Updates from Senegal

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Finally, time to update my blog!!! The o and i keys haven't been working on my laptop, so typing anything when I'm home takes forEVER. Thus, I'm stuck to updating at school... I have lots of free time on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I went out to lunch Monday and Wednesday we have off because its the end of Ramadan... ANYWAYS, I am glad to finally have time to properly update.

Where to begin... last time I updated, I was planning on signing on again to describe our weekend trip to Toubab Diallo. So... last weekend all of CIEE Dakar packed in to two mini buses and drove 2 hours to this tiny fishing village, Toubab Diallo. We stayed in the most adorable hotel/resort (not luxurious but pretty much all inclusive) right on the ocean. It was gorgeous and relaxing... a nice break from city life in Dakar. We didn't really leave the resort--I basically spent the two days swimming in the ocean, reading in hammocks interspersed throughout the hotel, and eating really good food (pasta! and salad!). We also all got to choose an activity, either dance, drumming, or batiking, this art form involving canvas, wax, and different colored dyes. I spent a relaxing afternoon stenciling fabric and picking my dyes... unfortunately they mixed up my colors so it didn't come out exactly as I pictured, but it was still lots of fun.

Unfortunately, the end to our trip was not so pleasant. Driving home, our mini bus came inches away from slamming into a little boy running across the highway. It was a very sobering reminder of our surroundings. In Senegal, there are thousands of child beggars, often talibes who are begging as part of their Coranique education. Most of the time these children are being exploited by the Marabout and live very difficult lives, subsisting on the very minimum without anyone taking care of them. Ofcourse the problem is very complex, but this was a first hand example of how dangerous their every day life is--I forget the statistics, but a significant amount of children are killed or injured crossing the streets and highways that have no safe way across. I was sitting in the back of the bus, but apparently this boy got spooked and suddenly changed directions, throwing our driver off guard. He slammed on the breaks (and he was going very fast, so it was extremely abrupt) and swerved into the other lane to avoid hitting the kid... thank god he was alright, but it took a good half hour for me to catch my breath and feel my heart beat normally again.

Ugh, I can already tell I don't have enough time to write about everything I've been wanting to cover... for next time, I suppose. This past weekend was also amazing... Friday I went with a group of friends to Le Village des Arts, a commune of artists who live and work in the city. We didn't really know what to expect, but it ended up being AMAZING! When we first got there, we sort of stumbled upon this gallery of really beautiful artwork--a welcome change from the mostly mass produced art you can find at the markets. After the gallery, we wandered the grounds, visiting studios and talking to artists. We too ka break for lunch and then visited and talked with some more artists... its hard to convey how awesome the whole experience was, but it was really amazing seeing the art and meeting the artists in their studios, and talking to all these famous Senegalese artists. Here is an album of pictures I took, maybe it'll do the afternoon some justice. ART

I should probably stop now because I have class in 5 minutes and I don't want to skim over the other things I had to write about. My fall break is actually next week and we leave for Casamance this Friday! I can't believe its so soon... I actually just got back from buying my boat ticket and our plans are finally falling into place. One of our host mom's is coming with us because she has family in the region, and we'll be travelling throughout the region. So far, we've made reservations in the main city, Ziguinchor, for the first two days, and for two days at this beautiful resort in Cap Skiring, the prime vacation spot in the area. The rest of the week, we'll be travelling cheaply through little villages and what not. I'll post more details as I find out (I haven't really been in charge of the planning).

Must run to class, but I have lots more to fill you guys in on. In the mean time, here are my recently updated pictures.

My First Album
ART

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