More about our stay in St. Louis

Now that we're in Mbour, I thought I'd update all of our loyal fans (especially you endearingly worried/slightly terrified parents out there!) on our trip thus far. Since Raven did a great job covering what we accomplished in the village, I'll type up one of my journal entries from St. Louis.

6/26/10 (this was the day we arrived back in Keur Sadaro, after being in St. Louis for a couple days)

"My days in St. Louis were pretty average. The thing that made the biggest impact on me was when we visited the fishermen's part of St. Louis (we took a tour on a bunch of carriages). Before coming on this trip, I had thought I would be shocked and maybe even frightened by the poverty/bad conditions I'd see in the village. But when I got to Keur Sadaro, I was pleasantly surprised to see how comfortably people -- at least in my family -- were living. But St. Louis, on the other hand, was a completely different kettle of fish (that is especially punny because St. Louis is a big fishing town... Ha. Ha. Ha.)

It was so cramped and utterly overpopulated. Goats roamed the streets amidst stray cats, barefooted children and pregnant mothers. The smell of fish permeated throughout the city, triggering my gag reflex approximately every 2 seconds. Keur Sadaro has so much open space, and the fishermen's' village literally has none. I can't imagine living there. But no one there wants to leave, because being there means access to fish means money means relatively stable and comfortable living. It just made me like the village so much more...

Actually, overall, I think I really do like staying in Keur Sadaro more than staying in St. Louis. Even thought St. Louis is more physically comfortable -- air conditioning; real, sit-down toilets -- Keur Sadaro is more psychologically comfortable. I don't feel like an annoying, unwanted outsider here [in Keur Sadaro], which to me is worth more than the world's finest, 2000-watt air conditioning. In St. Louis, I feel like a walking money bag; kids would just come up to me and hold their hands out for change. Here, I have a family that seems to genuinely like me: my mom kissed me on both cheeks when I arrived and my sister went a bit crazy and wouldn't stop hugging me. Anyway, despite everything I would think about my Western, hypothetically hygiene-oriented self, I am glad to be back in my super sweaty and dirty home. Because now it sort of does feel like home."

Done In The Village

Our stay in the village is complete and we are all so relieved to have worked hard and have an opportunity to now relax. We are currently at a beautiful hotel in Mbour right off the beach. A summary of our work in the village is below:

COMPUTER:
-Taught kids to use the writting program on the donated Oil PCs (punctuation, sentence structure, capitalization, etc). They wrote basic sentences and eventually poems.
-Taught them Math Matching game and how to create French to Wolof virtual flash cards
-Showed the teachers how to use regular PCs

GARDEN:
-Dug new planting beds in school gardens
-Planted vegetables (eggplant, cucumbers, etc.) and shade trees
-Created a compost with dried shubs, animal manure, tree branches, dirt
-Dug trench to prevent flooding during the rainy season and add overall moisture to the soil
-Watered the soil twice daily
-Taught the villages to maintain the garden themselves

CONSTRUCTION:
-Built school desks
-Built tree bench
-Put tar on the leaking schol roof
-Sanding the desks
-Paid for constuction of new kindergarden school building (it was nierly finished when we left).

CLINIC:
-Served villagers including the many Imams (Muslim religious leaders)
-Glasses presciptions
-Pills and cream distribution
-Blood pressure tests

SOCCER:
-Destracted kids who were eager to get in our way when doing work


It is fair to say that our stay in the village was both challenging in many ways and sometimes very uncomfortable. In the end I think we all appreciated the experience and gained insight on lifestyles different from our own.

Last Day in St. Louis!

In St. Louis we enjoyed the comfortable air conditioned rooms, hot showers, and club party. And we got a chance to buy souvenirs and Senegalese trinkets! We quickly learned how to bargain after a few disappointments of previous transactions. And we finally had a real American meal, a hamburger (with egg and cheese and fries and all sorts of deliciousness) and fries! Not that the fish and rice weren't equally as delicious, but we were all craving something that reminded us of home. After our well-deserved break, we head back to Keur Sadaro. Only three more days in Keur Sadaro and then beach paradise (Mbour)! Not that we haven't enjoyed our time in the village, but it is a relief to return back to similar conditions to those we are used to in the U.S.

Arrival in Keur Sadaro

Anya:

So, I'll be posting some of my journal musings on this her blog for all yalls' enjoyment. This one is from the day after we arrived in the village, written on June 19.

"I literally don't know where to start. It has been simultaneously exactly what I expected and exactly not what I expected. So I guess I'll start at our arrival in Keur Sadaro; all the culture shock thus far - in Dakar and Thies - pales in comparison.

So, we drove from Thies to Keur Sadaro yesterday afternoon, arrving at around 5:30 PM ish. As the bus pulled up tothe vilage, swarms of kids flooded around us. Actually, it seemed the entire VILLAGE was there. Anyway, I exited the bus feeling the most excited and awkward I've ever felt. After Aziz (leader type) gave us all a little welcoming speech (translated from Wolof to English), we got assigned to our families. As luck would have it, I was the last student to be assigned to a family. The anticipation/fear builds!

After my name was called, a somewhat scrawny woman and adorably inquisitive child approached me, and immediately started to carry my bags. (I am proud to report I actually did carry my fair share of the weight.) I had a super brief conversation with them in Wolof, but honestly it didn't really seem like they wanted to talk So, I walked with them from the "Center" to their compound, just a little ways down the road. This was just last night and it's already hard to remember. Maybe that's because this whole experience has been so overwhelming basically every second.

Anyway, suffice it to say that yesterday was terribly awkward (and I feel, at times, past the point of endearingly awkard). It was painfully hard to communicate and I honestlyjust felt bad that I didn't know Wolof or French better. After a late night dinner of fish and rice - the essentials to almost any Senegalese meal - I went to bed."

So yes, that's pretty much that for my first day!

ALSO!

Anya: The mangoes here are absolutely incredible. Someone may have mentioned that in a previous post, but it is worth saying again. And again. So, in summary: THE MANGOES HERE ARE INCREDIBLE.

So it goes.

Anya: As we passed through town, we got a bunch of different greetings: excited waves from ridiculously adorable kids, reproachful stares from grouchy teenagers (much like the teenagers in the states, eh?), and blank looks from people who really seemed like they couldn't care less. Sitting in the tour bus, I felt simultaneously at and on an exhibit, like I was both judging and being judged. (I also just couldn't get over the clothes the women were wearing, but maybe that's just me.) I was also judging my surroundings, unable to take my eyes off the construction of roads -- or lack thereof. I'm used to the compact, tight nature of San Francisco, which starkly contrasts how much open or just plain unused space there was en route from Dakar to Thies. Piles of rubble sat around contentedly, enjoying an afternoon with what seemed to me -- the brainwashed eco-freak from radical SF -- a gargantuan mountain of trash. I was also totally surprised by how many people were out, some working on the roads or planting flowers in the roundabouts, and others sitting in the shade, sometimes talking or sometimes staring. Buses -- both tour and commuter -- dominated the roads, as most people seemed to be walking around. It seemed like every time we stopped someone -- usually young, from maybe ten to 20 years old -- would approach the bus in hopes of selling us various commodities, from potatoes to hats to cards that said "Orange" (I have yet to find out what these mysterious cards mean, but this "Orange" company has been appearing everywhere). Anywho, I can't believe I already feel like I've seen so much that feels different and unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable and maybe a bit awkward and we haven't even arrived in the village yet. Well, I'll write again later! And folks, enjoy your cool weather back in the states; we are all sweating and chugging water like pigs running marathons. On that note, I bid you all adieu.

Alex: Yesterday, we saw a huge chamelion (maybe it was something else) that was all black with a yellow head on a wall by the basketball court. I'd never seen such a huge reptile so close before. It was really cool and after that we saw a bunch of other geckos that were super quick and pretty cool even though I totally hate reptiles. I haven't seen that many bugs, but I've gotten bit a couple of times by mosquitos I think. In a couple hours we will separate the supplies and then take the 15 minute drive to Keur Sadaro to meet our families and get settled in to our new homes for six nights.

More pictures!!!

One of the many very cool buses on the road to our second hotel in Thies.
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Mangos! We brought about 50 for $12.50
Jalen: Cheaper than the Paris airport!

Our hotel in Thies

Don't eat the tomatoes! Our first meal in Thies!

A very cool can! Arabic!

We are here! Don't worry we are still alive!

After hugs and kisses to our family we boarded our plane for 20+ hours of travel. The first flight to Paris being 10 hours with a 4 hour layover (plus 2 hours of delays on the runway!) to our 5 hour flight to Dakar. We arrived late at night, picked up our baggage, and loaded our ridiculously heavy bags on the bus.

Jalen: To all those who enter the French International Airport you will some be enticed by the Play Station 3 airport areas and Rolex watch outlets. But you will be disappointed at the 8 dollar croissants and seven dollar 12 ounce Cokes (with change in European coins!)

We finally arrived at The Good Rade hotel and moved into our rooms. Our first Senegalese meal, pizza. Exhausted we all headed to showers and our beds.

Today was our first official day in Senegal. We woke up and had breakfast and reloaded our crazy heavy bags into the bus and headed for Thies. On our ride there we were occasionally greeted by kids and adults on the street waving at our bus. Also tons of street vendors and mango stands. On arrival to our new hotel we had a delicious meal of rice, chicken, and caramelized onions with various soda cans written in Arabic.
We are slowly starting to encounter new conditions such as the heat, flies, and the complete lack of elevators. We will reach Keur Sadaro tomorrow afternoon where the running water, toilets, and eating utensils will be removed.

Itinerary and Important phone numbers

Cell phone numbers for the phones that will be carried by the adults on the trip:

Anton 011-221-77-533-9497
Cristal 011-221-77-533-9468
Kate 011-221-77-170-7665
Jacques 011-221-77-171-2284