FASTEF: Teaching Classes

Just so everyone doesn’t think that my entire life here in Dakar is one big vacation in the sunshine, I decided to do a few blog posts about the work I’m actually doing. So this is the second of these:

(I know I’ve mentioned some of this briefly in other posts, but I wanted to have this all in one place, so bear with me.)

For the first course I taught this semester, I was to focus on their English fluency while discussing the US. The beginning of the class was, of course, all about the elections. Because our election system is so ridiculously complicated, that took up about a month of classes.

So complicated!

Once I realized how limited their knowledge about the US was (the difference between a city and a state was difficult for them), I decided to do a project similar to what we did at UD with our French students, which is called the Tour de France, where each student in the class researches and presents on a French city. I did the same, but had each student choose an American city and called it the “Great American Road Trip.” They each had a questionnaire to fill out that required a bit of research on the city.

I used this questionnaire to guide our discussions about the US. For example, one of the questions was about outdoor activities available in or around their chosen city, so we did one class on the National Park System in the US. It was a hot topic at the time because the US National Park System had just turned 100 years old, so articles were plentiful.

We also discussed the green movement in the hotel industry, things like that. It was a nice way to guide the class discussions as they completed their research. I gave them the 9-question questionnaire about 2 months before it was to be handed in to me, and I told them to be working on it throughout the semester, as we discussed the different topics. Of course, just like my French students at UD, many of them left it to the last minute and were surprised at how much work it actually entailed! Students are the same everywhere… seriously!

Gutsy choosing the prof's home town for your project!

Then they used the information they found to create a 5 minute presentation that would convince their classmates to choose their city above the others presented. One aspect of this was to actually show them how to use PowerPoint.

Some classes, like the B2, had some rudimentary knowledge of the program already, but the C2 trainees had never used it before. The C2 is a specific demographic this year, being older men (in their 50s and 60s) who had been teaching English at the elementary school level out in fairly remote villages. Their English level itself is fairly low and their computer skills are non-existent. This is mostly due to the fact that electricity is scarce and unreliable, so it’s not something their generation uses very much, if at all. I spent an entire 2-hour session just showing them how to open PowerPoint and create the first title slide. It was very slow going… I had to explain how to “double click”, “highlight” things with the mouse, etc., but they were interested in learning how to do it, so it wasn’t too bad. I’m glad I made a rule that their slides weren’t allowed to have text on them (It took forever for the C2s to type anything). Since the students tend to write too much on slides,  I forbade it and told them to only use pictures and labels on their slides, the rest they would have to say.

B2 Roadtrip

I mapped out the trip for each class on Google maps (they thought that was pretty interesting) and the presentations went in the order that we would actually drive if we were in a car. The other professors in the department were invited to come along with us, and the director of the department, Dr. Mbaye, particularly enjoyed it. He really liked the concept, explaining to the students after we finished how valuable he found the idea. He was a Fulbright himself and told the students that he wasn’t really able to picture a map of the US and where the major cities were until after he lived there for a couple of years. With as much interest as there is in American culture, especially with the students they will be teaching, it’s valuable to know at least a little bit about the country and have an idea of the variety (of people, places, food, etc.) that is found in the US.  It's a project he thinks they should consider doing with their students. It was a fun way for them to learn a bit about the United States while helping them improve their English.

In one class, Atlanta and Los Angeles tied for the chosen city, while in the other class it was Atlanta and Santa Fe that tied for first place. Who can guess why Atlanta, Georgia was so popular? ;)

The second class that I taught was “Communicative Language Activities” which came out of a discussion about the fact that while many students could tell you the theory behind communicative teaching, they couldn’t actually plan activities that were communicative. So my class would be for them to actually put the theory into practice. I decided that I would have two parts to the class: one part would be based on articles from the English Teaching Forum, which is a publication the US state department puts out for English teachers around the world. It is full of articles about how to better teach English, most of them with actual activities described step-by-step.

This forum is a resource that I wanted them to be very comfortable with because I would like them to continue their professional development beyond their time at FASTEF. If they know the value of the articles found in the Forum, they will be more likely to seek them out, as well as the other resources available to them through the RELO and the US State Department. I chose 10 different articles that I thought went well with what we were working as it pertained to developing activities and then had each student (or pair) present one of the articles in class. They had to present the article and then host a discussion about it afterwards. They would also have to write a written response to questions I had pertaining to the article and discussion.

For the other element of the course, I had them each develop a unit, with lesson plans that included communicative activities. The completed unit was their final portfolio for the first semester. I walked them through how to develop different lessons (vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, speaking, and writing) and then had them plan an actual lesson for each. They found this to be very, very difficult because they hadn’t ever been asked to actually put into practice the theories they’d been learning. We’re trying to train the first generation of communicative teachers, so they really haven’t ever seen this approach before.

They’re used to the older, non-communicative, teacher-centered approach to teaching language. It’s so engrained in them that teaching is about the standing in front of well-behaved, mostly silent, students who are being fed grammar rules and vocabulary lists by the all-knowing teacher. Helping them open up to new ideas about how language teaching has evolved has proven to be a great challenge. 

Another reason they found it challenging was that they were not used to the amount of work I was giving them. I approached this class with the idea that I could give them one (fairly short, academic-light) article per week to read, and a few short answer questions to respond to per week, while they slowly worked on activities for their lesson plans, without it being much of a problem. That was not the case. They complained that it was an unreasonable amount of work.

I wasn’t giving them even half as much work as I gave the 1st year undergrad French students at UD, so I was surprised and asked the head of the department if I was legitimately giving them too much work and he said “they always say that... don’t worry about it!” Regardless, they convinced me, against my better judgment, to allow them to do their final portfolio in pairs instead of individually. I held extra 2-hour long workshops once a week when they could come in and work on their lesson plans with my help. I had them turn in rough drafts and went through them with the students so they could see how they needed to change activities to make them more communicative. In the end, just like with every class, there were students who really seemed to get it, some who really tried to get it, and some who neither got it, nor tried to get it (i.e. they just didn’t care). Those three categories have existed in every class I’ve ever taught anywhere, so I wasn’t surprised. In the end I had students who told me that they’d never had to work so much in a class (really?), but that they learned a ton of real-life, applicable teaching skills that they’d needed. I’m glad most of them appreciated it because it was also a huge amount of work on my part!

For the second semester, which just started, they are doing internships out in schools around Dakar. They will have classes only on Thursdays and Saturdays, so I’m not teaching a content course this semester. Along with going out to observe them in their internships, I will be hosting a “Lesson Planning Club” where they can all come together to bounce ideas off of each other as they plan their lessons for their internships. This was an idea I had when the director suggested I host a film club or something like that.

I asked the students which they would prefer and it was unanimous that facilitating collaboration and exchange on lesson planning would be much more beneficial. It should be fun, I like lesson planning!! 

I know you're thinking it, so... Thanks! "Nerd" is a term of endearment in my world ;)

FASTEF: Basics

Just so everyone doesn’t think that my entire life here in Dakar is one big vacation in the sunshine, I decided to do a few blog posts about the work I’m actually doing. So this is the first of these:

(I know I’ve mentioned some of this briefly in other posts, but I wanted to have this all in one place, so bear with me.)

I teach at the Faculté des Sciences et Technologies de l’Éducation et de la Formation (FASTEF) which is the teacher training college of Senegal connected to the local university (UCAD). Historically, any teacher that is certified went through FASTEF to get their certification because it is the only recognized teaching certification in the country. That does not mean that all teachers in Senegal are certified (actually, only a small percentage of teachers are trained/certified teachers, but that’s a whole other topic), but if they are, they were here.

We call them trainees more than we call them students because the word ‘student’ is traditionally connected to a younger demographic. Because this is an after-university program, most of the trainees are quite a bit older than the traditional 18-25 yr. old university student. Some of them are actually teachers who have been pulled from their posts and sent to FASTEF to get certified in order to better do what they’re already doing. If this is the case, they continue receiving their teaching salary while they’re in training. Those who have not been placed there for professional training would traditionally be offered a teaching post upon the completion of the program. This is one of the reasons why FASTEF’s programs are so popular (almost guaranteed a job at the end).

There are two different tracks for FASTEF students: those who wish to teach secondary school and those who wish to teach middle school. There are complicated acronyms that go with each of those, but we just call them the B students (for those who want to teach high school) and the C students (for those who want to teach Jr. High). Both programs are 2 years long, so we have the B1 students, B2, C1, and C2 students. The students in the B1 and B2 classes will already have a “Master” degree (equivalent to a BA in the US), while the C1 and C2 students will either only have their high school diploma, or they may have a “License” (equivalent to an associate’s degree in the US).
These distinctions exist for all the departments, whether they’re training to teach math, science or, in the case of the department I work for, English. The B students spend 2 years studying English Language Teaching theory and educational psychology. Because the C students have completed a lower level of education (usually just high school) before starting their program, they do one year of courses in linguistic reinforcement and literature (to make sure their English is as good as it can get in the time they have at FASTEF) before they do a year in pedagogy. Those C-level students who already have their “License” have the option of only doing the second year of training.

This year the number of students went down drastically from previous years. Usually, each of the four levels would have upwards of 70 trainees, but this year it is very different: The B2 class has 21 students, the B1 class 13, the C2 class 3 students, and the C1 class only has one student (as a symbolic gesture by the Ministry of Education so that they can say they kept the C1 level open). Why is this you ask? Because the Ministry of Education has stopped hiring the majority teachers when they finish their certification at FASTEF. It is not that Senegal is not in desperate need of qualified teachers, but that the money to pay for teachers has gone elsewhere (don’t know where, but that’s a topic for a more politically savvy person than myself). The problem with this is that tradition plays a very important role here. As I said before, trainees who get certified at FASTEF have almost always finished with a teaching position somewhere in Senegal (rarely do they have a choice as to where) because they are literally the best trained teachers in the country. Then that stopped, and there was a huge uproar by the trainees.

Burned bus from the FASTEF strike

They staged a strike: burned buses, occupied the administrative offices for months, etc. The solution thought up by the Ministry of Education was not to fund having actual teachers in their schools, but to cut the number of teachers that get training to the bare minimum. That way, they’re able to hire most of them even if they only hire 20 new teachers per year. Hence the huge difference in class size between last year and this year. The entire English department consists of 38 trainees (last year it was more like 200).

Because the classes are so small, it’s not worth the time/money to have all the professors teaching the same number of hours as they were when there were more students. This means that professors are sharing classes, teaching every other week instead of every week. They teach courses such as: Teaching Reading, Teaching Culture, Issues in ELT, Intro to research, Lesson Planning, Teaching Listening, etc.

All about education!

 I, on the other hand, am paid by the US government, and therefore have no such restrictions. This means that while the other professors see each level either once a week (if they teach two different modules) or once every two weeks, I see all but one level twice a week (the other one I see once a week) for two hours each time. For the first semester, the two courses I taught were: Fluency Development/American Culture and Communicative Language Activities. What I did for those classes is the subject of my next blog. This was getting too long :)

Ile de la Madeleine

One of my favorite places to go for a break from the hustle and bustle of the city is out to Ile de la Madeleine (Madeleine Island). I’ve been out to this small island off the coast of Dakar three times now and its beauty never disappoints! The island is a natural reserve, with it and the waters around it for 50 meters out, protected against any human activity such as fishing, hunting, or harvesting. It is the smallest national park in the world, and while not yet a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s been nominated as one and is on the tentative list. In order to go out to the island, we have to go to the National Forest office that manages the island. Once there, we can pay for a guide (which is required) and the small boat (pirogue) that will take us out there.

It costs 5,000-10,000 cfa per person (about $10-$15) for the boat, depending on how many people are in the group.  The guide costs 10,000 as well, but for the entire group. It takes about 15-20 minutes in the small engine pirogue to get out to the island, depending on how choppy the water is. Some of the guides will take you really close to the shipwreck that’s just off the island, so you can get a really good look at the fishing boat that sank in the shallow waters a few years back. The first time I went out we didn’t get anywhere near it, so I figured they usually steered clear of it, but then second time we got super close to it. I think it also depends on how calm the water is. Apparently the ship ran aground during a huge storm a few years back. There were no casualties, but the Spanish company just left it there… apparently they don’t have the means to remove the ship.

They were able to siphon off all the gas so it didn’t get into the water, but the debris from the ship has influenced the wildlife around the island. An example of this is with the turtles. They have a beach near the shipwreck they call “turtle beach” because it consistently had turtles laying their eggs on it, but they haven’t been back since the shipwreck. Some organizations are working to figure out a way to remove the ship, but they haven’t gotten very far. Apparently it’s an expensive endeavor.

Once past the shipwreck, the pirogue goes into a small opening in the sheer rock walls where a dock is set up. Depending on the tide, sometimes it is a very easy entry, while other times it has to be well timed with the swells of the tide. After landing, the guide gives a walking tour of the island so we can see the birds, baobab trees and beautiful coastal scenery. The first thing we do on the tour is walk up to the high point overlooking the little cove we entered by.

There have been a couple of attempts at building on the island, but it is said that the most powerful of the “genies” (or spirits) of the traditional Lébou tribes (the fishermen) inhabit the island. It is considered a sacred place where the tribal elders would come to petition the spirits.

Apparently a rich Frenchman tried to build a house on the island in the 1800s, but any time he got close to finishing his stone house, they would come back the next day and find it had crumbled. This went on for a few weeks before they gave it up as a lost cause. Someone else tried to put a structure up near the ruins of the old one, but just after they finished it, they came out to find it had collapsed… they take it as a very clear sign that any permanent human presence is not appreciated by the original inhabitants of the island.

The tour continues to the side of the island where we can see the other 2 islands considered as part of The Madeleine Islands. Although the one big island is commonly known as Madeleine Island, it is actually the largest of three islands. The other two are so close together it seems that they are one. Because they are small and steep, they’re not really accessible to humans.

It is said that while the main island hosts the good spirits, they play host to the bad spirits that cause shipwrecks if approached too closely. The shipwreck is not too far from them as we continue the walk around the rim of the island. Depending on the guide, sometimes the tour includes climbing down towards Turtle beach, although we’ve never actually gotten all the way down because the attraction is actually what’s hidden in the side of the hill.

Madeleine Island is home to one of the rarest birds in the world: Le Phaeton à bec rouge (Phaeton Aethereus Mesonauta: A red-billed tropic bird called the boatswain bird). It is only found on this island, which is home to 30 pairs, and two other islands in the world. They’re really easy to spot when they’re flying around because they’re pure white, have long tails and bright orange/red beaks. But they nest in the cliffs/hillsides, so when we’re walking down the trail, the guide can point out the birds in their nests. We can get pretty close, but when we push our luck, they are very vocal about it!

After visiting the birds, we continue our walk around the rim, now facing Dakar off in the distance. Seeing Dakar from far away always makes me glad that I am spending some time out of the city. The pollution layer can be seen from Madeleine Island, and I think about the air I’m breathing on a daily basis. Not much I can do about it, but I do wonder sometimes if there will be long-term effects on my health!

There is a beautiful little cove at the farthest point from the entry cove which I could sit for hours, just watching the water flow in and out. Unfortunately, there is a time limit on the island (well, since you asked, it’s 4 hours ;) ), so we head to our next viewpoint which is called penguin point because there are some legends (from a long time ago apparently) that talk about penguins inhabiting that part of the island. I was surprised, but then did some research and although I did not find anything about penguins in those islands, there are warm-weather penguins in the Galapagos Islands, which happens to also be one of the other two islands in the world that have the Phaeton… so I guess if they share that rare bird, maybe they also shared the penguins in the distant past.

After Penguin Point, we visit the main Dwarf Baobab (Baobab Nain) which is unexpectedly one of the biggest baobabs on the island. Our guide said that the first record of this particular tree was from 1778 when it was mentioned by a French explorer in one of his logs. It was already fully grown. Many of the baobabs on the island are called dwarf and are very particular, growing more spread out and lower to the ground because of the wind found on the island. Not all of them are dwarfs, since it depends on where they’re located. There are a few baobabs that are considered sacred by the Lébous and this is one of them. Not all of them are allowed to be visited/seen by anyone other than the spiritual leaders or elders of the tribes (which is one reason a guide is required).

Another sacred baobab that we are allowed to see is on the other side of the island. It is one of the largest and many people go there to pray/petition for something or some information that they want, most often leaving sacrificial animals, money, food, bracelets, etc. Unfortunately there is a new phenomenon happening on the island that may threaten all the baobabs on that side of the island, including this one. For the first time since anyone has been keeping track, the bird population has increased significantly and they have taken to nesting not only in the cliffs, but in the baobab trees. So many of them nest in each tree that their dropping are suffocating them, which was easily seen by their complete lack of leaves (or any color for that matter). Those who study the island as a habitat are trying to figure out why this is happening. They cannot interfere, so if this change means the death of half of the baobabs on the island, it is what it is, but they are studying the dramatic change.

About an hour later finds us end of the guided walk around the island and back at the cove where we arrived. So why do they limit people to 4 hours? Because there is a natural pool on the island and I bet people would spend all day there if they let them! It is very nice for swimming and the beaches are interesting because they aren’t sand beaches but shell beaches. Instead of sand, it’s just a ton of shells/shell pieces that make up the beach (so much better than sand, btw, doesn’t get stuck on everything!).

The natural pool is created by a short wall on one end, and if the waves are high enough on the other side, they come over the wall and trickle down into the pool. The first time I went it was super hot outside, so the pool was refreshing and we swam for a really long time. The second time I went, it wasn’t quite as hot out, even though it was sunny, and the water was pretty cold. We swam for a little while, but then spent about an hour napping/enjoying the warm sunshine.

Although it’s not part of the guided visit, if visiting at low tide, it is possible to go around behind the retaining wall of the pool. It’s a pretty cool area because there are a ton of tide pools and the rock formations are really interesting. It’s the western part of the island, so nothing but ocean for as far as the eye can see and there aren’t very many birds on that side, maybe because of the wind? The first time I went was at high tide, so we didn’t go back there, but the others times we were able to spend a significant amount of time exploring back there.

Mandy and Michaela exploring the island!

We’ve seen crabs, different fish and a ton of sea urchins in the little pools on that side. The last time I was there, we went later in the afternoon and we sat on the warm rock (they absorb the heat) and watched the sun sink lower. I’m sure the sunset would have been spectacular, but we’re not allowed to stay that late on the island, so we boarded our pirogue to head back to the city… already wondering when I’ll be able to go back!

Playing Tour Guide

So, most of you probably know enough about me to know that I love playing tour guide. I love showing people around, taking them to my favorite places, and generally showing them a good time. I have even done this professionally a few times

Playing tour guide over the years

; a year as a guide in a castle in France, 2 years as a concierge in Bend, TA for a study abroad in Martinique, 2 summers as a YALI student engagement leader at the University of Delaware. It should come as no surprise that I have taken up this role here in Dakar as well. Only a few days after I moved into my apartment, my first guest arrived: Debbie is a Fulbright ETA teaching in the Ivory Coast. She and I shared a room at the Washington DC pre-departure orientation, so it wasn’t our first time sharing a space. Debbie flew in from Abidjan on Monday and left on Saturday. While I did still have to teach (her school system was going through a strike, so she had some time to kill) we had some afternoons, and she was able to go some places on her own or with other people she or I knew here in Dakar.

American Breakfast with Debbie at Chez Fatou

Of course, she went to Gorée Island, but it was while I was teaching. She went to Ngor Island with a friend that had just arrived in Dakar while I was doing my conversation and film club at the US Embassy.

On Thursday I took her out to Île de la Madeleine, which is a small island off the coast of Dakar (and the subject of my next blog post).  Friday we went to the fabrics market (HLM) and the artisan market for some souvenirs. Her flight on Saturday was in the afternoon, so we decided that a lazy “American Breakfast” at Chez Fatou on the water was the perfect end to her time in Dakar. It was nice to have a visitor, as well as a reason to go to all my favorite places!

I have also been kind of mentoring/guiding the new students that stay with my host mom. The first of these was Mandy, who moved in a few days before I moved into my apartment. She was only in Dakar for 3 weeks of an intensive French course before she headed back to the University of Minnesota to continue her studies in biomedical engineering. On her first day in Dakar, my host dad walked her to the West African Research Center (WARC), and normally my host mom would have picked her up, but she finished earlier than anticipated. When phone calls to either of them went unanswered, she called me and I walked over to get her. She was there with Michaela, who had arrived at the same time and was taking the same French classes. Colleen, Brenna and I invited them to join us for our New Years Eve cooking fest and generally started including them in our shenanigans.

Mandy, Michaela and Me on Ile de la Madeleine

I took them both to HLM so Mandy could choose the fabric for her souvenir dress. My host mom, Mama Soda, offers a few yards of fabric to her host students as a gift to remember her by. The day after she chose her fabric, I took her to the tailor (Diouma) so she could get her dress made.

Mandy and Michaela went out to Gorée Island with Debbie while she was here, and on Mandy’s last day we went out to Île de la Madeleine (which was only 2 days after I’d gone with Debbie, but as you’ll see in my next blog post, going twice in one week isn’t a hardship!).

Mandy headed home after too short a time in Dakar, but Michaela is staying the entire semester, so she’s still around. My room was taken by Kari, who was only in Dakar for less than 2 weeks. I didn’t get to spend much time with her, but we were able to chat a few times when I stopped by my host family’s house, and then her last day in Dakar I took her to the artisan market for some last minute souvenirs. She had time to kill afterwards, so we went out to the park to see some nature and I introduced her to Rocco (the horse I lease). Kari was here on a short study abroad for the master’s degree she’s working on in international education/study abroad. She works for a private study abroad company, which I am super interested in, so we chatted about that throughout the day.

After Mandy and Kari left, the rooms were taken by two young ladies (Quianna and Nia) from Spelman College in Atlanta. They were here through SIT Study Abroad and they’re doing the coolest semester! They will spend 1 month in three different countries. They were in Dakar for 2 weeks to get started, then went to Touba for 2 weeks before flying to Italy where they’re spending a month in Turin and then finishing with a month in Guangzhou, China.

Quianna's super cute outfit by Diouma!

It seems like a random mix of cities, but the students are studying a specific Muslim brotherhood which has its origins in Touba, but also has a large presence in Turin and Guangzhou. Of course, one of the first things I did was take them to HLM to get their fabric. Then we went to see Diouma.

Part of their coursework included interviewing a business owner in Dakar, so when we went back to the tailor to pick everything up, I helped Nia interview Diouma about how he became a tailor. It was very interesting. Diouma never went to school and started his apprenticeship with an expert tailor at 15 years old, which is pretty late compared to other boys (I think I’ve mentioned this before, but most tailors are men/boys). He apprenticed for about 10 years before striking out on his own, and now he’s considered a master tailor himself with quite a few apprentices of his own.

 After Quianna and Nia headed to Touba, my host family accepted another Fulbrighter, this time a research scholar who will be here until June. Mama Soda had me talk to him on the phone, and while I haven’t met him yet, we’ve chatted and messaged when he’s had questions about the neighborhood. I’m sure it won’t be long before we meet in person. Unless someone comes in for a surprise visit, I think my next chance to play tour guide will be when my friend Angela comes to visit in 37 days (not that we’re counting or anything…) She and I have been close friends since the 6^th grade, even though we haven’t lived in the same state (or country for much of the time) since we were 15 years old. I go out of my way to visit her in San Diego when I’m in that part of the world, and she travels across continents and oceans to visit me in exotic locations. We always have fun together, so I’m looking forward to it!

Angela and Me in Shanghai... We won't need the winter gear this trip!

New Year, New Digs!

Hi everyone!

My new apartment building!

Sorry for my long silence, it’s been a crazy month! I hope everyone’s 2017 has gotten off to a great start! I finished 2016 and began 2017 intensely searching for my own apartment. My plan from the very beginning of my stay in Senegal was to be with my amazing host family only until the end of the year, so my room was taken starting the 5^th of January!

I’d been apartment hunting since early December, but had run into quite a few dead ends. I was looking for a one-bedroom that was not a studio. I wanted to have a room separate from the living room so that when I have guests we’re not on top of each other. Apparently this type of apartment isn’t very common. I almost caved in and got a two-bedroom, but at the last minute the agent got wind of a one-bedroom next door to the two-bedroom I was looking at… They showed it to me, but very briefly seeing as it was still lived in. I could tell, even in its messy/dirty state, that it was exactly what I was looking for!

Unfurnished and not-so-clean, but I'll take it!

I’m so glad I stuck it out and pushed for exactly what I was looking for. The rent was well within my budget as well, so that was definitely a bonus! My rent is 200k fcfa a month, which is a little under $350! This price was because it was not furnished, which was fine with me because I felt that I would be able to furnish it for much less than what it would have cost me to rent a furnished apartment (which would have been $1,000 a month).

It was the 30^th of December when I found that apartment, but the people who were still living in it were in the process of moving across the hall to the two-bedroom apartment. They said the place would be empty and I could start furnishing it on the 3^rd… which made for a pretty tight schedule seeing as I had to vacate my room on the 4^th. They did offer to sell me the dining table with chairs and their living room set, which worked out well for all parties. Otherwise, my first priority was to get the basic essentials I would need to be able to move in, meaning a bed, a fridge, and a stove.

New furnishings

 My host mom has “a guy” at the Marché Tillène (the main home goods market in Dakar) from whom she’s been buying all her household appliances for the past 15 years or so and she was gracious enough to go with me on the evening of the 3^rd. It was amazing! She’s a great bargainer; the guy would give her a price and she would just cut it in half and then go up a little. I got a bed frame and mattress, pillows and sheets, fridge with surge protector, gas stovetop/oven with everything to hook it up including a full gas can, fan, and a mirror, all with delivery for about $750. I picked up the keys to the apartment at 4:30, we got to the market at about 5:30pm, had everything delivered and were home for dinner at about 8:30. The next morning I was back at the apartment by 9am to meet the guys who were going to install everything (provided by the guy I bought all the stuff from!) before I had to work at 1pm.

My new place is a 10 minute walk from my host family, so Colleen came and helped me move my stuff over. We just did a couple of trips with my suitcases/bags. We got all the stuff moved over in time for me to head to work. After our last trip, Colleen and I were in my new bedroom and I was talking about how much I needed a broom and a mop so I could clean up a bit (the previous occupants did not value cleanliness as much as I would have hoped, so the state of the apartment was not the greatest). I was lamenting that I wasn’t even sure where I could go to get such supplies (not like there’s a Target or Walmart around the corner) when Colleen looked out my window and literally saw a bundle of brooms/mops/trash cans walking by my apartment, as if conjured by my complaining. I ran out to stop the guy and bought everything I needed (mop with bucket, broom, handheld broom with dustpan, and two trashcans!). It was great!

My courtyard/patio set

After work, I had a final dinner with my host family before heading back for my first night in my apartment. The next day I Decided to get wicker furniture from the guy on the main road who makes it right there... keeps the money local and such and it’s not like I need super long-lasting furniture for a 7-month stay. I walked over and bought an armoire for my clothes, shelves for the kitchen, and ordered a cabinet for my entryway that I would pick up a week later, since he had to make it. When I went back to pick that one up, I also bought a patio set for my little outdoor courtyard.

The market

Over the weekend, Arame went with me to the market to get some of the smaller stuff I would need, including everything for the kitchen, buckets for showers and laundry (no hot running water or washing machine), and some other odds and ends.

It was all quite an adventure and now I’m nicely settled in to my new digs. My host mom was a little worried about me being on my own, but once she saw the place she felt better because it’s on a small side road and there are a lot of guards in this area. We have one for our building, there’s one that literally sits next to my window (for the building next door) and one that sits directly across the one-lane dirt road that my apartment is on. I am on the ground floor and there are bars on my windows. There’s a little corner store about 3 minutes from my door, and I’m still within walking distance of where I teach (although it’s a little farther). All in all, it was super stressful for about a week, but it was absolutely worth it. I still see my host family often, and it’s nice to be in my own place! I have a couch and a guest bathroom, so if anyone wants to come for a visit, my door is always open. And I have good coffee...

Bonus of being in my own place: I can put my percolator to good use!

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.