So ISP period has been a mix of fun/down time with friends, long days at the organization, and lonely time since I live kind of alone and far from the rest of our group. I feel great and sure about my project one day and then freak out that I’m not doing enough and can’t possibly create a worthy paper in such short time the next. It’s hard for a horrible student to create all work for herself let me tell you! It’s a good thing I’m really into my subject though. You might see why…

It’s hard seeking out and immersing myself the hard reality of poverty and children to learn about it and then call up my friends to go out and “experience” Dakar. I’m not here to change things, I’m here to learn things? You can see night and day here in the city. Across the street is a family who lives by begging and sleeps in someone else’s unfinished construction, while next to me is a man in a business suit and flashy watch eating cake and sipping juice at a chic cafe. Which Dakar do I participate in? 

Recent cool happenings… Soccer game at the big stadium with the leaders of TSX. Really cool atmosphere, drumming the whole time, gendarmerie ready with tear gas, lighting fireworks after a goal and lots of running around the stands. Instead of crackerjacks, the women and their kids walk around with fresh roasted peanuts, frozen local juices, crème and bags of water on their heads.

I have refused to spend $2 on taxi rides and use only local transport now and it’s awesome. Basically get anywhere for 20 cents on a crammed, rickety, bus/van making tons of stops, but it’s an experience every time and I don’t mind taking an hour to get where I need to be. I run on Senegalese time now. It feels good to know what line and stops and cars take me to and from TSX to school or home or almost all the way downtown!

Last night we went out in search of some live acoustic music and with the help of a Dakar calendar magazine ended up at a swanky Casino’s bar sipping complimentary sangria listening to great local musicians perform many American covers with a Senegalese vibe. And naturally spent $1 in the casino! It was my first and Megan actually won twice! Then replayed and lost…oops

Nynke, a Dutch volunteer at TSX happens to be a wonderful singer and brought her guitar! We went to the local cultural center, watched the dance troupe practicing and jammed with a djembe player in his office for a couple hours. So fun. She even had How Great Thou Art and Power of Your Love! My soul was rejoicing but also fighting off homesickness and the longing for my Church community I’ve been feeling lately.

Along the same lines, I headed straight to the local church this morning for mass and was overwhelmed by gratitude and emotion. The house was packed and many rows of chairs outside, but I was determined to be close so I could more easily understand and see. I stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few minutes and then the women on a tiny bench squeezed together to give me 5inches of space to sit. Emotional mess I was at the moment, I was so grateful I teared up haha. So silly.

Between the fact that it was catholic mass and in French I was impressed I understood at least 90% and soaked it all in. The music was beautiful, big choir singing with djembes and other traditional instruments. My favorite part was that all the songs were lively and joyful. It was happy worship and gave me such peace. Afterwards there was a party arranged for what I understood to be the liturgical new year? (Evan?) and I couldn’t help but laugh that men were sipping cold beers in the courtyard at 11am. Those Christians! Mouhamed forbids it, but Jesus didn’t!

Once again, thanks for following me through this crazy time!