Movvieeess!

SO here are some fabulous new movies for you.
The one below these is a video of my friend Boxie James Rapping. Here are:
A video of the HLM Marche, where we bought fabric for Tabaski (huge holiday). With that comes some beautiful trafic footage.
Then there is the video of us all making Ceebu Dieen?(sp) which is basically fish and rice.
Lastly, there is the video from the soccer game.

Right now I'm just getting everything done before I have to pack up final things. Shipping out at 8:30 am to the village tomorrow. I also just wrote a new GCY official blog too. Love you all!!!!

-Ananda

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Movie 1- Rap in Senegal!

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Sorry all for the lack of blogging the past few days, others have had the netbook and I have been catching up on certains stuffs.

First things first. I have decided that the real metahpor for my stay is this: bugspray & deet are my perfume. And I may have already said that, but I feel its necessary to restate it. Now to a good update of which your probably tired of the bullets.

-Grapefruit Fanta (why dont they have good flavors, ie. pomplemouse and lemon in america?? is second only to the original lemon fanta in greatness. almost the drink of the gods.

-I had a Senegalise orange for the first time. Ironically, it is green on the outside, and yellow on the inside. IT tastes like an orange, but a lot less strongly, and it has a hint of fruit punch mixed in somehow.

-I wore a dress on the 26th. And I enjoyed it.

-I'm stocking up on fabulous books to take with me so that I will have some form of english with me in the village. Plato, Carl Hiassen, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Harold Bloom, DH Lawrence, and some french guy. Maybe I'll come back super super smarty pantsy?

-I'm still amazed every day how much American music is listen to here- In the courtyard a few days ago we were all eating peanuts, and they turned on the computer speakers and it went from Akon, to Lil Wayne, to some Senegalise man, to Rihanna. And yesterday the Backstreet Boys 'I want it that way' came on, and everyone, including me, was jamming out. Music really does cross boundaries.

-We made Chebu Jen yesterday at Rachels house with the Walof teacher (as part of our Walof lesson). Yum, more fish and rice. I took some fabulous videos though, and hopefully those will get put up soon. The videos from the other day are getting up soon too, on the GCY website. I just had to send Wil the files because they were so big, so I'll past the youtube link as soon as I get it. As a side note, I think I eat less when I am eating with my hands. Or maybe I just really not a seafood person. And I am a pro at making rice balls with my hands now.

-You fry the fish in exactly 1 liter of sizling vegetable oil, then take out the fish. then you put the vegetables, water, and tomatoe paste (that is brown) in the left over oil. You steam the rice in a collander above the vegetable oil mix. We had plastic bags wrapped around the collander and pot, and underneath the collander, to stop the rice from falling out ( you are supposed to use fabric but Umul forgot it). When asked about the bags melting, the answer was nshallah- God willing. The melting was not so supreme. Then then you take out all the vegetalbes, and put all the rice into the sauce, letting it soak it all up. Divide into bowls, and put back the vegetables and fish. Enjoy making rice balls with your hands, fish (I defered the eating of it), vegetables, and massive amounts of oil that you are eating.

-We got to go to the beach right by Rachels house, and oh how amazing it was. The sand goes out forever- at least a 100 yards. So that you have waves crashing the whole length! When the tide would go back in there was a good 45 yards of damp sand, that would be quickly washed over again with a incoming wave. While it was supremely beautiful, it was another disaster. There was an amazing amount of trash- plastic bags, rags, a broken dish? And then every inch of beach was lined with thatched cabannas which are rented to people who want to leave their bags on the beach-because it is the only space that is not reached by the waves.

-Today was french class and our walof evaluation. I can honestly say that for the Walof test I knew how to answer about four questions out of the whole thing. I've just been focusing on french a lot for the whole time, so I havent really had the time to study walof. No worries though, I have six months to get better at it. And I got to talk to Mrs. Lyn on Skype, which made me super super happy!!!

-Tomorrow: french evaluation in the morning, group debriefing with Rachel, and then we are visiting an NGO.

-Saturday- In the morning Gaya and I are going to the book store. Then we have individual debriefings with Rachel to talk about everything we are about to be dropped into. Lots of packing, as its the last day with our current host families.

-Sunday we ship out to our villages. I hope to at least recap the weekend before I leave. I am super excited, and a bit nervous. I had a bad dream about the turtle poo. I also had a dream that Caroline and I were adopted together, but that is besides the point.

With love,

Ananda

I Oublie my nourriture!

Okay, so I totally forgot about food
-I ate these things called Lunnga. When I asked Ama what they were, she said they were like strawberries. So I took a bit out of one. Sure enough they taste nothing like strawberries. A lot closer to fermented or wine soaked nuts
-I ate some combination of Hear, liver, and lung today. Let it be noted that they are all revolting and that if I have my way, I will not be eating any of them again. That being said, I probably will be eating them again at some point.
-They have grapefruit Fanta here and I am extremely excited to have some tomnorrow.
-Walof class begins again this week and I am epicly bad.
Finally, here is a link to the guy I heard sing before Yousse N'Dour (sp). His name is Mame Balla, but I have to say, he is way better live.

Some Bits

Lets see. So this weekend:

• I went to the Marche HLM to buy fabric for the holiday Tabaski. I am now a champion bargainer as I obtained my fabric for the local price of 1300cfa- about 3 dollars- per meter. Its a fabric called basain, which is not really cottony at all, and actually kind of feels like wax. But that will go to the tailor, and I'm thinking silver embroidery? Promise I'll put the pictures up when I get it, although that will probably be when I am in Sangalkam, so maybe just soon as possible. I also got some vaux (pronounced wax, and it may be spelled wrong) fabric to be made into a dress (gasp, I know).
• I went to the Sandaga market to get a cassette made into a cd. Here we went on a wild goose chase as one of the people we were with, Samba, decided we shouldnt just let the heckling sellers go. Instead we should follow them all the way to the other side of the market, and then find out that what we want isnt there... even though we never expected it to be. Due to this I was also not allowed to find a nut seller who had salted cashews-which do exist, as I have already had them here.
• Depressing: there was a parapalegic at the HLM market- he didnt even have a stool to sit on. Instead, he was just on the ground next to everyones feet.
• Joel: A young boy with a cateract was asking for money at the bus stop. We all wished you were there with the super thin lenses.
• On the bus, a lad got on with a baby. Seeing that there was absolutely no room to sit down (as if), she promptly ejected said baby into some mans lap. And he was totally cool with it, and so was the baby. Victoria and I equated this to handing of a football- except the football was alive. Its slightly crazy to think of anyone doing this in America- from fear, from the fact that the baby would be wailing, from the person not actually holding onto the baby once it is dropped into their lap.
• At Sandaga there was a man who had something wrong with his legs. So he rolled around on this 2x2 plastic square with wheels. He then decided to come down hill strait at me with a speed that was unbelieveable (litterally, I didnt know he would be able to go that fast). Due to this fact I had two options: get obliterated by this man, and probably end up hurting him. Or jump. So I jumped. Quite surreal.
• Four (maybe five if I understood the Senegalise accent better) people thought I was spanish this weekend. Either I'm a little bit tanner, or I look less out of place. Score.
• I'm up to 9 marriage proposals
• I went to my first soccer game. It was incredibly cheap- about 75 cents to watch two games. Sadly I only got to see about half of each of them, and I only got to see one goal. But the people there were crazy. There was one man who sat ontop of the passageway that led to a stairwell and he would dance, and then lift up his shirt to show an undershirt that said something in walof, and then he would yell at one of the team managers. Supposbly he was a big supporter.
• Here are some real summaries of what the other fellows will be doing:
• Matt: he gets to work with the local agriculture programs in production, harvest, and comericilzation. He also get to check out sal harvesting and trading at this place called Lac Rose-which is a lake that is bright pink from the amount of salt in it. Then he gets to look at the relationship of development of socio cultural elements (music, oral tradition, ect).
  
  Alec- He is working in a local western hospital, and then once a week he is going to this tradition hospital. He also gets to follow ome Red Cross people around. Also, he gets to go with some of the staff on field visits to super rurual villages- I will definitely be tagging along on one of these trips. He gets to research the impact of Rachels program Smiles for Senegal, and helps decide what to do with it in the future (is it worth it?)
  
  Hilary- shes working at a western health clinic too, but also at a Maternity/midwife center. she gets to look at the relationships between healthcare and a devoloping country.
  
  Gaya- will be working in a large elementary school- helping with librarires, computer labs pta, community garden, and classroom participation. She also will try and find out what it is lacking in the education, and try and create a project to fil that gap (ex. drawing class). She will also look at education in a developing country.
  
  Victoria- will work at a NGO called the Program of Devopment of Infants and the Family (translated)- which is basically a childhood center. She gets to do all the preschool activities, and gets to investigate links between early development and local development.
  
  Then Gaya, Victoria, and Hilary will identify all the local womens organizations, and profile them ( membership, leadership, economic activities, ect.). And then they will al be doing the same thing with english speak clubs and such
• My friend Amadou taught me to make tea the Senegalise way last night. So wach out, I am now a master and can make it for all of you.
• Today everyone came over to learn how to make beneighs(sp, they are basically donught holes).
• And currently I am struggling with youtube as I try to put up the videos from this weekend
• Oh and I forgot to put on bug spray before breakfast- three mosquito bites just on my right foot in the span of three minutes. Humph.
• Overall its going swell, I will be glad not to have the talkative walof speaking men outside my window in Sangalkam. I mean, they must be hilarious, because they laugh all the time. But its just not that funny at 1 30.
• Must now go eat dinner. Fabulous. Its 9 by the way.

Metaphor My Life. or My Life is Metaphor

Two days ago while struggling to fall asleep (due to the hilarious walof jokes being told outside my window by ten Senegalese men), I pulled out a stack of Visual Explorer cards, from the Center for Creative Leadership, that I had gotten during training. Visual Explorer is basically a stack of really nice photographs that are card sized. I then asked myself questions, and tried to find out which picture perfectly explained my emotions or ideas about that question. It is surprising how much more you find out about yourself when you make yourself realize why one image or phrase resonates, and another doesn't. This led me to think about how much of my life is explained like Visual Explorer- in metaphor.
Dakar is Rome to me. They say one of the reasons Rome fell was because of how poor the poor were getting, and how rich the rich were getting. Every day I walk past three women who each have two children. They eat, sleep, and live their lives on the street. They have no steady source of food and no shelter from any of the outside forces. On the other hand as I keep on walking I see Mercedes Benz C-Class cars and BMW's right along side the shabby taxis. Downtown there is the palatial Presidents quarters, and just down the street are local shacks. There are the people who get good health care, like the twelve-year old in my neighborhood with a cast on his broken arm. Then there are those who don't- the paraplegic we passed at the Marche HLM who didn't even have a chair to sit on, or the man at Sandaga (the grand market) whose legs were paralyzed so he uses a plastic square with wheels that sits two inches off the ground to roll around, and who I literally had to jump over as he zoomed underneath me.The disparities just sit in front of you- obvious to any eye, draining to the spirit, and as a current matter-of-fact. So if it were hundreds and hundreds of years earlier, would Dakar have the same fate as the great Rome did?

A bitter jalapeno. That was the phrase that I used to describe a vegetable here that looks like a green tomato. Then there is the Lunnga which looks like a giant black olive, but tastes like a fermented or wine soaked nut. Bissap is green and frothy, with a bitter and smooth taste that reminds me of oak tree leaves ( I ate anything as a child). As I obviously cannot send back hundreds of Lunnga fruit for everyone to taste, I must then try and describe what I have done with the things that many of us may share. Granted, you all may not have had a leaf phase in your youth.

Being in a place with a different language brings up some nifty little problems. First, our backgrounds are completely different. While I may use the right words and phrases to describe something to someone from the west, those same words can carry no weight here, hence lost in translation. Sadly, when trying to describe something, you want to give it due justice, but the simple lack of knowledge stops you from giving it the language it deserves. When speaking in English I relish my adjectives, my phrases, colloquialisms, puns, and oxymoron's. Unconsciously and consciously they allow me to see things that may not be necessary in life, but that truly bring the picture into focus. Maybe metaphors are a true measure of fluency?

Some people live their lives in technicolor. Others live life in misery. And still others live in ignorance, bliss, knowledge, etc. While there may not be one way to live life, it has become blatantly obvious to me that almost everyone lives their life in metaphor.

Apprenticeships!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hold on. Most freaking important thing ever. I was walking down the street yesterday, and there was this girl right. So there was this girl... in this basketball jersey... with yellow and really dark blue writing on it. You know what it said? Montreat. Now I've seen Notre Dame shirts, Boise State, the Lakers, everything. But Montreat? How small does that make the world feel right now? I bet its cool, maybe even snowing in Montreat right now. And if it already hasnt I'm sure it will be snowing in Michigan soon Aunt Linda, or Washington depending on where you currently are. Anyways, wow. Montreat.. in Senegal.


So we finally got the summaries of our apprenticeships today. I shall transcribe it, and then give a fabulously witty commentary/not.

I shall reside in Noflaye (which is part of Sangalkam) and work in the Village des Tortues. The apprenticeship will consist of a wide range of activities in the Village des Tortues, an environmental and tortoise reserve. As decided in consultation between GCY Program Manager, Me, and Village des Tortues supervisor, the activities will include environmentla conservation work, park upkeep, translation, and production of English-language materials, digitizing park materials, and leading tours. I will also carry out an independent investigation into the relationship of the park and the local rural community. This will involve defining a project that takes place both inside the reserve and within the local community. It is a very structured apprenticeship in which tasks will be well defined and evaluation of work will be regular. At the same time, it requires initiative on the part of the fellow (me) since some of the work will involve thinking beyond the boundaries of the Village des Tortues and considering environmentla conservation and the community more broadly.

Then Alec, Matt, and I (the three fellows in the Sangalkam Rural Community) have a service project. It will consist of profiling the population of each village (Noflaye, Bambilor, and Sangalkam) including the number of homesteads, people residents in each, ethnicity, and economic activity. This will not only provide an excellent opportunity for the fellows to render a service to the authorities hosting them but also to encounter every family in their village, which is an exceptional way to socialize and become inserted in the community. THey will also gain an intimate portrait of the people and activities amongst whom and which they live.

Lastly(ish) we will work with the local middle school and seek to become involved on a regular basis with the english clubs and computer labs, as well as any possible athletics, so as to interact with Senegalse peers and to use their skills in these areas to the benefit of local youth. These activities will be Fello-initiated, in consultation with menotors.

Whew, that was a lot. So lets see, it does sound pretty amazing right? And I am super excited about it. But this is also the best case scenario, in that it depends a lot on other people, a whole lot can not go right, and there are just cultural factors. As in the reserve is successful.... but every time that Rachel has been there she hasnt seen one person actually working. So if all else fails, I figure I have the study of looking at what role the environment plays in the developing world, and an anthropological look at Senegalise culture. I also have a fear that all I am going to end up doing is giving tours, translating panflets, petting turtles, and cleaning up their poo. All around, its pretty darn exciting, even to know what I might be able to do. I'm thinking of taping the summary to my wall when I move as a goal reminder of what I can do. Rachel also assured us that the first month that we are there, absolutely nothing will get done. Which I'm sure I will be frusturated with, but hey, at least I'll learn a bit of patience. Lots and lots of personal reflection time as well I'm guessing. Okay, nighty night.

Goings On

So its basically been a huge mess of learning. French in the morning, french in the afternoon, french all my life. Which is good. But I'm even worse at french grammar that I am at english grammar- so its a bit trying to epicly fail every moment of six hours. Okay, that may be a slight overstatement, but I think its getting a little bit better. Tomorrow were making crepes for all the military guys from Fort Brag before they leave! Benjaman and I talk every day during our first break, hes basically the coolest guy ever. Hmm, so what I've missed this week: laundry detergent, trafic laws (especially the ones saying yield to the pedestrian), my oatmeal rasin cookies, grass, fashion ( I look at the NYTimes Magazine fashion section when I am online, what is happening to me?), and cooking in general. Oh, and apples and brie, so delish. I've been decidedly more adventureous of late: I ate the green frothy bisap sauce (I think its made from the plants leaves), and it kind of does taste like leaves. Then theres this green tomatoe looking vegetable, it tastes like a bitter jalepeno. Rachel reminded me that saying something made my taste buds run away and hide in a safe part of my mouth when I ate it is culturaly insensitive, so I will just say they are an acquired taste. We find out a summary of our apprenticeships tomorrow!! Well actually we were supposed to find out today, but Rachel is sick, so it was bumped to tomorrow. Then at the end of the month, the day before we leave, she will meet with each of us individualy to give us in depth discriptions of what we are doing.



So every night around 11pm a group of aproximatly 12 full grown men gather outside my window and talk for at least two hours. Point to me for bringing ear plugs. Also, the past two nights I've been getting these wierd little bites while I sleep. I figure I can just ride it out, and then I can always light a bug bomb in my new house if it is a problem. Then around 6am someone comes and nocks on the metal door that is outside my room, but about two inches from it. Its not that its really loud at all, I just always think someone is knocking on my door so I think I have to get up for it. I'm pretty sure this trip will help me be one of those people who actually sleeps, or more that actually can, through sounds and light. Who knows, maybe I will even learn how to nap?????Le Gasp! So I must go home now, as there is this massive soccer match tonight and if I go home to late I will be caught in the crowds which is a bit dangerous, as I have all my stuff with me. Hopefully next week I get to go to a match too. Oh, and I'll let you all know about it tomorrow, but I finally went on a run.... and got to play soccer =)

Ahhh The Creatures of the Deep!!!

Video of Island Commentary
Video of Island Scenery

Right now the rain continues to pound the tin over my room. Since last night the rain has been torential, pouring over every crevice, dripping from each edge, and slowly seeping over every surface. To say the least, it was quite the oppisite of my experiance yesterday.

Saturday began like every other day this week- the same breakfast, the same walk to the Baobob center, and the same 9-1 french class. This was where the routine stopped though, for we were off to the Isles of Madaline this afternoon. Our first task though was to obtain lunch, as we did not have enough time to go home. So all of us set out-some to the nearest boutique and others to the super marche. It eventually ended up that Alec and I went to the boutique-buying baguette like rolls, eggs, and onions (and he got a potatoe). We then continued back to the Boabob center and ended up making the most delicious egg sandwiches, and the others followed suit when they came back from the super marche with whole wheat bread as their prize.

After our lunch of champions, we were off to the Corniche to meet Rachel, Mr. Diaham, and one of the french teachers, Umul. It was a beautiful day outside- the sun was shining, reflecting off every wave and there was the beautiful breeze from the sea- almost completely masking the tantilizing every present smell of burning trash. Into our beautfiul blue boat we then went with a promise that if Mr. Diaham fell in the water, I would jump in to save him. Rachel had promised Umul the same in the back of the boat.

Pulling up to the islands, we went past the craggy cliffs which were full of massive black and white boulders... or as we found out massive black rocks with lots of birds flying over them.......yep. We then pulled into an inlet strait out of Treasure Island and jumped (litterally) onto the rocky 'dock'. Nico, the boats captain, then went to pick up a couple of the other people who had been on the island. With a vote of hands we all decided to take the tour of the island before giving ourselves the satisfaction of diving into the beautiful glistening cove. Highlight facts:
a) people dont inhabit this island because there is a spirit that protects it, and which struck down a bulding that a misionary was trying to build here. Originally the missionary thought the fishing people, the Lebou, were knocking down his building. But he eventually realized it was the spirit. b) they have a lookout building that was recently built in order for the park service to watch out for people poaching or taking things off the island. It still stands because they made sacrifices to the spirit when building it.
c) People come here and poach the turtles for their blood, especially during mating season. It is supposed to be a good talisman. Which is exhibit A for why the park service has to be vigilant.

As we made our final turn past the cove where birds go for safe haven, our view opened back up to the water we were about to jump into. The sun was just begining to set, and the tide was rising by the moment. So we all ran in... after being told which way to get around the random algae covered rocks that were under water. Alec, Victoria, and I (the first ones in) reverted to the classic doggy paddle as a way to easily get over the rocks. Inovation at its best right there.

Eventually we all got to the rocky ledge accross the water. It was only moments later that two things happend. First, we were doused with fresh seawater breaking over the rocks behind us. Then we realized that there were sea urchins everywhere, and that miraculously none of us had even touched one. Now we had been documenting our trip quite well up until this point, but none of us had really wanted to risk swimming with our electronics above our heads. The thing was, that it was just so beyond beautiful. Alec was then the super hero of the day as he swam back, and then trecked accross the rock cliff/wall (safely) with his camera in order to at least doccument a bit of our adventure on the wetside of things. Eventually we all decided to adventure a bit, and we carefully made our way up over the rocks behind us. There were the waves crashing into the island, a mere three feet away from us, and the water then being sucked back out like a reverse waterfall with the tides. Alec and I then made our way up a ... hill/mound/cliff/ridge of rocks so that we could see everything. To our left was the cove we had just been swimming in. In front of us lay the whole Atlantic- and all of you back over in the US- and two sections of the island that reminded me most of the tale of Jason and the Argonauts. There was the giant half of the island that had been split in half by the water, and evertime a wave came the water would shoot up fifteen feet into the air as it burst through the tight space. Then there was the cave that had been hollowed, creating a gaping hole where the waves dissappeared. To our left, was a peninsula on the island that was completely covered in birds! Yes, all the rocks over there were white. Then we saw Nico enter the cove, we were summonned, and we decended back to reality- swimming back to all of our things on the other side of the beach. Going back to Dakar everyone was winding down and watching one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have seen in my few years of life. After an amazing day, all we had left was a race to get home before the lighting cracked open the skies.

Great Success

Right now I'm talking to Rachel on skype. Greatest success yet.
Yesterday I helped peel and prepare all the vegetalbes for dinner. It made me miss cooking a lot. Anyways, I looked ridiculous- I was in bright blue pants, a pastel yellow oxford, and had a bucket full of water and vegetables on top of a stool, and of top of the open part of the bucket was a bowl being balanced, where I was trying to cut the onions witha reallyu dull knife. But I was still a champion. And I cut the potatoes for the fries! ( no, they are more like, potatoes which are marinated in oil).

I also got to eat my first two bananas that were freshly picked from the banana tree. Its not that bananas in the US are bad. Its just here they have so much more flavor- as in they have it. While they are green on the outside, they are perfectly ripe and delicious on the inside, with little intricate flavors that are so subtle that they must be lost when they go over seas. So yes Mama Miller, they are amazing.

From the History Walk

On Sunday we went for a beautiful promenade in downtown Dakar for our History Walk with Rachel, who is a person that I have no qualms calling erudite. Throughout our whole walk we had the task of picking out which houses were made before and after the french colonization. To say the least, I learned a whole lot. Our next walk is this Sunday. So these pictures are from when we passed by the beach- you all finally get to see part of the beauty that Senegal has, and from today at the house! Enjoy!

Khalifa & I

A'luun with his afternoon snack

The beach.. mmm trash

Elephant Gun

It rips through the silence, and all that is left, is all that I hide.-Beirut



Looking at the majority of my days, there are usually some things that go wrong, but every day seems to turn out at least a little bit great. Its funny though how sometimes, even when so many things go right, the few wrong things that actually happen consume you and your day. Yesterday I recieved an e-mail from Ian, one of the guatemalan fellows, which made me elated beyond belief, as we became fast friends in San Fran. I got to talk to Mrs. Lindquist and wish her Happy Birthday (Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!). I improved my french. I ate an orange. I got to listen to some good music, met a new friend named Boxie who can rap and beatbox, had really good food (eggs for the first time!!!!!! even if they are fried like the fries at mcdonalds), and the heat wasnt even that bad. I cant really say how much better all of these things made me feel, so thank you for them.



Yet yesterday was one of those moments that eveyone talks about, when you just say "what in the world am I doing here?" Everyone says you will have this moment because of what you are doing where you are, or because of what you cannot do where you are. I have a cold, there is no toilet paper, the smell of burning trash is nauseating, the scenes you see pull at your heart strings again and again. You deal with these things, you learn from them. They are part of the reason for why I am here. They are the challenge that is there to make me more than what I am.



My first moment then, is simply the feeling of absense that I have. The singular fact that I am not there for the people I left accross the ocean. Yesterday I found out beyond dissapointing news for a person who means the world to me, and I know that I cant do anything to contact her and I wouldnt even know how console her if I could. After learning that, I found out that the mother of one of my best friends, who for the past three summers was a good friend to me, died. I dont even know how she died, just that she did. Right now, I am absent for those people, who I can do nothing for right now. Usually during these times you are around the people that know how to help you be okay, and how to help you help the ones who are hurting even more than you. But today will not be one of those days-the ocean is to vast. So here is my first obstacle, and its not even the country that is trying me- it is the gnawing feeling of the hole of absence in my heart. And so I grow up. I am okay, and I will be okay. The only thing this does is affirm to me how much you all really mean to me.



With more love than you all know,



Ananda



Rest In Peace Martha Peavyhouse.

The Zoo

The zoo was depressing, in that there is too little money, even for the few animals that they have. Here are some pictures I stole from Alec (I forgot my camera).


Burning trash. Exhibit A.

An example of the taxis here

The tiger

This would be what they feed the monkeys

Great monkey cage

Not much of a lion cage right?

The Jackals

Hyena

La Rhume i.e. The Cold

Ick. I have a cold. I found out the night before last night that my host mother had a cold.... and then yesterday afternoon I was attacked by a bout of sneezing, and am currently up in arms against my cold-vitamins, vitamin c, oranges, vicks stuff, etc. Worst things about it: its like having a cold in summer, all you want is nice warm soup and hot tea... which are both things that make you disgustingly hotter in this heat. Second, the tea here has caffine in it, which would make it do more bad than good. So ick. But on the upside the rash is gone! Party. Just incase you all were wondering no, I do not have a fever, in fact I'm running about a degree below normal, so I'm good. Just super exhausted with the cold and all the learning. I'll write more tomorrow.

Interesting fact of the day:
-taxis have hair extensions hanging from their rear bumpers
-Because of the moth of november (or maybe the begining of every month) there are choralers (ish) who go go through the neighborhoods at night singing something in arabic that I cant understand.
-When you sneeze people say Alhumdulilaay ( thanks be to god) because they percieve it as the devil being purged out of your system. People have been saying this a lot to me the past two days.

If your feeling a little bit like me right now, watch this.

I Forgot A Few Things

Hmm so heres some more light hearted items

Palm Action- You shake hands with everyone you meet. It is only when you get 'palm action' though, that someone is intrested in being more than aquaintance. So beware of the tickle of the palm

Another NC Connection- So it seems like everyone is from north carolina. Small recap
GCY fellows- Laura Keaton, Michael Wilson, and Me
GCY staff member Graham went to UNC and lives about two minutes from my school, and Mrs. Lindquist taught him at Ravenscroft. He also played soccer at CASL
There were the presenters for the Center of Creative Leadership ( one of the days in San Fran) who are from Greensboro
There was another group of people at IONS- and six of them were from Charlotte
One of the board members for GCY grew up in NC, went to Broughton, and then to UNC. And his brother is currently attending Chapel Hill.
And I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Anyways, we were talking to are wolof teacher about where we were from. Of course I say I'm from Raleigh. It turns out his best friend sells inurance in Raleigh.

In Senegal the man gives a dowry, or a payment, to the womans family for her. Comman payment meathods include: A cell phone, cloth materials, a car, a tv, or.... a sewing machine. Traditionally the cash amount was 25,000 CFA. Thats you know, about $50 for a wife.

P.S. Joel, I just want to say hey.

Views for Thought

Yesterday we went to the zoo. I'll tell you about it when I can steal pictures from Alec so you can actually see it. Instead, I think I'm going to skip to going home from the zoo.


Here we were-Victoria, Alec, Matt, Hilary, and I (Gaya is still getting better so Rachel took her home in a car)- standing on the corner leading away from the zoo in the twilight right before the black of night. Behind us lat the cement walls with their murals of lions, tigers, and..... monkeys (no bears, sorry). And in front of us lay the massive trafic jam where we were trying to get into one of those magnificently sketchy car rapides in order to get home. During the day you see all the cars in Senegal, and you see the black stencht that they excrete for a few seconds. In that erie light though, all was visible. Over the line of brakelights was a black cloud- swirling with the wind, growing with each car, revolting with each sniff. We couldnt catch a car rapide on the corner due to the traffic jam, so we were forced to walk up to the next stop- through all the highway entrance ramp that looks like it belongs in modern day france, past the street sellers who were packing up their stands, the children running home, the cars pulling into the few abondoned dirt patches, the stand along "Imports" car vender (Mercedez, Americain, BMW, so on), accross streets where mr Diobe stopped cars before we crossed, through the underpass next to the trash on the sidewalk, past the mounds of scattered plastic that are shoved into the middle of the roads so that cars can still pass, past all the cars still waiting while they belched out the acrid smoke, and past the fading colors that we could still see. Before we finally turned onto Bourrgiba, where we would catch our car rapide, the view was not breath taking, but more and juxtiposition of a beautiful disaster. The break lights reached into the distance against the black night sky. There were the streetlights- not lit up by their own illumination as they stood dead, but rather the cars coming at them and going past them, casting shadows on themselves. The people in their blues, yellows, reds, organges- every single color went along with all the colored fruit, creating a kalidescope of color, the piles of trash flashing in and out of view as they were lit, and all while your throat burned, the slow burn of the mix of cigarette smoke and smog. Yes, beauty in the people and color, disaster in the waste and distruction.

The window like structures that let air into the breakfast area.

Another of my view from breakfast.

The view from the breakfast table- think plastic camp table & chairs.

The view from the top of the house-During the day.

The family sheep!

The courtyard in the daylight

The roof view again. The dirt soccer field is right next to those trees

The alleyway next to my bedroom.

The soccer field view a gain.

In Pictures: the Courtyard

Okay, so I am exhausted. Seriously. I was going to write the amazing blog (psych), but my arms hurt just from being a bit high so that i can type, and by a bit high i mean above my belly button. And i need sleep because of the concert last night, so I'm sure this blog would make no sense anyways! So, here are some pictures, with captions even! EEEE Gads!!!!! But I dont have class tomorrow until 3ish. So i will be writing a nice little blog tomorrow expling the world and writing letters. And then to the downtown for a history lesson. Fabulous, I know. So that is the way it shall be.

Caroline: I want you to know, that everyone here wears jellies. Its freaking ridiculous. The babies, tons of guys- everyone. They're like the jack rodgers but they have the jelly part covering the toes as well. Smart no? Oh well, thinking of you, and I love you.

-Ananda


Brother: Moussa with ze corn

Brother: Mamadou with said corn as well

Me with said corn.

Corn made on the castiron charcoal... thingy

Khalifa cooking the corn in the coals on the cast iron................. thingy

me with the breadbowl at dinner...at 10:30pm. its approximately 94 degrees with the heat index

Sister: Ama at dinner

My desk with the essentials: nalgene, bug spray, sunblock, money, gorilla pod, cashews, and squishy ball.

Mosquitooo neeeetttt

Khalifa with the bananas from the banana tree!!!

Said boys shower door.

the courtyard from the oppisite angle. I was sitting in that chair yesterday when I wrote the pictures in my head blog. and the cooking stuff was to the left in the picture. for the record that is

banana tree all chopped off : (

A Short Quip

We went to the Youss N Dour concert last night- he finally came on stage by 2:30, and everyone was so tired by then that we only stayed for one song. The act before him was great though- one guy playing a guitar. My friend Samba is going to get me his cd, so I might be able to post a song.

Feeling slightly non well right now. Possibly from lack of sleep, or awkward food. Going to Dakar's main park and zoo today. Cue homesicknees. I'll update later, promise.

-Ananda

Pictures In my Head

The courtyar din my house is roughly a 12/12 square with an extra 4x6 rectangle added onto it. From me at 8 o'clock I have the grey concrete hallway that leads to my room and the stairs. At 10 there are the two bathrooms/showers- one for the men, and the other for the women. At 12 there is the banana tree- curved by the weight of this unfippened bananas so that it touches the boys molting white wooden bathroom door. At 1 there is the door to the room that I should have been in ( but now Ama is). I had to move because one of the biggest rainy seasons ever brought floods and water damage to almost every home- leaving dankness and mold. At 2:30 there is the kitchen, another 4x6 rectangle, filled with its counter, refrigerator, and few cabients. OUtside its door sits the gas tank with its signle burner on top, and right next ot it lies the oron charcoal holder- the two things which prepare every meal my family and I eat. And then at 6 lies the cream colorred cement wall that separates Mousa's room from the courtyard.

Okay, two things about today, wait, no fourish.

1) Wolof does not have words for: funny, kate, or sad. Just think for a mmoment about waht that means about the culture. My theories?
Funny- humor is expected from everyone, if everyone is funny, there is no reason to say it.
Late- in Senegal, your not 'late' if you arrive four hours. Need I say more?
Sad- People here dont really understand public crying, it puzzles them, and they always dont see why you would cry. For the people here, someone is always there for you, whether you like it or not. So if you have a person who you can always talk to, even when your going out of your mind, there is no real reason to be sad.

2) I roasted coffee beans tonight on our little courtyard over the charcoal. We then ground them and will have fresh coffee tomorrow morning (I'll drink it for the experiance, but seriously, its so freaking hot right now, 101 heat index with ridiculous humidity). The smell of the beans was amazing- there of course was the smell of coffee, but there was also something much sweeter, almost of cinnamon and cocao. Then we roasted peanuts in their shells.. and I just ate them. Yep, fresh hand roasted peanutes.

3) I ate two banans today, and they made my life. Anything that is not a) strait carbohydrates b) with oil makes me extremely happy. Me + Salad= would be heaven. Sadly, it is not so, as its not edible for me.

4)We bought fabric yesterday and today we brought it to the tailor (nyaokat) and will have two paris of pants and a shirt by next week.

Oh and my brothers just litened to Akons Beautiful and Sexy Girl. Its just kind of surreal. Oh, and they love jazz. And as I'm not sleeping because I'm being kept up by my neighbors... and writing this blog... I herd the neighbors play Replay. That would be for you Mini.

The heat rash is doing much better. The phamacies " milk of the .... eaufaut" (whatever that means, oh how french is confusing) did well. On the bad side, I now have a rash on part of my stomach and all my lower back. Options: a) Its just a different type of heatrash b) my clothes werent ironed right so I now have fly larvae in me, dont worry, its not dangerous, just disgusting. c) (the option im voting for) I have eaten so much freaking oil that it is litterally seeping out of me, yes that is disgusting. Dont worry, if the heat rash milk doesnt help it I'll be going to the doctor tomorrow.

Even more important than that: IN the past 2.5 days I have got to talk to Mrs. Lindquist and Adri on the phone, Mrs. Karsten through e-mail, and Zuleika, Michael, Ian, and Erin by skype/Facebook chat. Yay.

Tomorrow: French and the last day of survival wolof.

Note:Sorry the posts are so long, I know they can be tiresome to read, but its hard to do them in small enough incriments because of scheduleing conflicts. Also, after this month, its not exactly going to be a full technology time, and while I have it (which is really unexpected) I figure I might as well use it. Night, or morning to me.

With love,

Ananda

New Blog Post On GCY wepost

Complete sentences and all in this blog post!!! All about the first market day.

http://globalcitizenyear.org/author/ananda-day/

Moving Day and A Bit

Oh la la, where in the world is my mind? Ho, hum. Well, actually, no ho hum at all. The past three days have been ridiculous.
So, lets start with my first french lesson with Madame Dianaba (Jana-baa). Before the lesson we had to take an exam to find out which class we would end up in and the exam consisted of a speaking conversation with the french teacher. Now in our group one person speaks impeccable french, Hilary is pretty darn good, I'm okay, and we have three who speak absolutly nothing. So we of course are like, no these people dont speak french. Instead of being like oh they dont need to take the exam Dianaba goes (in french) "super, lets start with them. To say the least, it was a quick exam. Anyways, Hilary and I are in the same class, which is quite a nice 1:2 ratio if I may say. Anyways, one of our tasks was to interview a man who works at the Baobab center in french. So we had gone through all the formal things-what is your name, occupation, where you were born, family, political believes, and so on. Anyways, he then states the question, a-tu un copain? Now litterally copain means friend, as in do you have a friend. At the current time I was exhausted, so of course I was like yes, I have tons of friends, and rattled off a bunch of people. Then he asks Hilary if she has a friend? Her respons? No. It was at this point that I remembered that in slang french, copain means boyfriend. To my horror, I had just told the man working at my 'school' that I had tons and tons of boysfriends. So I back tracked to say the least.

Yesterday was the official day that we got dropped off to meet our homestays! We got in to this massive van, that probably could have sat about 27 people or so comfortably. Off to each house we went, dropping fellows off to meet their new families. And then it was just me in the van while we were dropping Matt off. Side note, while sitting in the van a street vendor walked by with his box on his head. Now most of these people sell things such as cookies, batteries, t-shirts, or drinks. But this was not so for this special fellow, instead he had a box stuffed full of class-a lingerie on top of his head. Sadly, I have no photograph of the oddity.

Now a bit about my family. My last name is now Diallo (Jallo). I live in a neighborhood called SICAP Liberte, which is in the quartier next to the school. The home phone number is 011-221-33-864-0946. My cell phone number is 011-221-70-208-5693. -By the way, here, people dont say my number is two, eight zero.... instead they breat it up and say seventy, two hundred and eight, fifty six, and ninty three (which would be my number).. and in french. I knew I should have practiced the higher numbers more often. Okay, so officially there are three children in my family- Ama (26) is a female who works in her brothers shirt buisness. Khalifa (23) and Mamadou (20) are both in college. And then there are Karfa and another guy, who I think live there, but I'm not quite sure. See, in senegal, family if a very blurred line, so people just walk in like its no big deal. And to them, it really is no big deal. And there are Mama and Papa, but really I have no idea who is actually part of the family. Oh, and there is this french lady who works at the NGO with Karfa (who also owns the custom tailoring shirt buisness) and shes pretty cool. Ps, I totally think they have a secret thing together, but who actually knows? The whole family is pretty freaking smart too, we had discussions on the healthcare and politics of France and Senegal. Might I add, they dont really speak english, I mean Karfa can help me when I dont know a word in french, but litterally I now speak french 24/7 when at home or meeting people not with GCY. Well there was a big kerfluffel over the fact that the room I was supposed to be in had a bit of water damage, which had made it humid and with water stains/ mold on the walls. Eventually I ended up switching rooms with Ama, just for sleeping though so that I can still lock my room with all my stuff when I am no there. By the time all of this was sorted out, dinner was served- fried fish, yassa (onions & sauce), fries (dont even think about the word 'crunchy), and baguette. Until then, I had successfully avoided eating fish. This came to a tragic end though as I ate my first bite. I did only have one bite, but still, ew. And I know, I know, I'll have to start doing it sooner or later. As I was almost falling asleep as I ate, I then went to bed, reading my dear Dan Brown novel and writing in my diary. At about 3am, I woke up to the brilliant feeling of drowing... in the heat & sweat, even though I had a fan trained on me. Disgustingly hot to say the least. This morning I woke up with a beatuiful combination of: my eighth mosquito bite (even though i wore repellant & had a mosquito net) and a massive heat rash on the back of me legs, because it was so hot & sweaty when I was sleeping. Ick.
Today was safety and culture training. But I must go now, its getting dark at the Baobob.

Oh and P S. My house has wi fi!!! Karfa runs his shirt business online (and has a Macbook Pro might I add), so its all hooked up. Sweettttttttt! But I dont in the least expect this when I move out to the boon docks. Sending out letters tomorrow before a downtown sortie where were learning to barter!!

PSS.
So every morning we have the same breakfast of bread and stuff on it. Also, people drink really hot tea and coffee in the morning, which to me is ridiculous because it just makes you hotter! Back to the point though, send me Marmite. Besides the good nutritional value, its also something thats not always fo-nutella for breakfast. Its okay Heather, I know you think its ridiculous that I like marmite on bread.

-With love,
AD

Nighty Night

Had my first journey into the neighborhood where I will be staying for the next month, SICAP Liberte. Here a last couple of pictures of the appartement before I move tomorrow. I am getting eaten alive by little bugs!!!