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.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
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.
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.Saturday, October 10, 2009
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 : (
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
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
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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
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/
http://globalcitizenyear.org/author/ananda-day/
Monday, October 5, 2009
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
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
Saturday, October 3, 2009
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!!!
A Day of First Notes
two ladies seen from the apartment balcony in senegalise dress
view from the balcony
again
and again
yep, still the same view. but this is the last day at the apparment, so eventually I'll get pictures of the house i'll be in for the next month.October 3, 5pm.
Hmms. So a quick recap of the world as is, and has been for about a day.
-I got a red hard cover mole skin in the airport because i think I'll run out of space in the ones I have now. It was a great success.
-My last American meal (in Dulles) was Pizza, oh so great.
-There were a ton of MBA students on the plane, and when we were telling them about GCY the repeating phrase (on of the girls litterally said this 12 times) is that we seem really mature.
-I watched part of the Hangover on the plane before I fell asleep.
-The thing that most made me freak out/ be aware of the fact that I am actually in Africa was when the moment I stepped off the plane, I saw soldiers. There were soldiers at the terminal (that we were bussed to after getting off the plane), at the visa check in, at the bagage claim, after you have your bagage x-rayed, outside, and then on the roads leaving the airport.
-Good golly, this place is wicked humid. Think NC in the dog days of summer where you walk outside and feel like your swimming and need a snorkel to breathe. Its like that, but the sun is stronger. And dont worry, I'm all about sunscreen.
-So there is a lot of rubble everywhere. And construction. Like there was rubble right next to the runway at the airport. Oh, and there was a cat.... on the runway... near the rubble.
-There are horses in the medians of the highway. Supposobly they belong to someone, and they just wander off to feed, then they come back to their owner. Freaky when you see a horse on your first trip on a 'highway' (not really speedy, just two lanes really, and there are speed bumps everywhere. side note, there are almost no car crashes in Dakar. While there are also about two stoplights in the city, and there are some signs for directions, people avoid epicly failing each other by always communicating, person to person, before they turn or where they are going.)
-There are also sheep everywhere. Except they have no wool. I will try and get pictures of all of these things, but it might not be till later. For the spartan elite, the word for sheep in french is : mouton- pronounced moo-tawn.
-So on the first day (yesterday) I was so tired that as I brushed my teeth I used tap water. Call me captain idiot. Rachel, my team leader, says its not going to be too bad. I mean, maybe I'll just get immune a little bit faster.
-Every morning we are woken up promptly ( around 5ish i think) by the chanting in the mosque. Which really is beautiful. But in all honesty it is not best appreciated until more sleep is obtained.
-Here they call white people toubabs( two-bob). So everytime you walk past a group of kids, they go: toubab, toubab, toubab, etc. Its kina funny, but also quite wierd.
-its basically essential to shower three times a day as the weather is killer. i use the word 'shower' loosly.
-Today I had my first french lesson, oh what a great four hours.
-In approximately half an hour ( the Senegalise arent really watch people, to them, your not late if your there within four hours) we will be going on tours of the nieghborhoods of our host families. Yesterday we went on a tour of the neighborhood around the Baobab center, which is where we are learning. Currently there are students there from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Concidentally, two soldier from Fort Brag just left, as my french teacher, Madam Dinaba was teaching them. I can now tell you how to get to the post office, cell phone store, grocery store, the presidents house, the Baobab center, a pharmacy, and probably some other things.
-Tomorrow we are moving in with our host families. Wahooooo.
-Lunch yesterday consisted of: whole fried fish, seafood white rice, and ontion saucy stuff. Barf on my life. And yes, I know, I will have to eventually learn to live and love the seafood. Still, barf.
-Breakfast is typically baguette & fo-Nutella stuff made with peanuts. or margerine, or preserve.
-We have also had a random sampling of different sheep stews. Beware of bones. Also, can we just talk about how there are sheep everywhere? Les Moutons sont en tous dicrections!
-I'm also wearing tank tops for basically the first time ever. But dont worry, I cant wear them in public, that would just be silly. Only in the apparement, or under a button down.
-Gaya and I are currently sitting in the middle of the hallway ( with no air circulation might I add) in order to get an internet connection.
-the power went out last night, the first night, and not unordinary, yay for flashlights.
-We got our cell phones yesterday. they are kind of like pay as you go phones. I still have to check international rates. Can you recieve international texts?
Gota go though, promise at some point I will actually write in complete sentences, preferably coherent ones. Love you all.
Friday, October 2, 2009
So Long America, Hello Humidity
Ian, Gaya, and I during our all-night goodbye.Gone, Gone, Going
So heres the general overview for the past few days: We had a documentary film maker named Tori Hogan ( Beyond Good Intentions) come speak to us about social media, had Nancy Farease teach us about photo essays, went to the GCY send off party, had a send off discussion with Abby, watched a video compelation of our US training, packed, visited Guide Dogs for the Blind, a homeless shelter, l eft the dorms at 3:30 this morning, and then finally took off for Washington, Dulles where we will then connect to Dakar (and hopefully where I will be posting this). But to the more important things within.
Well obviously the most important thing was that there was a Free Taco Truck at the send off party, complete with bottled Jaritos and Coca Cola. I am proud to say that I championed two Chicken tacos Verde and Two Hot and Spicy Chicken Tacos. To say the least, Ian was proud. In general, the party was another those amazing meetings where it seems I’m meeting all the most interesting, important, intelligent, and generally incredible people. Ex. John Wood, founder of Room to Read, Abby’s mother, sister ( Hannah shes in public health, and its basicallly amazing), brother, and father, reporters from from Frontline, and of couse, more people from Raleigh, NC (Enloe graduate). Oh, and then there was the small detail that the day before Abby had asked Gaya, Matt, and I to write “ a little something to say” at the party. 24-hour crunch much? So we all arrive at this gorgeous stucco house in the Bay Area, its cold as all get up, of course we are in thin dresses as theres no reason for added warmth in Senegal, and…..the power is completely out. Needless to say I had the great opportunity of reading my speech in candle light with the added bonus of Abby hovering over me with an Iphone on the flashlight app. Who knows, maybe the mood lighting made people like it, but as for general consensous: people couldn’t see me shivering due to the dark, which is probably a good thing, and most seemed to like it (the frontline ladies gave me their cards!). One last thing, so there was a trampoline, and I’m pretty sure we had the equivilant of a mini party as we wrangled Ms. Erin Brennan (GCY Program Director) to come up with Matt, Zuleika, Hilary, Gaya, and Alec. The best part was probably having Erin have semi-mionor-half joke-heart attacks when say, my pen would fall out of my pocket and it became a dangerous object that that to be addressed with the utmost expediancy. Needless to say everyone laughed their hearts out when we super bounced Erin… even Erin.
So after this oh so crazy party, we made and adventure dash into In and Out, I mean, who wouldn’t do that at 11pm on a Tuesday night? Sadly (or not so sadly as they were beyond delicious) I was full of taco, so Gaya and I split a fry and chocolate milkshake, oh greasy goodness. On a side note, they are supposed to have the most amazing fried chicken in Senegal- its lightly breaded and then sear-fryed( if you can do that).
Well skipping forward to Wednesday, or yesterday, or today if you count it by how long I’ve been up. What a completely bittersweet day. See, its just another round of goodbyes that we had to now say. I mean really, what am I going to do without the other half of the fellows ( Ian, Laura, Zuleika, Marguerite, Michael, and the team Leader Luis)? Wait, wait, wait though. First we had a mess of packing and laundry to do. From about 1:30 pm to 1:45am I believe the packing was quite fervent and then began to die down. It included: doing laundry the whole time, an epic trip to Target for Erin, Gaya, Victoria and I ( I finally got those tights for my dress, ack, and other assorted items such a stock pile of batteries), and then the med kit corrections to make sure none of us is an idiot basically. And on the other side of things, we had to do things that in all honesty deserved the not sleeping that they got. Before we left for the US training institute everyone was asked to bring an object that defined this year for them. To name a few-a matchbox, passports, a peace corps luggage tag, the names of each of the fellows, mini light up hard hat key chain, a diary, a gaurdian angel, and a little shrinky dink of the world from years before. We then of course took on the task of writing each other Plane letters, for whenever you feel sad or lonely, we can always look at them and remember the amazing people in this with us. So in about 3 hours when I board my plane to Senegal I will be taking out my multicolored envelopes and card stock to make me a little less sad to be leaving these amazing people, as I will have at least a little bit of them with me. Sleep didn’t really matter, by far it was more important for everyone to finish their letters, to spend time with each other, and make sure they wouldn’t get arrested for something stupid at the airport.
All was smooth in general. And of course after all six of the Senegal fellows are on the road to the airport I burst into a spontaneous nose bleed due to the ridiculous dry air that we had of late. Yay, bloody car ride! Just kidding. Anyways, we get to the airport and are trying to check in, and the issue was that of –“ well you don’t have the extended visas yet (we will be obtaining them in country), so we don’t know if we can let you on the plane. After a great wait of twenty minutes, they finally realized that oh, we were right. Surprise, surprise? But I guess you cant blame them, I mean they would get a $25,000 fine if they messed up. Erin then walked with us to the gate, we all got breakfast, and then it was time. So we said our goodbyes, and my last glimpse was of Erin smiling as she waved while we walked onto the plane. Goodbye San Francisco, no more flowers in our hair sadly…except for the return of course.
So I appologize for the length, but oh well, like it really matters. Hopefully this will be posted while I’m sitting in Dulles airport with some grub. I then plan to do whatever it takes to actually get some sleep, as we arrive in Dakar at 5:55am. Don’t worry, I brought benadryl on the plane along with an eye mask and ear plugs. And I’ve been holding out on the sleep for you know… ever so I should be ready for it. Me= total sleep prep. In actuality= no idea if it will actually work. Well I love you all, make sure you write me back, and I promise to try and notify of safe arrivals. Oh, PS. IM GOING TO FREAKING AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, scratch that, possibly by the time some of you read this… I WILL BE IN AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know, no big deal. Its just Africa. Okay, its love.
-Ananda
So it turns out that Dulles has no free internet access, causing the posting of this past blog to be a gigantic failure.
Notice though: I have arrived in Dakar, safe and sound, and whenever the power comes back on I will post this blog, and then eventually write one about the first day. Love.
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