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| Riding Camels in Lampoul. Photo credit: Allie R. |
It was brought to my attention that my last post was perhaps
a bit depressing and under the weather. I apologize. But rest assured that my
holidays were far from depressing. I think I was just nervous that the Mayan’s
prediction was going to come true and that I would never see a grande iced
coffee again…and it was apparently reflected in my writing. My first Christmas
away from home was quite enjoyable in fact. I spent the day lying out on the
beach with a few good friends getting haggled by beach vendors and that night
my best friend from high school flew in to visit me. It was both exciting and
nerve wrecking to think of introducing someone from back home to this crazy new
life of mine here. Back in 2010 we traveled throughout Southeast Asia
together, so I wasn’t worried that we might not be compatible travelling
together. I just knew that the travelling conditions here are far worse than
anything we experienced in Asia. But she handled it like a champ, possibly even
better than I did. I thought it best to slowly introduce my friend to
Senegalese life. So instead of taking her directly to village, we started with the
more touristy attractions. Our first stop was Lampoul with its impressive, and
somewhat out of place, sand dunes. We spent the night there in Mauritanian
tents and rode camels through the dunes at sunset. For a second it felt like I
was taken out of Senegal and transported into an episode of the “Real
Housewives of New York,” just a little let glamorous and a lot sandier.
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Sunrise in St. Louis and Faidherbe Bridge. Photo Credit: Allie R
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From Lampoul we moved north to St. Louis, a lively city with
the center of town situated on a small island in the middle of a river. We
arrived in St. Louis around Near Year’s Eve and found ourselves in good company
with a handful of other volunteers from around Senegal. The ringing in of the
New Year went off, for the most part, without a glitch. That was until someone
came into our hostel room and stole a handful of cash and two laptops…mine
included. But that’s another story all together. We left St. Louis feeling a
bit discouraged but ready to leave the debauchery behind us as we traveled the
next 15 hours down South to my region of Kedougou. I was hesitant to do this
journey all in one day, but another volunteer we were travelling with insisted
that we power through.
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Allie hanging out with kids in my compound. Photo Credit: Allie R.
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| Relaxing after an exciting two weeks of travel. Photo Credit: Allie R. |
In Kedougou I got to show my friend what my daily life is
like. We spent a couple days at the regional house where we were able to walk
around the market. Another day we were lucky enough to visit my language
facilitator’s garden that sits directly on the Gambian River. The garden was
beautiful and lush, and I think it was a great way for my friend to see a type
of sustainable project here in Senegal. It was also just a peaceful afternoon
that we got to spend under a tree, drinking the “oh so sugary” tea, and
watching kids jump off of trees into the river. Bringing my friend to village
was exciting, but at the same time it was a trip to see a face from home
sitting around with my Senegalese family. The highlight of our village visit
was definitely introducing my family to s’mores. At the time of my friend’s
visit, my family was still making fires every night so I thought it would be a
good idea for my friend to bring marshmallows and graham crackers with her from
home. My family went crazy for s’mores! They were definitely hesitant at first,
but after the initial s’more was made, they couldn't roast the marshmallows
fast enough. It was a marshmallow frenzy as I was trying to distribute the
marshmallows fast enough and my friend was trying to keep up with the Hershey
bars and graham crackers. My host sister was so excited that she would just set
the marshmallows on fire to get them done faster! Overall our village visit was
a success, but we were both getting over a cold at the time, so we were both
ready for some R and R back in Dakar.
