to move. Friday, we went to the tailleur (tailor) to get … More Nouvelle Ville, Nouveau Nom, Nouveau Jour
Today we had our first session (of three total) of djembe and dance! It was a blast, I did djembe first. Djembe (you don’t pronounce the d) is a big drum that’s very popular in Senegal, it even has a dance called Djembe that corresponds with it. We just did basic beats and I managed … More Da Da Doom Da Doom Da Dance (and djembe)
Yesterday was Sunday. Sundays are generally boring around here as all there is to do is hang out at the host families and the only thing to do at the host homes is watch TV. So most of the day I read my Kindle (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) and watched random TV/took … More Africa Cup
Today we went to the beach at Mbour, which is about a two hour drive out of Dakar. The car ride was not all that interesting, there were some small towns and a lot of countryside, which is just savannah/deserty with a lot of bushes and boabab trees. We stayed at a hotel for the … More A La Plage Mbour!
Friday! This morning we went to the HLM market which is one of the biggest markets in West Africa for material. There are several different types of fabrics available and popular in West Africa. Here is a list: 1. Le wax: cotton fabric, usually very bright and with many designs/motifs and multi-colored. 2. Le basin: … More Afia Boyz Club
Yesterday we had a session on transportation and then at 10:30 put our new skills to the test! We had most of the day free so we (a group of six, me, Lakota, Ashlee, Margaret, Farah, and Julia) went out on the town. First we walked around Mermoz, where Margaret, Farah, Ashley, Joelle (yes, there … More Les Cars Rapides…so fast you can’t see ’em!
Yesterday the weather was characterized as a “dust storm”, the sky was cloudy and filled with dust and sand, most likely from desert winds in Mauritania. The air was somewhat unpleasant to breathe, but it wasn’t too bad! Last night, I hung out with some girls on our program and we bought some mineral water … More Hm, seems a bit dusty today…
Giraffes and Wild Tea 