Fancy A Swim? Monday, October 18th

As I mentioned it rained substantially last night so the roads are absolutely flooded which makes the 3km walk into the main island nearly impossible. Luckily there are several cheap modes of transportation available: Autobus en Commun, Taxi, Sept Places and unofficial Taxi.

The Autobus costs about 100 CFA which is around 20 cents. It was an excellent way to get to the big bridge this morning other than all the stops for the morning traffic rush and massive potholes and puddles. A taxi is good for the evenings and costs around 500CFA (~$1) to get pretty much anywhere around the area. Then there's Sept Places which varies in cost and Unofficial taxi costs around 100CFA per person.

The status of the vehicles is so unbelievably bad, it is amazing some of these things run! I have heard several people say their Sept Places broke down coming here from Dakar which then meant they had to push it to get it going or switch to one that was working. I can see why people say that the best mechanics come from areas such as this. The bus en commun are quite the experience and are reminiscent of a sardine can. I can't wait to post a photo of one barreling down the highway, totally full of people, with a few clingers on the back for good measure.

Nevertheless, today I recieved the official tour from Sarah, the girl from Wisconsin who works at PA which was good. Once you get to know which banks are good, and where to get different things, life becomes a little easier. We had an excellent lunch at the customary 2pm hour, and I went on my way, wading my way home to retrieve my laptop to make some email updates.

Tomorrow, I finally begin work!

Today Sally and Natalie and I rented really crappy bikes for relatively little money (4000 CFA = $8) for 3.5 hours. This allowed us to tour all of Ile de Langue Barbarie and also the main island in fairly good time.

There is no question that some of the poorer people live on the peninsula and make a living catching and selling fish. This made for some very unfortunate smells along the ride but we were able to see how the fish are caught, cleaned, and left out in the sun to dry.

After the ride we went to a store called Exotica, which carries such provocative items as yogurt, laundry soap and tiny unappealing fruits and veggies. The girls were quite excited to have some laundry to do that afternoon, which led me to believe that life will soon take on a much different pace than I am accustomed to.

Both Nat and Sally are RNs working either for the Red Cross catering to the homeless, or with an institute which houses and cares for destitute boys. Some other volunteers are working for the local radio station, and others like myself are working at the Kindercare and primarily teaching. The Kindercare was set up by the PA program director Moctar and caters to children from some of the poorer kids in the community. I start work on Tuesday.

Otherwise, I am making an effort to form a relationship with the Mme of the house so as to garner her interest and perhaps even her respect. So far, as I have mentioned, she is polite and makes me eat lots but after a day of riding around hearing "Eh! Toubab! Donne moi de l'argent!" it makes me, much prefer to be called by my Senegalese name "Asslay" at home!

Senegal Day 2 - Saturday October 16th

Today was a nice leisurely saturday which I spent with some of the other volunteers. Through word of mouth, all the best places to eat drink, use internet, find yogurt and even swim are passed around frequently. This is how I came to visit Hotel Mermoz. Hotel Mermoz offers free swimming and lounging for hours on end so long as you buy food and drink which we wholly took advantage of.

By the end of the day I found myself quite hot and dehydrated which is a great way to spoil everything, because the 45 minute walk home became an overwhelming experience of smells and sights down Market Street that made me long for home.

Nevertheless, I tried to take time this evening to unwind and observe the family. People here speak primarily Wolof and secondarily French (only for my benefit) which leaves me quite out of the loop during most conversations (unless the word Toubab comes up which means foreigner, or worse yet white foreigner).

I'm not too sure what to think about Toubab... it's hardly fair to say that being referred to as such is meant meanly however I realised tonight that the reason all the little kids in the house call me Toubab is because the Matriarch calls me Toubab. Otherwise she is very pleasant to deal with.

A digression on prayer: Given that Senegal is primarily Muslim, there are several prayer times throughout the day. So far I have observed a few men on mats here and there, and this morning I was aroused at 5am by someone on the loudest loudspeaker doing prayer chants ... hardly a way to relax on a Sunday morning! This evening, the man I assume is Grandpappy began his prayers while sitting languidly amoung the circle of women outside our house. He chanted with such gusto I almost began to clap along for lack of anything better to do (again, Wolof, not my second language) which was about the time I fetched my Journal so as not to insult or cause a ruckus.

I will be interested to learn more about this aspect of life here...

Quand Il Pleut, Il Pleut!

Saturday evening the internet crapped out, an then there was a substantial rainstorm last night which flooded the roads and the rain went on for hours. Dinner was early (8pm) and I wasn't able to go out to use the internet. So, here are my posts for the weekend.

Happy Monday!

I'm here... where to start?

Seriously... I have had such a crazy day I have no idea where to start!

The flight to Washington was good, then on to Dakar to land at 5:30am, a time of day when apparently the humidity can still be hotter than anything.

The airport in Dakar is not somewhere I'd want to hang out too long so fortunately Babacar from Projects Abroad was there with his sign, and his id, and my name on some forma documents to make sure I knew who he was.

Then began the negotiations to get a cab, negotiations to get out of the parking lot, negotiations at the gas station, negotiations for a "sept-place" which eventually took us on the 4 hour journey up to St. Louis. Along the way I saw some pretty interesting glimpses of farmscape, kids herding goats, brahman cows crossing the road, and someone to selel you cashews, limes, mandarines... anything you like... at every turn.

The host family at St Louis have been very welcoming and we had our first sit on the floor lunch of rice and fish with veggies, which everyone ate out of a communal bowl (I was lucky and recieved a spoon).

I have also met a couple other girls (an Aussie and a girl from Wisconsin), both have been here for 2 months and have lots of information on how things work around here.

Anyhow, just thought I would update to say I made it, I'm safe, and dang its hot!

That's all for now...

I'm on my way!

So I am working away here at packing my bags. I have come to realise that 50 lbs is a lot of stuff and I am nowhere near my limit, but also am thinking about all the cool things I can buy and bring home (right Nathan?) so I am going to stick with checking 2 bags and hopefully do all my Christmas shopping over the pond.

All in all it has been a hectic last few days leading up to my departure. We had a crazy Thanksgving weekend which involved an engagement/moving to Germany announcement from my best friend, a wedding and a turkey dinner. It was good to see the whole family one last time before Christmas.

I am finding it hard to believe that I am going to get on an airplane tomorrow and not come home for weeks and weeks. Somehow the reality of going to Senegal just hasn't quite soaked in yet!

Anyhow, back to packing...

A Note on Staying Healthy While Abroad...

I thought I would take a moment to mention some of the important health related issues I had to consider before travelling to Senegal. Fortunately, the rainy season will pretty much be over at the time when I will arrive.

In order to be best prepared and informed I first made an appointment at the local travel health clinic. They are up to date with travel info, and carry all the vaccines one may need when visiting a country with different health concerns from Canada. In order to travel to Senegal they recommended a Yellow Fever vaccine, malarial tablets, and also a bed net with an insect repellent built in.

From what I've read, being prepared and common sense are perhaps the best tools for staying healthy: Hand sanitizer, boiling water before drinking, water purifier kits, deet, long sleeved clothing, avoiding sketchy looking street meat... the list goes on! When all else fails, I've also stocked up on anti-diharrheal medication to minimize the effects of traveller's trots.

Anyhow, I really hope that by following the guidelines I've come across, I will have a really great exerience.