Ndank ndank

We had our last orientation meetings today - learned about the mango worms we could come across (apparently you just pop them out when they come up for air, and if they're larger than a grain of rice...they've been in for a while) - which was followed by yet another amazing lunch. We had Maffe (peanut sauce on rice and meat). My inability to keep the rice either in the bowl or in my mouth continues to amaze me.

In the afternoon we had our first official class - Wolof.  Ndank ndank means literally - slowly slowly..or just little by little. This is how it is recommended we explore Senegalese food - ndank ndank. They suggest you don't eat ALL the foods you want to try in one day...I'll see if I can follow that advice...

 Maffe (and here starts my love affair with hot sauce) - peanut butter sauce, rice and meat = I love Dakar

The scenery makes a run a little less dull.

This is the gym I want to join.
I'm really disappointed I missed the peak hours - but I'll get it better next time. Hundreds of people running back and forth together, sprinting, doing exercises, and always playing soccer.

I wish I did yoga

We went to the SIT Office today, which is a converted house that we'll spend a lot of time in, mostly for classes and homework and picking up mail. Apparently, our guard there is friends with Baaba Maal (a very famous Senegalese musician) and Stevie Wonder (I guess he's famous too...)
We spent more than 3 hours sitting on a "basang" today (which is Wolof for a mat, which means I was sitting on the floor for more than 3 hours), learning about many different items that illustrate a different part of Senegalese life. I am being shown quite evidently every day that I lack all things related to flexibility, and my hips are now those of a much older woman. I just hope that I get used to sitting on the ground quickly - it's embarrassing to hobble around like I am currently. But for all our sitting at least we've been rewarded - today it was Yassa Poule (an amazing big dish of chicken, rice, onions and spices, so many spices) - so I think I can handle it.  Good food tends to be a reward for which I can endure pain - such as arthritic joints.
When we arrived in the morning, we were told to pick one of the displayed items, find a partner and then go outside and ask people about the item. (I can't imagine if we had this assignment in the US - people would cross the street to avoid our questions). This was all the information we were given for our first assignment, so we walked outside and went up to anyone that didn't look in a rush, and tried out our minimal Wolof and my broken French. (There weren't very many people that seemed to be in a rush though, so it was simple to find someone patient enough to humor us). It was incredible how welcoming and patient everyone was. The two items I was carrying were dried Bisap (from the hibiscus flower) and Buy (Wolof for "Pain de singe," which is French for "monkey bread," which comes from the Baobob tree). Both are used to make tea or juice, and help with "fatiguement."

Path to the drumming classroom

Front door of office/room for melting frozen ginger and bisap juice (can't get enough of the juice already, definitely a highlight of the day...)/place I'm going to spend many hours "studying" in.

Another view of the front of our office/classroom/SIT center

Break room

Classroom. Definitely like these learning conditions.  The vitamin D will be essential to my academic successes, I can already tell.

First day in Dakar

Dakar really is right on the ocean! Here's proof from my landing in the South African Airways plane.
Apparently one of the men sitting behind me is one of the most famous Senegalese wrestlers coming home from training in New York. There is going to be a big match coming up in April for the 50th Anniversary of independence..that we may be able to go see.

Another view from the plane. There's a statue in the background. I think it is the highly controversial structure commissioned by the president that is being unveiled in April.
In a haze of blinding sunlight and no sleep, I met my future classmates on the bus ride to our hotel. We managed to adventure around the neighborhood on a very short walk after we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant (perfectly buttery and crispy croissants accompanied by not so perfect instant coffee). It is a good thing we're staying in a hotel so close to the ocean. No one had the energy to actually do anything, yet no one wanted to simply sleep away their first hours in Senegal. The hotel we're staying in, about a minute from the ocean, is just until Friday. This is orientation week - getting introduced to the city and the schedule for our spring classes - then we move into our family homestays on Friday.






It seemed as if every road or street corner was under some sort of construction. This made it somewhat difficult to tell what was off limits/private property, especially since our logic and reason had fallen asleep somewhere over the Atlantic. Fortunately we were mostly welcomed wherever we walked.




This still doesn't feel real, and I don't know if it ever will, but sun in January is a nice change from the bone chilling Massachusetts winters.

Happy New Year

So I hear this "blog" thing is what you're supposed to do when you go abroad, so your parents know you're alive, and your friends can have a sense of what you're actually doing in "where...Morocco? No, Spain right?" Actually, just a little south, in Senegal. The plan in this West African nation, is to spend the spring studying with SIT, which stands for School for International Training. My specific program is called "Senegal: National Identity and the Arts," which is wonderfully unrelated to my major in Economics. I say this not because I wish I had another major, but because going abroad is a time when we get to experience a different culture, language and life - so I might as well experience a different academic course-load.

The program starts in Dakar. (My flight from Portland to Dakar has one layover, in DC. This is a crazy idea for me to understand, as my trip from home to school generally involves just one layover as well, but this time I'm going a little further east). We stay in Dakar for a total of 6 weeks, and have 2 week long rural home stays. For the last four weeks of the program each student is able to create his or her own independent study project - based on something we've found interesting during our initial studies - and can stay anywhere we'd like (at least this is my understanding so far...)

What we're actually studying includes two languages (French and Wolof - the language of the largest ethnic group in the region), and as the title of the term suggests - national arts, dances, religion and other cultural activities. Senegal is 95% Muslim, but it is well known for its cultural tolerance, and acceptance of Christianity.

If you don't know where Senegal is, unfortunately you are not alone in that all 8th grade lessons of world geography have been lost. Senegal - roughly the size of South Dakota - lies on the western coast of Africa, 14 degrees north of the equator. So fortunately it will be springtime there as well, only a lot hotter, sunnier, and more humid...I think yesterday it was 94% humidity in Senegal. Coming from a pretty dry Portland, OR that may be somewhat of an adjustment..

So that was a fun test run. Thanks for reading this. Don't worry, next post I may actually be in Senegal, and will hopefully have more interesting things to say.