Mes pauvres pieds!

Disclaimer:  Anybody with some strange kind of foot phobia, I suggest you avoid this post.

My feet here are going through HELL.  Dakar is currently under construction, so everything is very, very dusty and dirty.  There are huge rocks lined along the side of the road to block cars off, massive holes in the road where you're walking, ditches, tar being laid every other day, and lots and lots of clay.  (The idea of sidewalks is a total joke.)  In addition to my clumsiness, these obstacles are just bad news.  The amounts of cuts and scrapes that I notice on my feet day by day is getting ridiculous.  I even broke a pair of flip flops my very first week.

I thought my feet would only have to deal with Dakar's awful streets, but then Goree Island came along.  At Goree, I decided it would be a good idea to jump off the rocks into the ocean.  Somebody had done it right before me and warned me of the sea urchins on my way out.  Mind you, the water was so clear I could actually SEE the sea urchins scattered on the rocks in the water.  Anyway, the water was frigid, so I quickly swam to shore, stepped on a sea urchin without realizing it, and walked with a bunch of black pricks and blood on my left big toe.  Really delightful.  A friend managed to pull some of them out, but the rest I have to let dissolve in my foot.  Apparently Google was right--soaking it in white vinegar really does the trick!  The best part of all of this?  I woke up that morning with my right eye swelled shut due to a mosquito bite and spent the whole day wearing sunglasses, even when indoors.  Although all of this pain is totally worth it, I really hope my luck turns!

Salaamaalekum!

Greetings from Dakar, Senegal! Due to beautiful distracting weather and very inconvenient power cuts, this is my first post since I've been here (I'll be starting my 4^th week on Sunday).

During my layover at Dulles airport, I met about 15 other CIEE students awaiting our connecting flight to Dakar—all American students. The entire day of transportation was pretty brutal. We arrived at Dakar around 6 AM Sunday morning to a bunch of men asking to help us with our baggage in hopes of a tip or a positive response to their marriage proposals. Then we entered a Korean-discotheque-styled bus that would bring us to our Orientation hotels. I, personally, stayed at La Citronelle. One of the employees of La Citronelle told a few girls he loved them. Ah, those Senegalese men.

Orientation week was tiresome and pretty uneventful. We went to the Baobab Center and learned a thing or two about traditional Senegalese culture—like, eating “around the bowl.” Doing so means that there is a large bowl placed on the floor in the center of a group of people. Usually in this bowl is “ceebu jën”, which is a delicious meal of fish and rice. You must wait for the host of the meal to announce when to start. The host is also the only one who is allowed to distribute the meat or fish in the center of the bowl. Of course, most meals are eaten with only your hands, no utensils. Usually, eating around the bowl is done in larger families. Although my family is quite large, I've only done this a few times, so far, since I usually eat at a different time than the rest.

I moved in with my host family my first Friday. I live in Mermoz, which is one of the towns in the city of Dakar. It's only a 12 minute walk to the school, and about the same to the beach. My host family owns an apartment building, it seems. On the first floor lives my host grandmother. She has 3 sons, who are all married with children. So, technically, I have 3 host mothers and host fathers. Two sons live on the 2^nd floor, and then the last lives on the 3^rd. The family on the 2^nd floor has a baby girl and 2 little boys. The other family on the same floor has 2 daughters, around 8-10 years old. The family on the 3^rd floor has a little boy and little girl. They also rent out 2 rooms to Suffolk students. I live on the 3^rd floor, right on a balcony. We have a roof, too, with chickens, rabbits and goats. They give me plenty of privacy and freedom, so things seem to be going very well, thus far.

Last Saturday, our CIEE group took a trip to Gorée Island. It was, hands down, the most breathtakingly beautiful place I've ever visited. It was where slaves were kept and sold during the Atlantic Slave Trade. The place is full of an awful history that is, unfortunately, completely wiped from your thoughts as you walk around the island. Merchants all around the island follow you and tell you to visit their stores and it gets VERY annoying. What's also really cool about it is that there are artist colonies on the island. A bunch of guys just live there, outside or in WWII shelters and make art all day long. They don't harass you, they just chill and make art. I reaaaaally want to go back.

I started classes two weeks ago, also. I'm taking History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Senegalese Culture & Society, Beginner's Wolof, Advanced French II, a Seminar on Learning and Living in Senegal, and Histoire de l'Islam. All are conducted in French, save the Atlantic Slave Trade and the Seminar. I'm already drowning in homework, but unfortunately, I'm not too excited about any of the classes. Things are starting to get really redundant already. But that's okay! I'm in Senegal, baby!

So, so far everything's going really great. I miss home a lot, but I definitely wouldn't take this back for the world. This is a crazy brief summary of the things I've been doing. I'll update soon (and more often, I promise!!) with some good stories and more info.

Ba beneen yoon (until next time)!