I (Joyce) recently returned from taking Justine (13), Alexis (16) & our friend, David (16) to Senegal.

Senegal is a third world country - so this was less of a vacation & more of a "field trip of a lifetime" that afforded us an up close and personal understanding of what real life is like in Senegal ... a culture & climate as far away as it is far different from what we're used to in America.

We stayed w/ my brother (Uncle Jimmy), who teaches elementary students in Dakar, & his wife, Aunt Ramona. We visited The Door of No Return (former slave house) on Goree Island, capital city of Dakar, the school where my brother teaches, outdoor marketplaces, the beach, a wild game park... and Justine finally met her pen-pal!

In the days leading up to our departure I posted here what I knew & was learning about where we were headed. Once we arrived in Senegal, I had the kids post some things as well. Justine was our main photographer.

We're back now & still trying to record our experience as it was hard to keep up while we were there.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Harmattans

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.




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