Week 1

The week of classes was interesting.  I was a little afraid that all the students wouldn't get along, but I didn't need to worry at all.  Everyone was extremely nice and we all became fast friends.  I worked well with everyone that I was paired, or grouped with which made things so easy.  We learned about what that we were going to ecovillages in groups and offering them loans.   We learned the EDE diagram which explains the major parts of ecovillages and we learned how to teach the villagers about them.  We learned about them so much that I could probably tell you about them, eyes closed,  forwards and backwards.  

As the week went on we got closer to all of our new friends and got accustomed to our new home.  We no longer cared when we were cat called walking down the street, which happens often, and the taxis are going to stop and honk at you for a ride no matter what you do.  We also have gotten used to crossing the road.  The first day was a bit overwhelming, crossing a very busy highway, jumping the barrier to cross the other side.  Cars do not stop here, in fact they don't even slow down.  

Something else that is overwhelming is the french.  I understand a lot more than i thought i would but I can't speak it.  They also tend to speak a lot of Wolof here.  In fact that is all our mother speaks so we have been trying to learn small words so that we can communicate. We all got senegalese names from our homestay families.  Mine is Seynabou or Nabou for short, Casey is Ouleye and Jess is Nafie.  I think they are so much fun and our family actually uses them a lot.Tonight we are having a party for the new years.  It's really going to be weird not being home for the first time for new years.  But I have been sick all day, I didn't go to classes and have not been in a good place.  Jess had the same thing and it took her two days to get over it.  I don't think  we are sick from the food or from the water or anything because Casey didn't get sick and she has been eating the same things we have.  I hope that I'll be ok for tonight but I guess we are just going to have to see!

the first day

We arrived early this morning in the Dakar airport.  I can't believe that just yesterday I was home celebrating Christmas and today I am sitting in my new home in Yoff.  Getting through the airport was a little scary.  We were told that when we arrived the people to trust would be  wearing a certain swatch.  The people that had our names on their list had no such pattern anywhere on their body, in fact there was not a single person in the airport wearing anything close to what we needed.  My friend Casey, new friend Jess and I decided that it was probably safe to follow the person that knew our names.  After waiting in line for a while and getting by the grumpy customs man, the three of us got our bags and walked with our trusted friend out of the airport.  As we were walking some guys started following us and speaking in french.  Asking us if we needed help and asking us questions about where we lived and why we were here.  We just kept following the guy hoping that we were going the right way.  We then quickly piled into a shabby looking car that looked like it shouldn't have worked.  five minutes of the scariest car ride of our lives we got out of the car and met a woman names Fatou Lo.  We had safely reached our destination.  She showed us our apartment and let us get settled in.  Although it was 6 in the morning and we didn't sleep on the plane, our curiosity got the best of us and the three of us walked up to the roof to look over Yoff, our new home for the next three weeks.  After sleeping for as much as we could, we had our first senegalese meal.  Sitting together with our new family we ate a very spicy dish of rice and fish.  Me and Casey went back to the roof where we heard kids yelling and waving at us.  We finally realized they were yelling bonjour Toubab, so we said bonjour back and waved back.

We were introduced to a new friend named David who wanted to take us for a tour.  We all hoped into a taxi and got our first experience of the roads in Senegal.  Absolutely no rules exist, just a lot of honking and barely passing between cars.  I learned quickly that it was smart to just look out the window and enjoy the new scenery.  We got out and quickly realized we stuck out.  Everyone seemed to stare at us where ever we went.  David was a quick walker and we had to struggle to keep up.  We saw the middle of the city and the presidents house.  We exchanged money and then walked to the beach.  There is a lot of garbage everywhere and there was even a dead goat in the sand.  All very new, but the beach was beautiful.  We really enjoyed just sitting and relaxing.  Finally it was time to go back home, in which we ate dinner and let the tiredness sweep over us.