Thursday, January 7, 2010

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.
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4 comments:

Kgo27 said...

A few quick ones:

1) What is your daily food intake look like? I love understanding the food habits of a culture...

2) Do you like your apartment in the city?

3) are you taking public transportation a lot? What does their system look like?

4) What do you do for social events?


Thats a good start right!

Miss you and love ya! P.S. I understand how heard it is to describe your experiences...be present and don't worry about all of us!!!

January 7, 2010 at 10:37 AM
lydia said...

What are stores like? How about touristy shops, what kind of stuff are sold, what are popular souvenirs?

What are the biggest culture shocks for you when you go back and forth between countries?

January 10, 2010 at 5:02 PM
JAC said...

yeah, i have some questions. do you live in a grass hut? is your mail delivered on zebra-back? do you run around naked? do you hunt wildebeests for your dinner with a spear?

January 11, 2010 at 3:27 AM
Michelle said...

Hey Andy,

I think everyone would agree with me that your writing style and ability is very engaging and such a joy to read that any topic in the whole world would be fun to read if you wrote it, but ideas for you: (Some of these I know we talked about on our visit but I think people would be interested):

History of Senegal

Slave island - I can't remember the name of it right now.

As Kristine said, transportation - lots of good stuff there.

Shopping/negotiating prices - you are very talented at it!

Peace corps houses - tell us about the structure of PC-Senegal with all the different regions.

Now that you are living in the city - tell us more about it - sights, smells, how tall are buildings, nice areas, vegetation, coastline/beaches, busy areas, markets, nightlife, ability to find foods that you want, theaters concerts

Can't wait for the virtual tour of your apartment - let us know if there is anything that you need!!

Love and hugs, Big Mic

January 15, 2010 at 7:58 AM

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