I do have to admit that the first week of actual volunteering was a bit of a let down. I really felt like there wasn't a great need for so many of us to attend and help out at the Kindergarden that PA has been sponsoring, where my first placement has been. I requested that I start my teaching placement early but for whatever reason that is not possible. So, I have one more week of lazy half days, and then on to teaching, which I am really looking forward to.
There are however, many benefits to working through Projects Abroad, and one such example is that they are very well organised in the social aspect of things. Every other weekend there are excursions to various places around St Louis.
This past weekend we visited the Lampoul Desert, a small desert located between Dakar and St Louis and very close to the ocean. On the way to Lampoul, we stopped off in a Maur villiage (a villiage of Mauritanean immigrants) for tea. Their village has the unique characteristic of having low lying tents under which people eat and socialise. Even in the heat of the day it was nice and cool.
Tea here in Senegal is a very big deal. Tea is made after lunch and dinner, and for each go, is made three times: first tea is is usually very bitter and very sweet, then second tea is less so but with the addition of mint leaves, then third tea is rather nice because it is just the right balance of flavours (in my mind anyway!). Most households here do not have applicances in the kitchen. For cooking, people use a propane tank looking thing with an element on the top, and this is what we used to make afternoon tea in the Maur village. Tea is drank from shot glass sized glasses.
After that we were off to the beach for a picnic. While most beaches I have seen have been littered with garnage, the beach we were at went on for miles and there was hardly any garbage anywhere. We went for a dip and then hopped back in the trucks and rode for 1.5 hours all the way down the beach until we headed inland towards Lompoul.
Along parts of the drive we passed through many small towns where kids would come running along the road shouting and waving. It felt really special to see how excited the kids were to see a boat load of strangers pass by, and I noticed even some of the adults getting caught up in the excitement.
The highway took us to a sandy pathway where the campsite was. One of the girls happened to have some Paul Simon on her phone, so we immediately blared the music and sang along as we bounced along the sandy pathway towards the campsite. The camp itself was a gathering of tall tents that slept 4 people in beds, had wooden floors, and a real shower and flush toilet, very civilised indeed!
Last night we had camel rides and a big walk in the desert, and this morning we got up in time to see that sun rise. All in all it was a really nice respite from the noise and the clutter of St. Louis.
During the drive home tihs morning, I felt a little reluctance to re-enter the city limits because the garbage at times can be overwhelming. I just have to keep telling myself that this is what I am here for, to absorb another culture. Personally, I have taken to shaking the hands of random children on the street and exchanging a few words in the hopes that maybe next time they won't be so inclined to yell Toubab! at every foreigner they meet.
Tomorrow morning, back to work!
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