kmclain
Kristin McLain Joined: April 18th 2006
Logged in: April 19th 2011
Logged in: April 19th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
The Bikes of Amsterdam
Hello from Amsterdam! Yes, both Nicole and I decided that we needed to take a few days of vacation (now that our project has wrapped up), prior to heading back to the states. I have had some definite highs and lows over the past few weeks since my last blog, definitely a lot of mixed emotions about my return to the states….but this short trip to Amsterdam I think is a nice place to wind down. It is the best of both worlds; ultra laid-back like Senegal…but a VERY developed country (I don’t remember it being so nice, on my first visit!). We almost did not make it here though. We were told of the horrors of Heathrow airport with the new security measures, but it took us almost 24 hours just to get to the ... read more
Fisherman on the Cape Coast
I just returned home from dropping my mother among the mass of people at the airport here in Dakar and decided it may just be time for another update. I am thinking she is breathing a big sigh of relief as I fear West Africa (especially the heat) may have a bit more shocking than she expected. I will keep this blog free of boring stories of work or life here with our guards, etc…but instead I will share a few comments and pictures from our recent trip to Ghana. I had to use a week of vacation so through a little research, Nicole and I determined that Ghana was our best option of places to go. Why you ask? Well it is pretty much the only country in this region that the weather is actually ... read more
My initial meeting with my sponsored child, Mambodj
So it has been 4 weeks since my last entry, oh how time flies. I am still enjoying my time here in Senegal tremendously. As it is now home…and I’m not really a tourist, I don’t have all that many exciting stories to share. French class is over, and I must admit I don’t have much to show for it. We now have our evenings free…not that we have a lot of options of things to do here. Our fun of late is guessing whether we are going to have power or not. Apparently they have issues here with some corruption and the government dealing with the electrical companies. In turn, power is turned off nearly every day. They turn it off anywhere between 1 and 10 hours. Luckilly our office has a generator, so when ... read more
4th of July dinner
I just realized that I am past due to send out another blog update. Unfortunately, I am willing to bet that you all back home will have more interesting stories to share than I over the past couple of weeks, but I will make an attempt in an effort to keep you updated! As yesterday was the 4th of July it makes me step back and reflect how fortunate I am to have grown up with the independence given to me being an American. Now, I by no means think that America is better than any of the other amazing countries out there, I just try to acknowledge and be thankful for the advantages I have by being an American that other people are not lucky enough to receive. Mainly, I have had the opportunity to ... read more
Trees of Africa...
So far I have been trying to give you at least a feel of my life here in Dakar as I know it. However, we have had the opportunity over the last few weeks to take a couple of side trips to some nearby places outside of Dakar that I thought I would give you a bit of info and share some pictures on. I apologize in advance for the length and any ‘soap box’ messages given. I guess it has been over 3 weeks ago now, when we decided to take our first weekend trip. We had (yes, yet another) holiday the first week of June, so we decided to take advantage of it and visit Saint Louis. Saint Louis is about 4 hours north of Dakar, also on the west coast of Senegal. It ... read more
Our first home cooked dinner
I finally am getting closer to being ‘settled’ here in Dakar. We are fully moved into our new house and trying our best to adjust to our new way of life. On the outside, things are not all that different from home. We wake up, walk to work, spend 8+ hours in front of a computer, then go home. However for some reason almost every aspect of the day is quite a chore for us. Ok, maybe waking up is not all that difficult (except for the fact that I hate mornings). Our bedrooms have these shutters on them that are always closed, which is probably good because it keeps more of the mosquitos out, but bad because it stops any sun from shining in and therefore makes getting up that much harder. In the ... read more
Ile de Ngor
Ok, I'm not moving far. Staying here in Dakar…but we finally found a place to live. Nicole and I actually will have a house (that is way more space than we want or need) but it is right around the corner from the office, so way too hard to refuse! We should be moving in over the next few days, so it will be interesting to see how well I make it without the creature comforts given to us here at the hotel. It will be VERY interesting I’m sure. I still have the most difficult time trying to articulate life here in Dakar. I don’t think anyone who is not actually here can really understand/appreciate this place. I swear, daily I am surprised by something else. Here are a few of my observances based on ... read more
Our office
Ok…I’m not REALLY engaged, but I got your attention right? More on that later… I have so much to write since my last update, but to try not to bore you too much I will leave out the stories from my final days in Bangkok and training (although there were some fun times to be had - including a Thai Elvis impersonator and a movie theater with recliners!) and move on to my new home away from home…Dakar, Senegal. After 30+ hours of traveling from Bangkok to Dakar (via Paris), we arrived here in Dakar a week ago. First impressions upon my arrival here were those of shock. It was obvious immediately that I am most definitely in a developing country and unlike any I have ever visited before. However, straight away I could tell I ... read more
Kellie's castle
I was very lucky to have the opportunity to take a few days off last week to visit my Malaysian family in Seri Iskandar, Malaysia. I took a inter Asia airline (like Southwest at home) from Bangkok and then another little flight about 130 miles north of Kuala Lumpur to meet Norlina and family. Norlina was our first foreign student when I was 10 years old in Lincoln and met her husband, Sharil, at UNL…so we have always been in contact with the family as they keep growing (now with 5 kids!). I can’t believe that it had been 5 years since I was last able to visit. The country is still just as beautiful and HOT as ever…but all of the kids are so much bigger. I guess that happens! We kept busy running errands ... read more
Oxford
Hello from Bangkok….again. As it has been a couple of weeks since my last update, I thought I would quickly write up something. I figure I always have to at least add a couple of pictures so I have included some from my final weekend in the UK. My last week there was a bit crazy due to lots of work changes, but I still enjoyed my long weekend alone and explored some areas of London I have always wanted to see (i.e. Notting Hill - no Hugh Grant or Julia Roberts…but it was still cool). I also went to see the performance of Chicago (very good), and took a little road trip back to Oxford. It was fun to go back to the college that I had my little study abroad program at and roam ... read more
