Spent the afternoon cooking popcorn and shrimp chips for kids. Popcorn is always entertaining because everyone here recognizes corn, it’s one of the staple foods, but when you put it in a pot and cover it and then open it to reveal popped corn the expressions are great. Nobody had tasted shrimp chips either and I thought they were tasty myself. Two bowls of popcorn and two bowls of chips would have seemed the logical means of distribution but without fail unique food and twenty rural Senegalese children make that impossible. We were forced to find an additional 8 bowls and split a little of each of the types of delicacies into each for a less chaotic sharing experience. Then I ate dinner for the last time and went to visit my work partner and say goodbye to as much of the village as possible before everyone fell asleep. So I started walking around in the dark(few lights and no moon), and telling people I was leaving. Thanked them for being good hosts and forgave all misdeeds(a cultural departing statement.) Had a few interesting conversations about the level of my language skill and the distance to Amerika. Most people think in terms of 2-20km, so I told them it was 4,000, I just looked it up and it’s actually near 6,000. Some kids were interested in planes so I told them about it being like a bus, but they make you food if it’s time to eat. I noticed the people I was greeting start to become more drowsy as I continued so I turned in at ten pm. Awoke early on account of needing to pack and finish saying goodbye to the village. Began my trek with some compounds nearby and wound back a last time to finish in my own compound. Gave away the last few items I wouldn’t take away with me or leave to my replacement. My most excellent friend and work partner Mama Saliu Balde came by to say goodbye. I cried after he left my hut, thinking I’d probably never see him again, and he’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. Packed the remaining clothes and trinkets into my bags and waited for my host mom to return from the field so I could say goodbye. Had borrowed a camera since mine broke early in service and I have very few photos. Took photos of family and friends with the intention to print copious quantities at home and send them back to my replacement, Mandy, so she can distribute to everyone. Host mom arrived from the field and I greeted her, strapped all my stuff to the bike and put on my backpack. Walked into my host mom’s room and said I was leaving. I asked her to stand up and gave her a hug, something this culture almost never does. She started crying and then I started crying, I said ‘An ko nene am tigi tigi’-’You are my mother truly truly’. Sat for a minute and then said goodbye and walked out to say goodbye to my family. They walked me to the edge of the village and I said goodbye and told them thank you for being good hosts, and that I would miss them all very much. Then I began the 4 mile bike ride to my road town to await a vehicle that would take me into Kolda city. I met one of my good friends Walli Balde just as I was leaving the village, made me really happy I could say goodbye because he had come to see me in the morning but I was out saying goodbye to people. Slowly biked the rest of the way out to the road town and started saying goodbye to the handful of people I interacted with frequently there. A boutique owner wanted some pictures with me and a woman who sold me lunch sometimes gave me a bag of dried corn to plant. Rather than the slow and cramped small buses that normally come through I got lucky and a 7 passenger car with an empty seat picked me up. Was a nice ride in and I even got the front seat. Made it into the house and unloaded my bags. Went out to eat with a small group that was hanging around the regional house. Pleasant evening of food and chatting with good people who I may not have the good fortune to see again. Stayed up all night packing and waiting for the car to show up at 4:30am and convey us on our last exit from the region that has been my home for the past two years. The ride took three of us out in a cool, foggy morning through some of the most lush and beautiful scenery Senegal has to offer, down in its Ziguinchor region (which is also off limits to volunteers so keep that to yourself.) Upon arrival we sought out the port where a boat was scheduled to transport us from zig to Dakar. Waited from 10 am to 2:30 in the afternoon to board, it was not a comfortable temperature. Boarded to discover something like movie theater seating (except flat) for about 80 people in two different rooms, with AC! Went through the safety briefing in French and Wolof, neither of which I understand, but I got a general idea from the French one. Then we hung out on deck and ate some snacks of chips and apples. Saw a little group of 4 dolphins playing near an island and they came right up along the ship for a short while, really fun to watch them jump out of the water. A few other passengers began succumbing to sea sickness as we moved out into open water but my companions and I felt fine. We caught the sunset and watched dusk blur the horizon. Then we tried to get some dinner at the alleged restaurant which was actually a little 2 meter square bar. They had had some sort of sandwich wrapped in tin foil so we figured food would be available throughout the trip. When requested though they were all gone, would have been nice to know that and bring food like everybody else seemed to have done. The chef was informed by someone that some ignorant passengers were seeking food and probably didn’t have any, so he gave us the ‘wait’ sign. Showed up a half hour later with three slightly heated sandwiches, made a nice dinner with some cans of soft drinks. Through the course of the evening people continued to drop at an alarming rate from sea sickness. The cabin cleared out fairly heavily and we watched a movie before trying to sleep. Turned in around midnight, dividing and sampling the optional sleeping places; 1 to the deck outside, 1 laying on our seats, and 1 on the floor of the cabin with a comfy little pillow of a sweatshirt(I say comfy because I was the one in that position, and it really was a decent place to sleep). Near 4 am we hit notably choppy water which exacerbated the motions of the boat and the sea sickness of our Senegalese comrades. Best estimates put 80% of the passengers out of commission from such illness, but we three volunteers were unaffected. Arrived in port at 5:40 and returned the lent blankets in exchange for the passports given to acquire them. Disembarked and caught a 10 min nap before finding baggage. Informed a variety of taxi drivers their services were not required as we awaited a local friend. Mamadou (aka Mo) a Dakar native who had spent 6 years in the United States, and been to more of the states than we three natives of the U.S. combined, picked us up and we sought out breakfast. Drove over to Presse Cafe after cramming all the things we three owned into a little SUV. I partook of a smoked salmon wrap with jasmine tea, and let me tell you, it was wonderful. Continued on to our host, introduced ourselves and unloaded before seeking out some very overdue sleep. Feeling a little better from the first good quality sleep in the past 48 hours we availed our refound hunger on 3 family size pizzas of the goat cheese and honey flavor. If you find yourself in Dakar seeking a savory slice of sustenance get on over to Yum Yum’s pizza and try it, I’ve eaten almost one daily while I’ve been in Dakar this trip, same thing the last time I was here in April. Since then we’ve been closing bank accounts and doing a scavenger hunt of signatures for miscellaneous tasks. This was my transition from village to the biggest city in West Africa. I’ll throw up a few of the photos I took but most of them will be in a later post. Thanks for reading.
This descended into madness once I told them they could begin eating.
