What I did in The Gambia ( Read more... )

Last Wednesday our development professor took us to visit a rural exodus neighborhood in Faidherbe. He's convinced that we are all spoiled overconsumers who subscribe to the capitalist culture ideology and he wanted us to reach out and touch poverty. There was some debate as to whether we were going to learn or to gawk at poor people and no one ( Read more... )

This week was completely full. I didn't have any class on Wednesday so I worked a bit on my paper and then I went to the Sandaga market with some girls and got a sparkly top to go clubbing in. Then we met the others to go over to the stadium for the soccer game-concert sponsored by Plan, an NGO dedicated to registering unregistered children. Did ( Read more... )

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On Monday Jenn and Melissa invited me to go with them to get a tiah or Senegalese tea. I pictured some sort of coffee shop in my head but we headed into Mermoze and stopped on a street corner which was actually right outside PCCI. Hanging out at the corner was a group of Senegalese guys who we greeted and then sat down to start making the tea. They ( Read more... )

On Friday I got to visit PCCI which, if I understood correctly, is the largest calling center in Africa. It's employees include 1,400 of the best and the brightest of Dakar. Inside the building is considered for all intents and purposes to be Paris. They operate on French time. When they call they take a French name and a Paris number shows on the ( Read more... )

Last weekend we took out first excursion out of Dakar to visit the old colonial fort turned fishing village / tourist trap of St Louis. St Louis used to be the capital of Senegal until the 1950s when it moved to Dakar. It is a smallish town on the border of Mauritania and it includes an island, the langue between the Senegal river and the ocean, ( Read more... )

For all who are interested:

Kimberly Condon
MSID c/o WARC/CROA
BP 5456
Dakar, Senegal

Yesterday was very educational. First we talked about structural adjustment in development theory and I didn't feel like class was a complete waste of time. Then we had several hours to kill so I ended up not going downtown as I had planned for lunch but instead to Nando's, a very Americanized, very expensive fast food place up the street. I had ( Read more... )

Yesterday we celebrated the muslim new year so classes were cancelled. The night before was the fete de couscous at which everyone in Senegal eats lots of couscous so as to not go hungry in the comming year. Senegalese couscous is different than moroccan couscous. It is grainier and darker We ate it with meat, sauce, and milk. You have to add a lot ( Read more... )