J’ai faim, quoi

    

Well, tomorrow afternoon I will be heading off to Dakar in order to start my vacation.  The past few weeks have been hectic, and things won’t really slow down until I step onto the plane.  This past weekend Peace Corps hosted an artisanal exposition in Dakar (at the American club, specifically).  This was my 3rd expo here in Senegal, and it went quite well all things considered.  Our basket association sold a solid amount of baskets, and the artisanal network as a whole sold right around $3,000 worth of products (some of which you all might be lucky to get in a few days…).

One big downer on the weekend was that one of my leather workers, Moussa Gueye got in a car accident on his way to the expo.  He fared better than the other passengers in the car, but he essentially has a broken hip.  I visited him today in Thies (any serious injuries in our area are usually treated in Thies, where they have proper medical care), and the doctor came in to tell him he should get a hip replacement, which is a very expensive solution in this part of the world.  I’m not sure how the situation will turn out, but I wish Moussa the best, and hope he’ll be able to get back to work soon.  On a side note, I never want to visit a communal emergency room in Africa ever again. 

That’s about it for now.  I’m scrambling to get things ready for vacation so I don’t have too much time to update people on everything, but I will do so once I get to Texas.  For now, here are some pictures of the artisanal expo and of the flyer I made for the expo.  The last picture is myself and several of my stage mates doing what we do best: party like rock stars.  Ba ci kanaam!

“Don’t you have something for me?”

Well, a whirlwind of activites not involving work has just come to an end, so I'll provide a summary. The week before Thanksgiving, my friend Thomas and I decided to do a bike trip from Ngaye to Kaloack. The distance is not too far (140km), and we wanted to visit people along the way, so we didn't exhaust ourselves too badly. All in all it was an absolute blast and I definitely want to do another bike trip in the future. Halfway through the 2nd day (going from Bambey to Fatick), we ran into a kid who exemplified the Wolof attitude better than most.  As we sat on the side of the road taking a small break, a well dressed teenager came up to us on his own bike (and a decently nice one at that).  Once we  had exchanged the typical greetings, the kid just stood there quietly.  After maybe a minute or two, he grew impatient and blurted out “Don’t you have something for me?!?”, as if as toubabs, we simply carried around a large bag of gifts to give to anyone and everyone.  Failing to hide my frustration, I simply told him that we were not going to give him anything, and proceeded to get back in my bike.  As we rolled off, he kept repeating the same thing over and over again: “Why not?”.  It’s this aspect of the culture that I will simply never understand, and will always get frustrated at.  Other than that, the trip went great and I’m glad to have had the time to do it.

After a birthday party in Kaolack, Thomas and I rushed back (by car this time) to our sites to get ready for Thanksgiving.  About 25 volunteers were lucky enough to get invited to the Ambassador’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, and it’s safe to say it wasn’t a disappointment.  A few of us even cooked sides that turned out quite nicely (my group made green bean casserole).  The next morning we were up at 5:30am to get back to our sites, since the following day was Tabaski.  Being the biggest holiday of the year, we all wanted to get back in time to get ready for the event.  For me, this involved helping my host father carry two struggling sheep into a shack, where they would spend their last night.  The next morning, I awoke and had a leisurely breakfast with my mothers and sisters while the men went to the Mosque.  With their return, the show was set to begin.  To avoid freaking anyone out, I will refrain from posting pictures of the actual slaughtering, but you’re interested, let me know and I can send you some wild ones. 

After the slaughter, we went to work cutting up the animals (I helped out by holding a leg here and there in order to give more room for my host brothers to work with).  Soon enough, we  were eating ribs and liver with mashed potatoes, and needless to say, it was pretty tasty (compared to a usual meal here, of course).  Later on we had more meat, and then some more, and then some.  In the evening, people went about town visiting friends and family.  It’s a tradition to ask for forgiveness from the people you know in order to begin a new year on the right foot.  After yet another meat filled dinner, I was pretty tired and called it a night. 

Well, that pretty much summarizes the past week or so.  For now, I’m working on a few things here and there, and will be working with my leather workers to get them ready for the artisanal expo on December 12th-13th.  After that, as you may or may not know, I will be going to TEXAS for the holidays!  Anyways, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, see you all soon!  

P.S – Pictures are of the middle of nowhere between Ngaye and Bambey (1), me looking on in Baba-Garage (2), Thomas adjusting his bike during a break (notice the size of the Baobab!) (3), preparing to slaughter the sheep (4), and Tabaski dinner with my host family (5).

Softball and baskets…again

It’s been a little while since I’ve written, but all is well here.  I had an extra long stay in Dakar that involved my mid-service physical, a visit with a high ranking Peace Corps official, softball, and shipping baskets.  Softball has become perhaps my favorite thing about Dakar region.  Once every 2 weeks, we get together and play in a recreational league against other expats and some Senegalese teams.  Being by far the least advantaged team on the field (we are usually barefoot and more often than not, a few too many beers in…), I’m happy to say that we’re sitting on a 3-1 record so far.  I guess talent and youth can prevail over dedication.  These games usually go on throughout the winter and culminate the week before WAIST, when we will be in the playoffs, inch Allah . First picture is of my previously nearest neighbor, Daniel, hitting a line drive to center field.  Second picture is Cruger (left), congratulating my stage mate Ankith (right) on a run scored.

 

The work portion of my trip included an 18 hour debacle that was the packing of our container.  As stated in my previous post, our baskets were done and ready to be sent to Dakar for packing and shipping.  Our U.S buyer had asked that a volunteer be at the location of the packing to oversee the process, which I would have done even if she didn’t ask. Through a combination of miscommunication and ineptitude on the part of the containers supervisor, I found myself in Rufisque (a far out suburb of Dakar, seen here in the first picture) at 6:30AM last Thursday for no good reason.  With 3 large trucks full of baskets on the way (or so I thought), one of them made a quick stop to pick me up and take me to where the container actually was.  It was then that I realized it was going to be a long day.

 

To make a long story short, the container HAD to be filled on Thursday, and someone had to stay with it until ALL the baskets were loaded in order to properly lock it once it was full.  While the 1st truck came into Dakar on time, the 2nd and 3rd were not so lucky, with delays of 6 and 12 hours, respectively.  Thus, after filling the container with 2 trucks worth of baskets (see 2nd picture), we waited until 8:30pm, when the last truck rolled in.  Around 10:30pm, we realized we had yet another problem: there wasn’t enough room in the container for all the baskets.  With 82 baskets not being able to fit inside the container, we had to find a place to temporarily store them, which resulted in a late night transport of the baskets to an apartment in Dakar where 5 volunteers live.  In short, it was a extremely stressful and exhausting experience I hope I don’t have to repeat again.  The good news is that the container will be leaving Friday, and consequently our job was successful, if not messy.  The even BETTER news is that one month from today, I will be making a 17 hour trek across the Atlantic to go HOME.  For 2 weeks, I will be basking in the glory of the U.S.A, enjoying the holidays with my family, and eating myself into a comma.  Anyways, for now I’m preparing to take a bike trip to Kaolack with a buddy from my stage.  Upon return, I will head off to Dakar, where the Ambassador is kind enough to be throwing a Thanksgiving party.  2 days later will come Tabaski, so I will rush home for that.  So I’m off to bed now, hope all is well back home and see you all in one month!  Dinaa gis sama waa ker ci ay vacances yi!

 

Baskets!

Not too much to update on. I spent the last few weeks managing the latest basket order, and progress is coming along nicely. Within 10 days or so, our order should ship out and we'll be able to focus on making a few changes to streamline further orders. Once it is clear exactly how much th association can contribute, we'll be submitting a Peace Corps Partnership Application to try to get funds to build a storage facility for all the baskets (see attached pictures for why this is needed).
Other than that, life goes on as always. Next weekend will be a typically awesome weekend in Dakar, as we'll enjoy softball, followed by volleyball, followed by even more softball, and topped off with some live college football. Afterwards, I'll stay an extra day or two in Dakar to complete my mid-service physical, which should be loads of fun. Anyways, hope all is well back home. A plus tard!

The Boys Are Back in Town

As some of you may know, my good friend John came here to visit me in Senegal a few weeks ago. As a volunteer in Lesotho, John is experiencing a wildly different aspect of Africa than I am here. Thus, with a short 2 weeks to show him the country, we made the most of it, seeing quite a few of the major spots in Senegal, including Cap Skirring (nicest beach in Senegal, and also the closest point in Africa to Brazil), Popenguine, Ziguinshore, Kedougou, Ngaye Mekhe, and of course, Dakar. Moving at a breakneck pace, we barely spent more than one or two nights in one place. The most memorable part of our trip (I can guarantee that John will agree with me on this...) came down in Kedougou region, where we took the challenge to visit a beautiful waterfall that was reputed to be a "quick 4 hour bike ride" away.
23 hours later, exhausted, dehydrated and underfed, we arrived at these mystical waterfalls. With a group of 8 people, we had horrible luck in terms of bikes breaking down, and having to ford a 4 foot deep river with all of our stuff didn't help (there was a bridge to cross, but upon seeing this bridge, it was clear that fording this river was BY FAR a better option, since most of us were interested in staying alive). When it got dark around 6:30 p.m the first night, we had to ask a random Pulaar village if we could spend the night, which caused great excitement among the villagers. After a usual nighttime rainstorm from hell that almost blew our tent over, we were eager to get going the next morning. So, having left at noon the previous day, we finally arrived at around 11 a.m. Thankfully, the waterfalls were truly beautiful, or we would have been seriously pissed off. Other than that little overly intense adventure, the trip couldn't have gone any better, and it was a blast to say the least. See bottom for pictures. I am putting up all the pictures from the trip on a Picasa album, so go there for more pictures!

Now I'm back in Ngaye and bearing down with work. Coordinating the latest basket order, as well as filling out funding applications for both my leather workers and the basket association will be taking up most of my time for the next few weeks. Soccer season has started here, so I'll be going to a few games a week with my host family to watch local kids play (see pic at bottom). On November 1st, I will be continuing my tradition of stupidity when I attempt to swim from Dakar to Goree island. As an annual event, this organized swim is one of the top 5 longest open ocean swims on the continent. I've heard about this event ever since coming to this country, and have been determined to complete it when given the chance. Obviously, there are no swimming opportunities here in Ngaye (the country club is closed right now, so no tennis or golf either!), but I am doing my best by running a lot and working out a ton. I'm off to bed now so I can be competent for an early Sunday morning run, but hope all is well back home and that everyone is enjoying playoff baseball as much as I am! I'll try to be more frequent with updates so stay tuned. Ba ci kanaam!


On the boat to Zinguinshore



Popenguine




Night in a Pulaar village



Ready to roll the next morning...spirits still high




Post river crossing...notice how deep the mud is



John, being a badass



Victory! At last!



Kicking it with cows in Cap Skirring



Local soccer game in Ngaye

Korite

Yesterday was my 2nd Korite in Senegal. While the names and faces were completely different from my previous Korite, the day was spent much in the same way. In the morning, we ate breakfast like we normally do (outside of the month of Ramadan, of course), and then the men went off to the mosque to pray. From around 11am to 6pm, we basically sat around all day, enjoying the shade from trees and eating great food throughout the course of the day. Chicken, beef, lemonade, soda, popsicles, and dates were on the menu, and I can't say that I was complaining too much. In the evening, everyone got dressed up and took pictures, as well as walked around town visiting other families. To be honest, Korite is quite boring. We all sat for 7 hours talking about the same stuff we usually talk about, such as the ever popular question "Gallas, where are your girlfriends? And why aren't they here?" (They still ask me this, even though I've told them many times that I am not hiding a stash of girls in Dakar). That said, it's apparent that this is an important holiday for my family and the community, so I did my best to act like I was having the time of my life. Next on the agenda will be Tabaski, which is an even bigger deal than Korite, and promises to be quite the feast.
That's all I really have to say for now, just wanted to upload some pictures of Korite. My buddy John is flying in Saturday night, and I'm happy to say that I've planned what I deem to be a pretty awesome trip full of danger and adventure. Anyways, hope all is well on the home front. Ba ci kanaam!



Pictures are as follows --> 1)My namesake, Fallou Gallas and I (he is a complete clown, and my nickname for him is Golo, aka monkey)
2)Family members lounging about and making tea during the day
3)Me and my baby brother, Ahmet (notice my awesome Boubou outfit)
4)A light near my room. Yes, we have a lot of bugs...

365 Days later...

Exactly one year ago, the adventure we've come to call "Peace Corps" began in earnest. On September 11th, 2008, 40 toubabs arrived in Dakar, not knowing in the least what they were in store for. In truth, it's incredibly hard to believe that an entire year has flown by since that fateful morning. But in these past 365 days, my peers and I made new friends, learned new languages, acquired new "family" members, and of course, lowered our hygienic standards by a substantial amount. Together, we've shared some incredible experiences, and some awful ones that I somehow remember fondly, solely because of the company I was in. We've all had our highs and lows in this country, and it's safe to say that other volunteers are the greatest source of support when having a bad day. My greatest concern coming into this experience was what the other volunteers would be like. Having moved around my whole life, I knew how much harder these two years would be if I didn't have some friends to rely on. Thankfully, I've gotten to know some amazing people out here that have defined my service thus far. The good times were made even better due to having friends around, and the bad times were easier to handle with said company present. It's also important to understand that these are the only people in the world that can truly understand where we're coming from on many issues. When someone barges into a regional house saying "I wish this country would sink into the ocean and never be spoken of again!", you understand. When you sit on the beach, eating a mango the size of your head while watching a breathtaking sunset over the Atlantic, those next to you understand when you say "I never want to go home". With one year down, I'm making a mental note to enjoy this next year as much as possible, because all good things come to an end. As expected, this has been the most defining year of my life, and I cannot wait to see what the next 365 days have in store for me.

I spent the last few days in Dakar celebrating a friend's birthday, and just got back to Ngaye today. Combining the birthday with our one year anniversary, we had a blast. After a whole day of enjoying the pool and sun, we went off to a fantastic restaurant (where I had an actual Tex-Mex burrito), We're going to visit my leather workers a few times, as well as take a day trip out to the villages to get a first hand look at the production line. It should a be good experience and I'm looking forward to meeting my new neighbors for the upcoming year. Also, as some of you may know, my buddy John Anhalt will be flying in for 2 weeks on the 26th, which will be awesome to say the least. Well, I'm off to get some work done/clean up my room, but I hope everyone is doing well back home. I should note that today should not be a particularly uplifting day, as it is the 8th year anniversary of 9/11, so take my optimism with a grain of salt. So, for now, ba 11 Septembre bidi new! (until the next 11th of September).



Pictures are from N'Ice Cream (location of the 23 minute all-you-can-eat fest), and of Dakar at dusk from a friends balcony.

A Tale of Two Landscapes

When I left in early July for vacation, the landscape here was just starting to change. After no rain for about 9 months, the scenery was about as barren as could be, with only some shrubs and the occasional tree providing any color. When the rains finally started, I was just about to leave, so things looked quite the same. Upon my return, I was confused. Had I landed in Central Africa? What was this place with greenery flowing from all ends? Everywhere I looked, everything was green and lush. In fact, when I finally rolled back into Ngaye Mekhe, I had a hard time recognizing the town. Since the dry season is so long, literally the second that rain starts falling, the plants start to grow furiously. Obviously, there is still lots of sand, and for those missing the desert, it's still not too far away. Here are two pictures (the first of which I took during the dry season, the second a few minutes ago) to illustrate the change.












In other news, work is going well. It's looking like we'll have yet another basket order later this fall, which is great. Also, I'm going to start filling out some applications with our work partner in order to get a storage unit built for the village. Currently, our work partner stores ALL of the baskets in his home once they are finished. This last order, having 2600 baskets created quite a few problems for our work partner, as he had to give up a good majority of his compound when the rains started. Having a legitimate place to store baskets is essential for this association, and hopefully we'll be able to start constructing one in the near future. Also, I'll be making a catalog with my leather workers over the next few weeks so we can have all their models presented in an easy to access file that could increase their chances of securing an overseas buyer. That's all for now, I'm off to go run in the 100 degree sun...Ba ci kanaam!

The vacation to end all vacations

After a lengthy and fantastic vacation, I have successfully returned to Senegal. I wasn't in desperate need for a vacation, but the opportunity to visit Eastern Europe (with someone who knows quite a bit about the area) is one I couldn't pass up. Ever since my brother moved out to Serbia in the fall of 2006, I have been trying to find time to visit him. Three years later, there I was, sitting on an Airbus A320, grinning from ear to ear as the jet rocketed down the runway of Leopold Senghor International Airport. Upon arrival in Serbia, our little trio (my mother, my brother and I) spent a few days walking around Belgrade and eating amazing food. Then, thanks to the support of both our parents, Elliott and I ventured off on a tour of the Balkans. In a 10 day span, we saw various parts of Montenegro (including the beautiful Durmitor National Park, where we camped), Bosnia (including Jahorina, the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics), Sarajevo, and Dubrovnik (Croatia).


Simply put, I could not have asked for a better vacation. Not only did I get to enjoy the thing I miss the most as a volunteer (Western food), but I also got to spend time with my family and have a crazy adventure to top it off. Now, having returned to my "real" life, I'm ready and excited for the upcoming year here in Senegal. Even though the timing of my trip was unfortunate in respect to our basket order, the first container of baskets was sent to Dakar and shipped off with no problems that we know of. We will, however, have to set up a 2nd container to send the remainder of the order. As far as my leather workers, we'll be working on making a full fledged catalog over the next few weeks, as well as hopefully editing their video footage into a movie. In exactly one month, my stage and I will celebrate the one year anniversary since we arrived in Senegal. The fact that we've almost finished one whole year here is very strange indeed, and I will probably spend quite a bit of time over the next few weeks pondering how fast time flies. Anyway, I'm putting up a Picasa album with pictures from the trip so people can see all of them. Hope everyone is doing well and I'm glad to hear you're doing better Grandma! Ba ci kanaam!

PCV Gaines is M.I.A

No updates in awhile. If you didn't know by now, I am on vacation. I will be in Eastern Europe until early August. Internet is somewhat inconsistent in my current location, so updates will be short. Upon returning to Senegal, I'll write something more substantial. For now, I hope my PCV friends are enjoying the great scenery and weather that Senegal offers, and I'll see you all in August. Mangiy noos REKK!

Goree!

I've just retired to my room for the night. After watching a stunning (and needless to say, AWESOME) victory for the U.S soccer team over Spain, I decided to be awesome myself by buying some sodas for the family. To my extremely conservative Muslim family, buying 2 big bottles of Sprite is the social equivalent of buying everyone a drink at the bar, and thus it was a small party at my house tonight. Despite having no power for most the night, we sat there drinking soda by cell phone light, laughing about how happy I was that the U.S won ("Gallas kontan na!" they kept on saying). Tomorrow it's back to work, as now my leather workers have been getting interest from foreign buyers. We have to essentially prepare an online catalog and make some spreadsheets outlining all of their product line in order to advance in this process. That will definitely keep us all busy until I head off to Kedougou and then (gasp!) Eastern Europe for vacation. This is in addition to the basket order that continues to progress (they're almost done with production!).

This past weekend was once again spent in Dakar, but this time I actually had some work, meeting with the head of my leather workers about getting the online catalog set up. It was also my last chance to see one of my friends before he went home so we took a trip out to Goree island on Saturday. For those in the dark, Goree was a very popular stop-off point for slave traders back in the day, and thus has some fairly significant historical relevance. The island has kept its colonial charm and preserved the historical buildings that made it famous, and thus is a big attraction for tourists and Senegalese alike (there are often school trips going there). There is a well maintained boat (anything well maintained in this country is worth taking note of) that runs every hour or so to the island and back. Being the cool Peace Corps volunteers that we are, we very slightly impressed the other toubabs there by getting the "resident" price. After walking around for awhile, we took a visit through the museum (which still has its original cannons in place), and also visited the famous "maison des esclaves" (slave house), which was quite sobering. Pictures were not allowed inside the house, so the door sign is all you get (see bottom). All in all it was really a great trip. We spend so much time in this country experiencing the frustrating parts of it (namely local transportation) that we seldom get to appreciate its more attractive features. Goree as one of those times where I was really able to see that Senegal CAN be a incredible place to visit. I also really enjoyed seeing school children out there. I think it's extremely important for kids to have some pride in their country and its history, and Goree is a fantastic place to instill some of those values. In a country where the youth is often forgotten, it was encouraging to see kids running around the island, learning about their country while having the time of their life. Especially when many of these kids are coming from families that may never even have SEEN Dakar, let alone Goree. It's for this exact reason that I was alright with paying $10 (don't laugh, I make $90 a week here...) for my host brother to go on his school trip to Goree back in May. Having now seen it for myself, I'm very pleased he got to have the experience. I'm off to bed, as the next week promises to be pretty busy. Hope people back home are doing well and that everyone will watch the U.S play the final of the Confederation Cup on Sunday! Etats-Unis laa faral!!!

Work Updates

Earlier today I returned from a productive, yet very fun week-long stay in Dakar. Around 40 volunteers (or more) gathered in Dakar to help out with the 3rd artisanal exposition at the American club. This time, we combined forces with the Eco-Tourism volunteers to make it a joint artisanal/Eco-T expo. In preparation, I had transported some baskets around and also made a nice brochure for my leather workers (see attached PDFs. Can you spot the typo?). The expo itself went pretty well, despite the fact that we didn't sell as much as we did time. Many of the artisans there did, however, gain valuable experience and feedback on their products that will help them improve their ventures. Unfortunately, I left the battery to my camera in its charger here in Ngaye and thus was not able to snap any pictures. Obviously, we did manage to sneak in a few mandatory games of volleyball during the expo, prompting one artisan to comment "So...after lunch is done, all Senegalese people drink tea. Do all Americans play volleyball after lunch?"...

Before the expo, I had taken a few field trips to our basket villages to measure baskets and hand out salaries based on the number of baskets succesfully completed. Even though I'll be going back several times in the coming weeks, I don't particularly like doing it, since the image of a white man strolling into a village with $1,600 in his pocket is not what I like to call development. Obviously, someone has to do it, and it's the end goal of the project (to increase the salaries of the women making the baskets). That said, we're working very hard on making one of our counterparts do this, so that the women don't just start associating the white men with money (since everyone else in this country does that already). The last picture is of one of the villages I visited a few weeks ago (notice how the woman in blue seems very happy...she happens to be holding over $1000 in her hand...). Anyways, for now I'm back to working with the baskets, and am counting down the days until Eastern Europe (Peace Corps offically approved me for my vacation today!) Dafa Neex koi!

Bassari Festival!

About a week and a half ago I went down to Kedougou with some other volunteers to witness a Bassari initiation festival. The event was located in a village about 80 Kilometers from Kedougou, so we had to take a 2 hour car ride, followed by a 2 hour hike to get to the village. My first impression of the area was how different the landscape is. Instead of dry, desert like plains with nothing but sand in sight for miles, we were greeted by beautiful rolling hills with pretty little villages sprinkled across the area. Arriving at night, there was a pre-initiation party that was a blast to attend, since there probably enough palm wine going around to supply the U.S Army.
The next morning, the true festivities began. Young boys, averaging 12-14 years old, watched as the seasoned warriors paraded around the village, dressed head to toe in their war tunics. It was quite an impressive sight. After a few hours of slow but entertaining parades, a small level of chaos broke out. With no warning whatsoever, everyone started running down the hill. Trying hard not to fall, I sped down the hill in my Chacos, not really understanding what was going on. Once at the bottom, we found that there was a large plain, and immediately we knew why everyone had hurried down. The ritualistic fights were set to begin. Each young boy would be given wooden weapons to test his mettle against one of the warriors. During the combat stage, no women were allowed within 200 yards or so (the girls in our group were promptly forced to leave and back up the hill). Also, photography was strictly prohibited (this rule was fanatically upheld, with perpetrators having their cameras snatched away from them). Thus, one by one, the young men took their turns fighting the older, much stronger men. Usually, after about one or two swings, the combatants dropped their weapons and wrestled until one was taken to the ground. Of about 40 or so fights we saw, only once did the youth come out victorious. It was incredibly fun to watch, since shouting and jeering seemed to be encouraged.

On the road to Kedougou, waiting so that our driver could bribe the police...

Some Bassari warriors

After the fighting was over, we packed up our gear and headed back to Kedougou. Coming into Kedougou had taken us 13 hours, since we had rented out a 7place to leave from Thies at 5am. However, my trip home was not destined to be so quick. Combined, it took me approximately 22 hours to get back to Ngaye. Either way, it was a great trip and I'm happy to have seen some of my friends down there. As for work, our basket order is in full swing, and I will be going to different villages this week to hand out the first round of salaries and do some quality control. Aside from that, I may start working with some women's groups in town that try to sell and advocate solar ovens. Finally, I'm finishing up a fancy little brochure for my leather workers so that they can have something to hand out when they go to the artisanal expo in Dakar early next month. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well back home. Ba ci kanaam!

P.S I got my supervisor to sign my vacation form today. Serbia here I come!

The Trek

As the crow flies, I live 18 miles from the ocean. Since this distance seems rather minimal in the grand scale of things, I've always wanted to walk to the ocean from Ngaye. I brought this idea up to a few people, each time garnering some questionable looks. But apparently I've become quite convincing, and managed to sucker 3 friends of mine into this adventure. Thus, Thursday night, 4 of us (Thomas, Daniel, Justin and I) met at a fantastic chicken restaurant in Thies to have a feast (1st picture) before the start of the trek. We then took a cab back to my town, where we made some last minute preparations and got a decent nights sleep.

At precisely 5:30AM the next morning, we charged out of my house with our headlamps and headed west. Our goal was to make it to Mboro (a town 2-3 miles from the ocean) where we would regroup with a volunteer there and then continue onto the ocean. As the sun slowly rose in our backs (2nd picture), we walked briskly, intent of making as much progress as possible while it was still fairly cool out. Soon enough, we were trudging through sandy field after sandy field, still going directly west. While trudging through these fields, we spotted some dunes far in the distance, and wondered what we would find behind them. About 5 hours later, we finally hit the dunes (3rd picture - Myself and Justin), climbing them in a nervous energy to see the view from the top (4th picture). For such a barren territory, we were all shocked at the austere beauty of the view from the top. We also made an interesting discovery from the top of these dunes: between us and the ocean lay a massive posphorous factory stretching several miles of land. To get to Mboro, we would simply have to walk right through the middle of the factorys grounds. Approaching the gargatuan man-made mountains of rock, we silently wondered if this was a good idea. After all, if 4 random hikers walked through the heart of a U.S factory snooping around, they would quickly be dispatched and told never to come back.

Upon arriving at the heart of the factory, we were relieved to see that everyone was incredibly friendly to us. Not only were the employees fine with us being there, they were elated to see toubabs walking around and speaking Wolof to them. So, after a healthy detour at the factory (5th picture), we made our way through the end of it, to find some dry stretches of land. For me, this would be the most tenuous part of the trip. Having thus far avoided any blisters on my feet, I was feeling great and at the front of the pack. Suddenly, the dry earth (6th picture)started getting softer, and then much softer. Before I could make a comment, my right leg sank straight into soft (and seemingly neverending) mud. Blurting out my share of expletives, I was helped out of the trap by Daniel. So yes, I've essentially been a victim of quicksand, as my shoe and leg were caked with enough mud to make any sign of skin invisible. For about another 2 hours, we trudged along, our pace slowing quite a bit due to blisters and the increasingly intense heat of the day. Passing through the fertile (and beatiful) fields near Mboro, we could sense the finish line. Finally, at around 4pm, we were met by Devon (the Mboro volunteer) on the national route going into Mboro. Handing each one of us a cold beer, he commented that the ocean was still probably 2 hours away by foot. Downing our beers, we decided that we were spent and that our trek would end here in Mboro (7th picture...notice the caked mud on my leg).


After spending a few hours at Devon's and in the local bar, we limped into cars and headed to our respective homes. Around 9:30pm, I staggered back into my home. Needless to say, my host family was flaberghasted that I would do such a thing and quickly let me know that I was absolutely insane, yet brave. Strangely enough, I wasn't all that sore today considering we ended up walking around 25 miles (due to our navigational errors). I am elated that we were able to pull this off, because it showed us all that this region of the country does have some really cool areas that need to be explored some more. I don't think the walk will be repeated for quite some time, but the next time it is, I feel confident that I'll be there.