my actions

I've been feeling pretty guilty about not having blogged in a while. While I've been thinking about possible topics that end in "ion," I haven't actually done anything about them. However, I've finally been spurred to action by a topic which Emily [the other, previously unmentioned friend in the Wells program; see her blog here] recently used.

I'm going to talk to you all about my daily activities, in the hopes that you can picture what I'm doing, although of course it's hard to really picture Dakar if you haven't been here-- the piles of trash, honking taxis and eager street vendors really contribute to the scene. But more on that later.

I begin my morning Monday through Friday around 7:30, since my walk to WARC is about 35 minutes long (at a pretty good pace). I never thought I'd be able to adapt to this, since my bed has always been within 100 yards of my classes since 3rd grade. Still, I've managed, somehow.

My classes this semester [all in French, bien sûr] are as follows. One thing you should know about these classes is that, unlike at the typical university, they meet only once a week, for three solid hours. Needless to say, this can be a heavy weight for me, as a typical university student (with, apparently, a 65-minute attention span). Unfortunately, all of these classes are with other foreigners, because the enrollment process at the university was too much even for someone as ambitious and eager to take part as me.

1. Islam in Senegal: History and Sociology [Tuesday morning]
   
2. Wolof [the local language, which I'm straining to learn as it will make me feel much less excluded at the dinner table] [Tuesday and Thursday afternoon]
   
3. Gender and Development [Wednesday morning]
4. African Literature [Wednesday afternoon]
   
5. French-English Translation [Thursday morning]

You may notice that I have a four-day weekend, which is weird. However, I've gotten an internship with the EREV [Earth Rights Eco-Village] Institute, and I'll be going there all day on Mondays and Fridays to do... stuff. Among other things: teaching English to the staff (um, stay tuned on how I'll be doing that without a curriculum), editing text in French and English, updating the blog, working on the website, helping with (or at least observing) student research projects... and on. It seems like it's going to be a great experience, and I think I'll learn a lot. Now all I need is a stronger stomach, for the half-hour bus ride from Baobab to Yoff during which I'm generally standing. (Those buses really need more seats.)

In the evenings, generally starting around 7, I'm at home, pottering around. My family watches TV very intently, which can be difficult for someone who (though admittedly addicted to Hulu) doesn't watch very much TV. In fact, learning to enjoy Italian/Spanish/Indian soap operas will probably be the best way to endear myself to my family.

We eat dinner around 9:00 (still watching TV, as it's in the same room); it generally consists of fish or meat, fries or rice, and salad. Apparently they don't do "helpings" here, as I'm the only one who goes back for seconds. (Most family members just seem to take huge first helpings, then gradually move through that, rather than taking two smaller helpings, as I prefer to do.) After dinner, I go up to my room and get ready for bed, as I'll have to be up and walking at 8AM.

Apparently (according to Emily the expert), long entries are boring, so I'll just finish with this: my weekends are also boring. My family appears to be the only one in all of Dakar that doesn't have wi-fi in their homes. Guess I'll have to figure out some other way of connecting. (Hint, hint, to people reading this.)