I'll be honest, Bamako isn't a city I feel the need to go back and visit again. The main road is wide, decorated with Christmas lights at night, and there are some nice statues placed around the city (my favorite is the giant hippo with his mouth open), but the rest of the city is cramped, dirty, and hard to get around. Even the taxi drivers don't know where things are! Despite this, we ventured out for dinner because the guidebook listed a restaurant that has kora music on Thursday nights. Turns out it's closed during Ramadan. We asked our taxi [View Full Entry]

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Whoever said roosters crow at the crack of dawn was a liar...they start cockadoodledooing around 4am and don't stop. After a breakfast of millet surprise, we repacked our bags and headed out of the campement. It turns out that it is tradition for people to sing upon leaving the campement in Ende, so we gamely started with "The Circle of Life" from Lion King (Disney was the only thing we all sort of agreed upon). Just outside the building, though, we ran into about half the village children waiting for us, so we got a bit flustered. We tried some Red [View Full Entry]

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After a quick breakfast of bread, strawberry jelly, and tea, we repacked our backpacks and threw them in our crowded sept-place. We were on our way to Dogon Country! According to Lonely Planet, it is in the top 10 places to see before you die, so we were all quite excited. We were driving from Sévaré to Bandiagara to Kani-Kombolé and then hiking for the next three days. Salif told us we were going to be switching drivers before we got to Bandiagara, but we weren't exactly sure why. It turns out you have almost no choice but to switch drivers [View Full Entry]

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Our long awaited trip to Mali started off without a hitch, surprisingly. Of course, our Air Senegal International flight took off late, but that was to be expected. I must admit, I was a bit concerned about flying a "budget" (too bad that didn't reflect in the price of our ticket!) West African airline, but I was incredibly impressed with Air Senegal. We had lunch and a drink as soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off, and the hour and a half long trip went smoothly. Getting out of the airport and into the capital city of Bamako was a [View Full Entry]

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Well, this past weekend was quite eventful....the misadventures here in Dakar continue! Friday, I spent the night at my friend, Jen's house...well, it was more like a few hours, but it was definitely worth it. Her family's house comes complete with a sink and a mirror and (get this) a high-speed internet connection in her room! Her family even eats fruit...I was in shock. After sleeping for a few hours (on a real mattress on a bed that isn't about to break), we got up at 3:30am and made our way to the corner to catch a taxi to the airport. [View Full Entry]

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Well, Ramadan is in full (rather boring) swing. I feel like I've pretty much gotten used to living in a Muslim country, and I must say, it is much different than I ever would have thought. When most Americans think of an Islamic nation, many think of the rather fundamentalist countries, like Saudia Arabia or Iraq. The atmosphere here in Senegal is so different. Women are not required to wear veils (though some do choose to), and you certainly will never see anyone wearing a burqa (the full veil covering everything but a woman's eyes). The main regulation as far as [View Full Entry]

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People have been talking about how living in a Muslim country for Ramadan is a "great cultural experience." I'm not quite sure what they were talking about... First off, the food during Ramadan is definitely not at the height of Senegalese cuisine. Our family breaks the fast around 7 or 7:30pm by eating bread and butter. I haven't been fasting all day, so the thought of eating bread and butter for another meal (it's already breakfast everyday) isn't all that appealing. After the last of the five daily prayers (usually around 8:30pm), we eat dinner. My History of Islam prof told [View Full Entry]

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Today is the first day of Ramadan! This means that the Muslims (95% of the population here in Senegal) cannot eat, drink, smoke or have sex during the daylight hours. They get up at 5am to eat a meal before morning prayers and then suffer through the day until they break the fast at 7pm. I know several people who fast in Pittsburgh, and that's hard enough...but it's so hot here, and they can't even drink water! I have always wanted to be in a Muslim country for this month-long holiday, but it turns out it's pretty boring and people get [View Full Entry]

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I had been looking forward to going to Gorée Island since I first read about it in my guidebook. I knew it was an important port in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, but I did not know how fabulous the rest of the island was going to be. The day started off late. Of course. Senegal is so laid back that sometimes it seems like time stands still. We were supposed to be at school at 7:45am, which of course meant we left at 9, thereby missing the 9am ferry which left from the port on the other side of town. Once [View Full Entry]

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Life just keeps moving right along here in Dakar. It's still very hot and humid and dirty, but that feels pretty normal to me now. Losing power several times a day also feels pretty normal...is that weird? haha. It's the little things that make life here great...like how we found a fruit stand in Mermoz today that sells oranges! They'll probably cost an arm and a leg, but it's nearly impossible to get oranges here this season. Also, we have found a few restaurants that sell Western(ish) food. We had mushroom pizza with Coke the other day, and you have no [View Full Entry]

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