Videographe

Happy New Year!!!

I have just finished the first month of my third year in Senegal. After a wonderful thirty-seven days in the United States - visiting home in Minnesota, Dad in Modesto and San Francisco, and friends in Boston and New York City - I was back in Senegal by the beginning of December.

I've had a busy month already:
I participated in a Permagardening workshop led by a specialist in town from Tanzania.
I attended a Food Security Conference hosted in Dakar, including representatives from every Peace Corps country in Africa.
I accompanied an environmental specialist from Peace Corps Madagascar to view some agroforestry sites near the city of Kaolack.

As I plan to do for the next year, I had my camera rolling throughout everything. I've begun editing the material and getting it ready to go online. Most of the videos I create will be posted to our website, http://pcsenegal.org via our YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/pcsenegaladmin. If you're interested in what I'm creating, check out either of those sites.




Now I'm adjusting to living in Dakar, which is a significant change from the village, and learning how to live alone. I make my bed every morning and do my dishes after every meal. Any bets on how long that'll last? Mom?

My blog has become more difficult to write. I've tried for two years, even if sporadically, to provide you all with insight into Senegalese culture and the ways in which I find it interesting and different from what's familiar to me. However, the more accustomed I become to my surroundings here, the more difficult it is to notice those differences. It's hard to identify topics that are blog-worthy any more.

So on this issue I am calling for help. Send me your questions. What do you want to know about Senegal? What do you want to know about my life here? What scares you about Africa the most? What's the biggest mystery about the third world to you?

Coming soon in my next blog... More detailed descriptions of the work I hope to do during the next year, and a virtual tour of my sweet new apartment.