There is no point, it’s just the truth. More anecdotes for your enjoyment.

I love road tripping in Africa. You look out the windows and see warthogs and monkeys. See pictures below for details. 

The WARC kids (aka my friends and I) have begun to greet each other by asking, “How’s it going?” The reply: “It’s going.” That would be a pretty literal translation of the French, “Ça va?” “Ça va.” 

Was inordinately proud of myself for writing ‘Inch’Allah’ in a text. Have yet to use ‘Alhamdulillah,’ but I’m working on it. 

Just confirmed that the room I’ve been living in for the past three plus months actually belongs Marie Sophie. Now that I’m here, she shares a bed with her grandmother. Why does she not resent me for stealing her room?

Hot, stand-up showers may be the greatest invention of mankind, debatably even better than the right to vote and courts of law (and even earplugs). I’m learning I’d be pretty willing to trade a substantial amount of political freedom to be guaranteed my creature comforts.

In researching for a presentation on Senegal’s neighbors, my friend Zoey was dismayed to learn that nothing of note has happened recently in Guinea. I’ve decided the country would make a perfect location for my police state. (Mark, would you still be interested in serving as my propaganda minister?)

These next two comments are in response to Marian’s thoughts on trash collection in Cairo when she studied there last spring: 

1. Trash collection in Cairo might often be late, but trash collection in Senegal is oftentimes nonexistent. I can’t think of any other explanation for why the driver’s cabin of a train car has been sitting just outside UCAD’s Faculté des Lettres since January at the latest and probably for several years. When trash pickup does happen, the refuse is driven into the brush and just dumped there. So whenever you travel outside of Dakar, you see entire fields covered in trash because the wind has blown the garbage for miles. 
2. My friend Sam has an internship in the psychiatric ward of a hospital. The ward disposes used syringes in an open courtyard. A large portion of the psychiatric patients are drug addicts. Because disposing of used syringes where drug addicts have easy access to them is not a health concern.

We now publicly have sing-alongs to Disney movies in the WARC computer lab. 

Someone in my host parents’ bedroom has been listening to ‘Born to Make you Happy’ from Britney Spears’ debut CD. No comment on why I know what CD that song is from. It may or may not have been the first CD I ever owned.

Saw a man in Saint-Louis wearing a sweatshirt that said ‘The Beatles’. Saw a taalibe in Dakar with a Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ shirt. I love obvious clothing drive donations.

Jess was reminiscing about cross walks while attempting to dart across Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop. She mentioned how wonderful the little person icon who flashes at you to tell you when to cross is. I had entirely forgotten those icons existed.  

Jess interns in a school as a teacher’s assistant in a history class. The teacher told the kids one day that Jews control the American government and the global economy. Considering how much Senegal struts its fabled harmony between Muslims and Christians (more on this in a later post), I majorly did not expect anti-Semitism to be taught in Senegalese public schools. Note to self: don't give countries the benefit of the doubt.

Had shack mafe for lunch, eaten under a tent set up on the side of a road, where a woman with two metal bowls two-feet in diameter filled with mafe and ceebujen served heaping bowlfuls enough for two or three servings to the people sitting on the benches around her for $1. Her customers ranged from construction workers to men in business suits. 

Imani (a guy in my Islam class): What’s the point of having Mary in the Qur’an?

History of Islam in Senegal professor: There is no point. It’s just the truth. 

My favorite Wolof phrase is “Xam uma,” which means “I don’t know,” “I don’t think...” and “I don’t understand.” All so useful in Senegalese life.

Wolof professor (during my oral Wolof final): Am nga jafe jafe ci Senegaal? Do you have problems in Senegal? 

Me: Am naa jafe jafe ak góor u Senegaal. I have problems with the men of Senegal. 

P.S. I’ve uploaded the photos that accompany older posts, so take a look back through the months if you’re interested. For some reason, my computer would only recognize about 1/4 of the photos on my camera whenever I plugged it in to upload them. For some other reason, this problem ceased when I plugged in my camera this morning.