Preparing for my first Village Stay

I'm avoiding writing my essay and thinking about what I need to get done before I leave Friday, so what better time to write a blog post!
So these past few weeks have been rough. Culture shock doesn't even begin to describe it. I am happy to say that things are getting better though as I feel more comfortable with my family, school, and my neighborhood. I am actually cooking dinner for my family tonight, Chicken Yakisoba!
Aside from that, I've just been busy settling in and taking classes. I am taking Wolof, French, and Field Studies Seminar, as well as having workshops on African Dance, Djembe (drum), Tama (another drum), Batik, and Ceramics. This week is dance and djembe for my workshops in the afternoon this week. It is much harder than I had anticipated!!
I have also been going on little adventures with classmates. We usually have Wednesday afternoons free in order that we may explore Dakar more. Of course my favorite trips thus far are ones to the beach.

Why yes, yes I am living in a Corona commercial. Now where is my beer?

Other trips I have taken are to the markets (pictures to come soon), different parts of town, the grocery store (that was a weird trip. The things they sell are very interesting, and there is such a tiny produce section!), and recently Goree Island. The visit to Goree was so beautiful and yet so sad. It is estimated that around 20 million people were sold at Goree into slavery. Men up to 60 kilos and virgin girls were worth a gun or some wine. Women and children were sold for tobacco. Walking though "La maison des esclaves" was incredible, and words don't really exist for the emotions one feels in such a place.

Goree Island!

In La Maison des Esclaves, the staircase to the slave master's quarters above.

One of the rooms where the men were kept

And a room where the women were. The newer labels help to not be stuck in a tour group.

This is it. About 20 million people walked through this door to a wooden bridge, got on a boat (or tried to escape and were killed by guards or sharks), and never saw home again.

It is just incredible. Pope John Paul II stood in this door in the 90s when he visited Dakar and apologized for the involvement of the church and missionaries in the slave trade and colonialism. The general response was "we can forgive, but never forget". I am amazed that the Senegalese people were able to reunite after this, for it was often neighboring tribes declaring war on each other and selling the prisoners/losers of the war. It really is a testament to the culture here.

Here are some other photos I snapped on Goree.

Lovely little fishing boats, believe it or not these were the least colorful I have seen

The view of the village below while climbing up the hill on Goree 

Some graffiti. I am going to have to write a separate post when I return about
 Senegalese graffiti, for it is so beautiful!

Look, I can see a good chuck of Dakar from the hill top!

In short, it has been a beautiful time exploring so far. Things have been hard, but I am starting to feel a good bit better just by walking around places and seeing things.
Friday I depart for my first village stay. On our way we are stopping to visit the Monastere Kerr Moussa and in Touba and the Grand Mosque. We are then staying in villages for 3 days, then going to Saint-Louis for 3 days to explore the city. I will upload some pictures then on facebook and hopefully have an update when I return to Dakar!

Until then,
Bah Benon Yon!!

Le Premier Semaine

Assalamualaikum!

I survived my first week in Dakar! And I finally had my suitcase arrive yesterday, it was so nice to have a different set of clothes after a week without one!

Um... So much has happened, so I am going to try and keep things in order, but I may get a little scatter-brained. I apologize in advance for any confusion, I will try and draw a flowchart later. And I know this post isn't very nicely done with photos of the things I'm talking about, I just don't have the battery power. I will do better on the next post I promise!

First off, my flight.
Going from Portland- Toronto - Montreal - Brussels - Dakar was insane, I lost my luggage between Portland to Toronto and was sick from Brussels to Dakar, but otherwise the journey went alright.  I still can't wrap my mind around how far away I am right now from home, it is crazy!! We were lucky and got to stay in a hotel for the first week in order to get more acclimated to Dakar, which I must say helped a lot. I wouldn't have survived with being thrown in with school and my family right away.

Which leads me to... school
I love school! As a friend of mine here said, it kind of feels like we are at summer camp but learning and getting credit for it, which is awesome. For classes I am taking Wolof, French, Dance, Jambe, Tama, Batik, and Ceramics, all while preparing for my ISP. My Independent Study Project (ISP) takes place the last 4 weeks as I research and write a 20 page paper on the topic of my choice.
We only have each class 3 days a week, and the other days are spent studying Senegalese culture, having time with our families, and traveling around Senegal to different villages. I am super stoked for my first village visit in two weeks.
This past week in school we were going though orientation, so we spent time learning about money, taxis, haggling, and cultural nuances. Thursday was a blast as we were all sent downtown in small groups and we had to find a specific landmark, ask people questions, get lunch, and haggle for a gift for  a classmate. My group was sent to one of the larger markets in town, and it was nuts. Words do not describe how hectic things were there!

Now the biggest part, family
I moved in with my family Friday night, and it has been interesting. Friday we had very bad storms in Dakar, and there were so many flash floods everywhere that what is normally a 15-20 minute cab ride took about an hour! It was nuts! I made it home, and it turns out one of my classmates is also in the same family with as I am, but she lives with my sister and her husband down the street. In my house is my dad, mom (who is gone every other week in france for work), three sisters, brother, three cousins, and my niece and nephew are at our house all the time instead of at home. We live in a lovely house with 4 goats in the back yard. I definitely live in one of the more sociable and active houses out of all the students here. I am also so thankful that my family has a semi-normal bathroom with a separate toilet, sink, and shower. I get my own room, which is nice, and we as a family eat lunch and dinner (well, dinner when I am at school).

But that's all I can think to write about now, I am keeping a journal you all can read/make copies of to read. If anyone has any questions email/facebook me and I will answer them in a post.
Anyways, here are pictures from this past week!

Just a handful of the glass paintings in the market downtown.

Very beautiful yet very controversial statue. It is HUGE -- you can see it all over the city and from the air when landing!!

So many stairs to climb!

View from the top!

Hanna and Max at lunch

And the awful serenader who just would not leave!!

The presidential palace. We can't get any closer to take pictures.

Aziz Thiam Playing the Tama

The incredible Kora player Edou Mamga

The world renown Jembe player Mamadou Fall 

View of Dakar from the minaret of the Grand Mosque, courtesy of Hannah

N'Icecream!! They have Obama flavor!!

The Cathedral of Dakar

It has such a beautiful ceiling

Until next time!!
Ba Bennen Yohn!!
Em

Quick Post From Brussels

Just a quick update from Brussels.

Somehow have made it here in one piece, even though my suitcase is MIA, I almost missed my flight to Montreal/Brussels searching for said suitcase, and my visa may/may not have incorrect dates on it. But aside from all of that, I am really excited. Still nervous, but I am just so excited to get there! It all feels like a dream so far! May brain is definitely getting used to hearing/speaking French over English (and German too here in Belgium). It should be interesting.

Anyways, waiting for my flight to Dakar, and I have 6 minutes left on my wifi so I'll just post some random photos from today.

Flight from Portland to Toronto.

Air Canada has such awesome entertainment. And on top of meals we got chocolates in honor of the company's 75th anniversary today.

I only got 25.08 euros for my 40 dollars, thank goodness Senegal has a better exchange rate!

The guy apparently had no idea about the name Emily, apparently I'll need to say it more like Aimelee...

Of course the doll came!! Here he is in Brussels Airport

Until next time I find wifi!!