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Our office
Agnes and Meg at the office that Nicole and I work at. 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 was going to like it here. As I really knew nothing about Senegal before coming here, I thought I would share a few stats with you (I have been reading a lot of the Plan papers containing stats on West Africa…they are amazing, but here are a few main points):
- Senegal belongs to the grouping of least developed countries in the world.
Streets of Dakar
It is interesting to see the mix of traditional 'western' attire versus the more traditional. In 2005, it ranked 157 out of the 177 on the Human Development Index (which rates based on life expectancy- high 50’s, literacy rate, and GDP). Most of the 20 countries lower than Senegal are also here in West Africa.
- Average annual income is 550 USD. (Yet things here are NOT cheap!)
- It is among the most stable and democratic countries in Africa and has never had a military coup (very good!).
- Almost 92% of the population is Muslim
- It is a former French colony (it just gained its independence in 1960) so French is actually the official language. The other primary language spoken here is Wolof.
As Wolof is REALLY difficult (all I can catch thus far is waaw-pronounced wow…which is Yes), and I do not know any French…I am basically walking around this city absolutely clueless. Main priority for this week is to try and find somewhere to take French lessons. And I thought that learning Spanish was the way to go….oh well. There are SOME similarities I guess.
Now, regarding the engaged comment…no worries, no crazy surprises there, but we were warned before arriving here that we should be ready for
Futbol!
Some people playing futbol on Goree island. LOTS of attention. They were not joking. You are never alone here. Everywhere you walk, you are bound to have a trail of ‘companions’ following. These guys are not shy at all, and are quick to confess their love to you. I am assured that it is all harmless though! I guess it is a self-esteem builder!
This past weekend we had a bit more time to explore the city. Saturday Nicole, Agnes, and I went to Goree Island. Goree is a small beautiful island just off of the coast of Dakar that many locals visit on the weekend to enjoy some beach time. It is quite small with about 1,000 inhabitants and no cars or bicycles allowed. This island holds a lot of history, as the western most point in Europe it served as a principal point for the slave trade of West Africa to the Americas. Between the 1500 and 1800’s at least 20 million Africans were held at the slave house before passing through the ‘door of no return.’ The island now maintained for tourism has lots of fabulous local artesian work, so I know that I will take the ferry trip over again sometime soon
Hot Africa day
Cooling off on the beach at Goree to help contribute to the economy…aka..buy lots of paintings, masks, etc.!
The weather here (thus far) has been absolutely wonderful. Warm days-cool evenings. However the African sun is a bit misleading. Perhaps it is the wonderful sea breeze we get (Dakar is a peninsula-surrounded by water on 3 sides)…but I managed to get a pretty good burn from spending just a few hours at the pool. I have been told that rainy season is approaching…so things will likely get a lot more hot and wet!
Ok, to not bore you too much further, just a quick update on work (oh yeah…that is why I’m here!). It appears that I will no longer be going to the Philippines and will remain here in Dakar through the duration of this project. (Like I said before…key to this project…flexibility!) The 4 of us are splitting in our groups of 2 and working in 2 different offices that they have here in Dakar. This past week has been great, as everyone at Plan is SO nice and welcoming. We also went to look for apartments today and should be moving out of the hotel on or before June 1. I am looking
forward to being in the community and having a place to call home…and cook! Hopefully those French lessons will happen quickly, so that I will actually be able to speak to our neighbors and find our way around!
Ok that is it for now. Enjoy a few pictures…most of these taken by my co-worker Agnes who is our resident photographer. I am working on getting better at trying to take more pictures....so hopefully more to come.
I hope you guys are all doing well...email or call and keep me posted on life back home!
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Jill
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Your title was very eye-catching - LOL! Love hearing about your adventures. Good luck finding a spot of your own and learning the French language. You will do fine!