First things first - this blog is coming to you live from my new favourite place EVER! It turns out that whilst I've been schlepping into central Dakar everytime I want to use the internet, there's actually a place literally round the corner from me, that's far nicer than any other I've been to, with better facilities and is half the price - score!
Anyway, this week seems to have had many ups and downs, but I'm fine now, enjoying myself and even have company to endure the heckling from Dakar's finest sleazes - all in all, a busy week!
First off, straight after I wrote my last blog I attempted to get home via the bus, which is my normal chosen method of transport and usually very reliable. Alas I waited an hour for a bus that never came. In fact not just my faithful no. 10 bus didn't arrive, but none went past at all. Eventually coming to the conclusion that there were no buses at this specific bus stop, I walked to the next one, where I also proceeded to wait a further hour for a bus that never came. The frustrating thing was also that no one seemed to know why there weren't any, and more annoyingly so, didn't seem as bothered about it as I was.
Thus my only option was a cab, that I stupidly shared with a seemingly respectable man going in the same direction. He then proceeded to come on to me for the entire (and ridiculously long) journey home and I was forced to come up with a false name and claim I had a fiancé (don't feel I'm old enough to pull off husband yet). I'd made the mistake of trying to make conversation about the reason behind the lack of buses, and he then wanted my name, number, address and to escort me home once we'd reached the bus terminal. Senegalese men really don't have a subtle manner in this field and the ride was truly uncomfortable, made worse by his leaning over me at every opportunity, and a conversation he had with the cab driver (in Wolof so I couldn't understand) which terminated with the cabby reaching round the back of his seat to hammer in the lock on my door. Though I was convinced I was going to get raped by two horrible men in an unknown suburb of Dakar, I did get home fine and with some strong words on leaving the cab, managed to not be accompagnied/followed home. However I'm not too stubborn to admit that the incident did shake me up slightly. Incidentally, on returning home I discovered the cause of the road blockages/lack of buses, was due to a march against the release of two homosexual men suspected of marrying as being gay is technically illegal in Senegal.
Anyway, the next day I braved Dakar again, not wanting to lose my confidence of exploring alone and be reduced to a solitary existence consisting of school and my house(!), however this was again a bad idea. The buses were, thank goodness, running fine, however I did seem to get hounded more than usual by Dakar's street sharks and even got followed half-way down the road near Place de l'Independence with a guy trying to pull the 'Remember me?' scam that all the guide books warn you about -- if you don't stop to talk to them and let them mug you/sell you something, they call you a racist for not recognising them and thinking all African people look the same. Anyway, it caused me to turn off on to a street I didn't know and get hounded by even more people. Normally I'd be fine, but coupled with the incident the day before, I'd had enough and got the bus straight home.
The street hounding is part and parcel of Dakar's 'charm', however no matter how much you're prepared for it to happen, I think you can't know how much it's going to bother you until you're here and desperate for the chance to explore the streets un-hassled. Ignoring them just doesn't work. Yesterday a guy attempting to sell men's hawain shirts (--no idea why he'd think I'd be interested!) actually grabbed me, and today another pulled my hair and called me a racist for not wanting to talk to him. It really can all get a bit much sometimes but it's definitely ten times better when you're with someone else, and together you can laugh it off/scream for help if need be. It really does grate on you after a while though!
Sunday however was a good day! I did my laundry as usual and then started planning a geometry lesson for school. I figured geometry was quite a good maths topic to cover as it's visual and hopefully more easy to comprehend with limited communication skills! Anyway, my dictionary was lacking such useful words as 'quadrilateral' and 'parellogram', so Alain lent me one of his old school textbooks which was so useful. It gave me loads of ideas and definitely cheered me up - a sad existence you lead when a french maths book cheers you up.
Anyway, even more exciting than that, I received a phonecall that evening from another volunteer who had arrived the week after me and who wanted to meet up and maybe hang out a bit for the next few weeks. I was over the moon at the prospect of company (loner that I was pre-last weekend!), and we met up on Wednesday. The meeting almost didn't happen thanks to those crazy Dakar students clashing with the riot police over some nonsense - the buses weren't running again for fear of having their windows broken by the inevitable debris that gets exchanged - however I got a cab into town and the Institut Français where we met was all calm. Anyway, the girl, Helena, turned out to be really nice and totally on my wavelength in terms of exploring at the weekends and working hard during the week. Thus yesterday we ventured to Ile de Gorée...
Ile de Gorée is a tiny island about 20 minutes off the coast of Dakar and is famous for its 'Maison des Esclaves' - House of slaves. Gorée played a role in the Euro-African slave trade and the history there is quite moving. I definitely couldn't help but feel ashamed and slightly awkward at reading of Britain's role in the trade. Aside from the museums though Gorée is also a lovely spot to get away from Dakar's hustle and bustle. Though there is still much heckling from the street sellers there and the rather pushy tourist market that seems to cover much of the island, it was still nice to get away for the day and feel like I was seeing more than my school, suburb and an internet café!
Today we went out again, this time just to town, but had a nice lunch at an African restaurant, and then pootled along the streets in search of a sports centre Helena had heard about. We found it, but alas this was after the hair-pulling, racist calling incident! Perhaps because there aren't as many tourists on a Sunday, we got more hassle than usual, but regardless it was pretty unpleasant. One guy did call after us that we were 'bad people' though, which was quite funny. Anyway, after finding the centre eventually, another good discovery was a lovely little ice cream parlour right next door - definitely somewhere we'll be visiting again! Then after realising that most of Dakar closes on a Sunday, we ventured by bus and taxi to Point des Almadies, on the northern tip of Dakar where there are apparently nice beaches and good shops/bars/restaurants. We were a bit disappointed but found a potentially nice restaurant where the use of the pool is free if you buy a meal. Anyway, all in all, quite a packed weekend!
Helena and I have also made provisional plans for my remaining weekends here, which I've suddenly realised totals only 3! There's so much I want to do now I'm not limited by being a solo traveller, but it looks like a trip to Lac Rose next weekend is on the cards (a salt lake that shimmers pink!), and then the following weekend a couple of nights away exploring the Petite Cote south of Dakar (lots of nice beaches, fishing villages, piroque trips and horse riding/cycling!). My last weekend I want to go to Ile de Madeline, which is essentually a nature reserve on an island. The swimming there is supposed to be amazing in lovely rock pools! Will see though. The main thing is I have things to look forward to at the weekends now which makes the teaching more bearable.
Which brings me on to the reason I came here - to teach! Teaching this week has been a lot more hands on, though I still feel like I could be doing more. I got moved to an older class in the school, with the ages ranging from 11-14, and these are the children who want to go to the lycée after passing an exam in June. The teacher, Monsieur ? (can't remmber his name!) has been quite enthusiastic at my presence in the class and likes to show off the few words of english he knows. Anyhow, this means I've taken a few classes on English, and on Friday did my first after school lesson for 2.5 hours!
The lesson started well, with props and everything - I'd brought in globe-patterned balloons that my boss at the British Council had given me, and used them to show the kids just how many countries speak english. I was however slightly worried when they didn't seem to have heard of Australia and New Zealand!
The rest of the lesson was semi-successful, however I can't help but feel that perhaps the Senegalese should really start learning English earlier then High School. Not that I think everyone should learn to speak english, but starting aged 13 or older is really too late - their pronunciation is dire! And discipline wise, they've caught on to the fact that I won't hit them, and are far more boisterous than they would be with Monsieur, who can be quite vicious with his 'cravache' (riding crop).
On Friday morning whilst taking them for PE (which in itself was quite amusing), I explained to the 'élève responsable' (class president), that I thought hitting them was wrong and that regardless I felt I shouldn't have to beat 12 and 13 year olds to get them to stay quiet. Anyway, they all thought this was quite hilarious but the girl must have passed this info on to the teacher, who then passed on a message in my after school class, that I should write down the names of the pupils who play up and he'll deal with them (i.e. beat them) on Monday. Obviously this wasn't what I wanted to do, and so I simply threw out the kids who were playing up. Perhaps if there were less kids I would have let them stay, however trying to control 50 kids is at the best of times trying, but when some are playing up it's impossible.
Whilst I'm fairly confident that teaching isn't the right career for me and being a corporate lawyer is a far better use of my time, my respect for teachers is most definitely increasing! My sister is a teacher and works all hours of the day, planning, marking and generally working bloody hard, and so I already knew it's not the easy job some think it is (-- ''but you get the school holidays!''), however until now I never understood how difficult it is. It's not just the planning and time that goes into your lessons - it's having the creativity to present it in such a way that gets through. My geometry lesson for example, went largely over their heads - judging what content is suitable to their level is quite tricky, especially having only been with that particular class a week. Still, I'm hopefully going to get to do some more maths this week so we'll see what happens.
I have lots more to say but this entry has taken me so long to finish, and though I'm still not happy with its writing/structure, time is running out and soon I'll have a whole new week of stuff to write about!! Plus some quirky Senegalese tidbits that I'm keeping note of! So, until next time... :)
Saturday 23 February 2008
Friday 15 February 2008
2(ish) weeks in...
Well it's been almost a week since I was last on here. It feels like a lot has happened since then, though thinking about it, it really hasn't.
First off, my lack of writing here for the last 6 days has been down to my inability to write anything cheerful. Nothing majorly bad has happened and I'm not hating it here by any means, however since Sunday night I've had 'an estomac dérangé' which has seriously taken its toll on my enthusiasm! Things got worse and worse, and eventually I succumbed and visited the Doctor yesterday. He's sorted me out with a thrice daily concoction of no less than 4 different drugs that are succeeding in not leaving me in agony thus far, so it all looks promising. Feeling ill in a foreign country is never great though, and even worse when your family and friends aren't with you. Still, I'm going to be fine soon and am looking forward to starting proper teaching from Monday!
For an update on this week's activities aside from feeling rough a large proportion of time, last weekend was incredibly productive. After my last blog I went on to explore town a bit and found surely the nicest spot in town - the café at L'Institut Français. It's a bit more pricey than other eateries around, but proportional to the difference in the cost of living between here and in England, it's hardly extravagant. It's the kind of place where they're quite happy for you to just sit with a drink and read your book, and where you also don't feel awkward for being on your own. Perfect! After that I ventured to the Museum of African Art, which was surprisingly empty, yet cool and with more than enough to amuse myself for 40 minutes.
On Sunday, I not only tidied, swept and mopped my room, but also managed to do my laundry for the week. This wasn't loads as I've only brought a week's worth of clothes with me. The most exciting bit of this experience however(!) was going up to the roof terrace to hang up my wet clothes, only to find out that I've not only being sharing my home with Mme D and her nephew, but also a dog, a goat and several chickens - which in turn explains why egg seems to feature a lot in Mme D's cooking. Bit of a random discovery but quite nice as now when I hear a scuttling noise at night, I know it's just something on the roof and not a deadly african animal ready to pounce in my room!
Sunday was also the day of the final of the African Nations Cup, which Mme D and I watched together. It was actually quite a good match and for those who are interested, Egypt beat Cameroon 1-0.
Monday was supposed to be the start of my week's shadowing a teacher at school, but I wasn't well enough to start then. Nevertheless, I was determined the next day and started on Tuesday. I arrived at school for 8am and was greeted by the headmaster and teacher who I would be shadowing - Mme Djeng (I have more than likely spelt this wrong!). She takes a class of 54 children who are all about 8 years old. The day started well with the prospect of incredibly polite children. As I sat at the front of the class waiting for the class to begin, several children walked up to me, shook my hand and said 'Bonjour'. All very promising so far. However the class then began. There's a relaxed attitude with time here that means that things didn't actuall settle down until about half 8, and at this point the children were told to get their books out (I think). Anyway, they were told to do something, and then several children who didn't have whatever the teacher had asked for were told to go to the front. Children who came in late were also sent here. Then, Mme Djeng took a worn strip of leather piping and hit them. Some she asked to stick their hands out, some she just hit anywhere, their backs, their legs, their heads - wherever. I was completemy shocked. I'd known the teaching 'styles' were going to be different here but I hadn't thought it resorted to this. Don't get me wrong, half of my family are teachers and I know that sometimes children are so awfullly behaved that you can't help but thinking maybe a bit of caning would instill some order. However, after watching one little girl in particular scampering back in tears, almost tripping over the bucket of water used to clean the blackboard, I'm fairly sure I know where I stand on the issue. The very next day in fact, Mme Djeng went to pray for a while and left me in charge of the class as they copied out the national anthem into their books - I was handed the whip and told, that if they talked I was to hit them. Safe to say I didn't use it, and I'm confident I won't in the next few weeks.
The school day is supposed to be 8 until 1, and then 3 until 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. However, as mentioned before, the teachers here are striking, and so at the moment they start at 8 as normal, and then finish at 10. To be honest, I find it quite ridiculous and think they would make a much stronger impact if they simply didn't turn up at all. However, I have such little to amuse myself otherwise I won't be suggesting any other course of action! I should start teaching properly on Monday, though I'm not sure if the strike will still be going strong then. I think I'm going to be mainly teaching maths which suits me fine, as it's the only thing I'm confident of that doesn't require a large degree of fluency in terms of communication - numbers are numbers, and are thankfully the same in both languages! Will hopefully have more to say on teaching next week though.
In other news, though much of yesterday was spent at the doctor's, it was Valentine's Day. Somehow, even though I've had a boyfriend for the last 5 years I've managed to not spend it with them, and this year I appear to have gone to extreme lengths to keep the tradition alive! Being in a different continent to your loved one on the day is never ideal but being ill at the same time really tops it off! However, I was lucky enough to receive a card as well as a phonecall and was feeling quite cheered up, much to the amusement of Mme D and Alain. Valentine's Day is celebrated here as well and from what I can tell, in a similar fashion to England. The ultimate date here though apparently is to take someone to a patisserie! Cake and coffee are the way the Senegalese impress each other! Though I suppose this makes sense on account of most of the population not drinking alcohol.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to venture to Ile de Gorée, which is an island about 10mins off the coast of Dakar, with lots of history on the slave trade and a lovely beach - should be a good way to make the weekend pass quickly anyway! I may explore a bit more of Dakar though as I have a feeling I'm missing some nice spots.
Anyway, all in all, I'm 2(ish) weeks in, pootling along quite nicely, and looking forward to teaching, which I imagine will make the weeks pass more quickly. More soon...!
First off, my lack of writing here for the last 6 days has been down to my inability to write anything cheerful. Nothing majorly bad has happened and I'm not hating it here by any means, however since Sunday night I've had 'an estomac dérangé' which has seriously taken its toll on my enthusiasm! Things got worse and worse, and eventually I succumbed and visited the Doctor yesterday. He's sorted me out with a thrice daily concoction of no less than 4 different drugs that are succeeding in not leaving me in agony thus far, so it all looks promising. Feeling ill in a foreign country is never great though, and even worse when your family and friends aren't with you. Still, I'm going to be fine soon and am looking forward to starting proper teaching from Monday!
For an update on this week's activities aside from feeling rough a large proportion of time, last weekend was incredibly productive. After my last blog I went on to explore town a bit and found surely the nicest spot in town - the café at L'Institut Français. It's a bit more pricey than other eateries around, but proportional to the difference in the cost of living between here and in England, it's hardly extravagant. It's the kind of place where they're quite happy for you to just sit with a drink and read your book, and where you also don't feel awkward for being on your own. Perfect! After that I ventured to the Museum of African Art, which was surprisingly empty, yet cool and with more than enough to amuse myself for 40 minutes.
On Sunday, I not only tidied, swept and mopped my room, but also managed to do my laundry for the week. This wasn't loads as I've only brought a week's worth of clothes with me. The most exciting bit of this experience however(!) was going up to the roof terrace to hang up my wet clothes, only to find out that I've not only being sharing my home with Mme D and her nephew, but also a dog, a goat and several chickens - which in turn explains why egg seems to feature a lot in Mme D's cooking. Bit of a random discovery but quite nice as now when I hear a scuttling noise at night, I know it's just something on the roof and not a deadly african animal ready to pounce in my room!
Sunday was also the day of the final of the African Nations Cup, which Mme D and I watched together. It was actually quite a good match and for those who are interested, Egypt beat Cameroon 1-0.
Monday was supposed to be the start of my week's shadowing a teacher at school, but I wasn't well enough to start then. Nevertheless, I was determined the next day and started on Tuesday. I arrived at school for 8am and was greeted by the headmaster and teacher who I would be shadowing - Mme Djeng (I have more than likely spelt this wrong!). She takes a class of 54 children who are all about 8 years old. The day started well with the prospect of incredibly polite children. As I sat at the front of the class waiting for the class to begin, several children walked up to me, shook my hand and said 'Bonjour'. All very promising so far. However the class then began. There's a relaxed attitude with time here that means that things didn't actuall settle down until about half 8, and at this point the children were told to get their books out (I think). Anyway, they were told to do something, and then several children who didn't have whatever the teacher had asked for were told to go to the front. Children who came in late were also sent here. Then, Mme Djeng took a worn strip of leather piping and hit them. Some she asked to stick their hands out, some she just hit anywhere, their backs, their legs, their heads - wherever. I was completemy shocked. I'd known the teaching 'styles' were going to be different here but I hadn't thought it resorted to this. Don't get me wrong, half of my family are teachers and I know that sometimes children are so awfullly behaved that you can't help but thinking maybe a bit of caning would instill some order. However, after watching one little girl in particular scampering back in tears, almost tripping over the bucket of water used to clean the blackboard, I'm fairly sure I know where I stand on the issue. The very next day in fact, Mme Djeng went to pray for a while and left me in charge of the class as they copied out the national anthem into their books - I was handed the whip and told, that if they talked I was to hit them. Safe to say I didn't use it, and I'm confident I won't in the next few weeks.
The school day is supposed to be 8 until 1, and then 3 until 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. However, as mentioned before, the teachers here are striking, and so at the moment they start at 8 as normal, and then finish at 10. To be honest, I find it quite ridiculous and think they would make a much stronger impact if they simply didn't turn up at all. However, I have such little to amuse myself otherwise I won't be suggesting any other course of action! I should start teaching properly on Monday, though I'm not sure if the strike will still be going strong then. I think I'm going to be mainly teaching maths which suits me fine, as it's the only thing I'm confident of that doesn't require a large degree of fluency in terms of communication - numbers are numbers, and are thankfully the same in both languages! Will hopefully have more to say on teaching next week though.
In other news, though much of yesterday was spent at the doctor's, it was Valentine's Day. Somehow, even though I've had a boyfriend for the last 5 years I've managed to not spend it with them, and this year I appear to have gone to extreme lengths to keep the tradition alive! Being in a different continent to your loved one on the day is never ideal but being ill at the same time really tops it off! However, I was lucky enough to receive a card as well as a phonecall and was feeling quite cheered up, much to the amusement of Mme D and Alain. Valentine's Day is celebrated here as well and from what I can tell, in a similar fashion to England. The ultimate date here though apparently is to take someone to a patisserie! Cake and coffee are the way the Senegalese impress each other! Though I suppose this makes sense on account of most of the population not drinking alcohol.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to venture to Ile de Gorée, which is an island about 10mins off the coast of Dakar, with lots of history on the slave trade and a lovely beach - should be a good way to make the weekend pass quickly anyway! I may explore a bit more of Dakar though as I have a feeling I'm missing some nice spots.
Anyway, all in all, I'm 2(ish) weeks in, pootling along quite nicely, and looking forward to teaching, which I imagine will make the weeks pass more quickly. More soon...!
Saturday 9 February 2008
More on Dakar
So my last post was a bit rushed, lacking much detail at all and hindered by the fact that I was writing it in the presence of my programme coordinators. So... I thought I'd do a more thorough account of my week since Monday since I've found a relatively nice internet cafe to kill time in.
My Iberia flight from Madrid to Dakar was fine but longer than I expected as I forgot to change my watch back to GMT (Spain is GMT+1, Senegal is GMT). I was met at the airport by Moustapha who coordinates Real Gap's Senegal Volunteer placements through his company SYTO (Senegal Youth Travel Organisation), and he and his wife both took me in a taxi to my host family. Getting out of the airport was a bit of a mission though as one needs to hurry past the endless offers of help with your luggage from dodgy men (who will in turn demand money), and our cab also just happened to get stopped by a policeman to check the driver's documents. If I hadn't been so excited I probably would have been slightly unnerved by the size of the rifle the soldier/policeman was carrying. But anyway, the journey was fine.
On arriving at the host family's home I was greeted by Madame Dienne and her nephew Alaine (20 years old). I arrived in the middle of one of the final stages of the African Nations Cup. This was actually quite nice and familiar - coming in to sport on the television is definitely a recurring theme chez Gordon. Anyway, it gave me something to discuss in basic french before retiring to bed after a day's travelling.
I have a whole room to myself which is nice though potentially it would have been quite nice to share with another volunteer for company. I have a double bed (though I can't take advantage of it having only a single mosquito net!), a dresser and numerous crucifixes and pictures of Mary everywhere. Mme Dienne is Catholic which is quite rare as 80% of the population of Senegal are Muslim, 15% Catholic, and 5% 'other'. Still I think it makes it less of a culture shock than going into a Muslim home. Having said that however, the house is right next to a mosque that is part of a very dedicated brotherhood that chant at literally all hours of the day. You get used to it but it's quite bizarre to wake up to the sound. My window is right on the street as well so I can hear everything. People go to bed quite late in our neighbourhood and it can get quite rowdy - a bit unsettling when you don't know the language (Wolof). I have moments where I'm convinced there's going to be a riot but of course there aren't.
So yes, that's my living arrangements. Activity wise, it's been quite a busy week what with my orientation. I had hoped there would be other volunteers there but alas it was just me and another SYTO employee called Madiop. Madiop speaks quite good english so this eased things up a fair bit in terms of communication problems. Though his endless attempts at flattery and requests for an invitation to london have definitely begun to ware on me slightly. I was shown all the major sites here in Dakar and must have walked all over the city, which is surprisingly huge. Quite good to get the hang of things though. There are beggars everywhere - it's a serious problem here and is even more disturbing when coupled with the fact that most are children. Saying no is horrible but you'd have literally no money left if you gave to all of them.
The evenings have been quite difficult as there's not much to do and that's when it can feel most lonely. I had a short but severe bout of homesickness on Tuesday, prompted by brief conversations with my family and Barney. It's much better now though. My confidence in french is improving and so I can talk with my host family more. The last two evenings I've watched a postiviely dire soap with Mmee Dienne called 'Au couer de peche' or something; which is mildly amusing. I think it's spanish but dubbed in french. Last night after watching me play Solitaire for the hundredth time alone in the lounge, Alaine also stepped in and taught me some Senegalese card games. Here they don't use any cards below 9 which makes them a lot quicker but they have bloody complicated rules! Mme Dienne also has 4 children who are abroad: 2 in the US, 1 in Canada and 1 in France. Anyway, one who lives in Michigan rang and she made me talk to him in English which was quite nice. I'm not amazing in french by any means but attempting to speak it all the time means that you start thinking in French which is a bit weird - definitely a good thing re improving though I'm sure.
Can't think of anything else to post right now and I'm v conscious of the fact that I'm coming close to 2 hours on the net so probably best to get out exploring and absorb some culture! More soon, hopefully with details of my first few days as a teacher!
My Iberia flight from Madrid to Dakar was fine but longer than I expected as I forgot to change my watch back to GMT (Spain is GMT+1, Senegal is GMT). I was met at the airport by Moustapha who coordinates Real Gap's Senegal Volunteer placements through his company SYTO (Senegal Youth Travel Organisation), and he and his wife both took me in a taxi to my host family. Getting out of the airport was a bit of a mission though as one needs to hurry past the endless offers of help with your luggage from dodgy men (who will in turn demand money), and our cab also just happened to get stopped by a policeman to check the driver's documents. If I hadn't been so excited I probably would have been slightly unnerved by the size of the rifle the soldier/policeman was carrying. But anyway, the journey was fine.
On arriving at the host family's home I was greeted by Madame Dienne and her nephew Alaine (20 years old). I arrived in the middle of one of the final stages of the African Nations Cup. This was actually quite nice and familiar - coming in to sport on the television is definitely a recurring theme chez Gordon. Anyway, it gave me something to discuss in basic french before retiring to bed after a day's travelling.
I have a whole room to myself which is nice though potentially it would have been quite nice to share with another volunteer for company. I have a double bed (though I can't take advantage of it having only a single mosquito net!), a dresser and numerous crucifixes and pictures of Mary everywhere. Mme Dienne is Catholic which is quite rare as 80% of the population of Senegal are Muslim, 15% Catholic, and 5% 'other'. Still I think it makes it less of a culture shock than going into a Muslim home. Having said that however, the house is right next to a mosque that is part of a very dedicated brotherhood that chant at literally all hours of the day. You get used to it but it's quite bizarre to wake up to the sound. My window is right on the street as well so I can hear everything. People go to bed quite late in our neighbourhood and it can get quite rowdy - a bit unsettling when you don't know the language (Wolof). I have moments where I'm convinced there's going to be a riot but of course there aren't.
So yes, that's my living arrangements. Activity wise, it's been quite a busy week what with my orientation. I had hoped there would be other volunteers there but alas it was just me and another SYTO employee called Madiop. Madiop speaks quite good english so this eased things up a fair bit in terms of communication problems. Though his endless attempts at flattery and requests for an invitation to london have definitely begun to ware on me slightly. I was shown all the major sites here in Dakar and must have walked all over the city, which is surprisingly huge. Quite good to get the hang of things though. There are beggars everywhere - it's a serious problem here and is even more disturbing when coupled with the fact that most are children. Saying no is horrible but you'd have literally no money left if you gave to all of them.
The evenings have been quite difficult as there's not much to do and that's when it can feel most lonely. I had a short but severe bout of homesickness on Tuesday, prompted by brief conversations with my family and Barney. It's much better now though. My confidence in french is improving and so I can talk with my host family more. The last two evenings I've watched a postiviely dire soap with Mmee Dienne called 'Au couer de peche' or something; which is mildly amusing. I think it's spanish but dubbed in french. Last night after watching me play Solitaire for the hundredth time alone in the lounge, Alaine also stepped in and taught me some Senegalese card games. Here they don't use any cards below 9 which makes them a lot quicker but they have bloody complicated rules! Mme Dienne also has 4 children who are abroad: 2 in the US, 1 in Canada and 1 in France. Anyway, one who lives in Michigan rang and she made me talk to him in English which was quite nice. I'm not amazing in french by any means but attempting to speak it all the time means that you start thinking in French which is a bit weird - definitely a good thing re improving though I'm sure.
Can't think of anything else to post right now and I'm v conscious of the fact that I'm coming close to 2 hours on the net so probably best to get out exploring and absorb some culture! More soon, hopefully with details of my first few days as a teacher!
Friday 8 February 2008
Senegal so far
Well, I arrived safely in Dakar on Monday night. As soon as I stepped off the plane the heat was ridiculous! Though everyone here keeps telling me how this is NOT hot. I however disagree.
I was transferred straight to my host family who live in a suburb called Dieuppel (possible wrong spelling here) just north of the centre of dakar. The woman I'm living with is v nice - though there is something of a language barrier! The main language spoken here is actually Wolof, although french is their official language. Either way, the way they speak french makes it difficult to communicate. I get along ok though - just mildly frustrating when the main reason I came here was to speak french. I have learnt a bit of wolof though.
On Tuesday I started my 3 day orientation, which consisted of looking round Dakar, seeing the sights, being forced to buy things and being taught a bit about the culture here. It's v hard to explain it all, as you really have to be here to experience it. There are quirky rules, such as you are not allowed to use your left hand for anything, as this is the hand used to clean oneself. Then there are the more traditionally based customs surrounding women and the huge family centred community. I can get along with the latter fine, however being asked every 5 minutes if I'm married or not is a tad annoying after a while. Even after I've said I have 'un copain' at home, they still want to know why we're not married - bizarre. What's more the attitude to women is v different here. Apparently, whilst in england no does indeed mean no, however in Senegal, no means try again. I haven't had any majorly annoying incidents yet but I think that's had a lot to do with the fact that I have been out with a young african guy on my orientation - they all think I'm his wife.
Anyway, I start officially teaching on monday. I've tried to visit a couple of times to get some planning done but both times they've been on stirke. Should be better next week. I think I'll be mainly teaching maths (yay) and french (hmmm). Should be interesting!
I've rode the bus a lot which for Ken Livingstone's information, costs 150 francs here (about 15p)!!! It's called Dakar Dem Dikk (Dakar come go) which I think is quite cool. The weather is obviously awesome here too. Not developped much of a tan yet though, however give me time...!
I've also watched a bit of the African Nations Cup whilst here which has been pretty cool! For those who aren't following it, Ghana were knocked out in the semi final yesterday by Cameroon. This was sad as Madam Dienne ( who I live with) informed me that Cameroon were 'pas gentil' and thus Ghana were to be supported.
Anyway, I've probably forgotten loads of things but I can't stand another minute on this keyboard - argh!! Hence strange writing structure too!!!
Missing everyone lots!
I was transferred straight to my host family who live in a suburb called Dieuppel (possible wrong spelling here) just north of the centre of dakar. The woman I'm living with is v nice - though there is something of a language barrier! The main language spoken here is actually Wolof, although french is their official language. Either way, the way they speak french makes it difficult to communicate. I get along ok though - just mildly frustrating when the main reason I came here was to speak french. I have learnt a bit of wolof though.
On Tuesday I started my 3 day orientation, which consisted of looking round Dakar, seeing the sights, being forced to buy things and being taught a bit about the culture here. It's v hard to explain it all, as you really have to be here to experience it. There are quirky rules, such as you are not allowed to use your left hand for anything, as this is the hand used to clean oneself. Then there are the more traditionally based customs surrounding women and the huge family centred community. I can get along with the latter fine, however being asked every 5 minutes if I'm married or not is a tad annoying after a while. Even after I've said I have 'un copain' at home, they still want to know why we're not married - bizarre. What's more the attitude to women is v different here. Apparently, whilst in england no does indeed mean no, however in Senegal, no means try again. I haven't had any majorly annoying incidents yet but I think that's had a lot to do with the fact that I have been out with a young african guy on my orientation - they all think I'm his wife.
Anyway, I start officially teaching on monday. I've tried to visit a couple of times to get some planning done but both times they've been on stirke. Should be better next week. I think I'll be mainly teaching maths (yay) and french (hmmm). Should be interesting!
I've rode the bus a lot which for Ken Livingstone's information, costs 150 francs here (about 15p)!!! It's called Dakar Dem Dikk (Dakar come go) which I think is quite cool. The weather is obviously awesome here too. Not developped much of a tan yet though, however give me time...!
I've also watched a bit of the African Nations Cup whilst here which has been pretty cool! For those who aren't following it, Ghana were knocked out in the semi final yesterday by Cameroon. This was sad as Madam Dienne ( who I live with) informed me that Cameroon were 'pas gentil' and thus Ghana were to be supported.
Anyway, I've probably forgotten loads of things but I can't stand another minute on this keyboard - argh!! Hence strange writing structure too!!!
Missing everyone lots!
Monday 4 February 2008
So far, so good...
Well, I´m waiting near my gate in Terminal 4 of Madrid Barajas Airport for my connection to Dakar. It doesn´t actually leave until 17:55 and so boarding´s not for another 3 hours yet. Hence hitting an internet place to kill time...
Easyjet flight here was fine. The guy next to me tried and failed to assert his big spanish elbows - I wasn´t having any of it. I desperately needed sleep following this morning´s alarm clock disaster that meant I was up, washed and dressed by 2:20am, thinking it was actually 3:20 am - error. Trying to go back to sleep after this was something of a mission and after failing miserably I felt majorly rough for the journey to the airport, after we left at 4am. I don´t really ´do´mornings, and today my body wasn´t either. I blessed home, the car and even Gatwick´s South Terminal with the contents of my stomach. Ick is the word you´re looking for... I can´t tell whether it is in fact the alarm clock error to blame or my malaria tablets which I started yesterday, but either way, it wasn´t a great start to everything. I´m feeling loads better now though and when I landed here in Madrid, the weather was lovely and there was even a rainbow - a good omen I like to think.
I land in Dakar at 21:25 this evening (Senegal is on GMT too) and so should hopefully be with my host family not long after that. I´m quite nervous about meeting them as I have painful visions of my french going awry and accidentally offending my host and her entire family. But I´m sure it´ll be fine. Ish... My orientation should be quite busy this week though so that will be good in terms of meeting the other volunteers and not having time to get homesick/develop culture shock. Hopefully anyway.
More soon hopefully - time running out!
Easyjet flight here was fine. The guy next to me tried and failed to assert his big spanish elbows - I wasn´t having any of it. I desperately needed sleep following this morning´s alarm clock disaster that meant I was up, washed and dressed by 2:20am, thinking it was actually 3:20 am - error. Trying to go back to sleep after this was something of a mission and after failing miserably I felt majorly rough for the journey to the airport, after we left at 4am. I don´t really ´do´mornings, and today my body wasn´t either. I blessed home, the car and even Gatwick´s South Terminal with the contents of my stomach. Ick is the word you´re looking for... I can´t tell whether it is in fact the alarm clock error to blame or my malaria tablets which I started yesterday, but either way, it wasn´t a great start to everything. I´m feeling loads better now though and when I landed here in Madrid, the weather was lovely and there was even a rainbow - a good omen I like to think.
I land in Dakar at 21:25 this evening (Senegal is on GMT too) and so should hopefully be with my host family not long after that. I´m quite nervous about meeting them as I have painful visions of my french going awry and accidentally offending my host and her entire family. But I´m sure it´ll be fine. Ish... My orientation should be quite busy this week though so that will be good in terms of meeting the other volunteers and not having time to get homesick/develop culture shock. Hopefully anyway.
More soon hopefully - time running out!
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