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