Beginnings

The moment at which you have to decide if you will jump with the wave and start swimming to catch it right or duck under to let it pass you by. That moment when you really don’t know if the wave will throw you around like a rubber ducky in a washing machine or if you will be able to ride it all the way to shore, taking pride in making it farther than your fellow body-surfers. The moment you have been waiting for as you see the wave approaching, watching to see if it looks like it will be a good one or a dud. Let’s just say that was the moment I was feeling the last couple days before I flew here to Senegal. Lots of excitement and little idea of what to expect. 

It seems like a lot of times in life you have to just decide to dive with the wave and start swimming even when you don’t know what kinda ride you will have. In then end, sometimes you just have to go. What we are doing in Dakar is getting a glimpse of the life and a taste of the flavor here in Senegal. We are getting to enter as guests but live as locals (as much as possible). There is nothing quite like the Senegalese way of sitting around the bowl together, everyone’s right hand scooping up food into miniature snowballs of rice and fish. Nothing quite like jumping on a “car rapide”: the outside painted like a hippie bus complete with ribbons and bright colors, the inside with every inch of bench seat and often space between occupied by someone’s body. Nothing quite like sitting on a roof terrace at night drinking strong tea and watching the cityscape underneath the stars, the mosque nearby calling out to all who hear, competing with the sound of goats and voices.  Nothing quite like standing on the shore of the ocean, children playing soccer on one side and the rhythm of a drum circle on the other.

Something VERY affirming to my style of life (ie: staying on Africa time in the States) came up last week in a cultural orientation session. The Senegalese man flat out told us that people are more important than schedules. That being late to class is excused if you have the legitimate explanation of running into someone on the way. You cannot just brush people off because you are in a hurry. People and relationships are to be valued. I like that. My stomach is even adjusted-- since time is relative, meals are on a very fluid schedule. They are never at the same time. Lunch has typically been anytime between 1 and 4 (usually closer to 4), with dinner being anywhere between 8 and 10pm (usually closer to 10). We were told that you have to be hungry when the food is ready, not when you think it should be ready. Meals are eaten communally-- everyone eats out of the same round tray ("bowl") with either their hands or spoons, depending on the meal.

I start my official academic classes tomorrow, and will start off my day by catching a bus from my neighborhood to the study center for my program. I am told to leave about an hour for getting there since you never know when the bus will come by or who you will meet along the way. I love it here.