Time....what is that???

So, life in the US is constantly go go go! That concept truly hit me this weekend. I found myself sitting in my room, twiddling my thumbs, wondering how much longer I could pretend to entertain myself with solitaire. I'm definitely traveling next weekend. I thought it would be a nice gesture on my part to spend my first official weekend with my host family, but sitting and watching French soap operas all day doesn't cut if for me, especially when American soaps don't. After getting to know them better, I now know they wouldn't be the least bit put out if I didn't stay for the weekend.



Class generally starts 10 - 15 minutes later than it is supposed to, generally because the professor isn't even there. No homework has been assigned yet. I have not received a single book. Each class is knocked out in one day rather than dividing up a three-hour-class into three one-hour sessions. I can walk to school in thirty minutes or take a car rapide for .25 cents or a taxi for about $2. My shoes are constantly filled with sand since the sidewalks randomly decide to not exist in certain places. In the centre-ville of Dakar, everything is paved - not so in the outskirts of centre-ville and I'm betting even less so in the outskirts of the city of Dakar, which is enormous. On a map, Dakar is a tiny little dot, but in reality, it encompasses a huge area and is divided into numerous sections.



My host sister and her friend own a shop somewhere in town - I'm going there today to pick out a larger purse and some material to have some skirts made. I know, however, that no matter how Senegalese I dress, they will always know that I am not. :) It's just nice to try to immerse myself in the culture as much as possible.



Interesting facts:
It costs .50 cents per minute to call the US but .80 cents to call from the US to Senegal
I do not think that clouds exist in Senegal
An "auntie" comes to the house and gives a woman a massage every day for two weeks after she has a baby
American movies are enjoyed here
The water in the ocean is clean
Strangers find it amusing when you respond in the native language of Wolof (A vendor today said Nanga def - how are you - as I was walking by. I responded with Maangi fi rekk - I'm doing fine. He and his friends were dumbfounded.)
Western-style dress is widely accepted among students
If a class is canceled, there is no way to discover that until you reach your destination and find the classroom empty or void of a teacher
You can buy a banana for .25 cents
The metric system is used here: I bought 10L of water for $2
Fried eggs over spaghetti is surprisingly delicious
EVERYBODY loves to dance
Muslims and Christians live side by side, work together, eat together, chill together, live together
You don't flush the toilet - you dump water in it from a bucket
When speaking, words are often slurred together (instead of Tu as, it could come out Chew as, and result in lack of understanding on my end
These are some of the most hospitable people in the world
If a guy asks a girl out (on a date, as friends) it is understood that he will pay
Trying to explain "swag" is quite an interesting endeavor
Nothing is efficient and nothing is well-organized (in comparison to the States, and this is mainly in reference to the universities here) but you must be at meals on time
It is extremely useful to carry around note cards to write down new words and phrases
Taxis honk as they pass if they don't have a passenger
I enjoy eating with my hands (actually, only my right one since the left is considered dirty)
It is essential to carry toilet paper everywhere
Dogs roam around the city but don't seem to have owners
We take for granted so many things in the US
Relationships are considered priority and valued higher than anything else - if you are late because you stopped to talk to a friend in the street, then you are late, so be it

Hope all is going well in snowy Ohio!!! Until next time...

- Miranda

Reply to posts: I

I'm going to separate my personal posts from my posts in response to your questions/comments.

Senegalese people are definitely connected. Not everyone has a landline in their home, but everyone has a cell phone. All the universities in Senegal have internet access and the students take advantage of that. The school I'm primarily attending, the West African Research Center (WARC), has not had internet for the past 3 days, but the house I'm staying in is near a centre multimedia. The majority of the people I've seen at the cafe are Senegalese, and the time of day determines how many people are here. My house has a single internet line running to but others have wireless. I don't think they're as obsessed about it as Americans are, but they are aware of what is happening in the world outside Senegal; the youth use Facebook and Hotmail frequently.
They know more about the United States than people in the states know about Senegal.

The people of Senegal are extremely friendly. My roommate, Gilda, and I went to the Universite Cheick Anta Diop yesterday for a class and asked a million people for directions and every single person assisted us. There are a ton of little shops that all sell the same items (fruit, phone cards, beverages, etc)...we stopped at one of the shops on our way to the centre multimedia to ask if they sold cell phones. They don't sell them there, but they called five different people to find someone who sold them and arranged a time for us to come back to that same shop and they would have the phone delivered there.

Everyone says Ca va (how are you?) and is willing to talk to you and figure out what you're trying to communicate. They know pretty quickly that we're American, but I don't think that has an impact on the way they treat us. They are genuinely sincere and friendly. The people of Senegal are excited that a black man is President of the U.S. but beyond that they do not see how it will affect them on an individual level. If we pass by people who know we're American, they'll shout "Obama!" Even in the centre multimedia today, someone was listening to a newsreport of it on the radio. They know what's up. :)

Internet is not as readily available as it is in the states, but it's definitely here. We're looking into how much it would cost to get wireless at my host house; there are four of us living there, so we could split the cost. I think it's a generational thing, as well, whether or not a house has internet - it depends on who is living there.

I can answer these questions a bit more in depth later. I'm almost out of time on my computer. Hope this helped.

- Miranda

Je suis en Senegal

I arrived in Senegal at 6am yesterday morning (1-15-09). There is a 5 hour time difference between the United States and Senegal. We stayed in a very nice hotel in the city of Dakar called Residence Atlantique. There are 17 people in my program total, and two of them arrived today. We left the hotel at 10 this morning to visit the university, West African Research Center (WARC), where we will be studying. After that, we changed our money to Senegalese currency fCFA (400=$1) followed by our arrival at our host families.

An interesting observation: Time in Senegal is not the same as time in the United States, or rather, the perspective and budgeting of time. For example, this morning, we were supposed to leave at 9 but left an hour later. We were to spend 30 minutes at the WARC center but spent 2.5 hours. We were supposed to arrive at our host families' homes at 1 but came at 4 instead. The same emphasis is not placed on it as it is in the United States. They are very relaxed and not prompt. My father would love this style of life. :) As Wally, one of our program's assistants, says, we are now in WAIT - West African International Time. Oh, and in order for 8 of us to exchange our money at a bank today, it took over an hour and required 3, sometimes 4 steps.


After only having been here one day, I find myself already thinking in French more than I did in the states. As I'm typing this, I'm having to fight writing French words and using French sentence structure. I didn't really expect it to happen that quickly, but being surrounded by it constantly has obviously had an impact, which supports my belief that immersion in a culture/language is very important for learning it.




Observations in differences between the United States and Senegal:
TIME!!!
Homes have cold water but can be boiled if you want to take a hot "bird bath"
Water is sold in 1.5L bottles
You can access the internet for approximately $0.75 per hour.
A man outside my hotel was washing his car with a bucket of water and cup.
Everyone eats out of one bowl with their right hand, after everyone washes their hands in a bowl of soapy water.
Rice and meat are staples but we've had vegetables with every meal as well.
Bissap is an amazing drink made from hibiscuss nectar.
Bread (croissant, baguette), orange juice/milk, and tea/coffee compose the breakfast foods.
They drink a very stongly brewed tea - it would be similar to boiling 10+ tea bags for one cup of tea - and drink it out of a very small glass (2" tall).
Eating/drinking after strangers is not an issue, at all.
75 degree weather is considered cold.
There will be NO rain for the four months I am staying here.
Many of the main roads are not paved, trash is everywhere, as is dust.
Horses and goats walk in the streets and, as in Europe, it's hard to know if there are any traffic laws.


I'm awful at finding a way to end posts, so just know that if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'm very excited about being to share this experience with all of you.

- Miranda

Bon Voyage!!!

Tomorrow I fly from Columbus, OH to JFK in New York to board an 8-hour flight to Dakar, Senegal. I got a jump-start on my packing and finished it two days ago - a first for me. :) My family has been very supportive throughout the entire process, which has been a great blessing. My purpose for traveling to Senegal is to finish my French minor. I began researching possible destinations my freshman year since I entered college with the intention to travel. I've always wanted to travel to Africa, and this provided the perfect opportunity to do so. I went to the study abroad office on campus and looked through their materials, searched the web, and narrowed down my options. I determined which schools had what I was looking for and then cross-analyzed them and finalized my options to three schools/programs. I then called each program and asked them a series of questions then decided which I wanted to apply to first. I went through a rather lengthy process, but it's not for everyone. I have some close friends who have/are studying abroad and were able to find a fit easily without going through the whole research process. If you're interested in studying abroad, I recommend going with whatever method works best for you when picking a program. There are so many places to choose from and the sky is the limit: the whole world is literally at your fingertips. I look forward to providing you with updates about my trip and hope the information I provide is helpful.