Trip to Senegal Part 7

Today I left Senegal to go back home, but that wasn't until the evening. In the morning, I met some of the people on the board of the church my fiancee attends while she is in Senegal. The meeting didn't go too badly. The worst thing about the meeting was the language barrier between those on the board and myself. The primary language in Senegal is French, and I don't know French well enough to converse in it. The other problem I had was thinking of things to say to them. The meeting seemed to consist of each person saying how nice it was to meet each other and how honored they felt to meet the other person. I didn't realize that was how the meeting was going to be and had to try to think of something to say without very much planning or thinking before hand.

After the meeting, my fiancee, her father and I went back to the house. While I was there, I was able to get all of my things ready for the trip back as well as just think back on the week and my time in Senegal. Senegal wasn't really as different as I was expecting. I can't say I experienced any culture shock when I went to Senegal. The air didn't taste different, the people didn't look strange and gravity seemed to work the same way over there. To me, Senegal just seemed like another place. Sure, it was different and unique, but all places are. When I arrived in Senegal, there wasn't a loud BOOM, a bright flash and a strong wind telling me that I was in Senegal. It was much more subtle... I simply walked on the plane in France and walked off it in Senegal.I'm not sure exactly why I didn't feel a sense of a culture shock when I arrived. Part of the reason may be the fact that I have lived in Europe and traveled all throughout Europe and was used to difference cultures and different environments. I'm not sure if it had to do with the fact that my fiancee had told me all about Senegal so I knew what to expect. I'm not sure if it had to do with the fact that I am, in many ways, oblivious to people and details about cultures and focus more on the sciences. Perhaps it is a mixture of all those things.

Senegal is different from the US in many ways, but it's not an alien world; it is still on the same planet. In the afternoon, the whole family when to a gathering some people from the church had organized. I thought the way it was set up was very interesting. There were chairs set up against the walls all the way around the room. People could either sit in the chairs, stand up or stay on the porch. The thing that I found interesting was that whenever someone would arrive, they would go around the room and say hi to everyone who was there. I'm not sure if that is what usually happens or if this was a special case. In the US, there are times when there are gatherings and when someone arrives, they shake hands with everyone and say hi to everyone. However, what happens more often is that when someone arrives, they try to find a few people they know who happen to be in different areas of the room, say hi to them, and after that, they feel they have fulfilled their greeting duty and don't say hi to everyone else. Each way of greeting has good things about it and bad things about it, so I don't think one way is better than the other; however, each way clearly shows how people in Senegal have different priorities and view life differently from those in the US.While at this gathering, a few people took the time to give a little speech to congratulate my fiancee and me on our wedding as well as to say how thankful they are that they were able to meet the person who was going to marry one of the people they had known for a very long time and cared for very much.After the speeches, some people my fiancee used to sing with came up and sang for us. After they sang, someone suggested that some of the guys, including myself, go up and sing, so we did. I think my fiancee was surprised at how willing I was to agree to go sing. After the singing, I was asked to say a few words to everyone, which is when I took the time to thank everyone and let them know how glad I was that I was able to meet everyone. To finish everything up, we had a few snacks and had to leave a short while later so that I could check my bags into the airport.

After going home, I finished packing everything and then the family took me to the airport to check it in. Once everything was checked in, we all went out to eat one last time together in Senegal, which was very gloomy for me. I had a wonderful week in Senegal and I really didn't want to leave. I would miss the warm weather, spending time with my fiancee's family and just the whole atmosphere. It was then that it really sunk in that I was leaving and would not be back for a long time. It was then that I realized how much I would miss Senegal and how much I would cherish the memories I had of Senegal. However, the hardest time for me was when the plane was taking off from Dakar International Airport. While taking off, I could see the lighthouse that I had walked by yesterday, and it was the lighthouse that, for those few second, represented all of Senegal for me; while I was taking off, I was not just traveling farther away from the lighthouse, I was moving farther away from Senegal. I didn't know when I would see that lighthouse again, and I didn't know when I would see Senegal again. When I could no longer see the lighthouse, I knew that I had left Senegal. The lighthouse is not just to let ships know they are close to land, it is to let me know I am close to Senegal.

Trip to Senegal Part 6

Today, I went to the beach again, but this time, I went to the beach in Dakar. I didn't spend any time walking along the beach; I spent my time relaxing, watching the waves while my fiancee was talking with some poeple she knew from the times she went to school in Dakar. Even though all I did while I was there was sit down and watch the waves, it was very relaxing and enjoyable, so I had a very good time.After going to the beach, I went to go eat lunch with my fiancee and her brother and sister and her sister's boyfriend. Went all went to eat an an Asian restaurant in Dakar. The food there was very good and enjoyed the atmosphere a lot. There weren't any people in the area we were sitting, so we didn't have to worry about others being too loud. This was the first chance I had really spent time with both my fiancee's brother and sister and I really enjoyed spending time with them.

After lunch, my fiancee and I went back to her family's house, where I spent time relaxing, getting ready for my trip back home the next day, working on a few computers and getting ready for my fiancee's sister's graduation ceremony.

One thing I was surprised about was how comfortable the weather in Senegal is. Even though it was a lot warmer there than Indiana, it was not uncomfortably hot. This surprised me since, I had been sweating a lot more than I was used to, it didn't bother me. I think part of the reason may have been because of the clothes I was wearing. Since I didn't have to go to work, I was able to dress down a lot and wear much more comfortable clothes. However, even when I dressed up for the graduation ceremony, I didn't feel uncomfortable. By the time of the graduateion ceremony though, the temperature had dropped a lot from what it was during the afternoon. I'm not sure how hot it was in Senegal while I visited, but it didn't feel nearly as hot as I thought it would.

Trip to Senegal Part 5

Today I went to downtown Dakar. Dakar is a very good size city, but the first thing I noticed about downtown was the way people treat you. In New York City and Chicago, you can walk down the street without anyone bothering you; if you don't interact with them, they won't interact with you. Downtown Dakar is different; there are people all over the place trying to sell you things. When you walk down the street, you can't take five steps without passing someone trying to sell you something. They will shove watches, shirts and cheap jewelry in your face. It takes effort to ignore the people selling things from you and convince them that you won't buy anything they have. However, I'm guessing that they would treat me a lot differently if I was from Senegal.

Other than how determined people were to sell things to me, the other thing I found interesting was the things people tried selling. There was one person who had a little stand he used to sell irons. Here was a person, in downtown Dakar, trying to sell irons on the street.

After spending about an hour walking around downtown Dakar and shopping, my fiancee and I went to a restaurant and ate. The restaurant had a very good atmosphere and the food there was great. I think the food there was the best food I had since I arrived in Senegal and was the best food I had for at least the past half-year. Saying the food was delicious is an understatement.

My fiancee's sister is graduating from high school tomorrow, and as a little pre-celebration, the school had a gathering for the students and family and friends of students, which lasted for around three hours, today. This is the same school that my fiancee went to during some of her high school years, so it was very nice to see the school. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting though. My fiancee had shown me pictures of the school, but for some reason, I always pictured it a little larger than it really is. While we were at the school, teachers were given the opportunity to talk about the seniors who were graduating and say a little something about each student. Of course, since I didn't go to the school and didn't know any of the students, it was not as touching for me as those who were involved. The graduating class was very small and I found it interesting how close everyone was. The high school class I graduated with was much larger; there were a lot of people I graduated with who I didn't know the names of, let alone knew who they really were. The school my fiancee and her sister went to was very different. Each of the students knew each other very well and had a lot of memories with each other, which is very different from my experiences with high school. Visiting the school my fiancee went to brought a good end to the day.

Trip to Senegal Part 4

I had a nasty cough last night, so it took me a while to get some sleep. I wasn't able to get any sleep until I finally drank some water.

In the morning, my fiancee's mother made a wonderful breakfast. She was trying to make an American breakfast. While the food tasted very good and the contents of the breakfast were what Americans think of what they think of breakfast, I wouldn't quite call it a "real" American breakfast. However, I didn't want a "real" American breakfast, so I was very pleased with what we had; I didn't go to Senegal to eat American food. After breakfast, we started watching a movie, but I was rather tired and slept through the first part of it. I was woken up when the power went out. Even thought the weather was very good and there were no storms, the power still went out. In Senegal, the power goes out frequently. It doesn't go out every day, but it does go out several times a week. When you stop and think about it, it's not that bad, but I know many people who would have a problem with it after living in a place with power all the time except maybe the rare thunderstorm. However, the people in Senegal are not as dependent on power as much as people here in the US. In the US, because of computers, phones and lights, if the power goes out, many businesses would have to close or stop work, people at home wouldn't know what to do with their time because they can't watch TV or use computers. In the US, many things we do rely on power. In Senegal, that isn't the case. Not everyone has a computer, and in many cases, people don't know what to do with a computer. They may use it to e-mail or chat, but other that that, they don't have a need for computers. They don't use computers to play games or just browse the internet all day. Some of the larger businesses may find it difficult to function without power, but most of the other businesses get along fine without power. Senegal is much more about relationships and meeting people face-to-face. In the US, when the power goes out, you notice immediately, because life immediately slows down. In Senegal, the power can go out and you may not even notice. In Senegal, life is so much more focused on relationships and not technology that Senegal does not rely on power as much as the US.

After the power went out and I woke up from my nap, my fiancee and I decided to take a walk on the beach. This is where I took most of my pictures in Senegal. The pictures I took are in a resort area, so they are not indicative of what the rest of Senegal looks like. One thing I found interesting was how many small children were at the beach wanting their picture taken. Some of them were very excited to have their picture taken and had these big smiles on their faces when I took their pictures. After taking the picture of one of the children, they ran to get another child so I could take a picture of both of them. Now, these are people I don't know and won't see again, but they were still excited to have their picture taken. So, now, on my computer, I have pictures of kids I don't know and will never see again. However, now that I have the pictures, I can't help but wonder what they are doing right now, what struggles they are going through and just what they are thinking. Even though I don't know them and only took a picture of them, I am sure that I will think of them often.

After our two-hour walk on the beach, my fiancee and I returned to the house we were staying in. We only stayed there for a few minutes before we left for the swimming pool for the group of houses in the area. It had been a while since I had gone swimming, so it was nice. The best part was just being able to go swimming with my fiancee; it was the first time we had gone swimming together and it was a lot of fun. After swimming, we all went out to a restaurant in Saly. I had some lasagna for the meal and crepe flambe, which was delicious, for dessert. After dinner, we left Saly and went back to Dakar.