La Famille

This past week I spent two days exclusively with my host family, including the Muslim holiday of Korite (Eid al-fitr, the end of Ramadan) in which we delivered Tchakri (orange blossom/vanilla yogurt with couscous) to our Catholic and Muslim neighbors and hung out with them. It was fun to meet them all!

So here's a quick look at the family (when I finally remember to bring my memory card I'll add some pictures)

Papi (a retired math teacher who like watching documentaries)

Maman (a sweet lady who patiently teaches me Wolof and answers all of my questions. Since it's her summer vacation she is home a lot, but usually teaches 7 year olds at elementary school)

and my host siblings... the twins are both 30, but in Senegal it's the norm to live at home until you get married.

Gorgui (he is a nurse and works with different NGO's. LOVES to talk and tell me to eat)

Khady (she works in a medical lab, loves music and is teaching me to dance)

Amadou (23, he makes really good Ataya, the traditional tea and is a university student)

Fatimata (21, she is the same age as me and helps me with a lot, like figuring out chores, how to ride the car rapides [a sort of bus], and translating wolof comedy shows for me. She is a student in the university Finance, Banks, Insurance program)

Thierno (turning 19 in a month, he likes to watch sports and pray. He is learning English for his bac [the extremely difficult high school exit exam] so we teach each other English-French vocab especially during sports games and while playing scrabble in both languages).

The newest addition is “Haby” (her Wolof name, she’s named after Papi’s grandma and I’m named after Maman’s grandma) who is an 18 year-old student from Utah on a different program. I commend her courage for coming to Senegal when she knew no more French than “bonjour, oui, non, and merci” on arrival and no Wolof. It’s been fun being her “interprete/traductrice/prof de francais” although the French, Wolof, English language triangle going on at home makes my head spin sometimes, because everyone is talking to me in one of the three, often at the same time. I’m hoping Haby will give me some good tips in return, because she can already eat with her hands 10x better than me and I’ve already been here a week.

Maa ngi dekk Mermoz Premiere Porte ci Dakar...

Thank you everyone for being so patient with this blog post. With a crazy but fun orientation schedule, I've had to adapt to WAIT (West African international time) in order to get to know Dakar, MSID staff, my fellow MSID'ers, and host family (in addition to thirty to forty of their family members, neighbors, and friends). It's amazing to be here, and I am surprised so far how comfortable I am with adapting the city and the culture and in French. It's still tough for me to get used to the pace here (including that of the wifi here at school) and also to answer to my Wolof name "Ngone."

First impressions of Dakar is that it is a city of contrasts. If you have ever watched the film "La petite vendeuse de soleil" it gives you a pretty good idea, glad I watched it before I came. On the same road, (fyi they usually are not paved and sidewalks are "par hazard") there are cars, lots of yellow renault taxis, clandos [regular cars used as taxis], car rapides, TATA buses, regular buses, and horse drawn carts. So far, I've only braved the yellow taxi twice and the car rapides once, I usually prefer walking with the group. A lot of the city is what I would describe as "half built" because I found out that buildings are renovated on an as-the-money-comes basis. The ocean is everywhere and very beautiful (the beach is fun too!), but there is also a lot of garbage in the city due to an interesting sanitation system.

 I can tell though that people take pride in their neighborhoods, and especially in their neighbors, who are like extensions of the family. All of the neighbors have been very friendly towards me. I talk with them in French, because my Wolof vocab consists of some greetings, counting to five, "I'm going to school/study", "I live in Mermoz Premiere Porte", "my (first/last) name is" and "I'm full, thank you." Definitely more to come since classes (including Wolof) start this week.

In and around my neigborhood, there is always a lot going on. Farm animal sounds (the Tabaski holiday is coming up, and it involves "moutons" (sheep/goats) so people keep them as well as chickens even though it's an urban area. For the most part, this doesn't bug me at all, except the rooster that thinks it is necessary to crow 15+ times in an hour. There are kids playing, babies crying, neighbors talking, and lots of airplanes because we are extremely close the airport, all of this again isn't bad but can be tough when you are trying to fall asleep. You can smell firewood burning in small charcoal burners which grill and heat water for Ataya (the tea), exhaust, the ocean breeze, and whatever people are cooking. It's been fun to observe and discover so far and I am looking forward to seeing even more.

During orientation, we took a small tour of the city and also went to Goree Island (picture and description to come). I still have yet to go to a market, although I have been a few times to the boutiques (think, corner store), what is called the "toubab store" to buy shampoo for my kind of hair, and a supermarche. Today, my host sisters are taking me, and the new American student that lives with us, to "Nice Cream" which is an ice cream shop in downtown.

I'm very glad in all of this that I have taken French, and have been pleasantly surprised how much I have been able to converse (although there were some important words I didn't know like "fan" for example). It's been a favorite game of the neighbors to guess where I'm from. The most popular answers are France and the UK, which was another surprise. One merchant at a boutique thought I was Spanish, which made me laugh (I totally confused the guy as to why I was laughing). So far, I haven't felt targeted for being an American per se, but the tough part is you can't hide skin color and all of the obvious stereotypes that go with it which is a good lesson for me to learn in person. It will be interesting to see how that goes as I meet and talk to more people.

Look forward to more updates soon :) Miss you all!  

First few pictures, more to come!

Across the street from the hotel

Our hotel

not-so-petit dejeuner (sorry about the glare)

Hanging out on Mama Honorine's roof-top patio

Mama Honorine's

First Glimpses of Senegal and the not-so-petit déjeuner

It was so exciting yesterday to meet the rest of my study abroad group! There are 18 of us in all representing states from California all the way across the country to Pennsylvania and Virginia. So this morning at 2:30am central time, our South African airbus landed in Dakar. The flight was enjoyable (plenty of free movies/TV that you could choose and the first hot meal I have eaten on a plane in a long time) but long. No matter how nice the service is, airplane seats just aren’t designed for sleeping (at least the economy ones I’ve sat in).

We landed just before sunrise and took the “special limo service” i.e. the required shuttle bus everyone had to ride about 30 to 40 feet to the customs from the airplane’s door. At customs, I had my first Senegalese French conversation when a customs officer starting talking to me in Wolof. When I mentioned I don’t speak Wolof yet, he quickly translated “Tu t’appelles Fatou n’est-ce pas*? [smile]” ha, ha very funny. I knew that carrying around my 50lb olive drab canvas duffle from the army surplus store (very cost effective and durable!) and wearing the sun hat I couldn’t fit in said bag was just asking for it.

My second conversation was at the hotel, where the program staff brought us for one night as we transition in. I successfully got the wi-fi instructions and password from the receptionist so I was able to tell you all I arrived safely, probably even before you got up this morning! First, we dropped our suitcases off and had petit-déjeuner (breakfast), which surprised me. When I was asked “thé ou café” the lady brought out the tea I requested, *plus* an orange juice, half a baguette, and another sort of unsweetened pastry, wow! After what I could finish of not-so-petit-déjeuner, we took a little tour of the neighborhood, which is not quite where we will be living, but it’s our first taste of Dakar on foot. We saw some people sweeping their front porches, two guys driving a horse-cart, and Pierre, a Senegalese who we found out is retired from working with the US state department. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the city later today.

*So, your name is Fatou (a female Senegalese given name), right?

Less than 24 hours to go...

Sorry that this blog post is so overdue! I have had a very busy month of August finishing up work, moving out of my apartment, finishing a Fulbright ETA application, packing, and most importantly seeing friends and family. In the days and weeks to come, I promise the blog will keep better pace with my adventures in Senegal.

It's still sinking in that I will be on an airplane over the Atlantic (my first crossing!) less than 24 hours from now. With all of the preparations leading up to my departure, it is hard to come up with an exact description of how things are right now. Exciting? most definitely! nervewracking? a little. Chaotic? possibly...

Many of you know that I like to find out the stories behind the facts, which is how I remember them and usually share the facts too. Chaos is an interesting word so I looked it up, and discovered that "chaos" actually comes from the Greek for something vast and empty, a void.

This definitely contradicts what I have been up to, because the last few weeks have been full of wonderful bon voyage get-togethers, conversations, hugs, and well-wishes from family and friends that I have enjoyed so much. Full of anticipation as I found out my host family, starting going shopping with my mom, and the trip started to become more real. And let's face it, as much as I rearrange items, my suitcase is just plain full. These weeks have also been full with little time to rest or contemplate that I will be leaving the country for a few months (hence, the infrequent blogging).

But interesetingly enough, the word "chaos" came to its modern meaning of "confusion" in the 1600's through theological use, when it was used to describe the void at the beginning of creation. So everything might feel chaotic right now, but I'm going to go with the second meaning of chaotic and trust that God's going to work everything out (including possible Hurricane Irene related flight delays, baggage/packing woes, and the inevitable feelings of mixed excitement and anxiety that go along with traveling away from home for a while.)

I'm signing off for now, but I'd like to thank you all for your love, encouragement, and support and look forward to future pictures and posts!

Why Senegal?

Wow! I can’t believe how time flies. Since my last post, I have turned in my visa application and been to see the travel doctor (after vaccines for yellow fever, meningitis, hepatitis A, typhoid, and a polio booster I don’t need shots for 5 years!) While two months seems like a long time to wait when I think about things like finding out my host family and internship, it seem so short when trying to arrange to hang out with as many people as possible before I go.

As you are reading, besides thinking about the “where and “when” aspects of the journey (and all the things needed to make it possible), you might also be asking about the “why?” aspect. Why would a young toubab (more on that later) take a semester to venture across the ocean from the US to Senegal? The story actually starts with an awesome family who encouraged me to ask lots of questions about the world and then showed me ways I could discover answers. Later came two middle school teachers, one who introduced me to the rich history and cultures of Africa, the other who got me reading, writing, listening, and talking in French (and English). So three years ago, when I opened the Learning Abroad Center catalogue looking for that all-important “international experience” (TEFL/TESL, Language, and Global Studies/IR majors, you all know exactly what I mean) Senegal jumped out at me as a great option. In Senegal, I could develop my French skills, begin learning another language [Wolof] and experience living, studying, and interning in the developing world. To learn more about the program I will be going with (MSID-Senegal) check out the U of M’s Learning Abroad Center website

http://www.umabroad.umn.edu/programs/africa/msid-senegal/about.php

Or you can ask me, because I almost have it memorized ;)

The Journey Starts

Like any place, say the name “Senegal” or “ le Sénégal” and it will mean different things for a variety of people. For 12.5 million people, it is home. In an era of post-colonial uncertainty which often led to violence, it was the only state not to experience a coup since independence. During the “scramble for Africa” it was the capital of Afrique Occidentale Française, and centuries before that was a part of other illustrious empires (Mali, Djolof, and Ghana, just to name a few). For some of you, Senegal holds memories of your own travels, others may need to dust off that map of Africa to locate it, or you're somewhere in between. If it’s more in line with the second option, stay with me because I assure you there is lots to discover.

For me, Senegal will be “home” as my study abroad location, and by the end of 4 months, I’ll have much more to add to that description. That’s why I am glad that you are able to join me by following this blog chronicling my journey in Senegal: the people and experiences I will be encountering (and writing about, photographing, etc.), the culture shock, language tidbits, and things I probably couldn’t even imagine while state-side.

There is so much to prepare for, the application materials from back in April, the visit to the travel doctor in two days, visa and flight itinerary paperwork, unattractive passport-style photos, not to mention brushing up on French and country knowledge. I’m looking forward to meeting my travel companions, host family, and internship co-workers, but it will be hard to leave family, friends, and co-workers here in the US. It's definitely going to be a journey! Stay tuned for more updates as the departure date gets closer.