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."