Greetings are important here. You greet everyone: vendors, family, people on the bus, friends, your boss, the cleaning lady, people who are praying, eating, talking, sleeping. For good measure I even throw a “Ça va?” towards the neighborhood mutt. It’s a way of manifesting politeness and showing respect. “I see you. I’m acknowledging your personhood. I recognize that you are here with me.” This different mode of interaction took me a while to internalize. In the States, we don’t like to bother people. If someone is in the middle of [...]

Walking onto the campus of the Institut de recherche pour le développement felt like teleporting out of Dakar. The concrete walls dampened the sounds of traffic and bird calls emanated from the many trees. I was nervous to start my internship here, to once again be in the middle of a whole lot of “new”, but I needn’t have worried. Turns out research labs are pretty similar the world over and that my time at the IRD has been a small preview of what I imagine my return to the US will feel like: disconcerting familiarity. [...]

These are a few moments that I’ve wanted to share but that haven’t warranted their own post. Jamm ak jamm – Sophie  The toddler Abdou, covered from chin to knee in drool as usual, waddles up to my door grasping the finger of my host brother who prompts him. “Soapie! Keey lekk!” he chirps. Cutest and stickiest call to dinner I’ve ever heard.   The preferred cookie in Senegal is the Biskrem. The original is a crisp sugar cookie with a soft chocolate center but they are also available in [...]

After 5 months (!) here, I’ve hardly mastered the Senegalese culture, not that I ever thought that would be possible. There are, however, a few lessons I’ve managed to glean from my experiences. Here are a few things I’ve learned so far. If a guest comes over, quick grab a chair! Or a box or a tub, good God get something! Corollary: If 1000 people showed up unexpectedly to a Senegalese household, there would be no problem finding everyone a seat. The fine art of sitting quietly for hours doing [...]

I spent the holidays in Britain and it was everything I hoped it would be: family, cheer, hot showers, a chance to tell a few of my crazy stories, an exhalation after months of bated breath. I anticipated leaving this happy scene with difficulty, that the idea of Senegal would seem to be an abyss of the unknown. Fortuitously, the words of a vendor I chatted with some months ago proved true: “Mother Africa is jealous, you know, she never really lets go.” And while Dakar is only one tiny [...]

What should you bring to Senegal? Well… Pack a lot of underwear and an extra towel. Don’t forget your toothbrush. Those are the basics; with them you’ll get through just about anything.    Bring a nice shirt (you’ll quickly grow tired of dressing like a slob) and leave the running shoes. It’s hot as hell here, do you really need to jog?   Have some clothes you’re convinced are indestructible? Perfect! No better way to test them out than months of surprisingly aggressive hand-washing.   Buy an entire pharmacy worth [...]

During my internship at Keur Samba Guèye I was lucky enough to be able to squeeze in a trip to the Gambia with some truly excellent travel companions, Kelly and Mollie. Reflecting on the trip overall, I keep coming back to the fact that man, did we luck out.  We crossed the border without a problem (not a given for intra-African travel) and made it to the ferry terminal minutes before the ferry started its slow chug across the river into Banjul. Really, our only misfortune was the untimely failure [...]

I walk in every morning to a full waiting room. Forty small villages depend in this poste de santé for medical care and we will work until they’ve all been seen. General cases wait for the nurse, pregnant women and new babies wait to see the midwife. Each patient first buys a ticket. Adults pay about $4 USD for their consultation and any prescriptions. “The government set this price”, the nurse explains, “it doesn’t always cover even the price of the medications to the clinic.” After waiting their turn, sometimes 10 [...]

In the center of every village stands a great, grand tree, easily a century old. It is the town’s meeting place, a shady spot to nap, a landmark, the heart of the village. It is supremely graceful, its leaves reaching out in a perfect orb. Neither a neighbor or the elements has diverted it from its slow upward crawl to the sun. Outside the village the tree’s cousins dot the landscape, each more striking than the last. The family is varied but even within the same species each tree tells [...]

The toads hold their nightly conference on the doorstep under the flicking light. In quiet chirps they discuss the happenings of the day. Attendance is up tonight from yesterday to 28; there must be some juicy gossip to share. In their pen the sheep have settled down in to soft piles of wool and even the rambunctious kid goats have stopped their endless game of king of the hill to sleep. All is quiet on the farm as the moon rises swiftly through the trees. So ends another day in Keur Samba [...]

The first Wolof you learn here is indubitably the favorite phrase of Senegalese mamans: “Lekkal,” the omnipresent command to eat. And woe is you if you think that is a polite invitation you can demure; it is a true imperative. The Senegalese culture, renowned for “teranga” hospitality, places an incredible value on sharing especially when it comes to food. Servings here are generous and seemingly unending. To the Senegalese mind, you eat when you are happy and content, thus our host families would love nothing more than for us to each gain [...]

Being sick in an unfamiliar place is never fun but a fever of 101 degrees in Sub-Saharan Africa was really pushing it for me. As I lay in my bed sweating and aching, my malaise acted as a lightening rod for feelings of homesickness and culture shock. Normally the momentum of my day to day activities keeps me from dwelling on any longing for home but damned if the flu didn’t give me time to reflect. My fevered brain swiftly calculated the enormity of the distance and great lengths of [...]

We had a mission: obtain appropriate attire for the big soccer match between Senegal and the Ivory Coast. And in Dakar, there’s only one place to go when you need to buy, well, anything you can imagine really: Sandega Market. A couple friends, Luke and Kelly, and I set out from WARC. The driver of the  cab we hailed gave us the usual line, “Traffic is so bad in that part of town. I can’t take you for less than 2500 CFA.” We push in return for a more reasonable [...]

I have never thought of myself as an adventurer, and for most of my life, no one else has either.  Prone to over-analysis and exceedingly cautious by nature, I’m more surprised than anyone to wake up on a continent far away from the one I’m most used to.  The heady mix of languages that float in my window over the call to prayer finds me just as the sunlight does each morning, asking myself “How did I end up here?” Before I left home, I was consistently asked “Why Africa? [...]

As the sun sets, I seek the cool breeze of the terrace. A show is starting and the price of admission is only a free moment and a watchful eye. I peer over the balcony onto the street below and watch as the stage unfolds. Entering stage left is a group of young boys returning from their soccer match in the alleys of Mermoz. They chatter excitedly in a mix of languages and jostle each other as they remove their cleats. Their voices mix with the bleats of melancholy sheep from the [...]