Really dirty feet

I've been here in Dakar for a few days now and one big thing I've noticed it how dirty my feet are. The weather here is beautiful, typically in the low 70's Fahrenheit during the day, and I'm wearing sandals all the time. The streets in my neighborhood are all sand, barely paved. Only the major streets and those downtown are paved, so it's resulted in me having constantly dusty feet.

Anyways, that's not the only difference I've noticed here obviously. I got here really early in the morning on Friday and got to the volunteer house in the dark, so I didn't get to see much. I got ready during the flight for my stay here, reading information about my organization's programs, the region I'll be staying in, and watching The Town and My Cousin Vinny. After sleeping a couple hours I got up and went to the office, only a short walk away to meet all the staff.

In Senegal it's very important to say greet everybody. Not saying hello is the equivalent of denying somebody's existence, so common practice in Dakar is to at least say "asalaa maalekum," followed by the Wolof greetings if you know them. I only know a couple lines now so I'll talk about that more later. Anyways, then I hung out in the office for a bit talking to volunteers and had the most amazing lunch I've had in a while. Spicy chopped rice with fresh vegetables and grilled spicy beef, eaten with a big spoon in a circle with other office workers on a mat, barefoot. A short nap later I was downtown, checking out the markets. Got some groceries for dinner and a cell phone with a Senegalese SIM card, so now I'm set on getting in touch with people in-country.

The last couple days I've just been hanging out, seeing a little more of the city, getting a few food items I might not be able to find where I'll be stationed, and meeting the other new volunteers. I was the first one in, so I got a bit of an advantage picking a bed and checking out the city. Now there's seven of us new volunteers in my orientation group, including two French girls (one of Senegalese origin), a Spanish guy, British guy, American girl and another American guy along with myself. We'll be heading out to Thiès, Senegal's second-largest city 45min-4hr from Dakar depending on traffic on Tuesday morning for the second day of orientation. Then Friday we're all headed either back to Dakar or to Mali, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, the Gambia, or the Fouta.

Other differences from Columbia, the Columbubble, Maryland:

We're fortunate enough at the houses to have Western toilets. The organization doesn't supply toilet paper because it's not commonly used here. Here's the bathroom I use on the roof of our house. Notice the possibility for great multi-tasking:



The shower is a little difficult to get to drip consistently and is cold, but at least Dakar isn't! There's definitely not much trash service here, so there's a lot of litter in the streets. Driving is another story.... the taxi drivers are crazy. They drive really beat-up Toyotas or Renaults. Nothing in the cars work, and sometimes you can feel parts scraping on the ground. You have to negotiate the price before you get in a taxi, and the drivers often ask women if they're married. Oh, and here's my washing machine (did my first load of laundry today):



By the way, I'm not really complaining about this stuff. My life here so far is definitely more simple than I'm used to but still much more privileged than the general population. I'm absolutely loving it. The people are so friendly, and although it's a huge culture shock (and thermic shock) going from Maryland to Dakar in January to spend the next six months here, I'm excited and can't wait to tell you more about it, inshallah!

3 days to go

Okay, a little more than 3 days to go and I'll be on a plane from Dulles to Dakar. Yes, nonstop, because Dakar is actually further West than all of Europe, it doesn't take too long to fly there. It's a stop for South African Airlines from Dulles, so it's much better than having to fly through Heathrow or wherever else you need to hit to get to East Africa.

I'll be heading straight to my orientation with Tostan International, who I'll be interning for for the next 6 months. They're a non-profit started by Molly Melching in Senegal in the 1970s. Since then, they've worked in 12 countries in Africa (This number varies because of conflict; it is not always possible to work in Somalia and Côte d'Ivoire). Melching and Tostan were featured in a chapter of the women's rights book Half the Sky for their soft approach to excision (French term) or female genital circumcision/cutting (FGC, the English term). This is a pretty graphic issue, so if you're somewhat squeamish then don't research this. If you're interested, here's a wikipedia page on the issue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_cutting

This is a phenomenon that I'll probably talk about more later in this blog, as I'm sure it'll arise in my work there. Otherwise, my work will mainly entail more administrative responsibilities, I think.... I'm still not completely sure what my day-to-day activities will consist of, but I think a lot of it will be translating documents from French to English and writing reports. These reports will essentially allow the bodies funding the various Tostan offices and centers in the Fouta region of Senegal to know what's going on. They'll serve both as educational tools and public relations, I think, for the United Nations offices, American Jewish World Service, and the other people who fund Tostan's activities. I'll also be teaching English and IT skills to the staff, and maybe get involved in some of the grassroots projects in the region.

More to come soon, before or after my arrival in Dakar. Take care,

Jonah

Hey all, I want to kick off my blog with a simple post because I don't have much time to write a longer one at the moment, but a more educational post will come soon. For now, I'll just tell you where I'll be living for the next 6+ months. I'm going to spend a little time in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, but I'll be stationed primarily in Ourossogui and Ndioum. These are two towns near Matam, close to the border with Mauritania in the Sahel, the southern region of the Sahara Desert. See the map at the bottom of the blog to see Dakar and Matam in Senegal. Dakar is the westernmost capital city in Africa, further West than all of Europe. Search on google if you want to find Senegal in the continental context.

Mamadou Niang, former Marseille striker, comes from the Fouta, the region in which Matam is found.




So does the (somewhat) famous singer Baaba Maal:




That's all for now, but I'll post again soon!