It's been forever...

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Alright, it has been farrrr too long since I've updated. Same old keyboard excuse so I won't get into it again. Things in Dakar have been going really great... the rainy season is over and the weather here is so much nicer! It feels like spring in DC, and I feel the same relief as I do after a long winter, except this time it’s after a long period of stifling heat. Everything is just so much more enjoyable now that I'm not dripping in sweat every time I leave an air conditioned classroom or my seat directly in front of my fan.

Two weeks ago I went on my rural visit to Kaolack, a city about 3 hours away from Dakar. It’s known for being hot, sandy, and dirty... which is pretty accurate. My group of seven went with APROFES, an NGO that promotes the Senegalese woman in the Kaolack region, and I was supposed to focus on microfinance. Since I'm so behind in my blog entries, I feel like I shouldn't go into extreme detail... but let’s just say the week was quite a roller coaster. We spent the first night in Kaolack and my host family was soooo nice (made me eggs for breakfast, boiled my shower water, etc), and then we headed out to the village. Serigne, the CIEE director, was really intent on us being placed in separate villages in the region, but they ended up sticking us all together. That wouldn't have been too bad except that we didn't really get integrated into our host families. Basically, this other organization took on the job of showing us around the villages and they wanted to be able to spend the day with us rather than have us return to our separate families... so we were all based in this huge compound and never really met the family who was hosting us. Not the best situation for integrating the village life.

The week mostly consisted of being herded around every public building or facility within a 10 mile radius... we visited the health center, both public schools, the prefecture, the chief of the village, the market, a campement far away (that was definitely one of the low points), the peanut fields, another village nearby and their well system, aNOTHER village and a groupement de femmes that use microfinance through APROFES to run a "mutuelle de santé" for people in their village (health insurance, basically).... the list goes on. I'm really glad I got to see so much but it was a lot crammed into a few days and we were all disappointed we didn't get to have a more hands on, active experience.

Some memorable moments: when we visited the elementary school, we walk up and there are six year olds cutting the grass with huge machetes. Then, we walk inside the courtyard and literally 500 kids rushed at us, screaming and wanting to touch us, while they set up a spot for us to sit and talk with the teachers. Meanwhile the 500 kids are forming this huge mob around us, standing up on desks to see us, trying to touch are skin and our hair, while a teacher keeps circulating with a broom, swatting them away. It was ridiculous. And very telling of the trip in general... little was well organized or thought out--we seemed to spontaneously visit all these places and then we were expected to immediately launch into a long list of questions. It got to the point where it was pretty comical actually... right after the school, they brought us to the village hairdresser and immediately made us ask questions. Hannah was like "So, I hear that braiding can take a very long time... is that true?" and then for the rest of the trip we amused ourselves coming up with ridiculous questions everywhere we went (for the butcher, the tailor, the animals... anything in sight).

My favorite part of the trip (apart from the election, which I'll get to!) was our meeting with the groupement de femmes... finally something that actually related to microfinance! And while I really appreciate the organization trying to show us so much, the discussions we had with people were rarely that productive. This question and answer session was great though... It was so interesting to see firsthand how microfinance can make an impact, and also to hear what kind of obstacles people face when using microfinance. My experiences here, and particularly this trip, have really made me think about what I want to do with my life and also what approaches I think are best to accomplish the things that most interest me. (Sappy, I know.) In all of my development and African studies classes, teachers stress the importance of sustainability, the negative impact of colonization, and how working from the inside is vital for the development of African countries. Those ideas seem pretty logical, but witnessing firsthand how absolutely useless the government is here and how little people have (and to be honest, a lot of poor organization and lack of efficiency)... there's also that side of me that thinks how much EASIER it would be to get extensive funding from the outside and launch a well-organized project that could really make a difference. But would it be sustainable? APROFES is a Senegalese organization and while they really do a lot of great things, they are still very limited by their lack of resources and depend greatly on foreign aid. I guess it’s not really a new concept, but my time here has really stressed the importance of integrating macro and micro elements to foster real development--as well as local and foreign man power to manage successful development projects. Which then makes me wonder what role I would like to have in all of this... work directly with people on a smaller scale, or try to make an impact through more influential, international organizations like USAID or the UN? The jury's still out on that one, but I REALLY think the local government needs to do soooo much more for its people. In Senegal it’s a real problem because the main source of income used to be from the peanut industry, but that form of agriculture is basically doomed to fail soon. So what's going to happen to Senegal? Who knows... but from talking with all these people, it seems like no one even considers the state as a real option when it comes to needing funding or public works. Once again, there's that side of me that's like, someone needs to come in and reorganize the entire government! Obviously not an option (history proves that's a horrendous idea).... nor would it be productive but it’s just SO frustrating to see how inefficient and useless the central power is in helping its citizens. Such big problems and so hard to solve them... it gets depressing sometimes.

Anyways... to the election. OBAMAAAAAA!!! Its old news by now (sort of), but the election in rural Senegal turned out to be pretty amazing actually. Extremely luckily, the house we were staying at happened to have CNN (I don't even have that in DAKAR?!?!), so we pulled an all-nighter and watched the results in English, outside in the courtyard, sous la belle etoile. At one point I heard something rustle to the side of me, and I look over and there's a donkey just strolling past... Hannah and I about died laughing. Watching Obama become president accompanied by a donkey, not to mention the topless women who would intermittently walk by to use the outhouse!! At 5:30, right before Obama's speech (or after?) the call to prayer sounded over this loud speaker and I definitely thought it was someone publicly rejoicing Obama's victory until I remembered where I was. So memorable... if not the experience I would have had back in DC. In four years!!!

There's definitely more I could say about my rural visit, but I think I should move on since I have been back for two weeks now (not to mention I never finished talking about fall break, but that's never going to happen at this point). As I said, I really have been loving Dakar these days. The weather's great and I'm really used to the city by now. I've definitely gotten to the point where I don't notice the trash and the dust nearly as much as I used to, and instead I see this very bustling, active city with so much to do. I can't believe I'm leaving in a month! It's particularly sad because who knows when I'll come back here... though I am definitely determined to make it back! Otherwise, my family is doing well. I've become very close with my siblings, especially my 16 year old brother. It’s become the nightly routine that he comes and does homework in my room every night while I either do my own work, or read, or whatever, and I really like his company. My sister is great too, but she can definitely be a little.... difficult. She is a very sassy almost-14 year old girl. She loves to taunt me, or pretend to be angry with me and give me the silent treatment until I apologize profusely (which I try not to succumb to, but sometimes it’s just a lot less painless). They've also gotten VERY comfortable using my stuff lately... it’s gotten to be a daily event for one if not all three (excluding the 24 year old) to come into my room around 7 am to use either my lip gloss, my perfume, borrow jewelry or shoes, look noisily for a band aid... SO frustrating!!! But oh well, I try to set boundaries and then I just let stuff slide. I've only got one month left anyways!! Today is actually my brothers birthday and we're making him cake so that should be lots of fun! Sunday I am going to Touba, the holy city for the Mouride brotherhood, with my Islam class. Meeting at school at 7 am on Sunday... fun, fun, fun. But I am glad the trip isn't eating up one of my few weekends left, and it should be really interesting.

Alright, I'm gonna stop here, and I really will try to update more frequently! Unfortunately, I actually have a lot of school work crammed into this last month (4 long papers in French, final exams, etc...) but I will do my best. Miss everyone and love getting updates!

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