Postcards from Senegal

I have the hang of it & I'm hooked.

2010-05-17T17:06:00.001-04:00

You've probably already seen my slideshow of Senegal - but I finally made a Blurb of our trip w/ many of those same pics. It's my very first blurb ever! - & now that I have the hang of it, I'm hooked. I'm ordering this photo journal of our trip in a hardback coffee table type book & I can hardly wait to see how it turns out "for real". Take a peek :)

Postcards from Senegal April, 2010 "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine | Make Your Own Book

One of my all time favorite movies

2010-05-11T07:07:00.002-04:00

There's a new movie out...you probably haven't heard about it yet but I just watched it for the first time & instantly it joined the ranks among my all time favorites! Check it out below & for more details click HERE

2010-04-30T09:32:00.000-04:00

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I saw what I saw

2010-04-28T06:36:00.004-04:00

Sara Groves said so well (re: her visit to Rwanda) so much of what I'm thinking, feeling, working through now that we're back from Senegal. Our trip may be history - but the impact left on me by the things I saw, heard, smelled, felt, tasted - the things that struck & stuck - are the most precious souvenirs I brought home & I trust they will help me (all four of us!) to navigate the future more appropriately - more compassionately/less selfishly.

Groceries

2010-04-27T11:21:00.008-04:00

This is a grocery store Ramona shops at sometimes. The 2nd pic is canned lunchmeat - we ate it on sandwiches - it's basically like balogni. The first pic is of aprx $70 worth of groceries! Essentially one bag/box (no meat or produce were purchased on this trip!) plus that pack of soda. A box of Special K/cornflakes type cereal is aprx $8 U.S.! Ramona makes her own granola to use as cereal & save money.

kesheing-kesheing

2010-04-27T10:55:00.006-04:00

David bought some of these....

They're like gourds of some kind w/ seeds in them & attached by a rope. Alexis found this video on youtube. All I can say is that if David gets as good as this guy he better do special music one night in church! :)

Weee're Back!

2010-04-27T08:38:00.002-04:00

Wow. Did all of what I recorded here actually happen?! It almost seems like a dream. Our time flew by while we were in Senengal! We did so much in such a short time & tried to photo journal thru it all but just could not keep up.

Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Ramona were SO good to us...we EXPERIENCED Senegal bc of them & bc of that we learned SO much. I admire them for what they are doing there & we understand the culture & environment & challenges the people there (including Jimmy & Ramona) face so much better now.

Interesting note....Remember how when we arrived all Justine wanted to do was turn around and go home!!!? Well - by the time it was time to go home, she wasn't ready to leave! :) She was no longer afraid of the people and their ways bc she had a much better understanding of why they do the things they do that all seemed so foreign & frightening at first.

Pics were time consuming to upload & videos took forever so I'll be adding to this blog for a while & hopefully the girls will allow me to include some of their journal clips/entries as well so stay tuned :) I posted a couple short video clips below already.

Window Shopping

2010-04-27T08:17:00.005-04:00

Click here for more on WINDOW SHOPPING or just picture a US highway with a traffic jam due to accident, mixed with a flea market, except the vendors are on foot going from car to car. Where the traffic jam begins is where you REALLY get inundated w/ vendors - probably bc they want to be the first one you see w/ whatever it is they're selling. I don't have a clip of that - but this is a short clip Ramona gave from somewhere along that route. I did not take many pics here at all bc often if someone sees you take their pic they'll expect to be paid for the pic you took. Seriously. Ramona just acts like she's listening to her IPOD but she's really filming :)

Driving in Dakar

2010-04-27T07:53:00.006-04:00

This is a jagenjai (sp?!) ...public transit! They're usually packed w/ people like a can of sardines & people often ride on the back bumpber. They hop in & out/off & on while it's moving - & here the guy up top is standing while it's moving & I think he's pumping something up - just not sure what.

Ramona gave me some of her videos to share. This is a very short clip looking out the window while driving in Dakar... the yellow & black car at the end is a typical taxi & the white vans are one form of their public transit called Jagenjais (quite sure butchered the sp of that word!). The women (men too, actually) carry all sorts of things on their head. Buckets of water, crates of eggs, bowls of fruit/fish, you name it! People on foot (you'll even see a bicyclist here) are continually mixed in w/ the traffic - esp in the more congested areas of the city & traffic.... hardly any crosswalks or traffic lights. Now that I think of it, I don't even remember seeing a traffic light. My brother said that the new teachers at the school where he teaches are not even allowed to drive for three months.

farming

2010-04-25T04:58:00.004-04:00

We visited some land near Theiss...not sure just where we were here - but they are trying to develop a farming ministry to teach nationals how to grow crops & raise animals in hopes of improving their quality of life & helping them to sustain themselves & earn an income by selling their harvest. It's a long slow process but they are indeed making progress and that was encouraging. In the US we are an instant gratification society. But here - it's different. Tho' it doesn't look like much, this is exciting to see. I was struck by how much patience is required here to do just about anything. Rocks dug from the ground are going to be cut to make bricks to build a small barn. Small green pepper plants are growing nicely under those white sheets. In the 2nd pic the kids are peeking into a well. I believe they had to dig 128 meters to get water!

Fine Art

2010-04-24T19:25:00.000-04:00

We stopped in to see some of this artist's work while visiting in the city of Theis and he was kind enough to show us a demonstration of his technique. His work beautifully captures scenes of African life. Alexis used b-day money to purchase one of his paintings on paper. Here he is showing how he paints on glass.

Eric - this one's for you :)

2010-04-24T19:01:00.000-04:00

Hey Eric - this one's for you. When we began talking about this trip awhile back, this is the clinic that Jimmy was thinking you might want to try to coordinate a medical missions trip with....remember you e-mailed w/ a doctor there? Anyhow - we visited a city called Thies today & stopped in at this hospital. Just tho't you might like to see a pic of it. It has been upgraded to a hospital now ... complete w/ an operating room. Occassionally the send short term teams out to various villages so who knows --- perhaps someday you can come here too! :)

Q. Can you guess what this is?

2010-04-24T17:08:00.002-04:00

A. Believe it or not it's tea!! It's bundled this way & sold alongside the roads here. We had some after lunch today & it was quite a tasty treat!

The Basket Shop

2010-04-24T16:29:00.005-04:00

Aren't they beautiful?! We stopped here at a basket shop alongside the road today & bought several directly from the couple who make them. No middlemen here :)

The Door of No Return

2010-04-24T16:17:00.001-04:00

The Door of No Return

These are pics from the former slave house at Goree Island - an island 900 m long by 350 meters wide. Goree Island was a key foothold during the the 300 or so years of slave trade bc of it's location which made it convenient to ship slaves to various parts of the world. This was one of I believe 28 slavehouses that used to be on the island. What a sobering experience as our guide shared the horrific history of slavery!

Sharing here just a smidgen of what what we learned that day.

Portugual, Dutch, British, & French each at one point controlled Goree Island.

There once was a yellow fever epidemic that killed 21 out of 24 doctors on the island.

The slave port had a a door known as the "Door of no Return" bc once a slave passed thru' that door they would never come back. From that door they boarded slave ships to be sold in other countries. Also, slave traders wouldn't risk sick slaves for fear of the spread of disease so they would throw anyone who looked sick out the door.

There were cells for men, women & children.

Men needed to be 140 lbs to cross the ocean.

Women's worth was determined by their virginity - or not - and they were placed in different cells depending on this.

If a slave girl got pregnant with a white man's baby she was set free and the baby would become an upper class citizen.

The Portuguese were the first to begin slavery & the last to end it.

I could go on & on. These were just a few of many things we learned. The girls have long journal entries on this part of our trip. It is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to have been a slave but I think bc we visited here we all have a much better understanding of how horrific it was that would be difficult to gain any other way - Joyce

A view of Goree Island from the ferry we took over there.

Senegal Snapshots

2010-04-24T03:26:00.000-04:00

Not sure why - but I posted a few misc pics & they ended up about 5 posts back & I can't seem to relocate them. But you can view them here at Senegal Snapshots - Joyce

Can I get anyone a bag of water?

2010-04-23T18:09:00.003-04:00

I just can't get over this...they sell bagged water here in much the same we sell bottled water. To open it you just bite a hole in it & squirt in your mouth. Vendors on foot even carry bowls full of bagged water on their heads & sell them on the road in traffic. - Joyce

T-Boys through MY (David's) eyes!

2010-04-23T16:37:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we all went to the T-boy center. When we walked through the gate to the center i was holding a case full of supplies for the t-boys while Alexis held the other. We came into the main room and i saw a couple of the boys reading from books and writing. Shortly after we had put the cases in the back room i found out that the boys were learning french because their main language was "Wolof." Then i found out that after the t-boys are done here they have to go back to their maribu to read from the "Tora." This really surprised me because it means that some of them choose to learn how to speak french and then go to learn more when they have to read the Tora, even though they could just decide to have fun instead of work. Also the fact that as young as they are they still go our into the streets looking for money, even with all the dangers of their poverty stricken region. This was a real eye opener, and shows how we take normal things for granted. We then talked with the women in charge of the center and heard about the usual schedule of the t-boys and their cup system where they place their earned money in their specific cups to keep it safe. We saw where they kept their extra set of clothes and toothbrushes ans learned more about their hard life, which at some points causes them to refuse help from the T-center even though it is like their safe house. Then we decided to pump up the soccer ball and go play a game. I ended up playing with them and i had so much fun. You could see the enjoyment they all got out of getting to let loose and play a game they all loved. Even the smaller of the kids were able to compete pretty well. Of course me having played soccer since i was three, i was in my comfort zone as well, but there were a few exceptions. One, the feild was a giant sand field so it was a lot different than grass. And two i had no way of communicating with them besides calling out so they would see where i am in order to help them. But when there was about 15 mins left of playing time the ball landed in a puddle of water we werent sure was clean so i ended up skipping out on the last 15 mins of the game, but i think my team won anyways;) They were a great bunch of kids and even though they didnt know me they made me feel at home on the feild, but still gave me a run for my money. Then after the game we went back to the center and they had lunch which consisted of a part of buttered bread and a cup of milk. I wondered how much the actually ate in a whole day and as i helped hand out the bread i thought about how hard it must be for them, but how amazing this center must be for them, and its great help as a christian mission. After lunch was over we got out the matchbox cars that had been donated and we brought along and passed one out to each of the boys. They were exstatic and immediately started running around pushing their cars and trading with one another. It was amazing seeing how something so little and so simple could make so many kids that happy. It felt great being able to help them and even better being able to see their reactions to it. Without even knowing any of them or without any of them even knowing me we thanked one another and being able to see the smiles on all their faces was priceless. Once they got their cars they scattered and eventually all left. Soon after that we left too. Knowing about a place like this shows us how lucky most of us are but how our little contributioins can go a long way in helping thoughs that need it. It was definitly a great experience seeing the T-center and the kids there. Now the next time a missions offering comes around i wont hesitate to support it.

My (Joyce's) note: Bread & milk was actually their snack. They could come back for lunch later. They are so goodto the boys there.

African Renaissance Monument

2010-04-23T16:34:00.006-04:00

After shopping for handbags at Samba's we stopped at a lighthouse and then here. This a brand new sculpture in honor of the African Rennaisance. It's bigger than the statue of liberty, cost $27 million to build & it has created a lot of controversery here. From what I gather, some are angry that the President of Senegal gets 35% of the revenue generated by admission to enter the statue. Some are angry that the woman's hair does not look African enough - & some are appalled that so much of the the woman's chest and leg are revealed. Revealing a woman's thigh is particularly offensive to the Muslims here. We climbed all the way up to it. The bottom pic is the kids sitting on the to step & enjoying the view from there.

For more info click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Renaissance_Monument

Shopping for a new handbag

2010-04-23T16:29:00.000-04:00

Today we visited a store called Samba's. Actually, it looked more like a shack when we pulled up. You'd never know what it was unless you knew what it was! :) When we walked in we saw big piles of fabric scraps on the floor & maybe 5 people sewing in a small room. Beyond that room was a small room full of various kinds of handbags for sale....purses, camera bags, duffle bags, etc. There's so much time & detailed work put into these bags! They are truly works of art. We left w/ a couple new things.

David's thoughts on Engaparu

2010-04-23T16:23:00.000-04:00

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hello! This is David. Joyce showed me your post so now im going to tell you about some of my experiences in Africa and what i thought about them. The trip here has been pretty crazy to say the least but overall has been an eye opening experience and a lot not fun. The day we got here we went out to Engaparu which is a place down by the beach. We stayed at the beach house for the weekend and it was a blast. The trip down there was a long one and was full of new stuff to see. I feel as though going to El Salvidore really helped me not be too surprised about all the poverty and people, so i guess i handled it well. There is a lot of trash all over the place and even in the nicest of places. The air is a little thick and with animals roaming free sometimes it smells pretty bad. The roads on the way to the beach house were surprisingly worse than ours back home;) Once we got there it was beautiful on the beach and we played catch with a football on the beach with one of the kids we saw walking by. We also met some of the people their uncle knew from his work, who were staying with us at the beach house. That night the power went out and it has been doing that consistently throughout our trip, so by now we have gotten used to it. But regardless of there being no power we were still able to watch "Up." It was still good even though i have seen it a bunch of times, and it was a nice reminder of home which we all needed from our rough start in Africa. The weather here is amazing but very hot and humid, so sleeping takes some getting used to and the ocean breeze blowing through the beach house was a help in going to sleep. Communicating here is a lot harder than it was in El Salvidore, considering i know alomost no french or "Wolouef" the other language here. The next morning we went to a safari place which i have already told you all about in my other post. But it was a lot of fun and i can now finally say i have seen some amazing african animals. Then later that day we went to a European hotel where we got to swim in a pool and eat dinner at the same time. I ordered "poulet yassa" which is chicken and rice with a very interesting onion type sauce. It is a very African type of food and it was extremely delicious! Then we went and shopped by the beach a little and we all ended up getting something, i got a bracelet that Alexis said i should get and i have started to like it. We also tried some of the African tea which comes in three levels the first being very bitter and the third being very sweet. The owner of the store gave us all a taste of the first level and it was acually not that bad. We left the hotel restaurant and went back to the house to go on the beach. We collected a bunch of shells which the girls will turn into some gifts for their friends back home. Unfortunately none of us used sun screen so we all walked away a little burnt. We had a weird chicken cassarole thing for dinner and it was acually really good despite the fact it kind of looked like a grey blob. Then their uncle and his friends from work went boogie boarding at night while the rest of us sat under the stars at the beach. It was so open and you could see endless stars. But that was our last night at the beach house. The next morning we all got up and left to go to "Acrobaobab" It was a high ropes course and it was wicked cool! They showed us how the equipment worked and then we went through the mini practice course, then finally we were ready for the real thing. We started out climbing through a hole that was in the middle of a baobab tree and it was like rock climbing all the way to the top. Then we went on some short zip lines and bridge obstacles. it was tireing by the end but it was fun. Then it ended with a huge zipline and the people working there waited at the bottom with buckets of water they threw at us. The water was refreshing. Then we went back to the front desk and the owner there gave us the third level of tea, which was also very good but a little too sweet. We bought shirts and got certificates and then headed off back to their house in Dakar. That was our experience in Engaparu and it was tons of fun. But now i was just told that your post was asking about my thoughts when going to the Talibe Center, so im just going to end this post and make a new one for that. Bye.
-David

Senegal Snapshots

2010-04-23T09:50:00.010-04:00

This is a familar site here

There's construction going on next to my brother's house. I believe some of the workers have have built themselves a temporary home out of some of the bricks.

Ngaparu sunset

Senegal's flag

Those are fish she's carrying.

I love this pic of Alexis climbing up thru' the baobab tree :)

The ocean view where we ate dinner for Alexis' B-day.

More pics from our visit to the T-boy Center

2010-04-23T05:54:00.002-04:00

This littlel guy is sitting along the edge of the soccer "field"

They've started a little garden at the center. Amidst all the dust & rubble to see these boys tenderly nurturing their plants by scooping handfuls of water on them was just so sweet.

Right alongside the soccer field

Some neighborhood kids near the center that came & played near us

When the boys come to the center they place the money they've collected by begging here in cups with sticks with their name on it for safekeeping. Some don't know how to read their name so they will notch the stick to identify which is theirs.

fast friends

2010-04-23T04:01:00.002-04:00

This little guy was lives in one of the poorest areas of Dakar ( at least I assume he does) . He was not from the center we visited but he came over when the kids were playing soccer. He really liked Justine. If you saw his surroundings ...trash all over, very dirty/polluted puddles of water here & there... you'd wonder how he could possibly be so happy. But he IS happy .... genuinely. He used a little tin can for a drum and he ran around laughing and playing w/ another little friend of his. He kept coming back to Justine tho' as if they'd been friends forever. Again, I'm impressed w/ his appearance despite his surroundings.

Alexis' bday pics

2010-04-22T19:52:00.001-04:00

Last night we celebrated Alexis' birthday at sunset at The Recif...a very nice outdoor restaurant w/ a lovely view of the ocean. In the 2nd pic you can see the most western tip of Africa - and you can see it in the next pic too w/ David, Uncle Jimmy & the girls. When we came home the power was out so it was perfect timing for birthday cake & candles :)

Meeting the T-boys

2010-04-22T17:43:00.003-04:00

Imagine giving up your son, at the age of four years old in hopes that he would receive an education yet knowing that he would be required to beg on the streets. Today we visited a center in one of the poorest areas of Dakar. We went there to visit a shelter where various T-boys boys could come, clean up, eat, shower, and play. It was a place where they felt safe, a refuge of sorts. These boys ranged anywhere from 4 years old to maybe 15. Most of them had tattered clothes & bare feet. These boys were dirty, some smelled & were skinny to the bone. Despite their uncleanliness, I found myself in awe of how beautiful they were. Their eyes, their laughs, their smiles - some with missing teeth. It was all I could do to not stare! They've had a hard life. They've probably seen more than I will ever see in my lifetime just in their childhood. Boys at the age of 6 were looking after 3 and 4 younger boys. Back home, that is just unimagineable. I know most readers of this will not be able to understand what I'm trying to explain. I don't expect them to. The pictures will help, but I will never be able to express what I've seen and do it justice. I will try my best to paint a picture for you though, so I can in some ways share my experience with you. We came to the center with two bags full of things we collected for them before we left. Anything from BandAids to waterballoons. Despite the poverty they live in, they are exactly like normal little boys. They wrestle, they love toys, they're curious. But there's something about them that seems different to me. They have something American's don't seem to even comprehend. They are happy and content with what they are given. I never once saw a boy ask for more than his share. The little they had, they shared with others! We brought toy cars and gave one to each boy -- Nearly 35 kids were on their hands and knees playing with their match box cars on the floor in a little room probably smaller than your dining room. I couldn't help but smile at the sight. Something we would consider such a simple pleasure meant the world to these little boys. When we brought the bubbles out they got wide eyed. I'm not sure they've ever seen anything like it before. They crowded around my mom as she blew bubbles and jumped in the air in hopes to pop a bubble! You should have seen their smiles. At one point we took out a brand new soccer ball we brought and went down to a sandy "soccer field" which was just a dirt lot blocked in by unusable car tires and some metal posts for goals. Most boys from the center played and then some others from the streets joined us. Often other boys will shun the T-boys but two actually joined with them to play soccer today! The little t-boys held the older one's stuff and watched. The boys playing were REALLY good and seemd to have so much fun! I found it exciting just watching! David jumped right in and played with them and seemd to be right in his element... minus the sand instead of grass. He played for quite a while before the ball rolled into dirty water so he had to stop (but I think he was ready anyhow - he'd worked up a sweat!). After the soccer game we walked back to the center, and soon it was time to eat. David helped serve the boys some bread. I handed out vitamins to them then mom & Justine gave them their toy cars.

If anything, this trip has really opend my eyes. I believe God has been tugging at my heart... showing that I have a purpose in this world. That what I choose to do, could have a huge impact on people. I feel as if I have a calling. I've always been a little different than the norm. I've always had a heart for those "less fortunate." Maybe God is calling me to a future of helping those people. One day, I want to touch the hearts and souls of people all around the world.

Posted by Alexis

Joyce handing out toy cars to the boys. They were so excited to receive them!

Alexis giving the boys their vitamins.

David passing out bread.

This is the area around the center for the boys...actually it was right next to the soccer "field" they were playing at today.

They were so pleased to get brand new soccer ball from David today!

David playing soccer with the boys

French Lessons

My (Joyce's note): After we gave them their toy cars one of the workers led them to chant Jetejef (Sp) which means "thank you" in their language/Wolof - and they clapped and clapped :) I asked the director of the center how to say "You're welcome" and she told us (I can't remember it tho!) so we chanted that back to them. It was really fun...I ended up in tears.

We are leaving them w/ some very nice gifts donated by some very generous people - medical & school supplies, toys, video camera & dvd player, etc. - things that will hopefully help them in the near future & make their difficult lives a bit more enjoyable temporarily - but I believe the impression they left on us will last us a lifetime & we'll never be quite the same (and that's a good thing! :)

Our home away from home

2010-04-21T19:58:00.025-04:00

Below is our home away from home. This is where my brother and his wife live. It is completely surrounded by walls and the entry gate is heavy & always kept locked.

This is a tire shop ... a small business just around the corner...

This is a view of some nice new apartments & a well that you can see nearby from their their rooftop

Jim & Ramona's back yard.

Their front porch & the gate I mentioned earlier

Kitchen

Living Room

A TINY little shack right behind their house...Ramona thinks 4 or 5 people live here...

Ramona standing out in front of her house

Walking home from school - right nearby their house...all over you see piles of debris & trash.

Another view of that little shack above. This is so sad...you see it all over.

Just outside & to the left of their front gate they are building bricks on site ...not sure what they're building tho'.... maybe a house

Right across the way is a mosque viewed here
from their roof - so you can understand why calls to prayer throughout the day are heard so clearly in their home beginning around 5:30AM.

This last one is of their rooftop...I love this concept.as it serves as a nice patio

The dichotomy her is baffling. By that I mean that you have nice homes like my brother's mixed right in w/ tiny little shacks and squatters living in unfinished buildings. I've never seen anything quite like it on such a grande scale. It's heartbreaking.

There are lot's of little shack business too. Lots of trash/litter all over. That I don't think I'd ever get used to. Traffic is CRAZY! Try to picture a U.S. Hwy w/ people living in schacks along side of it....selling stuff ... and people running back & forth to get across - even crossing cement medians in the middle to get to the other side! not to mention that traffic rules are considered more of a suggestion that no one seems to intent on following :)

One thing that impresses me is that despite how dusty & dirty it is here, most of the women keep themselves so clean and they are ...simply beautiful. They certainly take pride in their appearance and I LOVE their dresses! And I think their ebony skin & their dark eyes are just gorgeous :) - Joyce

Please sign Alexis' Happy 16th "B-day Card"!

2010-04-21T17:34:00.000-04:00

Today is Alexis' turned Sweet 16! We went to a nice dinner at the western most point of Africa to celebrate. Justine made her a birthday cake. Aunt Ramona was going to frost it but when we came home the power was out (it still is ...I'm able to blog via an inverter but nonetheless I'm doing it in the dark!) I believe the power has gone out at least once every day since we've been here. ,,,,, Anyhow - back to Alexis' b-day cake....we ate it w/o frosting and it was timely bc we really needed some candles to light up the place a bit :)

I will try to post b-day pics soon. Haven't downloaded them yet. My pics are taking forever to download. Feel free to wish Alexis a happy b-day here w/ a comment--- kinda like signing an e-bday card :) She'd love to hear from you. That would make her special day extra special! - Joyce

P.S,

Hanna ... I'll make sure she sees your Happy Birthday comment on a previous post :)

It's time for school!

2010-04-21T06:12:00.011-04:00

Alexis, David & Justine went to the school where Uncle Jimmy teaches. It is an English speaking school primarily for children of missionaries who are serving in various places around Africa but some children of diplomats from other countries also attend here. Most of them are muslim but they choose to send their children here bc of it' good reputation. Above is a pic of the kids walking to school.

Justine is shadowing her penpal, Samya, at school today. Here she is (above) meeting some of the students for the first time. Alexis & David are shadowing a girl their age as well.

Ramona & I visited Uncle Jimmy's classroom - 10 Students - I believe 2 are from America and the rest are all from different countries. I shared some American chocolate with them ...Twix, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, etc. The kids took American candy to share in their classrooms today too.

After my tour of the school Ramona & I walked back home. She stopped to do some shopping at these stands along the roadside. She purchased mangoes from here...

and other produce from here....

There's Ramona (above) doing her shopping.

While the kids are at school I'm trying to catch up on some blogging. I can't keep up! ...& the girls are having a hard time keeping up w/ their journaling too altho' they do it faithfully each night. I think David is journaling too. We have just seen & done so much "new" in such a short time that attempting to record it all is virtually impossible. It's all so very interesting.

These men were kind enough allow me to take their photo. They are getting water from this well to water plants for a small plant nursery business that they water by hand. No walls or doors for this nursery - the plants are just spread out in pots on the dirt. I was impressed w/ how healthy they looked - you can see a few here but there were more...maybe 50 or so various plants.

- Joyce

Note: I realized later that the nursery is much bigger than I realized. It's quite impressive actually - one of the nicer/bigger "small businesses" in the area. I wonder if theft is an issue since there are no walls? Perhaps they guard it at night. Not sure - just curious.

I (Justine) met my penpal!

2010-04-21T06:06:00.000-04:00

Joyce's note: Justine wrote this the other night. I'm a bit behind & just catching up a bit. Today (Wed) Justine is shadowing Samya at school & Alexis & David are shadowing another girls their age.
---
I finally got to meet my pen-pal. Her name is Samya. She's a sweet, pretty, fun-to-be-around girl.
I got her a Red Sox shirt and it would fit her perfectly. She got me a pair of pink flip-flops.
We had her over for dinner last night. I got to meet her parents and they were nice. Samya is Brazilian but has been traveling around the world. She came to Senegal when she was like 2 yrs old. We had dinner together. After dinner, we played a card game with Alexis and David. Then we played Pentago. We had a lot of fun. Wednesday I get to go to school with her. It will be my first time ever going to a private school since I'm home schooled. Thursday we're going to have dinner at her house. Maybe since I visited her here, she could come visit me in New England!

Bon Apetit' - It's time to....get your hair done...& do some shopping?!

2010-04-20T18:25:00.004-04:00

Today we took a ferry to Goree Island. More to come on that but here we are having dinner on the beach after our tour. Soon after we sat down to eat one woman we'd met on the ferry came over wanting to braid the girls hair. We bartered a bit and agreed on a price ($15 for each girl!) Pretty soon her friends joined her to help (I suppose they share the weath too??). They were finished at almost the same time we were done eating! Jimmy & Ramona's housekeeper went with us. Her name is Imbayan (Sp?) - she's the second one from the left in the top pic - and she is so sweet & fun & helpful!! Even she joined in & helped w/ the braiding too.Pretty soon more vendors came selling their wares...jewelry, instruments, wood carvings, sand paintings. Truth be told we could have done most of our shopping too while we ate -- but we didn't. :) We did go around visiting the shops of some of the ladies who did the braiding tho'.

Acrobaobab!

2010-04-20T07:00:00.003-04:00

Here are a few snapshots of Acrobaobab....an amazing obstacle course of ziplines & such thru' a baobab forest. Not a forest like you would most likely picture but a desert forest of sorts. We drove far off the main road to get here. Baobab trees have very soft wood - so they're not good for furniture - and their trunks are hollow. Up until about 50 years ago some people here used them for cemeteries by placing the remains of the dearly departed in the trunk. Can't remember just what people group did this but they had some belief that being put in the ground was a bad thing ... not sure why. Anyhow ... this menagerie of obsacles we navigated was hung high above the ground among the baobab trees. Talk about a full body workout! But I'd much rather get my excercise here than in an American Gym :) This is way more fun! Justine didn't want to do it....she's not a big fan of heights. I only decided to do it at the very last minute after seeing how much fun the others were having. One stretch even carried us in a small boat across the zipline! I felt a bit like Peter Pan! Alexis & David made it all the way to the end. I, on the other hand took a little shortcut near the end as I was pretty well spent by that time. In one pic above you can see Alexis climbing a baobob tree from the inside out :) Pretty neat. It was a lot of work...but we were rewarded at the end on the final stretch of zipline where we each had a special treat waiting for us on the way down the final stretch of zipline and as we met head on with buckets of water being thrown on us by guys at the end as we zipped by. What a refreshing treat after working up such a sweat. Trust me when I say it is harder than it looks! :) - Joyce

( This baobab tree was actually at the wild animal park & was the only elephant they had there :)

The Market.

2010-04-19T17:26:00.000-04:00

Downtown Dakar Market (photo from internet)

Posted by Alexis:

Today was the day we went to the market in down town Dakar (more like downtown New York City!) Our uncle's maid helped us every step of the way. Our mission was to buy fabric for our African dresses being made this week. Our maid's jobwas to help barter. We first needed to take two taxi's into town because we all couldn't fit in one. Most of these taxies would not pass inspection back home. Some had cracked windows, none had seat belts, and one we rode in, we were afraid the whole back end would fall off, seeing as the car was hardly welded together and we were able to see the ground moving beneath us. (AHHH!) Not all taxi's were as bad as that though. Anways... When we got in to town the hustle and bustle of the people and cars was almost dizzying. Everywhere we went cars were honking, people were trying to sell us things, and we were constantly trying to stay out of people's way.
When we found the fabric shop it was tiny and cramped with people buying and selling. The venders of the shop kept telling us to take our time and look around. It was nearly impossible for me to pick anything out, there were SOOOO many to choose from. So little time, and so little space ( as it is, I am a terrible decision maker). Whenever I would look up at a piece of fabric, they were convinced I wanted to look at/ inspect it up close, unfortunately, it was a bit of a hastle to take down and put back so I tried hard not to take too much time. The three of us girls, ended up with three very different and beautiful fabrics. Once they were all picked out, the vendors asked a very high price for the material. Our maid spent a good half hour just bartering with the vendors, nothing they asked for seemd acceptable to her, but in time they agreed to lower the price enough and we got our fabric. =)
After we bought our fabric, we went to the tailor. He worked and lived in the same few rooms of his apartment. Neither mom, Justine, or I had ever had any clothing made specifically for us. We had no idea what to expect or what we wanted so when he asked, we made up our minds as the questions were asked. He measured us in several different places, wrote down some things we wanted on a piece of paper and we were done. Simple as that. It was exciting, knowing that a dress was being made for me, and only me. I'm anxious to see how they all turn out, because I really have no idea what I actually even asked for!

-Alexis

Sunset & snapshots of a walk on the beach

2010-04-19T03:58:00.011-04:00

Sunset at the beach house

We went for a walk on the beach to a small fishing village. Here's glimpses of what we saw...
Who needs an expensive scurf board when you can make one from a simple piece of wood. This guy was good!

This little girl just walked right up to Alexis and took her hand.
Talk about becoming fast friends :) SO sweet.

These children really wanted David's waterbottle.
See the little girl holding the little baby?

A mosque & fishing boats

Don't ever remember seeing a cow on the beach before.

From this boat, or one very similar...they were unloading frozen chicken - giving new meaning to "chicken of the sea"! They probably went to a nearby town and brought it back w/ them.

Did you ever wonder how to give a sheep a bath?
These kids could show you how! :)

Photographer: Justine
Posted by Joyce

Game Park - More Pics

2010-04-18T20:27:00.011-04:00

Photographer: Justine

David's Safari Experience

2010-04-18T19:17:00.002-04:00

Hey! This is David from Senegal! We've been doing a lot on our trip so far and the adventure has just begun. One of the things we did on our second day here was go to a safari, the place was called "Reserve de Bandia". It was incredible, and also a great opportunity to take some pictures. We got to the gamepark, got our tickets, a truck pulled up, we piled into the seats in the back and we got taken off into the park. We ended up sharing the truck with a french couple but we didn't talk to them much mostly because none of us spoke very good french. Our tour guide obviously spoke french too but he spoke a little english as well; with the little english he spoke he was a funny guy. We got into the park and started on the trails, the first animal we found was the hyena. There was only one and it was the only animal locked in by a cage because otherwise it would eat some of the other animals since it is a carnivore. Surprisingly, it was bigger than it seemed to be when watching movies like "The Lion King." Then on our way to the next stop of the trip we spotted a monitor lizard in the crevice of a tree nearby. Jim told us that they get to be as big as 4 feet long! After that we went along and saw a whole group of monkeys going across the path in front of us; everybody went "Awwww." as we saw a couple of them had little baby monkeys clinging to their bellies. Then down the road a little bit we saw a wild boar off to the side who starred at us as everyone took photos of him. Next on our safari we saw a lot of antelope. After seeing antelope for a while we ran into a couple of zebras, but they were they only ones we saw the whole time. The water buffalo came next, followed by the rhino who we found resting in a sand patch. Then as we drove down the road we chased some guinea hens in front of us. Finally we came to the part that the girls had been waiting for... the giraffes! When we saw the first giraffe the driver drove off the path and circled around right in front of it about 20 ft away, so we got some great close up photos. Next we went to a baobab tree that they found had the bones of a dead shaman in it, and the skull was layed out at the opening in the tree. Later on we saw a bunch more giraffe and were acutally allowed to get out of the truck to look at them from a safe distance. This was unlike any zoo anyone had been too. On our way out we saw a couple more animals including an ostrich, a hornbeak bird, and a beautiful bright blue bird. The last stop of our trip was seeing the giant tortoises and crocodiles. But it was hot and we were tired from taking lots of pictures, so we went to a tourist hotel for dinner. Well thats all folks, seeya later on David's Awesome Blog!=)

Joyce's note: Justine is our main photographer :) She took the pics above. More to come later when they don't take forever to download.

Beach House

2010-04-18T18:59:00.005-04:00

This is the beach house we stayed in.

The beach house that we went to for the weekend was pretty. It was simple but still nice. The water was really nice.It was a little warmer than the water in New England. We found a lot of pretty shells.

Each night that we were there the power went out for like an hour and a half. The first night the power went out we had a candle night dinner, so that was fun. The other night power went out and we watched a movie on the laptop('UP').

Some of the rocks on the beach have carvings on them. One was a sun with a face on it and the other one was an elephant.

The one of the best parts of the beach was the sunset, it was BEAUTIFUL. That's one thing you don't get in New England ..... beach sunsets.

Justine

Joyce's note: We should have pics ready to post soon :) Another sweet thing we saw at the beach was a group of little boys playing on the rocks out in the water...I took their pic. When they came closer one little boy handed me a handful of shells - I had a few shells in my hand already so I gave him mine in return. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up & we parted ways but it wasn't long before I realized that the ones he gave me were alive! Yikes ... I had a handful of hermit crabs :)

Photographer: Justine

Window Shopping

2010-04-18T17:08:00.004-04:00

We're home now from our weekend trip and we're getting more familiar with our surroundings. We have seen and experienced so much in such a short time. Not even sure where to start but will begin by letting Alexis share about one long portion of our drive to Ngaparou where we spent the weekend at a beautfiful baeach. To drive 80 miles took us almost 3 hours...much of the time was eaten up sitting in a traffic jam unlike anything I've seen. I'll sign off & let Alexis describe it from here:

I wish I had pictures to show. This was something Americans would not be able to even fathom. They call it "window shopping." On our drive to Ngaparou the roads were flooded with cars, people, and scooters. Driving here, is nothing like driving back home, they are careless and have a tendency not to acknowlege other drivers. But anyways, fridays here are the busiest day of the week for transportation, and that was the day we were headed to the beach. In the midst of the heavy traffic, people swarmed around us, tapping on windows, standing next to cars, and setting goods they wanted to sell to us on the hoods of cars! within an hour HUNDREDS of people came up to our car trying to sell a variety of things, almost anything imaginable. Some examples are: water in bags, cookies, fruit, sunglasses, table cloths, steering wheel covers, TV antennas, cell phone chargers, cellphone cards, car reflecters, fire extinguishers, mesquito netting, razors, clocks, tools, window visor covers, TV remote controls. The list really goes on and on. Picture a US highway with a traffic jam due to accident, mixed with a flea market, except the venders are on foot going from car to car.

My (Joyce's note): The vendors were agressive but not rude. Ramona sometimes buys things from them. We may have a few pics ...I'll have to check - but we had to be discrete as people here generally don't like to have their pic taken. In this case, if they had seen us take their pic they would likely have expected to be paid for it!

We're here!

2010-04-16T10:48:00.003-04:00

We're here! We arrived around 5:00AM Dakar time. We were shuttled on a bus from the plane to the terminal ...it was packed & Alexis is convinced one man tried to get in her backpack. Almost as soon as we exited the airport terminal Justine was ready to turn around and go home! She was frightened by all the men/boys who wanted to help us carry our bags. They are VERY up close & personal in an "in your face" sort of way! We were pretty much swarmed by a group of them that hovered around us all the way to the car! - even went so far as attempting to grab bags away from us & even touching Alexis once...not inappropriately really - but nonetheless when you just arrive in a foreign country and it's dark, the last thing you want is for a stranger to get that close. One guy started messing w/ a pocket on David's long shorts...Just waaaay too close for comfort. A BIG cultural difference from the US where for the most part personal space is protected & respected more. Something we will have to get used to dealing better with. Even as we were pulling away, one stuck his head in the truck...hoping to get paid for having "helped" us. Justine was pretty much terrified at that point. Took a bit of time to get her settled down but she's better now. Alexis & David handled themselves very well. Alexis has no problem holding her own! I was encouraged to see that.

I tried to help Justine remember the scene as it actually happened as opposed to what she saw once fear gripped her...really none of the boys (mostly teenage) were mean or trying to hurt her. What they actually wanted was to do something and get paid for it (a job!). The fact that there were several of them and the dialogue got rather intense a few times and half of it was foreign...well you can just imagine ...

We're all good now. My brother & his wife live in quite a nice home. We arrived just after the morning calls to prayer ...but I believe there is another coming up shortly...:)

My brother and his wife live in a rather nice place. They have a guard and a housekeeper...really both are a necessity here. It's very quiet outside now. The weather is beautiful. We're heading out for the weekend - to a beach house - so I won't be back on here til Sun night or Mon morning. Maybe by then I can get the kids to share something too & hopefully I'll have some pics to share.

Just wanted you to know we made it...safe & sound...and we're looking forward to exploring a bit and meeting new people here shortly. We're heading out for the weekend ... to the beach ... so I will be out of touch for a few days...probably back on here Sunday night or Monday morning.

- Joyce

Dakar is known as the begging capital of the world

2010-04-12T10:58:00.003-04:00

Sharing here some excerpts from a post my sister-in-law shared on her blog....

Translated, talibe means student. We are more familiar with the word Taliban which also uses the same root word. The talibe boys are common throughout West Africa, but especially in Senegal.
Dakar is considered the begging capital of the world; giving alms is one of the five pillars of Islam. As a result, marabouts and talibe boys have been moving to Dakar from all over West Africa. They squat in vacant, unfinished buildings, or construct shacks on vacant land. Most of the “homes” have no running water or sanitation facilities. In contrast, the marabout may live in a nicer home with his family.
The boys are between the ages of five and fifteen. Families give their young boys to a marabout, an Islamic religious leader and teacher. This is impossible for us to comprehend, except for the fact that many of the families are too poor to care for, let alone provide an education for the boys. The marabout is supposed to raise and train the boys in koranic education, providing a free education for them. In reality the boys become child slaves. They must beg for him and are often beaten and mistreated if they do not bring in enough money each day. I should point out that not all of the marabouts mistreat the boys, but many do, and the system itself is open to many abuses.
You see talibe boys everywhere in Dakar. They are there when you step out of the terminal at the airport and they are seemingly walking every street begging. They go out early in the morning and often stay on the streets until late at night. They carry empty tomato cans where passersby place their alms. They are barefoot and dressed in rags. Many are sick with malaria or other diseases, and nearly all are underfed. The younger, smaller boys are often bullied by the older, bigger boys who steal the money they have collected.
A marabout may have as many as 40 talibe boys. Some of the marabouts do not feed the boys, so they must get their food by begging. In general, the boys are required to give the marabout a certain amount of money each day. If they earn more, some marabouts allow them to send the extra to their families.

Even the noble gesture of giving the boys food is problematic. If you give them food, they will often sell it to meet their quota. It is possible to give them something like a peeled banana that cannot be sold and must be eaten.

My note... a friend found this related video on you tube:

Average Daily Income in Senegal

2010-04-01T06:59:00.003-04:00

According to this '09 article...

The average daily income in Senegal is $2.00.

Religion Part II

2010-03-31T07:46:00.008-04:00

Tabaski/The Feast of Sacrifice is the largest Muslim holiday in Senegal. During this time, many Muslims will make their pilgrimage to Mecca. According to the Qur'an, Allah asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Ishmael ( not Isaac - as the Bible teaches). Abraham agreed to perform the sacrifice as a sign of his obedience. But just before Abraham began the sacrifice, Allah told him to offer a sheep instead.

To remember Abraham's offering, every Muslim family is to sacrifice a sheep on Tabaski morning. My brother, (whom I learned about Tabaski from) shared that last year, according to the newspaper, over 660,000 sheep were sacrificed in Dakar. Families feast on roast sheep, share some w/ friends & give thanks to Allah.

At this time, rams sell for inflated prices of aprx $200 USD - more than many Senegalese earn in a month. In addition they purchase other foods to serve, everyone wears new clothes & parents give their children presents & money.

Tabaski "highlights" one point where the contrasts between Christianity & Islam are distinct. Muslims believe they must "sacrifice, do & give"all their lives in hope that they've sacrificed, done & given enough to get into heaven. Christians believe:

¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
John 3:16 - 17

¹⁴because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. ¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
¹⁶"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds. ¹⁷Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more." ¹⁸And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

Hebrews 10:14

Posted by Joyce

Religion

2010-03-30T09:32:00.014-04:00

Edit: when I originally posted this I mistakenly indicated that another major difference between Islam & Christianity is highlighted in Ramadan...when I should have said "Tabaski"... which I plan to post on in the future.

Senegal is about 95% Muslim. My brother & his wife, live across the street from a mosque so each morning they hear the morning call to prayers amplified through huge speakers reverberating through the house at about 5:30 a.m. Guess we won't need to bring an alarm clock?! :)

I'm no expert here so I gleaned from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Pillars_of_Islam some basic info about the five "pillars" (essential duties/practices) of Islam:

Shahadah/profession of their faith - professing that there is no other god but Allah & accepting Muhammad as his messenger.

Salat/ prayers - Five specific times a day, facing toward Mecca - & wherever they pray must be cleaned.

Sawm/fasting - Ritual fasting is an obligatory act (except to those for whom it would be dangerous - children, sick, nursing mothers, etc.) during the month of Ramadan. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam & must abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk during this month, and are to be especially mindful of other sins. The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness to Allah, to express their gratitude to and dependence on him, to atone for their past sins, and to remind them of the needy.

Zakat/giving of alms - There are four principles that should be followed when giving the Zakah: The giver must declare to Allah his intention to give the Zakah, The Zakah must be paid on the day that it's due, Payment must be in kind....eiter 2.5% of his income, or If he does not have much money, he needs to pay in a different way such as good deeds and good behavior toward others, and the Zakah must be distributed in the community from which it was taken.

Hajj/ Pilgrimage to Mecca - Every able Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if he or she can afford it. The main rituals of the Hajj include walking seven times around the kabba, touching the Black Stone, traveling seven times between Mt. Safa and Mt. Marwah, and symbolically stoning the devil in Mina,

***

Based on the little I know of Islam, there are some big differences I see between it & Christianity. One is "highlighted" in the celebration called Tabaski, and I plan to share more on that in a future post. Another is that I gather a follower of Islam is not supposed to be in the position of relying only on faith to gain salvation. Rather, "in the end" they must be have earned it by being "good enough" as determined by their good works & obedience/adherence to Islamic law, whereas the Bible clearly teaches much differently:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Romans 3: 21 - 25

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2: 8 - 10

Posted by Joyce

Bits & Pieces

2010-03-29T16:00:00.001-04:00

A few things I've learned about Senegal via info my brother has shared:

- Senegal is a relatively peaceful country. However, corruption, frequent power outages, and the high cost of nearly everything including food are fueling unrest. Crime is increasing. West Africa in general is becoming less stable.

- Gas is about $6 - $7 per gallon.

- Cars cost more than 150% of what they do in the US.

- electronics and appliances (as well as almost everything else) costs about two times as much as in the United States.

- During the rainy season in West Africa it is hot, humid, and quite uncomfortable. There is not enough electrical power in the city so parts of the city are shut off for several hours at a time. Most outages last about four hours, but some last much longer. It is also the time when mosquitoes are very prevalent so malaria is too.

- The rainy season is an inconvenient and uncomfortable time of year. However, it is a critical time for West Africa.

Senegal

is mostly desert, and the rains are desperately needed. The villages grow millet, which is used for bird seed in the U.S. However, it is a major food source for them. Equally important as the rains coming, is that they stop at the appropriate time so the crops can be harvested before they mold. Last year’s rains were good, but for several years earlier the area was in famine. The balance of life is so fragile in this part of the world

.

- To learn more about the dry season (which is now - thankfully!) read the previous post.

Harmattans

2010-03-29T08:09:00.002-04:00

My brother shared recently:

An interesting reality of living in West Africa during the dry season is the harmattan winds. These hot, dry winds blow off the Sahara Desert carrying the finest, floury, dust hundreds of mile into the Atlantic Ocean. Considering that 60 percent of the dust in the earth's atmosphere comes from the Sahara Desert, it is not surprising that these small pieces of the Sahara even find their way to America.

Harmattans last from a few to several days at a time and are appropriately called the dry fog. I walk to school before it is light and when I look up at a light the dust forms a halo, much like heavy fog. It penetrates everything and is impossible to keep out of homes. Floors must be mopped and horizontal surfaces dusted nearly every day. It is especially harmful to electronics like computers.

Posted by Joyce

Grocery Shopping, etc.

2010-03-28T19:47:00.003-04:00

Cut & Pasted from Aunt Ramona's Blog:

Living in Africa

One of our day to day tasks here are purchasing fruits and vegetables at the market. The first thing we have to do when we get them home is to soak them in a bleach/water solution for 20 minutes. This must be done to kill any germs or diseases that might be on them. Then we rinse them with filtered water and put them in the refrigerator. We also do this same process when purchasing eggs. If you don’t, when you crack the eggs, germs could get in whatever you are doing with your eggs.

Another thing we must do is when we buy flour, we have to put it in the freezer for a few days. This is so that any bugs that are in the flour will be killed.

Sometimes when I want to buy meat, I go down to the local meat shop pictured. You have to hope that the piece of meat you are buying hasn’t had too many flies on it! The meat hanging here is sheep that someone just brought into the shop to sell. They had it loaded in the back of an old station wagon and got it out and hung it up. I guess you would call that special delivery!

Just day to day food preparation takes a lot of time here. Everything must be made from scratch. Any convenience foods that might be available here are usually too expensive to consider buying.

We also need to filter all of our water. Even when brushing our teeth, we must use filtered water. A bucket water filter system like this one is the most common ways to filter water. However, this year the home we live in has 3 built-in water filters, so that is a real luxury.

Even though we must do a lot to just live day by day, we have a lot more than most Senegalese people have. We have so much to be thankful for; we have water that doesn’t have to be hauled, electricity, a stove and oven to cook on and so much more.

Laundry

2010-03-28T17:17:00.002-04:00

It won't be long now & we'll be on plane bound for Senegal! Airline tickets have been purchased, passports are in hand & we've gotten all the necessary vaccines (I needed 6... ouch!)

For these first few pre-trip posts, I'll cut & paste info I've gleaned from various sources, including photos & excerpts from Aunt Ramona's blog, to give a better idea of how daily living in Senegal is quite different from what we're used to. Let's start by letting Aunt Ramona share about something as "mundane" as doing laundry....

I thought I would just give you a little glimpse of what it takes to "just live" in Africa. Some of the tasks for "just living" takes much more time and energy than it does in the States.

The mundane, like doing the laundry, is an example of what takes much of our time these days. It's great to have a washing machine but when the electricity goes off, a load can take a long time! Once it's washed and hung out to dry, the rains often come and it has to be taken in. On the low wall in the house or possibly on stair railings, we lay our clothes out, but in the humidity of this rainy season, it can take 12 hours to dry. Are we in the second day yet? Finally, most things need to be ironed to kill any mango worms in the clothes. Will the electricity stay on for the ironing? Will the load be finished the third day?

- Posted by Joyce