Je m'adapte

I'm getting used to it here. I realized this was definitely true this morning, in a haze at 6:30 when I woke up on my roof. I've been sleeping on the roof for a while now because it's too hot in my bedroom. Outside, especially on the roof, you can get a breeze and you've already escaped the cinder-block oven that's still 90 degrees minimum at night. Anyways, this morning it was 77 degrees with a slight wind, and I was cold underneath my sheet. I guess I'm used to the 110+ temps every day.

I also can't wait for my work day to be over to drink sweetened spiced coffee and eat grilled corn on the cob. Or go get a bag of vanilla-flavored milk. Constantly restless in College Park and Columbia, MD, I've gotten used to sitting around doing absolutely nothing. Spending a weekend day sitting in the same spot for 6 hours is completely normal, accounted there's a bowl of food and tea at some point. I read some here but staring off into the distance is another favorite pastime.

I actually figured out just now that pastime = pass + time; not past + time. That was a revelation.

Anyways, one thing that's definitely taken some getting used to is intimacy here. Husbands and (up to four) wives don't embrace in any way. Not in public anyways, because with as many kids as there are here there has to be some kind of embracing if you know what I mean ;) .... But yeah, Senegalese will change the channel on TV if there's a scene with a couple laying in bed, and of course the 7 year-old from the family I hang out with switch it if there's anything close to kissing. That might be universal for a 7 year-old boy. Girls have cooties everywhere I guess. So, maybe that's the reason intimacy is so different between males here.

In an African Muslim country, where homosexuality isn't a possibility, there are some customs here that would make young American males feel awkward. Homophobes beware, men here will hold your hand for quite a long time while greeting you, or take your hand while walking down the street and not let go. Not strangers of course, but it's not unusual to see two guys walking down the street hand-in-hand or with arms draped over shoulders. And this is no Castro.

I wanted to make another blog post before too long, so here it is. Other than that not much is new. I've been sick a couple times, but feeling better now. Not testing the unfiltered water so much anymore... There's been a lot of people here visiting, including the Spanish NGO Médicos del Mundo. I'm trying to create a partnership with the local Peace Corps volunteers. And figuring out new vacation plans, because going hiking in the Fouta Djalon, Guinea, fell through. Take care, and I'll update again soon.

Photos

Go here to check out photos I've been uploading to a Picasa account.

Yes, I'm gonna talk about politics...

Senegal's fellow ECOWAS member country Cote d'Ivoire is in another bloody conflict, and its other Muslim nations on the African continent have seen all kinds of turmoil. Al Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb is present in Mauritania, just to the north, and other countries in the region supposedly aren't the safest to walk around in as a toubab. So what's the deal with Senegal?

Senegal is the country of peace and hospitality. Since political situations are raging all over the world, I wanted to explain Senegal's. Granted, there's been some problems recently, but not to the extent of the rest of the African continent. A soldier recently set himself on fire (he didn't die though) for soldiers' rights. There are student and teacher strikes because of funding and pay issues, and there's a strong political opposition movement now called "Y En A Marre," or "We're Sick of It."

Senegal is supposedly a model of African democracy. Since it's independence in 1960 it has respected human rights and been on the path to development. Léopold Sedar Senghor, a Christian Serer, was an author who led the negritude movement and became the first president. After his twenty years, he passed off the presidency to fellow Senegalese Democratic Bloc party member Abdou Diouf, who lost the presidential election in 2000 and peacefully stepped down. Although these two presidents, Senghor especially (despite his anti-colonial rhetoric), were criticized for remaining too close to the French system, they still managed importance advances. Senegal, with its richest resource of the peanut, steadily developed and canceled the majority of its debt acquired after independence.

Some people will tell you another story since 2000, when Abdoulaye Wade won the presidency. Supposedly in 2000 only 9% of citizens had electricity, and now 28% do. I heard that on television, but I'm not sure if it's accurate. In any case, people are frustrated, especially in the regions, because there are so many electrical and water outages. The electricity is only so reliable, cutting out occasionally for a day or more at a time. Hopefully tonight's Champions League game will be fine…

Especially up here in the North, close to the river, people are upset. Matam, a town nearby, has few electrical problems because it receives electricity from a hydroelectric dam built upsteam in Mali, the Barrage Malantali. However, in Ourossogui, a mere 7km away, the electricity cuts all the time. So people are frustrated with Wade. He apparently either intends to run for another term, which was disallowed under his presidency in a new constitution, or have his son Karim run. He has a somewhat large support base still, but this would create enormous problems.

I haven't been in Senegal long enough to comment on Wade's ability, especially compared to the presidents before him. But the speeches of his party, the Senegalese Democratic Party, are very Wade-centric. They always seem to be saying "His Honor Mr. Wade did this for the people of Senegal," instead of highlighting the actions of the party or the government as a whole. Whereas the American political system highlights the party, here the individual is the center of the show.

I don't have much to say, but I almost forgot to mention Wade's other problem. He's at least 92 years old. That's the number he gives, but most people say he's hiding that he's actually 95, and some of the opposition claim he's over 100 years old and has to take all different types of pills to get up and make speeches. Anyways, we'll see what pops off in 2012.