I am alive and doing very very well!

Merry Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Lenny and I spent a very strange but wonderful Christmas in the desert in Timbuktu. We didnt have much Christmas spirit but we definitely took time to think of home and our families and friends so far away.

We have been having crazy adventures every step of the way. Our trip started out with a 55 hour train ride on a train built in the 1950s...possibly not cleaned since then either...some of the cockroaches looked a little dusty :)

We hadn't planned to stay in Mali so long but we met a fantastic German couple on the train who we decided we wanted to travel with, so we headed north to Timbuktu with them. Part of the journey was on a cargo Pinasse (big boat) for 3 days on the Niger River. That was very relaxing! Unfortunately Nathalie and Ansgar had to head back towards Dakar so we didnt get to spend Christmas with them but instead we spent Christmas with three guys in the desert and a camel.

Two of the guys were our guides. The third owned the camel. It was wonderful. One of them is playing in the Festival du Desert...so he sang a bit for us and we learned some traditional Tuareg dancing. They taught us about Tuareg beliefs about the stars. Quite a special Christmas...I even got to open one present that I have been carrying since September from Adam's parents!! That was a big exciting event in our evening!!!

The guys were really sweet so after our desert trip they invited us to their family's house for a traditional diner on the 25th...their Christmas present to us!

Delicious as it was (rice with goat and camel butter)it must not have sat so well in our stomaches because on our drive back to Mopti (leaving Timbuktu) Lenny and I both were violently ill. First and LAST time - inshallah - that I throw up out the window of a moving van!! :(

We spent a day recovering in Mopti and yesterday we hopped on a bus to Koro (near the Burkina-Mali border) and then on to Ouagiyah in Burkina. Another painful painful bus ride leaving my butt and back seriously bruised :) We were at least 30 people in a van meant for MAX 20....almost impressive, if it wasnt so painful!!

Unfortunatly Lenny's illness seems to have hung on because she is still recovering today so we postponed moving on until tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will grab a bus to Tougan and visit my dear friend Max's host family from her Canada World Youth days. That will be really really neat!!

From there the plan is to head south to a region with pretty waterfalls and hippos - and then spend a week heading back to Saint Louis. Likely with a stop in Dakar!

I probably wont have internet access until I get back to Saint Louis again but I promise an update at that point.

Hope that everyone who follows this had a fantastic Christmas and are still having a great winter break! Happy New Year!!!

The BIG Day!!

Today I rolled small pieces of fat into mouton stomach lining and then wrapped mouton intestine around it. "Unfortunately" we left before I was able to sample this sumptious treat! :)

Animal lovers beware...Tabaski is NOT for you. Although, it was much easier to watch than I had imagined. We arrived at the tailor's shop this morning shortly before 8. Finding a bus into town was much easier than anticipated! Mbaye (our tailor) was still working on last minute outfits for the day. When he finished he took us to his house where we met his 4 brothers and 2 sisters and their various wives and husbands and children! They had 6 sheep that they were going to kill. One was a huge one that his father had bought!

At 9:30 all the men went to the mosque to pray and when they came back the real work began. All 6 sheep were brought outside and tied to various posts. 6 holes were dug for the blood to drain in to. Then one by one the sheep were pushed/carried to the holes, placed on the ground and their throats were cut over the holes. I had a whole range of emotions going on - intrigue, disgust, sadness, apathy....I wasn't sure how I was feeling. Lenny and I documented it well though, so those of you interested can see the whole process at some point. I wont post the most graphic photos out of sympathy for those who don't want to see.

It was quite a process. Mbaye's father killed the first mouton, the biggest. Then each brother killed one after. All the little boys were right there helping hold down the sheep.

The sheep were then carried back into the courtyard of the house were the men began to prepare the meat. The women began to cook the meat and after awhile everyone was occupied with prepping the meat. I helped one of the daughters prepare the onion sauce that went with lunch! MMMM tasty!

The day was mostly spent sitting around and dealing with the meat. I don't know if you can picture it but 6 sheep is a LOT of meat. There was also a whole ritual of taking certain pieces to neighbours as 'gifts' and receiving certain pieces as well! At one point a man came in and sang a song and people were dancing!

It was all very festive and everyone was helping!

In the afternoon there was a bit of a lull as not all of the sheep killed were being processed. Some would wait until tomorrow.

Lenny and I went for a bit of a walk and when we came back we got to eat again! We got to eat with the men...which was strange. But I guess we were guests! The younger women all ate together and then the older women ate together.

Now I am all sheeped out...well, really, all meat-ed out in general for a good long time to come! I can still smell mouton stomach on my hands...

All in all a fantastic Tabaski celebrated with a wonderful family!! We will definitely go back and spend time with them. Despite Mbaye's iffy tailoring skills :)

Tomorrow -- off to Dakar!

Pre-Tabaski post!

Tabaski!

Tabaski is a Muslim holiday all about mouton (sheep)! Apparently when Abraham was going to sacrifice his son to god, god replaced Ishmael (I think that was the son) with a Mouton. So every year Muslims around the world celebrate this sacrifice by they themselves sacrificing a mouton.

(yes, I am aware that mouton is the french word and that there is a proper english word but mouton just sounds so much better)

There is a whole intense spirit around Tabaski that is very similar to the Christmas spirit. Although much less commercial and more about being with the family. Although, I am sure Tabaski is a big economic boost at the same time as people are buying gifts and clothing for the big day!!

Imagine for a minute the whole ritual of going to pick out a Christmas tree. You go and you select the one that is the most within your means (both in terms of price and space), you either cut it down or you select it out of the precut pile. Then you throw it up on the roof of your car, maybe even put it in a bag first, tie it down and off you go! Now mentally replace the image of the tree with that of a mouton…and there you have tabaski spirit ☺ You go and pick out your mouton….put it in a bag….throw it on the roof…tie it down….bring it home! But instead of decorating your mouton you slaughter it and eat it…

For Tabaski, it is the obligation of every Muslim (I think just the men) to buy a mouton if they can afford it. If you can afford more you buy more than one and share with your neighbours. It is a day of prayer, eating, and being with family. If you aren’t Muslim, that doesn’t matter you will still get tons of invites to spend Tabaski with a Muslim family. I don’t think I can count the number of people we have turned down and not because we are just ‘oh so popular’ but because it is part of the tradition to share and be open and welcoming. Everyone has been talking about Tabaski for weeks…..everyone goes home to be with their families. Campus right now is so empty because people are at home preparing. Everywhere you go there is Tabaski spirit. Saint Louis is a MESS to walk through because you have to dodge all the vendors selling beautiful outfits to wear, food, gifts and of course the most important. It is almost dangerous to walk in town because you might get stuck up against a car while a herd of mouton go by with their sharp little horns…but so far I have managed to avoid any gouging!

Ooohh it is just so exciting!! Lenny and I are spending Tabaski with our tailor. It is a little funny because, as we have discovered, our tailor is not necessarily the most…how to put it…skilled tailor in Saint Louis. But he has a big heart and he invited us a long time ago! So tomorrow morning we are going to leave campus at 7 am to be in town by 8. The reason it might take so long is we have to wait for a nice person driving by to stop and pick us up. Taxis don’t really work on Tabaski….

Then we will spend the whole day with the tailor and his family. There is apparently a big prayer at 10….there is the killing of the mouton….there is the preparation of the food…and then eating of the food. I am sure there are a whole lot of other things going on too but I can write about that after the fact ☺

Tomorrow night we will return to campus for a nice rest and then early Wednesday morning Lenny and I are off to Dakar. We aren’t entirely sure of our plan but we will start with going to Dakar and trying to figure out the train schedule to Bamako in Mali. From there, who knows….we will see how far we get.

So – for now….Dewenati (sort of means…bonne fete for this year and years to come) and Dem leen chi jamm neuw chi jamm (go in peace and return in peace)!

Students win!

Strike is over...bursaries have been paid! To most people at least. The first years still have to wait but I guess they have worked something out to appease them somehow.

Thanks to those of you who voiced your concern for me! I am sorry I was out of touch for a bit after sending an message like that...there was actually no other violence after that day. There were two more roadblocks but other then some loud words with angry truck drivers and passers-through no one was hurt and the Gendarmerie stayed away.

There is still a bit of tension on campus because the students are a bit divided on the topic of whose tactics actually solved the problem. Was it the students blocking the road that pushed the Ministry to deliver the payments or was it the Delegates in Dakar having meetings and insisting on immediate payment...

Maybe it was a combination...

Either way - the students have their money and are able to travel home to their regions to celebrate Tabaski! Yeah!

And now I have to go in to town to pick up my Bubu (traditional dress) that I will wear for Tabaski....

More updates later!

Intensity!

Today I tasted and smelled tear gas for the first time. It gives a weird sensation like you have inhaled a lot of pepper mixed with chemicals. Luckily it wasn’t that strong or I am sure it would have been much more unpleasant.

Last night Annie, Genet, Lenny and I went out to go dancing and to see a show of Mbalax music and dancing. The dancers we met Saturday night said that we should meet at 21h because the show started at 22h. When we got their we were told the show started at 23h, which got bumped to 24h….which got bumped to 2:30….when we left at 3:00 the show had not begun! All that to illustrate that if there is ONE thing I will learn from this trip (I think I have said this already) it will be patience and super low expectations that things will go they way they should!!

We still had fun and we hung out with two Norwegian exchange students who are really nice. They spent the month of October travelling through Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo. Actually, they have inspired us to do the same. It sounds like a fantastic route to take!

Lenny and I have a tentative plan to take off next Wednesday. Hopefully the other girls will want to come too. The chances of any serious classes between now and Christmas are slim to none and I think we would learn much more on ‘the road.’ Finish this year off with a bang and start the next one fresh and ready to go to school!!

The point of this whole story is that I was asleep in my bed when Lenny knocked on my door to say she had gotten a text from Raff saying that there was a ‘manifestation’ at the front gates and tear gas was being lobbed at the students. Lenny and I headed to the front gates to see what was going on.

I have never before seen anything like what happened. There was a huge mob of students standing in front of the gates and just outside the Gendarmerie was standing in full riot gear. There weren’t that many of them though – about 30 at the beginning and 45 by the end. We stood around watching and listening as the students were yelling, cheering and gathering rocks to throw at the Gendamerie. It was mostly just a lot of confusion and then all of a sudden the whole crowd of students was running towards us. Lenny, Raff, Aime and I hesitated a bit but then other students were shouting at us to run because the Gendamerie were coming.

We didn’t run far because the crowd soon slowed. Luigi, who had made his way to the top of a building, managed to film a bit of what happened (in secret because had he been seen the students would probably have taken his video camera…Andreas was forced to delete some pictures that he had taken)! The Gendermerie broke through the gates and threw tear gas canister at the students. They made it in a bit but then the students turned back and started pitching rocks at the Gendarmerie and they were forced to retreat!

One student got hurt. I am not sure to what extent. We just saw a group of 10 students carrying a guy and running towards the medical center. I suppose we will find out later what happened exactly.

Anyway – basically it was a lot of backing and forthing between the Genderamerie and the students. And the occasional BANG when they fired the tear gas. The Gendarmerie are allowed on campus but they are not allowed beyond a certain point (near the classrooms) so they would push forward and then fall back…then push forward…fall back….the students would turn and run and then push back…turn and run and then push back…

We basically stood at the back on the steps to the Ampitheater (where we could run into if we needed to…and close the door) and watched.

I don’t know what to think about the whole situation. I know that the throwing of rocks and intensity of the students was really frightening. I don’t handle violence all that well and I was scared, not at all for me but for the students who were bound to get hurt in all of this!

On the other hand I totally understand the frustration of the students in being promised this money and then being told no….over and over again for the past month! Clearly their actions were provoking a response and drawing attention, which was the ultimate goal I think.

The history between the Gendarmerie and the students is interesting too because there is a resentment on the part of the Gendarmerie against these ‘cushy’ students who always complain but have cheap lodging, cheap food, and cheap education!

Some of the students were the most frightening. Throughout all of this people were standing on the road in front of the gate but there were also a lot of students standing on the upper floors of the nearby buildings. At one point the core group of students leading the manifestation turned and started throwing rocks at other students who were standing on the second floor of nearby buildings. They broke some windows and hit some students – all because those students weren’t ‘participating.’ I had just suggested we go up there for a better view, am I ever glad we didn’t!

I am trying to be pretty neutral and just observe because I recognize there is a lot I don’t understand BUT I can’t help question the logic of throwing rocks at your fellow students. What does that accomplish other then divide your sense of solidarity? These students were still there watching and showing support through their presence. They just weren’t down on the street chucking rocks! Not everyone can play a direct role like that….

It struck me mostly as sad.

So eventually I guess they students struck a deal with the Gendarmerie or decided to end the blockade and everyone started to leave. They were cheering as if they had won but kept warning the Gendarmerie that they would be back the next day if the bursaries don’t come in.

Oh and yesterday there was a roadblock also. I wasn’t there but I heard afterwards that there had been rock throwing and tear gas as well. We also found out that the students turned on the Delegates of the Social Committee. The Delegates had and have been advocating negotiations above blocking the road or striking and the students (when their Bursaries didn’t come in Monday morning) got fed up and took some of the Delegates by force and held them ‘hostage.’ They broke down the door of one of our friends in searching for him. He said later that he really feared for himself because the students had said they wanted to beat-up the Delegates. I guess the Delegates that weren’t taken were able to negotiate and get the others free. But I can imagine it would have been pretty terrifying.

Reading this post over, it all sounds much scary and much more intense but in reality campus is still very calm. Walking to the gates this morning you would have no idea that there was anything going on. Yesterday, I didn’t know that our friends had been taken hostage until the afternoon when they were free again. It is the strangest, most sureal feeling seeing all this going on. Some students are just going about their normal lives and some are out there burning their eyes, noses and throats in the tear gas.

Well - it is over for today but the Delegates are in Dakar negotiating with the minister. If the bursaries don’t come in, tomorrow will be likely be a repeat of today and perhaps even worse for the Delegates. I only hope that the mob mentality doesn’t fully take over and that the students remember what they are fighting for and who they should be fighting – something that doesn’t seem like it is easy to do.

Guess what?

Strike...roadblock...no class...what more is there to say?

Woke up this morning and went to class only to find out that the students' bursaries have stopped coming in and so the students are out on the road, blocking it! Hopefully the problem will be resolved quickly or this week will go by without class...next week we have no class (for Tabaski)...then we have one week of class (if Profs show up)...and then it is Christmas break!

The part that worries me about all of this, is that once we get back in January all the profs are going to do a mad scramble to catch-up on the semester and here we will be, totally unprepared for stress and working hard! That is not going to be pretty...

In the meant time though, Wolof courses are going well. Paul is a great teacher and I already feel like I have learned a lot. If all else fails I want to leave this country speaking the language!!

Okay - off to the library to try and learn and study Wolof! More updates and pictures to come...

Some pictures...before the internet turned sketchy...more to come!

Me and Roi-Kass! A CRAZY, slightly misunderstood, Malian with the biggest heart!

One of my favorite pictures! Lovely ladies...and Luigi....

Super model Luigi!


Beautiful sunset at the beach!

A goat coming to visit in the entrance of our Block (in our village)

Strike is over!

Today classes begin...exactly a month since they were supposed to start for the first time! Hopefully this time they last a little bit longer. Although, Tabaski is coming up on the 9th of December (a big holiday where families get together and eat mouton!!) and shortly after that winter break begins. So just how much class we will have in between is a little up in the air.

In the mean time though, life outside of class just keeps getting better and better. Last week we went on a few day get away to a town East of here along the Senegal river called Podor. It was a really amazing weekend away! I am not sure how it happens but we constantly meet really great people whose hospitality is just beyond me...

The first night we were there the hostel we had called to reserve rooms in actually didn't have any rooms available because the people who were supposed to leave didn't!! So we ended up walking around Podor in the dark with this guy trying desperately to find somewhere to stay! Eventually we found rooms in a school for girls. It was just for one night though, so the guy we met (Elhadji) offered to let us stay at his place the following night!

The next day when we were visiting the fort of Podor (an old Colonial fort used for protecting the trade route along the river), we ran in to two military guys. One was the Commander of a military base and the other the captain. They told us that if we couldn't find a place to stay for that night the captain had a big house with extra rooms and we could stay with him on the base as a last resort. It was really a last resort because staying on a military base didn't necessarily seem so appealing but in the end we had to take up the offer because two more friends were coming (Luigi and Andreas) and it would have been a bit imposing to have 7 of us stay with Elhadji. And the Commander said that they had done this in the past and it was an attempt to improve their image to show that the military isn't all bad. Unfortunately their attempt wasn't quite successful because the Captain was a bit of a creep but nothing serious happened. I am just glad Luigi and Andreas were with us...although I hate the fact that we needed two guys to make us feel secure...shouldn't we be able to feel safe wherever we are, whoever we are???

Despite the little incident on the military base, the rest of the week was great!! We met a guy in Podor named Tige. A huge rasta-man who works in Podor as a tiler (as in, laying tiles). He arranged for us to take a horse cart 10 km out of town to this small village were we spent the day. We were welcomed in to the houses of the villagers and had to eat three separate meals because when someone offers you can't say no!!! Then we went for this huge walk to see were two rivers met in a series of rapids. Pretty much ALL the kids from the village walked with us the whole way (good hour long walk). Unfortunately we didn't make it all the way because there was a bad bee problem near the end of the path and we didn't want to risk the wrath of the bees.

In the end to thank the villagers for their incredible hospitality we bought two soccer balls for the kids. Tige made this big speech about how they had to share it and he staged a wrestling match between two kids to decide who was going to be the responsible one and make sure the ball was shared!!! It was incredible to see how the second Tige (a really really tall imposing man) opened his mouth all the kids stopped talking and just stared at him in wide-eyed amazement.

The kids were equally impressed by Luigi. Luigi is a doctorate student from Italy doing research here. He brought along with him a red, rubber nose (think Patch Adams). So whenever a group of kids were around him he would pop it on and make some weird noises which brought a mixture of fear and laughter from the kids! They had no idea what to make of this man but as the day went on they most have decided he was okay because they all wanted to touch the nose and try it on themselves!

There is not much better than the sound of 40 kids laughing and having fun!!!

Our last day in Podor we went on a pirogue ride (small canoe) along the river. That was pretty peaceful and if I knew more about bird species it may have been even more interesting!! As it was I just appreciated being on the water and soaking up some sun!
..............

Now we are back here in Saint Louis! I have a class tonight that I am desperately hoping will run!!! Although if it doesn't, I have found some neat contacts for a group that does theater-for-education here in Saint Louis around various social justice issues, primarily HIV/AIDS. They would be interesting to spend some time with. There is also an interesting Spanish organization doing some neat work around HIV in the region. We went to a show last night that these two groups put together as a part of a three day forum in anticipation of December 1st. It was a really moving performance with poetry, rap, singing, theater all around the slogan ''no to stigmatisation, no to discrimination, no to segregation''

Aside from that, Paul (a man we met in Podor who invited us to his place for dinner) has come to Saint Louis and is offering to give us Wolof lessons.

So much to do...so much to see...at least we can't say that we are bored here during the strike!!!

The Gamnia is looking like a good alternative!

What a fantastic weekend! Saturday evening we headed in to town to grab some dinner and maybe watch a friend's band play but the show was canceled so instead we went to another bar to see a different live band. Unfortunately that band was just painful to listen to!!! But at the bar we ran in to Zahra...the women we traveled down from Mauritania with. She had a friend who was celebrating his birthday in the apartment right above the bar and we were invited to join! Turns out the people who lived in that apartment are a group of fairly well-established international artists who do international art and dance shows around the world! There was delicious Congolese food prepared....music playing and a really cool vibe. It was a lot of fun!

Then to top it all off, yesterday we went to the beach and spent a few hours swimming and playing in the ocean! This time the waves were much smaller and the undertow not bad - so we could actually swim! The evening we spent drinking tea and chatting with students in the film production program here at UGB. They are mostly international students (Congolese, Malian, Nigerian...) and very very funky!!

Not much new news on the strike situation. But there is a general sentiment that it will continue until the 24th when the second caf is supposed to open.We have started planning a trip to The Gambia and the Casamance region (southern Senegal) if the strike is prolonged!

At this point I've had a few discussions with students about the purpose of students not going to class. I am not getting any concrete answers but everyone keeps saying not going to class is pressuring the administration. Why and how? That is still unclear...

But the delegates are all going to Dakar tomorrow for some meetings with ministers and maybe things will be cleared up...

Strike!

So we finally found out how to keep on top of upcoming strikes...sort of! There is a committee here called the social committee, that I have mentioned before. They are the student representatives and are responsible for negotiating students interests on campus. It is an elected and unpaid position. When something isn't going as planned on campus the students on this committee negotiate with the university administration, the CROUS (food and lodging administration) and the government. Then they hold a General Assembly to inform the students about what is going on and to hear what the students think should be done.

There are a number of issues on campus right now that the social committee is trying to deal with. The biggest one is that, although there are two cafeterias on campus, at the end of last year the owners of one went bankrupt and closed down. This means that right now there is only one cafeteria operating with the capacity to serve 1,500 students and with just over 4,000 needing to be served! This means that at meal times we generally wait in line for over an hour before getting food. A few times the food has even run out!

The other issue is lodging. This year the university accepted a number more students than usual and there simply isn't space on campus to lodge everyone. Given the location of the school it is difficult and expensive to lodge off campus.

The final issue is about bursaries. Students are given bursaries to cover their lodging costs and meals but I guess this year the bursaries have come in late and have come in too small of amounts.

So - Thursday morning there was a General Assembly (that we didn't know about until afterwards) where the students decided to strike for 48 hours and not go to class and not pay the tickets at resto (caf). This meant we had no class on Thursday and Friday! It also meant that the university had to step in and pay the tickets of the students meals.... which causes a whole other set of problems!

Today (at the strike deadline) there was another General Assembly. This time we went just to observe! It was super interesting! Unfortunately we were all sitting quite far back so it was hard to hear and with people clapping and cheering it was quite difficult to follow. What you could tell though was the tension and the passion in the air! The social committee made the announcement that the second caf would open on the 24th and that the other issues were still being dealt with. After that a series of people spoke who had written their names on the speakers list. Once that was done all the members of the social committee had a last words. Then all of a sudden everyone stood up and there was a bunch of shuffling and jostling and then someone behind us told us that the strike had been extended for 72 hours!

That means again no class Monday and likely not for most of next week as chances of the strike being extended again are very high.

I am not sure what to think about all of this. On one hand it is super interesting to be here and to observe what is going on and see how the students are so active about their needs. On the other hand it is frustrating to not have class and to be missing out on the really interesting things the profs have to say. I really support and feel solidarity for the students but I am not sure how not going to class is the answer. Who are they putting pressure on by not going to class? The administration? The government? I guess the point is to draw attention but if you just boycott classes and you sit in your residence room, whose attention are you drawing?

In past years that have blocked the road outside campus (which is the main road from the Mauritania border and so quite crucial) but that has caused problems with the gendarmerie (who are underpaid and so quite resentful against students that are getting an education, cheap lodging and bursaries for living expenses) and other residents of the area. I get the feeling they are trying to avoid that until it is a last resort. But in the mean time what is being done? Who is feeling pressured to solve the problem?

I guess we will find out as the week progresses what the verdict will be and how the problem is dealt with. Maybe this is the opportunity to take a visit to the Casamance region if the strike is going to continue for several days.

And so we wait....

Self learning

Well...if the profs aren't going to teach, I am just going to have to start learning on my own!! So far this week I have had no class! Now, not all of that can be blamed on the profs. Monday we were away, Tuesday I slept through class and Wednesday I just didn't have any classes to go to...but today there is a strike! I'm not entirely sure why or who is striking but I am hoping it isn't all the professors and that my African politics course will run tonight!

In the mean time though, I guess I will just have to do it the old fashioned way and teach myself some stuff!

What to learn...what to learn...there are so many options!

Dakar

>Have you ever gone on a short weekend trip and it felt like you were gone for months? That is what this weekend felt like. Who knew going to Dakar would be such a draining experience.

We left Friday evening at 5:00 on a bus that drove right passed campus. We had all agreed to meet there at 4:30 so we would be sure to make the bus. Genet had some delays though so when the bus showed up at 10 to 5:00, she wasn’t ready and once again we had a whole bus load of people pissed off at us! Kind of funny in a country where time is pretty subjective ….

The bus took a good 5+ hours to cover a distance of 220 km. Along the way we stopped every 30 to pick up passengers, police checks and fueling up! It was quite the epic voyage. At least the police checks didn’t involve us handing over our passports and holding up the bus while they copied out all the info! Police checks here are more about controlling the cargo the buses are carrying. At one check everyone of the bus had to get off so that the police guy could search the inside of the bus! But really the bus ride passed pretty quickly! It was really cool to get a sense of what Senegalese countryside looks like!

And we saw lots of cars with goats on top!!

When we got into Dakar we took a taxi to Mass’ mom’s house! His mom wasn’t there this weekend so we had the whole place to ourselves – other than the neighbours who shared the courtyard!

It was great to have somewhere to stay but the location wasn’t exactly central, so cab rides in to town took a little over an hour! The funniest part about that was that it cost more to take a cab from Mass' house to centre-ville than the bus ride from Saint Louis to Dakar!! Although taking the public bus was really cheap. Public transport here is pretty great and cheap….the buses we took in Dakar cost 200 CFA each and a cab for the same distance cost 6000 CFA (or 1000 CFA each)!

On the bus...

Waiting for a taxi!

Our bus ride into town Saturday morning was pretty eventful! Unfortunately, we left Mass’ house at 11 so we were on the bus in peak heat. This meant it was super hot and with not much breeze coming through the windows we all had little puddles at our feet from the sweat. Annie was having a pretty rough time with the heat and all of a sudden she told us that she was loosing her vision and she started swaying a little. Within in minutes she had gone completely ghostly white (even her lips)! Luckily, we had our hero Mass with us!! He got the bus to stop and then carried Annie off the bus….he did forget to bend down though so she smacked her head on the door but at least it didn’t draw any blood ;)

Once we got of the bus we were standing on the side of the road in the hot sun with a corpse-white-Annie who couldn’t stand straight or see straight! We did manage to find some shade beside a big truck that was pulled over and the driver let Annie sit in his chair She recovered pretty quickly once we were in the breeze again and after downing lots and lots of water she regained her vision and felt better! That was an unpleasant experience….

Recovered Annie!!! With much more colour!

Once she was feeling better we jumped in a taxi to go the rest of the way in to town! We spent the afternoon shopping in the market. It was a bit intense. Vendors in Dakar are very very persistent and the whole time we had a little entourage of men and women following us and trying to guide us or have us buy things! I don’t think I could possible count how many times someone asked me ‘how much you want to pay….je te donne le meilleur prix!!’’ And when we said we didn’t want to buy the item that was taken as a challenge that the price was too high…and they would try to lure you into bargaining with them. It was really draining. We did get some nice things though and the best part Annie, Genet, and Lenny bought a guitar!! That was the big goal for the day!

My goal is to learn to play the guitar! I’ve already got 6 cords down….:)

YAY!!!!

Genet is quite good and has a beautiful voice...she will be my inspiration!!

The next day we went back in to the market. It was much a bit more relaxed. We were all a little more comfortable with the vendors and Mass (who is a super sweet guy but protective and little controlling….in a well-intentioned way) relaxed considerably, so we were able to split in two groups and just wander around the market! We all hugely improved our bargaining skills that day and the vendors kept joking that we were Senegalese women given how hard we bargained!!

I don’t know about Dakar! So many people told us that Dakar was really nice and more interesting than Saint Louis but I can’t quite make up my mind. It was certainly interesting and there is more to see (we didn’t get to do much actual sight-seeing) but the place just seemed too big and too congested! When we left Monday night to come back to Saint Louis we spent at least 1.5 hours in traffic. The whole time it was actually difficult to breathe because the air was so full of car fumes! In the market it was so intense and so ‘buy buy buy buy buy’’ that it was exhausting. Saint Louis is much more chill and relaxed.

Although, I wont make a set judgement on my preference just yet because we certainly did not see all of Dakar. I would love to go back and stay somewhere downtown and just spend some time exploring…maybe even take a trip to the beach! Then I can get a better sense of what it was like.

For now I am content to just spend some time here on campus. I’m not sure if it is the late nights in Dakar (we went out a bit…which in Dakar means starting your night at 1 am and we didn’t get home to campus until 2 am last night) or if I am coming down with some sickness but my throat is feeling a little tickle-y and the bathroom down the hall seems to have become my second home…..

Maybe I just need a good long siesta or maybe I should put on my favorite buy of the weekend.... :)

That's right...overall SHORTS in funky Senegalese patterns...are we cool or are we cool?!?!?

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Welcome to my room. Room 100 in Village L!!

My wonderful bug net that makes me feel like I sleep in a princess cave!!

My beautiful desk and pictures to remind me of home!

Sink and shower!!

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We went to a soccer game last week!! The game itself wasn't superb but the crowd was amazing!! I am pretty sure most people were there for the dance party and not the game....

Afterwards Raff tried to feed a goat on campus!! They are every where here!! Along with cows, donkeys, dogs, cats, lizards, bugs.....the list goes on!!!

I remember why I came...

It is pretty easy to get discouraged about school when your professors don't show up to class or when they do, they lecture for 2 hours about not talking in class and what the word 'problematique' means! But then you go to a class and the prof shows up (more or less on time) and spends his two hours lecturing on EXACTLY the things you came to learn!!! That makes it all worth it...

Yesterday I had a History of African Politics class and the professor was phenomenal! It was just the intro class so it was fairly general but he followed a well developed plan and touched on a lot of neat things! He talked about how there are different ways to look at African history and how a common western view point is that Africa has no history prior to colonialisation. He even went on to explain how it was possible to look at it in that way and what the discussions are around that view point. Then he talked about the African historians' movement to reclaim African history from oral traditions!! He talked about the western view that Africans didn't know the concept of states and laws prior to colonialisation and why they think that way. Then he talked about his theories that counter those view points! It wasn't necessarily all new information but it certainly made me super excited for discussions in the classes to come!!

To make the day even better we discovered that there is a sort of film club on campus that screens documentaries 4 days a week! Last night they screened a movie about clandestine immigration from Senegal to the Grand Canary Islands. There is a big operation along the coast for illegal immigration. The movie was largely in Wolof with Spanish subtitles but we were able to follow along and one of the guys translated the gist of the conversations! The movie largely followed a group of youth whose parents paid for their voyages, hoping that they would be able to find work and send money home, but upon arrival the kids (being minors) were taken into 'centers' where they have to live until they turn 18. The most interest part of it all was the discussion afterwards!! It was so neat to sit and listen to these young Senegalese men and women talking about illegal immigration and the effect on their society and culture!!! One guy was convinced that if Senegalese parents saw this movie they would immediately put their kids on these pirogues that make the treacherous journey because in the centers the kids of well-fed, looked after, and given an allowance. The others were not so convinced given that the movie portrayed the kids as well-fed but lonely and home-sick!! Really neat discussion!

This morning I got up early for a morning run (before 8 am it is actually quite cool out!!!) Which started the day of wonderfully...at 10 I had another phenomenal course! Cooperation, planification et développement local...
This is what you call a practical course. The whole course is about how to do local development planning in a way that integrates all players. It is neat because the professor seems to have a lot of experience with local development planning here in Senegal so he constantly makes real-life compairsons and examples! We have two major assignments in the course and one of them is to take a local development plan (which pretty much all communities have in Senegal apparently) and write a critique of it! We can work in groups and the prof made a big point to the other students that they should include us in their groups because we would learn much more that way! So that will be really interesting!!

Now we are about to head out to Dakar for the weekend... I feel much better going away for the weekend knowing I am coming back next week to at least two really engaging and interesting courses! Phew!!!!!!

More pictures!!!

Silly-ness on the porch...

Goats...everywhere...up...down...here...there...

More silly-ness!



This is how we party Senegalese-style!

Goodbye villa party! Annie, Me, Omar, Raff, Guillaume

We drink LOTS of water!

Welcome to our humble villa!

This bugs come in sizes big, extra big and friggin ginormous!!

Welcome to Senegal in plasticine art...

This is just a big one!


Mmm dinner at the caf!

Waiting...we do a lot of that!
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Crickets are our friends!

Abdou (the hostel keeper) let us visit his mouton! I got to feed them because I was scared of the big mouton who tried to eat me!!!! Bottle feeding the baby was the consolation...
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Mouton everywhere!



First day on campus!

On the famous bridge!

Desert...

mmm mouton

Noukachott

Noukachott...the big city in Mauritania!

More coziness. I am not sure I have every felt so close to these ladies!

The desert!

Annie and I sat all cozy-like for several hours in the front seat of this little car!

Da'hid...he wanted to share everything with Lenny...including his Bubu :)...Hopefully he will share his desert guiding skills too at some point over the year!

Cool mural at the hostel in Nouadibou.

Yeah...good luck truck!! Off roading at its best...

Our fearless driver!

The Moroccan border with Mauritania! Just passed No-Man's land...

mmm cramped and cozy!



On the ride to Dakhla.

Moroccan buskers...who single out tourists and make them pay :)

Spices!!

One day I will tell the henna story....once the bitterness wears off...

Mmm olives!

The Souk in Marakech.

Pretty things!


This was our wonderful lunch at Amal's house!

The whole gang! Annie, Raff, Me, Lenny, Genet



Repairs at the Mosque.

Beach ladies!

Annie is a wonderful photographer...

Our excuse is laundry! The truth...we are slobs!!

Hakim and his ''second mother'' from Zaire/France!

This was just a random man painting a sign!



Not so hardworking ladies...

Hardworking ladies!!!!

This is how WE do laundry!


First night out eating in Casa....the restaurant was out of pretty much all the menu items...the waiter said it was because it was Monday...go figure!