Celebrating 30 Years

♪ ♫ I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age

The ending of an era, and the turning of a page.

Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here.

Lord have mercy on my next thirty years! ♪ ♫

As most of you know, my birthday is 2 days after Christmas, and this year I turned 30! In order to celebrate, my friends and I planned an excursion to Pink Lake and the turtle sanctuary that was in the same area. The two Fulbright ETAs who teach in Saint Louis were in town, so they came with us. That meant that it was the two of them (Olivia and Sam), plus Colleen, her friend Liana, Brenna, and myself. We were 6 people total, so we needed 2 cars instead of just the one we needed on Christmas. We had worked it out with the same driver, Ibrahima, to drive one car and I would drive the second car, also his. So I got to drive!

The welcoming tortoise.

Since the Village des Tortues was a bit farther away, we decided to go out there first. When we arrived, there were 3 large tortoises at the entrance, even before the office where tickets are purchased. One of them came over pretty quickly and greeted us. He seemed to be the resident welcoming tortoise!

We ended up arriving at the same time as an Italian-Senegalese family with two boys, probably around 5-9 yrs old, so we started out our tour with them, and were quickly joined by a German couple. We visited the turtles in somewhat chronological order, starting with oldest and largest, the “spurred tortoise”. They are technically endangered and the sanctuary is working to save them. One thing I like about the sanctuary is that their goal is to eventually release any of the tortoises that are capable of surviving in the wild. That’s not a possibility for all of them, since some were rescued after accidents, or spent their pre-sanctuary life as house pets. This is the 3^rd largest land turtle (tortoise) species on earth, which can get to over 2.5 feet long, 220 pounds, and 100 years old!

A broken shell

They can tell the age by counting the rings on their shell, very similar to the rings on a tree, except you don’t have to kill it to see like you do a tree! We saw one who had a broken shell and our guide explained that it got run over 8 years before by the person who was keeping it as a pet in their garage. His shell is very obviously broken, and won’t heal any more than it already has, but it doesn’t influence his quality of life, so he’s fine.

Then we met Bill Clinton, one of the oldest tortoises at the reserve. He is the same age as my great-grandma Mert! He arrived at the sanctuary the same day that Bill Clinton made a state visit to Senegal while he was president. They later put a female in with him… and you can guess what they named her. They got along really well for a year or so, then he apparently decided that he’d had enough of her and killed her… they don’t put anyone with Bill anymore!

At that point the guide, Guillermo, was telling us about how their sanctuary works and how people can sponsor a specific turtle, giving it a name and becoming its ‘godparent’. That’s when I had the idea to adopt a tortoise and name it Fulbright! That way, any Fulbright in the future can go out to the sanctuary and meet the Fulbright tortoise. I’m hoping to start a tradition.

I told this to Guillermo, a nice Mexican man who volunteers at the sanctuary with his French wife (who also had the cutest little baby!), and he said I just needed to choose one! I decided to look for one that didn’t have a high chance of being released because I want future Fulbrighters to be able to visit him in the future.

The Fulbrighters with Fulbright the Tortoise

Our guide mentioned that the ones at the entrance probably wouldn’t be released for various reasons, and then I remembered the big guy who was welcoming everyone! He would be perfect, and he hadn’t already been adopted, so it worked out! We got a picture with him and all 4 of us Fulbrighters. Hopefully we aren’t the only Fulbrighters who ever get a chance to see him.

From the sanctuary, we went Pink Lake, where the water looks pink because of its extremely high salt content. We got there and decided, first things first: Camel ride! We decided that a short 15 minutes would be enough for these first-timers. It was interesting how they had a seat made, like a chair really, that went on/around the hump. Definitely made for comfortable riding. We were just a chain of 5 camels, all tied to each other and being led by a guide.

It was an interesting sensation, very similar to a horse, but with a much longer gait. I think I would definitely try it again, but only if I could do it in a less-touristy setting. It doesn’t have to be completely non-touristy, but just a little less. I’d like to actually be able to ride it, have control of it myself, and for it to be trained enough not to have to resort to violence when I ask for something from them.

We left the camels and went to the little beach on the lake. Sam, Olivia and I had lunch while Brenna, Colleen and Liana hung out on the beach. I had giant shrimp and sautéed vegetables, which was really good! Then I decided to try out the water, which wasn’t as pink as I’ve seen it in pictures. I realized that it probably didn’t look very pink because it was very smoggy that day and we didn’t have the blue skies and sunshine conducive to the pink color popping. It was a weird sensation being in the water though!

Enjoying Pink Lake

The water has such a high salt content that you just float in it without having to try. It’s very hard to explain… you’ll just have to come to Senegal and experience it! Next time I go out there, I’m going to do the boat tour and learn all about the lake and how it is the way it is. I’m very interested in learning about it, but nobody was really in the mood for the boat ride or going over to see the salt being harvested. I’m definitely going back, so if any of you want to join me, my door is always open!!

We got back from our excursions around 4:30, so I hung out at my host families and had dinner with them. My host mom gave me some fabric as a birthday present, and so did Arame, so another trip to the tailor was definitely a must. Arame and I went together so she could pick up some of her stuff that was being altered. Unfortunately, Diouma wasn’t there, so that was a bit of a bust. Dinner was nice and quiet, and Arame had made one of my favorite dishes (split pea soup with lamb)! Afterwards, I met up with Brenna, Colleen and Liana at Yogurtlandia for some birthday frozen yogurt. So that was the end of my birthday, but not the end of the celebrating.

2 layered (3 with the heart) angel food

cake with chocolate frosting.

Arame’s birthday is on the 30^th, so we decided to have a joint celebration on the 29^th. I promised to make a cake and homemade pizza (because that’s what Arame wanted). We made the cake together in the morning, and it turned out pretty good. Then we went to see Diouma and get Arame’s skirt, since we had matching ones made for our birthday celebration. It was all done! I went to the supermarket to get everything for the pizza. Arame decided that she wanted ground beef and onions on her pizza, so that’s what we made. My host dad, Tonton, declared our pizza better than the restaurant’s pizza! As we were finishing our pizza, I told Arame and Mama Soda that I had someone else joining us to help sing Happy Birthday. I had secretly arranged with the Fulbrighter who stayed with them 3 years ago to skype in for the cake and a chat. Matthew’s wolof is really good and he was best buds with Arame, even going home with her to the village to meet her family. They were both SO surprised and so happy to get to chat with him, I’m so glad the internet stayed strong and we were able to chat with him for about 30 minutes. We put 30 candles on the cake, but I took one of them and told Arame that it was just for me to blow out because she was only turning 29 ;)

And that was the end of the birthday festivities for this year. As I was reflecting on the last decade, I realized that I spent the entirety of my 20s either furthering my education, living abroad, or both. Not a bad way to do things. I remember deciding in my early twenties that I did not want to be that person 20 years from now who looks back and says; “I really wish I would’ve done that.” I can’t even count how many times I heard that when I talked to people in the US who had had the opportunity or the idea to travel as I have but didn’t take it or follow through. I never imagined when I turned twenty that in the ten years to follow I would have completed a Bachelor’s degree, lived in France for two years (let alone in a castle for a year of that!), worked in a 4-diamond hotel and developed a love for hospitality, followed my passion for teaching to Italy, then to China before going to graduate school, getting a Masters degree, and then a Fulbright to teach in Senegal. My last decade had its mountaintops, its valleys, its detours, its joys, its sorrows, its challenges, its failures, its triumphs, and its own incredible blessings. It has been quite a ride, for which I am so very thankful.