We leave for St. Louis (pronounced San Loo-EE) on Sunday. We'll be staying in a pretty modern village. We'll all be in the same village, and we'll have two girls per household (sharing a room). They are required to provide us with fans and mosquito nets. The families speak only Wolof, no French. I think we're staying in the homestays for about a week and then staying in a hotel. Every day has at least one field trip, most of which require at least an hour's drive. Throughout the course of the trip, we'll be putting together a presentation in teams of two or three of us plus a Senegalese student.
It sounds to me like lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to getting out of Dakar for a little while.
I had a big debate with Youssou last night. He greeted Alyssa, saying "How are you? How are you and Amadou doing?" He always does that to all the American girls, and he gets upset when anyone says they're not looking for a relationship. It seems to baffle him why any American woman would come to Senegal other than to look for a relationship. I explained to him that it's not interesting for us to be asked questions like that because they're not important and they're personal. He said that he just doesn't want his friends wasting their time with us when we're not interested. The discussion turned into me arguing that women and men can be friends, even if one of them wants more and the other doesn't, without either of them "wasting their time". He said that wasn't the case. The whole time, Youssou's friend Galo, who I adore, was standing in the doorway and putting his face in his hand every time Youssou talked. Occasionally he'd ask Youssou, "Why are you saying that? It's completely ridiculous!" or he'd tell me, "Don't listen to him. He's crazy!"
Later last night we had been planning to go to the airport to see Liz off to the States. They apparently had changed the airport policy recently so you can't enter the airport without a boarding pass. We all said goodbye to her on the phone, and then we sat and talked in my room until 1:30 in the morning. It was nice, because we hadn't had many real get-to-know you conversations with each other. We've mostly only had them with the people we've met here. I really adore the girls in my group, and I'm looking forward to spending the next bunch of months with them.
What do you think it is about Thursdays that seem to create such interesting discussions and events? It sounds like it was a more relaxed and enjoyable Thursday than you've had in a while - must be a nice change. I'm glad to hear that not all Senegalese men are looking at you and your friends as potential mates/visas - find more of those guys!
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll be able to keep us up to date during your time in St Louis - it would be hard for your adoring fans to wait a whole 2 weeks to hear from you! Love you tons!!
Are your upcoming trips a part of the "educational" aspect of being in Senegal? What will you be studying (aspects of the culture?) and what will your presentations be on? Have a great tine in St Louis!
ReplyDeleteGood thing you guys are sharing households! Remind me to tell you about my first village experience sometime haha.
ReplyDeleteMost of all, have fun and explore and, if I can be direct, try not to focus on the guy thing as much. There are so many more wonderful things to see and learn about, as well as some not so wonderful things to be aware of. I think the village experience was what really woke me up to the infrastructural, environmental, etc. issues in Senegal, as well as some of the nasty consequences of globalization going on in that part of the world. Keep your eyes open. I wish I was there with you guys instead of slaving away on my SIP in this blustery fall weather!