28.9.12
22.8.12
sojourn.
I've been a lackluster blogger of late, please pardon my absence. I've been very busy with work/life/Africa. And most important of all, I was gearing up for my long awaited vacay back home in Amerik. It was rather difficult to focus on anything when there were images of burgers & milkshakes & cookies floating though my head.
But before I could escape to the good ole U. S. of A. I had a rather patriotic affair to attend here in Senegal - the 4th of July. Every year we have a celebration down in the region of Kedougou, all waterfalls and mountains, to celebrate the motherland. Volunteers come from every corner of the country to celebrate their patriotism. The 'fete' is replete with a pig roast, bissap juice & beer, fireworks, and all the Americana we can get our hands on. It was the perfect precursor to the real thing. As soon as the party was through, I was off.
America.
I have to say, it was everything I imagined and more. I indulged in every culinary whim, luxuriated in A/C until I was shivering, slept in past a decent hour, did everything I could possibly think of with high speed internet, used every social network I could past my understanding.I was overwhelmed by choice at grocery stores, I drank an unnecessary amount of iced coffee, I laid on the beach util I was tanner than the Senegalese sun made me in 16 months. It was amazing. I bopped around from RI, to Cape Cod, to New York, to Boston and back again. I saw all the friends and family I could ask for.
What did I learn from my little sojourn? How much I really missed my friends and family, and being a part of their lives; but also how much I love my family here in Senegal and my life here, since it was all I seemed to be able to talk about. I realized how truly lost I am in terms of US pop culture in the 16 months I've been gone (memes??). I've realized that while it was an east enough transition for the three weeks I was home, moving home and readjusting will be an effort (this is an advance warning that you are all going to have to put up with my "when in Senegal..." stories). I'd forgotten how much I loved my clothes, my shoes, my jewelry. Shallow, perhaps, but true. Most importantly I remembered how much I love my life, no matter where in the world I am.
But it wasn't sad, depressing, or worse coming back to Senegal. Yes, it smells pretty bad here. There are about 18 billion mosquitoes here at the moment. It's hot. Really, really hot. On an average day I am sweaty, dirty, itchy and I probably smell a bit. But hey, it's not all bad.
Highlights:
*Seeing my family waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator in the airport.
With balloons. And iced coffee.
*Cape Cod.
*A picturesque picnic on the beach with two of my favorites.
*Two home runs and a win at the Red Sox game.
*Visiting with my grandmothers.
*Fireflies in the firelight. And smores.
*NEW YORK CITY. Enough said.
*Milkshake Mondays.
*Pookie time. Pookie phone time. Pookie car time.
But before I could escape to the good ole U. S. of A. I had a rather patriotic affair to attend here in Senegal - the 4th of July. Every year we have a celebration down in the region of Kedougou, all waterfalls and mountains, to celebrate the motherland. Volunteers come from every corner of the country to celebrate their patriotism. The 'fete' is replete with a pig roast, bissap juice & beer, fireworks, and all the Americana we can get our hands on. It was the perfect precursor to the real thing. As soon as the party was through, I was off.
America.
I have to say, it was everything I imagined and more. I indulged in every culinary whim, luxuriated in A/C until I was shivering, slept in past a decent hour, did everything I could possibly think of with high speed internet, used every social network I could past my understanding.I was overwhelmed by choice at grocery stores, I drank an unnecessary amount of iced coffee, I laid on the beach util I was tanner than the Senegalese sun made me in 16 months. It was amazing. I bopped around from RI, to Cape Cod, to New York, to Boston and back again. I saw all the friends and family I could ask for.
What did I learn from my little sojourn? How much I really missed my friends and family, and being a part of their lives; but also how much I love my family here in Senegal and my life here, since it was all I seemed to be able to talk about. I realized how truly lost I am in terms of US pop culture in the 16 months I've been gone (memes??). I've realized that while it was an east enough transition for the three weeks I was home, moving home and readjusting will be an effort (this is an advance warning that you are all going to have to put up with my "when in Senegal..." stories). I'd forgotten how much I loved my clothes, my shoes, my jewelry. Shallow, perhaps, but true. Most importantly I remembered how much I love my life, no matter where in the world I am.
But it wasn't sad, depressing, or worse coming back to Senegal. Yes, it smells pretty bad here. There are about 18 billion mosquitoes here at the moment. It's hot. Really, really hot. On an average day I am sweaty, dirty, itchy and I probably smell a bit. But hey, it's not all bad.
Highlights:
*Seeing my family waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator in the airport.
With balloons. And iced coffee.
*Cape Cod.
*A picturesque picnic on the beach with two of my favorites.
*Two home runs and a win at the Red Sox game.
*Visiting with my grandmothers.
*Fireflies in the firelight. And smores.
*NEW YORK CITY. Enough said.
*Milkshake Mondays.
*Pookie time. Pookie phone time. Pookie car time.
20.6.12
cellphones
Check out an article from the Times about increased cellphones access for women.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/opinion/a-cellphone-for-every-woman.html?_r=2
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/opinion/a-cellphone-for-every-woman.html?_r=2
19.6.12
market mango madness
A trip to the weekly market, called a 'louma,' to visit one of my moms turns into an excuse for a mango binge.
Mango season is in full swing here in Senegal. I generally find that I am swimming in seas of mangoes - mango for breakfast, for a snack, as a present for my family, just because. Big mangoes, small mangoes, stringy mangoes, ripe mangoes, sour mangoes. Mango juice, dried mango, with salt or spice, it's everything nice!
One might think that you could get sick of the mango invasion, and believe me, I've come close, but you just can't beat that mango magic.
Mango season is in full swing here in Senegal. I generally find that I am swimming in seas of mangoes - mango for breakfast, for a snack, as a present for my family, just because. Big mangoes, small mangoes, stringy mangoes, ripe mangoes, sour mangoes. Mango juice, dried mango, with salt or spice, it's everything nice!
One might think that you could get sick of the mango invasion, and believe me, I've come close, but you just can't beat that mango magic.
5.6.12
girls, girls, girls
For those of you who keep up with my haphazard blogging (mostly just my mom...) you will remember that about this time last year I blogged about a scholarship project that I was doing with SeneGAD, our gender and development project. First of all, lets take a moment to reflect on the fact that WHOA! I have been here for a long time. Second of all, let's talk about how awesome girls are.
SeneGAD's Michele Sylvester Scholarship works with female students at the college level, which is about the equivalent of middle school in America. Volunteers work with school directors to choose nine girls with exemplary educational records, but who exhibit financial need. The girls have to write an essay about their goals and aspirations for the future, complete an interview, and the volunteer follows this up with a home visit. All nine of the girls have their school registration fees paid, and three of them are chosen by the SeneGAD scholarship committee as winners, who will receive an additional gift of school supplies.
Now let's talk about why this is important. Staying in school is not that easy in Senegal. Back home, you just have to show up every year, your parents take you out for new school clothes, some shiny new binders, notebooks and pens. Here, if you are lucky, your parents will pay your school fee, and maybe you can get a notebook and a few pens from an older sibling. And if you have the good fortune of being a girl, it becomes just a little bit trickier.
One of my sisters, Awa, is about 12 - let me give you a quick run down of her day. She pulls water, she pounds millet, she does the laundry, she sweeps the compound, she watches over the younger children. And she squeezes a bit of school in the middle of all that. If her teachers show up that is. And let me tell you, Awa has it easy. She has grandparents who care about her, and her education (and, lucky girl, she has a PCV with a never ending supply of pens). Not everyone is so lucky.
So what does this scholarship do? It helps a girl stay in school for one more year that she might not have been able to afford. It gives her the tools that she needs to succeed in a system that is faulty in the first place. It shows her family that she is worth the investment. Because she is.
So instead of getting your daily Starbucks, or going to the movies, or out to dinner, send a few dollars this way and help us to fund the Michele Sylvester Scholarship for the girls across Senegal.
You can donate here, and please indicate my name in the comment section so that the money goes to scholarship fund. Thank you!
SeneGAD's Michele Sylvester Scholarship works with female students at the college level, which is about the equivalent of middle school in America. Volunteers work with school directors to choose nine girls with exemplary educational records, but who exhibit financial need. The girls have to write an essay about their goals and aspirations for the future, complete an interview, and the volunteer follows this up with a home visit. All nine of the girls have their school registration fees paid, and three of them are chosen by the SeneGAD scholarship committee as winners, who will receive an additional gift of school supplies.
Now let's talk about why this is important. Staying in school is not that easy in Senegal. Back home, you just have to show up every year, your parents take you out for new school clothes, some shiny new binders, notebooks and pens. Here, if you are lucky, your parents will pay your school fee, and maybe you can get a notebook and a few pens from an older sibling. And if you have the good fortune of being a girl, it becomes just a little bit trickier.
One of my sisters, Awa, is about 12 - let me give you a quick run down of her day. She pulls water, she pounds millet, she does the laundry, she sweeps the compound, she watches over the younger children. And she squeezes a bit of school in the middle of all that. If her teachers show up that is. And let me tell you, Awa has it easy. She has grandparents who care about her, and her education (and, lucky girl, she has a PCV with a never ending supply of pens). Not everyone is so lucky.
So what does this scholarship do? It helps a girl stay in school for one more year that she might not have been able to afford. It gives her the tools that she needs to succeed in a system that is faulty in the first place. It shows her family that she is worth the investment. Because she is.
So instead of getting your daily Starbucks, or going to the movies, or out to dinner, send a few dollars this way and help us to fund the Michele Sylvester Scholarship for the girls across Senegal.
You can donate here, and please indicate my name in the comment section so that the money goes to scholarship fund. Thank you!
10.4.12
bintu
This is Bintu. She is probably the cutest thing under three feet that I have ever seen. While our dear friendship is not exactly based on communication as she has not yet progressed past baby talk (all I can ever make out is "andba da gu ta" which is not even Serere), she loves to pick up all of my belongings and show them to me, and this routine has bonded us for life.
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