(Interjection)

More Greece adventure stories to come!

As for my life in France, things are cold and wonderful. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and does not feel like it at all. My teachers have decided to celebrate it with excessive amounts of homework and a grammar exam. Can't wait.

Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful, but in a good way. Every day is something beautiful. Rouen in the winter time is really cute, especially since I'm starting to love the city and think of it as my own home. Living up in Mont-Saint-Aignan before was not nearly as amazing as living in Rouen is.

Today, I kicked an African Studies exam's ass, rode the bus without paying (and without getting caught!) and got told by my Art History teacher that I speak French really well. "Mais vraiment, vous parlez le français très bien - avec une facilité." Donc, I'm saying that overall today was pretty great.

Now it's bed time though. I need my energy so that I can recount my Greek adventures tomorrow before the group Thanksgiving dinner en ville. And then Friday - GERMANY!!!

A demain!
Love, Josie

Greece: Day 6 (18/11/10)

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Finally, I am on vacation. Santorini is the most beautiful place and I can't believe I am here right now.

Yesterday, we got off the ferry around 3pm and immediately got bombarded by hotel/hostel offers. Enter Poppy and 11 Euro/night rooms in a beautiful hotel right outside of Fira. Life is so beautiful. The first day, we moved into our room, chased a sunset, got some dinner where the owner spoke no English but gave us free dessert, and jumped into the icy but gorgeous swimming pool. And I got to shower! Glorious.

This morning, we woke up around 10 and ate breakfast at the hotel. Then half of us rented ATVs from a frustrated Greek man. Exploring an island by ATV is on the the coolest things ever. We drove around, got some delicious fruit at a grocery store, and went to hang out at Perissa, a gorgeous black sand beach on the south of the island.

Oh wait - the Canadians! We randomly met up with the Canadian guys from the hostel in Athens the other day on the ferry to Santorini! So now, we're all staying together and it's awesome. Though, I'm counting down the seconds until they are driven totally insane by our Russian accents.

So the beach was beautiful, the water was cold but amazingly refreshing, and the sunset was magical. Not to mention, we spent the day driving around an incredible island with the wind blowing in our faces on ATVs. Santorini is absolutely stunning. I am so happy to be here.

Tomorrow, we're all hiking to the highest point in Santorini, going to some more beaches, and watching the sun set in Oia (reputedly the most beautiful sunset in the world). Also, we're planning on swimming to the hot springs at some point. This island is incredible.

So, we're currently all sitting in our room lounging around, drinking fruit juice and watching Greek soap operas. I am so exhausted and so wishing that Alec could be here right now. This would be the best place to go on a vacation together. It's so gorgeous and magical here. And it's so hard being around so many incredible things without being able to show them to the people I love. I'm so ready to go home in so many ways. But it's hard because I'm also excited to go back to my host family in Rouen, and to be here in Santorini right now. I just miss having my best friend around.

I'm trying so hard to stay focused here on Greece though. This is my time to be happy, healthy, and relaxed before returning to rainy Rouen. I'm so lucky to be here now. Life is so beautiful!

Love, Josie

Greece: Day 4 (16/11/10)

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En route to Santorini.

We arrived in Athens at 6:30am, and then hopped on the 7:20am ferry to Santorini. Emily, Emily, and I are the group leading the mission to the island, and everyone else is staying in Athens to help Mika figure out her passport situation and then are taking the 7pm ferry to meet us in Santorini.

The ferry last night was actually pretty great. I slept in on the on the air seats (which we were not supposed to be in, by the way. Oops.) on and off the whole time, and it was pretty wonderful. I only got about 4 hours of sleep though, so I just woke up from a nice long nap on the floor of the deck of this ferry :) Comfy.

Currently, I'm drinking a $5 cappuccino and wondering what the shower situation is on this boat. I'm a little concerned about it because this ferry doesn't seem to be nearly as tricked out as the other ones we've been taking.

Wow - I've taken so many kinds of public transportation on this trip: train, plane, bus, metro, ferry. I'm becoming such an expert. It's going to be so weird to be back at SLU going to a normal school, living in one state, doing a normal amount of homework. I'm (shockingly) really excited about it - it's all about the people you're with, and the people I have waiting for me at home are the best in the world. I'm trying to stay focused on myself right now though - I'm almost there. I can't have any regrets when I get home. Raison pour laquelle I really wanted to hop on the early ferry to Santorini this morning. I want to get on this island ASAP so I can spend more time there. I've been to Athens twice now and it's amazing to see, but I don't really feel the need to spend more time there when I can be exploring a Greek island. Now, I'm just praying to Apollo to come through for me - beach vacations are no fun with stormy weather. We've already experienced a few torrential downpours in Crete, and now I'm ready for some sunshine :)

It's amazing taking a morning ferry because I can actually see the ocean, and it is beautiful. Blue as far as the eye can see. And no ominous clouds (yet)!

If nothing else, this trip has shown me that traveling is not impossible. That may sounds obvious, but I always had the attitude that I didn't have a lot of money, so I could never travel. To an extent that's true - you have to have the money for a plane ticket, which can be a bitch, but after that there are options. Hostels, student discounts, and making friends will save you a bundle. Anyone, anytime can travel. And travel doesn't necessarily mean internationally - just doing something in the states or in Canada would be amazing. There will ALWAYS be somewhere you haven't seen yet.

So, starting now, my goal is to do a big trip once a year. I'll just work, set aside enough money for the cheapest plane ticket to somewhere (anywhere) I haven't been yet, and take a backpack and go. I'm living out of my backpack in Greece for 9 days and so far so good. I would have packed a little differently id I had known more about the weather, but I'm getting by just fine. So, once a year, one backpack, one journal, and one plane ticket for a whole bunch of new experiences. Pourquoi pas? Anyone who wants to is more than welcome to join me - I promise you'll never forget it. I also promise that ocean showers feel better than those boring normal ones that everyone else takes.

It's important to just live every once in a while. Easy for me to say maybe, because I'm only 18 and have minimal responsibilities, but maybe that also gives me more time to reflect on the importance of doing things like this. I feel like people don't give me enough credit for my thoughts sometimes because of my age. It's like people think, "Oh, that's nice. But well, you're 18; that'll change when you're older. Just wait." Well, first of all, I challenge you to find another 18-year-old like me. But secondly, why should I wait? Why should anyone? If getting older changes you into being more careful and settled-down, why should I wait around until that happens? I should be taking advantage of these ideas I have and growing from the experiences that follow.

Maybe young people are here to encourage those who have lost hope in their youthful dreams that it's never too late to pursue them. From my perspective, it is never too late. The most important thing in life is being happy. Why would you ever settle for unhappiness when there are so many opportunities for beautiful experiences everywhere? The key is maintaining your sense of adventure enough to see these opportunities. Life comes at you in waves of good and bad, but the thing is that they keep coming. You have to hold on to the people you love and make the changes (tiny as they may be) that you need to be a happier, healthier person. The most important thing is to never give up on yourself. If anything is worth it, you are.

I'm on a ferry to the Greek island of Santorini with absolutely no idea of what it will be like, what kind of people will be there, or where I'm going to sleep tonight, and I'm okay with all of it because I know that I can figure it out. Maybe people need to take more risks, so that they can surprise themselves with how well they can handle their situations. It's really empowering.

Well, $5 coffee is cold and (mostly) gone. It's just foam now. Maybe it's time to scope out the shower situation? It doesn't look promising, but it's worth a shot.

Peace and love,
Josie

Greece: Day 3 (15/11/10)

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On the ferry heading from Crete to Athens.

When we first arrived in Crete, we saw a wall on which someone had written in Sharpie two words: "Greek Hell." Never has there been more accurate foreshadowing. From now on, I will take graffiti warnings into consideration when visiting new places.

We arrived in Crete at 5:30am on Sunday. It was dark and raining. Initial thought: Oh shit - where's the beach? Apparently, we made the rookie mistake of assuming that islands have beaches. And also that they would be there, sunny and wonderful, just awaiting our arrival. Not a good mistake to make. We basically spent out entire day on Crete being homeless. Which is actually funny because we were probably the most homeless people on the island - even homeless people don't want to live on Crete. We walked, took a bus in a very wrong direction, walked around for some more hours, took another bus, met some police officers, hung out on the sidewalk in front of the police station and shaved, drank wine out of plastic bottles, and then walked some more.

Untimately, we ended up in a town by the ocean (finally!) where we all slept in one hotel room for 35 Euro total. Excellent. And the floor was actually extremely comfortable.

So far, I haven't showered, but I have been in the ocean. Twice. Also, we are all slowly but surely becoming Russian.

Last night we drank, ate food, played cards, and crashed on the floor of the hotel room. I left my bullshit pants (the ripped black ones) behind. I hope they will find a happy new home. Doubtful because they are stranded in Greek Hell, but maybe something will work out for them.

I am so tired right now, which will not be helped by the minimal sleep I will be getting on this ferry ride, so I'm sorry for the incoherent writing. Also, why am I writing this like I'm writing in a blog? Ahhhh the internet is taking over my journal!

So basically, Crete was . . . an experience. I'm glad we did it. It was a lot of walking, a lot of receiving false directions, and a lot of eating (as usual), mixed with a minimal amount of showering and sleeping. Yes, we spent about 6 hours lost the first day, but we eventually found somewhere to stay and I actually slept pretty well. Today we went to the Palace of Knossos, where we met a guy from Cape Cod who is in the process of creating a reality show based on bull jumping. The people I meet in my life, I swear. En tout cas, his name was Mike and he was quirky, but very nice, helpful, and fluent in Greek. Score. The best part about traveling is always the crazy random people you meet along the way.

If nothing else, we definitely spent a lot less time being lost on Day 2. We also actually checked out the center of town in Heraklion, and it was pretty sweet. Best graffiti I've ever seen award: "Honey I love u. You buy me chips?" We made friends with a few stray dogs, ate Greek food, ice cream, and coffee and almost got hit by cars, trucks, and mopeds (oh my!), all the while carrying our huge backpacks on our backs.

So far, I have decided that Greece is a very strange combination between France and Senegal. To be elaborated upon later - I'm lying on the floor of the deck now and I'm getting exhausted. I miss Alec and the family so much!

Love, Josie

Greece: Day 1 (13/11/10)

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Tally of Greek people who have asked me if I was Greek: III

I'm on a ferry from Athens to Crete. The plan was to take the midnight ferry from Athens to Santorini. There was no midnight ferry. So now we're on our way to Crete because . . . why not?

The little boy on the floor next to us just came over and took my purple Fray Bans and tried to put them upside down on top of his head. He is precious. So happy and smiley with his big, sparkling, black eyes.

In other (less adorable) news, Mika's passport, camera, and cell phone were all stolen on the Metro in Athens today on our way to the ferry. It 's a traveler's worst nightmare. Hopefully we can get it all figured out before we leave Greece.

The little boy's parents are trying to distract him with Enrique Inglesias music videos on their cell phone. Not working. He wants the Ray Bans. I mean, I don't blame him - they're awesome. Bonus: the guy we bought them from in Athens was Senegalais! Our Wolof came in handy in a bug way - hello 5 Euro sunglasses! I'm very satisfied.

Also, I bought an awesome black and gold dress by the Acropolis today. While not cheap, it wasn't too expensive and it was beautiful and exactly what I needed for going to the Greek islands. Also, the people who worked at the store were so incredibly nice that I just wanted to buy everything. I think that's really the secret strategy of the shop owners here in Greece - kill everyone with kindness. This seriously is the nicest country I've EVER visited though. People will go out of their ways to help you with any and everything. Just today, we had a woman come across the street just to tell us that there was a park nearby if we wanted to eat our sandwiches there instead of on the curb. We also met a guy named Kostas on the Metro who told us how to get to the ferry. Everyone - shop owners, random people, tourists - are happy and kind and open and wonderful. So kind, in fact, that they so badly don't want to disappoint you, so they make up directions on how to get somewhere when they don't know. While sweet, this is not very helpful, and I advise any future travelers to Greece to look out for this. Consult a map, or ask about 10 different people the same question before taking any advice. This country is such a happy and kind place though. I love it already.

So anyway, a man working at a store we visited today looked at me for a couple of seconds and then said, " So which of your parents is Greek?" And so began the series of random Greek people asking me if I was Greek. Later at another store, the man at the cash register got the same look on his face and then asked where in the US I was from. "Washington, DC," came the Europe-friendly answer. "So you're from Maryland or Virginia?" he asked. "Maryland," I said laughing. How cool is that? He used to live in Westminster, apparently. Followup question: "So which of your parents is Greek?" "Italian, actually. My father." "Well Mediterranean - that's still family!" Love it.

So today we woke up at the hostel (awesome hostel by the way where we met the coolest Canadian guys ever) and then headed out into Athens for a touristy day. We visited the Acropolis (again) and walked around the city a little bit. It was absolutely beautiful out - I actually wished I had shorts to wear! Fortunately, my pants were ripped at the seams all the way down the back and no one told me before we left the hostel. But at least Athens for to appreciate my pink Christmas underwear for a good hour today.

In other news, Allie's boyfriend Mark is here and he's awesome. They're precious together and I really love having them around. It can be so hard to see them so happy together in Greece when I miss Alec so much though. Up until now, I've really missed him but I've been dealing with it pretty well, keeping myself busy and focusing on my own situation. But seeing such an amazing, happy couple together on this trip really makes me miss Alec more than I can even think about. I really am glad that they're here though. I love both of them already.

And so now I'm focusing on this: I'm on a ferry on my way to Crete. That's fucking sick.

More on life later - I'm going to go brush my teeth, wash my face, and daydream myself into a daze. We arrive in Crete at 5:30am. Ohhhhh yeah. I love college.

Love, Josie

Baaack (Again).

And I was doing so well too. It's these long vacations - they really throw me off. I get out of the habit of blogging. I more or less documented my Greece trip in my journal though, so I'll be doing the same thing I did with my Senegal journal: re-posting it online for all of you to see.

Today was my first day back to classes after our vacation to Greece, and it was definitley hard to have to start doing work again. Also very difficult to get used to wearing a winter coat and not driving ATVs around in a bathing suit all day. Overall things are good though. Still love the host family, and I'm actually very happy to be back home in Rouen. Santorini was magical, but it's nice to feel comfortable back in my French city.

Also, I can't believe I'm coming home in just over 3 weeks. I'm extremely excited and extremely sad about it at the same time. I'm just trying to focus on France while I'm in France, and being home when I get home. I have so many things to look forward to and to appreciate about my life right now. Also, I'm going to visit Simone in Germany this weekend!! It will be my first solo journey in Europe and I'm super excited about it :)

So, I'm going to post my Greece journal entries on here as soon as I can. I think it might be dinner time now (it's starting to smell delicious in the kitchen), so I might have to go soon, but you'll be updated ASAP. In short, Greece was AMAZING. Santorini is one of my favorite places in the world, and I know I will go back there again in my life. I know it.

Talk more soon!

Love, Josie

Lazy, Cold, Beautiful Sunday.

Just chillin with Vivaldi.

First things first: anyone who has not heard "Ocean" by John Butler, go and listen to it right now.

So let's see - last night I went into Rouen, met up with Emily at a coffee shop and hung out there/did homework/talked about life for a few hours. Of course it was raining, so walking home after that wasn't exactly a blast, but it's still way better than taking the bus :) After that, I got lost around Rouen for a little while (at least I got some exercise), and ended up calling it a night fairly early. Not too much to tell there.

Today, I woke up earlier than I wanted to, and hung out around the house for most of the day. I learned how to play a song on the piano, worked on some French poems for my literature portfolio, and looked into hostels in Athens for the first night there. Oh - I'm going to Athens, by the way. I'm so excited about it :) And the weekend after my vacation, I'm going to visit Simone in Germany. What an exciting life I have here.

Exciting and wonderful as my life is, I've been thinking a lot today about going home. Maybe it's the weather - the crisp cold of November always makes me excited for Christmas time. I can't help getting excited about relaxing around the fire, listening to music, eating delicious food, and being with my family. What makes everything so much easier though is the fact that I'm with a real host family now. Their house is warm and comfortable, they listen to music all the time, currently it smells delicious because my host mom is cooking dinner, and they even have a cat (Vivaldi) who looks like Bella. I am so happy to be here.

So other than walking into Rouen for a little bit this afternoon to work on my art project at the Musee, I didn't do much today. Which I feel is okay because it's Sunday, it's cold, and it's just one of those days that you need to have every now and then.

I can't believe it's not even 6pm yet; it gets dark here so early now. The sunset today was absolutely gorgeous though. I tried to take a picture, but my camera batteries are completely dead. Of course. Just add that to the fact that my credit card company froze my account and I don't have a cell phone, and you have my luck with technology in a nutshell.

Tomorrow, I get to wake up at 6:30am to walk to school. Yay!

Now I have to find something to do until dinner is ready to keep my mind off the fact that I'm starving and the food smells delicious.

Love, Josie

Back to Real Time (Almost).

So I just had an espresso. It's raining. There's a manifestation about to start. My life today is so typical Normandie.

Unfortunately, those entries are all I wrote while I was in Senegal (besides the French journal I had to keep, but those entries sound like they were written by a 3-year-old). My American host sister there told be about an SIT program that she did when she was in college in Senegal, so I'm really excited to look into that some more when I get home. I'm sure I'll be reflecting on my Senegalese experience some more throughout the week, because I haven't really had the time recently.

So, on to my other exciting news: the big move. The day that I got home from Senegal, instead of going home and showering and napping like everyone else, I had to go back to the apartment and pack ALL of my things. I moved out of the psycho house at 5pm, excited, nervous, and exhausted. I honestly have NO idea how I'm going to get all of my stuff home without buying another suitcase. Fuck.

But anyway, Ante and Dargan came to help me move, I said goodbye to crazy lady, and we were out of there. In the taxi, I started getting nervous about meeting my new family. What would they be like? What had they heard about me? Would we get along? When we finally got to the house, my stomach was turning, and then the door opened. Immediately, I knew I was going to love this place. My new host mom is adorable and friendly and welcoming, and I immediately felt at ease. I thought it was just going to be me and her in the house, so I was surprised when I got to meet my host brother, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. He's super nice, super cool, and even speaks English. Very helpful.

So now, I've only been here for 5 days, but I like I've been here forever. In a good way. I am so happy here, and I adore my new host family. When you're studying abroad, the host family that you live with can really make or break your experience - I'm so lucky to (finally) have the best host family ever.

This week has been pretty uneventful besides that. I finally managed to unpack the other day, and I bought some boots (also finally), and I've been going to lots and lots of classes. I also walk to school every day now, which is awesome. It's about a 40 min walk uphill and I love every second of it. Also, yesterday I went to play some pickup soccer with Luc and his friends. Even though I hadn't played in forever, it was really cool to be back out on the field messing around again. I had a great time. After that, we had a family dinner, and I hung out with Luc in the kitchen for a while until his girlfriend showed up (she's awesome too). We hung out for a while, and I ended up crashing in bed at around 12:30.

Today, I have no plans. There's a manifestation going on that my family is going to, but I think I'm going to meet some people in town to do some homework (ugh). Maybe I'll see them greve-ing while I'm in town later. Tonight - no plans let. I'm thinking of a pretty chill night. Something warm and indoors :)

Have a beautiful day!

Love, Josie

27 octobre 2010.

I love this country so much. Today, we woke up early in order to be at Centre Baobab at 8:30, waited around for about an hour, and then finally got on the bus and left. I love Africa time. We went to Sangalkam, a village about an hour drive away from Centre Baobab in Dakar, where we visited two schools and the Sangalkam Health Post. The health post's biggest issue is malaria, because Senegal isn't a big area for HIV/AIDS. In fact, Moctar's best friend just died of malaria 10 days ago. It's a serious issue here, but the health post can only do so much with the funding that it is given. Especially with the increasing number of people it treats (currently 40-50 people per day) due to population growth and people moving due to flooding.

After touring the health center and talking to the doctor (yes, one) there, we walked to our first school - the kindergarten. The children were so cute (some of the older ones sang Senegal's national anthem to us, to which we responded with "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands") and it was a joy giving out our gifts (lots and lots of school supplies) to them. We listened to the director of the school tell us about it, and then we got to play with the children. Now, this was a little difficult because Senegalese children don't learn French until about age 7. All of them only spoke Wolof. There was a lot of "na nga def?" being whipped out by us Americans. This was just another experience in my life where I got to see firsthand how bonds can be created between people, even where there are language barriers in place. One little boy had a hat on that he would pull down over his eyes every time I looked at him, so we made a "peek-a-boo" game out of it. He would pull his hat down, I would peek up from underneath its brim, and he would laugh and laugh. Then I would pull my head scarf down over my eyes, and he would stare at me until I moved the scarf away, and then he would laugh and quickly hide his own eyes. He was so adorable.

After the kindergarten, we went to another school for kids a little bit older. There, there were three different classrooms and a big communal area, and the students were between 6 and 9 years old. They also loved our presents, and the teachers were extremely grateful as well (especially since they had just founded the school one year ago).

After visiting Sangalkam, we took our trusty bus over to Lac Rose, where we ate a delicious lunch at a resort-type area. It reminded me so much of the place where we are our group dinner on Caye Caulker in Belize, it was truly amazing. Yes, there were French tourists everywhere, but it was beautiful and enjoyable kommem. Also, it was very cool being the only tourists there who knew any Wolof. I thanked our waiters and waitresses in Wolof (jerejef), said hi to several people (asalamaale'kum), and responded to lots of others when they said "na ng def?" (maangi fii rekk). I love Wolof. It's such a cool language and I would absolutely love to learn it.

After lunch, we went outside, some people went swimming in the pool and I met Joe (which is not his real name). Joe lives in the village right next to Lac Rose and talked to me about Senegalese life, culture, and family. It was really interesting to talk to him about his country - I always love hearing different people's perspectives. Little did I know, he was our guide around the sand dunes by Lac Rose. The sand dune ride was sweet. We all hopped in these very open, very loud car/truck/heavy duty machinery type vehicles, and took off on a tour around the lac (which, unfortunately, was not very rose). The color of the water changes depending on the rain though, so the lake will be more pink in winter.

When we got out of our truck thingies to look at the lake, we were immediately attacked by vendors offering us "cadeaux," trying to get us to bus their things. Unfortunately for me, I only have huge bills in CFA, which means that I can't buy anything ever because no one will break a 10,000 CFA bill. That's $20USD by the way.

Oh no - I'm starting to fall asleep while writing. Again. I get to exhausted so suddenly here in Senegal.

Anyway, after that, we went for a little dune ride over to a traditional Peulh village. The chief of the village only spoke Arabic, Pulaar, and Wolof, so we had another man (his cousin?) guide us around the village. Basically, I learned that Peulh society is sexist with a capital "S," but also I've never met such kind sexist people in my life. The environment of the secluded village with curious children and kind, open adults reminded me so much of Frank's Eddy. I couldn't believe how much of my Belize experience I've relived today. It is amazing to be in this kind of environment again, but it seems completely wrong to be here for only a week. Yes, I'm studying abroad in France and yes, this is just an introduction to Senegal, but I still feel like I'm being robbed of a true, meaningful, experience when I think of how soon we are leaving this country.

Anyway - I bought a few petits cadeaux in the village, and then we got back on the dune riding machines. We drove around, and then drove right up to the ocean - it was the most beautiful scene in the world. Long story short, I of course ended up in the ocean, with ALL of my clothes on, had a long, wet bus ride back, but all was worth it.

In other news, I ate some beef at dinner. No on understands the concept of vegetarianism. And now I'm about to get ready for bed. Shower? Probably not. I will wash my face/brush my teeth though. Let's just hope I don't get sick from this dinner!

Tomorrow will be a long, beautiful day. We're going to a fishing village where we are spending the night, and taking dancing and drumming lessons. I'm so excited!

I'm really missing la famille a ton, so I'm trying not to think about it too much. That's really the only way to do it - enjoy life knowing that you are loved, but don't get caught up in the fact that you aren't always with the ones you love. C'est la vie - et sa passe vite. Enjoy all of it, every last Baobab tree, every last sip of Bissap juice, every last word in Wolof.

Love, Josie

25 octobre 2010.

J'adore ce pays! I am so exhausted from a very hot, long, sweaty day walking around Dakar, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so tired though, which makes my writing horrendous, so I'll keep this short to spare myself the embarrassment.

I slept so well last night - didn't wake up once in the middle of the night, and felt happy and well-rested when I got up this morning. I put on my new black & white striped t-shirt from H&M (where else?), a long, flowy, red skirt of Leslie's, my blue and red headband from Bruxelles, and my 10E flats that hurt my feet to put on because of how swollen my feet are from the heat/humidity.

We met our Senegalese guides - the beautiful pink! - and walked around Dakar. A lot. It was really cool to be walking around in the city, but it's impossible to escape being scrutinized by the general public as you walk by. White people do not blend in in Dakar. Especially when in packs like we were. The guides were super nice though - one of them told me I had a big butt, to which I probably looked very confused (because I don't), and she said that that's a compliment in Senegal - it means that you're very beautiful. So that was a really sweet, if at first very confusing, cultural experience.

I also met my host family today. My host mom is so kind, so generous, and so genuinely excited to have us here/get to know us. She's been taking in international students for 20 years now, and it's obvious that her love, curiosity, and kindness have not dwindled over the years.

The house is located just off the main highway, just less that a 10 minute walk (which incluses walking across the double highway) away from Centre Baobab. I'm sharing a room with Charlotte, and Ante is down the hall. I have one host brother, Moctar (the other now lives in Ohio with his family), host parents, and two random women who live here, make food, do dishes, and don't really speak. Maids? Could it be? Relatives? You never know in Senegal.

We also met a very nice guy - 3rd year university student in Sacre Coeur in Dakar, who is studying French and who promised us a Wolof lesson. Saldy, we had to eat dinner and the he didn't come back in time to hang out before bed. Tristesse. Maybe tomorrow! J'espere. It's always great to have Senegalese friends when you're a new, white, English-speaking foreigner in Dakar.

Anyway - bed time. More details/thoughts when I'm less exhausted.

A demain!

Love, Josie


Bonne nuit!

24 octobre 2010.

Bienvenue au Senegal!

I can't explain what it feels like to be in Senegal finally. It feels familiar, like I've lived here before, but also strange, like I have to adapt back with the culture I once knew. I feel like I'm reliving Belize in some ways. I can't even describe what that feels like - a powerful mixture of joy and fulfillment and longing and homesickness.

The first thing that stuck with me when I got off the plane in Dakar tonight (besides the stifling humidity) was how black everyone around me was. I've never been so racially outnumbered before, so naturally that caught my attention. I mean, everyone besides us is black - and it's a true deep, coffee bean, beautiful, rich black. It's really striking.

The city of Dakar (from what I have seen) really reminds me if Belize City. What I'm going through right now really reminds me so much of my first few days on the Belize trip. The streets are crowded with people, bikes, cars (mostly taxis), and animals, all nudging each other around, fighting for breathing space and room to move. The streets, even at nighttime, are scattered with fruit stands, around which groups of vibrantly dressed women gather to talk with each other. The men wear plain colors, light and pale against their rich colored skin which always seems to glisten every time it catches the light.

Riding on the bus on our way to the night's lodging was the most surreal experience - firstly because it was my first time seeing Senegal, but also because I felt like I was returning home to Belize. The streets, the cars, the people, the change in culture and climate - it was all beyond reminiscent of my Belize experience. It's really amazing.

So I'm in a new country on a different continent that I've never visited before, and I feel like I 'm being reunited with my Belizean roots, family, community, and experience. I'm sure that Senegal will prove to be very different from Belize, but feeling this way again - sweaty, uncomfortable, exhausted, tingling with excitement and bug spray - is indescribably amazing.

I feel so comfortable being uncomfortable here already, and I can't wait to experience whatever Senegal has in store for me. I love this country already.

Highlights of the day (because I'm starting to fall asleep):
-Gave my EarthTreks bracelet to a young boy who spent a good 5 minutes trying to signal to me that he really wanted it. The smile was beyond worth it.
-Standing on the balcony of this house, breeze blowing calmly, Arabic music playing sofyly, people lounging leisurely on the rooftops, on the streets, in their houses - so much beauty to be seen in this country.

I would write pages and pages more, but everyone is waiting for me to be able to turn off the lights and go to sleep. More tomorrow - I promise.

I miss Alec and my family SO much. I am so excited to have these experiences to share with them.

A demain!

Love, Josie

Where to begin???

Most recent post: October 22. Seriously? I've been so neglectful. But t'inquiète - I'm back. With a vengeance. So much to write about, so many beautiful things happening, and so much time flying by. This is how my study abroad experience is supposed to be.

So, 2 huge pieces of news:
1- I went to Senegal.
2 - I moved out of the psycho house, and in with a new host family (who is wonderful).

I did my best to write in my journal while I was in Senegal, but I failed pretty miserably. I think I wrote 2 or 3 times in total while I was there. It's really a shame because I had so much to say and so many thoughts to develop, but our program did an excellent job of exhausting us every day, to the point where I would fall asleep with my head in my journal at night because I literally couldn't keep my eyes open. At like 9pm. Embarrassing? A little. But I am so grateful that we got to experience so much of Senegal in such a tiny amount of time.

So anyway, I'm going to type my (few) Senegalese journal entries in here so you can at least get an idea of my Senegal experience, and then I'll write some more about my current life (which is fabulous).

Just wanted to say welcome back into my crazy life, and I promise not to let my laziness come between us again. From now on, I'm back in the blogging world. Prepare yourselves.

Love, Josie