Pictures...

Okay kiddos, here you go. I've finally downloaded and organized all my pictures. There are kind of a lot of them (there were more, but I spared you a lot of them if you can believe that). TO make it a little easier, I've divided up my pictures into four albums. The first is photos of life in Dakar, including my host family, work, sightseeing around the town etc. The second album contains photos from the conference I attended and worked at in Mali in June. The third album is of my trip to Banjul, the Gambia for the Au Summit. The final album is the workshop I attended in Mbodiene Senegal at the end of my time in Senegal. Just click on the links below to be taken to each album. Enjoy!!

Photos from Dakar, Senegal

Photos from Bamako, Mali

Photos from Banjul, Gambia

Photos from Mbodiene, Senegal

FYI, you don't have to sign in to view the photos, just click on view photos. But if you want the albums to be saved in your account so you can look at them another time, you need to have a password and username for kodakgallery.

Elections in DRC

I just thought I should write briefly about the elections that took place yesterday in the DRC, becuase they haven't received a whole lot of press coverage here, so so it seems. FAS partnered with UNIFEM to send independent consultants into the country during the campaigning process to raise awareness among people in the DRC about the women candidates for president (there are 4 out of a total of 34 candidates...not nearly enough, but its a start). They also had people working to make sure that women were registered and allowed to vote. It looks like the election results won't be out for a few weeks and it seems unlikely that any of the women candidates will win, but it's a really important process and will hopefully be a turning point for the country.

Le Retour

Well, I made it back to the US safe and sound. My emotions about leaving Senegal are very mixed. On the whole it was an amazing and unforgettable experience. I arrived at FAS at a really important time and was immediately taken in and given responsibilities and projects to work on. But of course the amount of work I did meant that a lot of other things got left behind. It actually wasn't until a new intern started at FAS about 3 weeks ago that I began to realize how little I'd experience of Senegal outside of the office and my host family. She is a good deal younger than me and this is her first time living in another country, so she's been going out to clubs and going to the beach most days and not really doing much work at all. She also found herself a Senegalese man already and spends most of her time with him. But although seeing her has made me realize how much I didn't do, it hasn't made me reget the way things have gone for me at all. To the contrary, the best of part of my time in Senegal has been centered around the relationships I built with people in my host family and people at work. And she actually left her host family because she didn't get along with them and people at work havn't been too thrilled with her either because she's never there. So, I think that given the reasons I was in Dakar, I did things right for me. And I made some great friends who I think I will stay in touch with and hopefully be able to visit in the future.

In terms of adjustment to being back, things haven't been too difficult. I don't really feel like I'm experiencing reverse-culture shock. Maybe that's because I was ready to be back or because I wasn't really gone that long. I'm not sure. But there are certainly things that I notice and appreciate about being back in DC. Last night walking down Connecticut avenue I remarked at how orderly and quiet and calm it was, observations that I don't think I would make about a major DC street under normal circumstances. I also really appreciated my nice ong hot shower that I tiok when I got back, as well as the fact that I can put ice in my drinks and drink the tap water again. And there are a million other little things that are different, some in a good way and others that I will miss a lot.

I'm in the process of uploqding pictures and will post the link as soon as I finish. I have over 400, so I'm trying to pare them down to a bare minimum to avoid overwhelming you all.

alive and well in Dakar

Hi again. Sorry I haven't updated at all this week. Don't worry, it's not because my illness from last week suddenly got worse or anything...in fact, it's mostly a good sign. There are two main reasons I haven't written in awhile...the first is that since I only have a little time left in Dakar, I've been trying to get out and about and take in the city and its surroundings a bit and spend less time at the office. The second reason is that the two times I've been at the office this week we haven't had any electricity (or internet). In fact, there have been sporadic power outages all week, which has made it pretty hard to get much of anything done. But it has made me feel less guilty about ditching work to play a little.

This past weekend, I didn't really get out and about much because I was resting and recovering from being sick and working hard at the conference in Mbodiène. But on Monday, I went around town and had a great day. Papis and I went up to the top of the lighthouse where we could see the whole peninsula of Dakar, which was beautiful. I also went downtown and did a bit more shopping at the market. I've gotten pretty ruthless in my bartering skills, although I have to admit that I'm not going to miss haggling over prices when I get back home.

Tuesday I tried to go to work but didn't have power after about 10 am, so I went back into town and did more shopping, this time with my co-worker. Another thing I'm not going to miss too much is feeling like I have to have a chapersone everytime I go into town. I mean, I'm learning ly way around and I could easily go into town and be fine on my own, but if I don't have a Senegalese person with me, people constantly come up to me and try to sell me things (or ask me to marry them and take them home with me...)

Wednesday I got out of Dakar and went to Lac Rose, which is a salt lake whose water is pink because of the minerals and salt (i think...they explained it to us but I didn't quite understand the chemistry of it). In any case, it was really interesting and I had a great day there. You'll have to see the pictures to really get a sense for it. But it was one of the few days I've had here where I really felt like I was on vacation...except for the busride home, which was awful - we were stuck in traffic for several hours, crammed into a bus that was hot and crowded. But it was a small price to pay for the day off.

Today I'm trying to work again, but we still have no electricity. So I'm across the street at an internet cafe that has a generator. It's hard to believe that I only have one more day here. I'm trying to take it all in and take advantage of it. There are so many things I'm going to miss and a lot of things that I'm going to be happy to leave behind, so I guess overall my feelings about leaving are really mixed. I'm ready to come home, but I hope to come back before too long too.

I'll try to write once more before I leave, but if I'm not able to, Ill provide a full update of my last few hours here when I'm back in DC this weekend.

Update: Ca Va Mieux, Merci

Yes, I'm feeling better. Not 100%, but I think it's safe to rule out Malaria. But apparently all of the other participants were told I was sick and were concerned (ahh, the poor white girl can't handle africa :) so I've been saying "ca va mieux" all day long. In my defense, a couple of the other african participants also got sick, so I don't think it's just my fault.

The conference ended today and were heading back to Dakar tomorrow. I'll write more about the conference when I'm not paying a ridiculous amount for the internet. But I wanted to update you all since I was still a bit feverish during my last posting and didn't want to alarm anyone.

Also, today the countdown begins...only one week left before I come home. Refelctions are in order and are forthcoming...

beautiful scenery and a nasty parasite...

I'm currently in Mbodiène Senegal for a workshop on Gender and Peacebuilding in Africa. The workshop is being held at a beachside resort about a 2 hour drive from Dakar, though I couldnt tell you which direction (but I think we drove south...). I arrived sunday after a ridiculous situation in which the bus company decided to send two small busses to pick all the participants in Dakar up rather than the big one we'd ordered, so there wasn't enough room fo everyone. I ended up squeezing into a little mini-bus we rented along with eight other people and our photocopier.... ahh africa. But I sat next to this really amazing women who participated in the peace talks in the Sudan and we kind of bonded, so it was all worth it. We also drive past a bunch of Baobab forests on our way here, which kind of reminded me of joshua tree, only Baobabs are bigger I think (though I can't remembe joshua tree that well because I lost my camera after that trip, along ith all my photos of it).

Anyways, the landscape was a bit dry and desolate except for the Baobab trees. But the beach here is gorgeous (or so it looks, I have yet to actually walk out to it...and I've been here three days...terrible, no?)

So, the conference itself has been really interesting and the participants are from all around africa and work in all kinds of awesome NGOs and organizatins doing peacebuilding in Africa. I've been designated the rapporteur for the conference again, so I've been in the room each day taking meticulous notes and have learned a lot. Unfortunately, I also seem to have acquired some kind of terrible parisite that has made the last 6 hours of today (and a few hours monday night as well) pretty hellish. Monday afternoon I was taking notes in the room when I was overcome with stomach cramps. I spent that evening holde up in my room going to the bathroom every couple of minutes until Rosalie came to take me to the doctor (my first experience with an african doctor!), who gave me three different types of medicine and sent me home. Tuesday I felt 100 % better and thought things were fine, but then today (wednesday)

I woke up and my whole body was sore, even my skin hurt (it felt like I has a really bad sun burn - which is kind of ironic given that I'm staying on the beach and haven't spent any time in the sun). I went to the conference in the morning but the aching continued and I had chills, so I went back to my room and tried to sleep again. When I woke up this afternoon, my body was burning up, so I called the doctor and he came to the hotel and took my temperature. It was 102° (39.1° Celcius...I had to text a friend in Dakar to ask her what that was in Farenheit). Long story short, the doctor gave me three more medications (the count is now up to 6) and told me I would be fine. One of the medicatinos is an anti-malarial drug, just in case...but he doesn't think that's what I have. My fever seems to be breaking and I feel a little better. But I'm not going to work at all tomorrow, I'm just going to relax and even go to the beach if I'm up to it. Unfortunately, the workshop particpants are going to their field visit to a training camp for peacekeepers tomorrow, which I'd really like to attend.

Okay, that's my update. Sorry it's not more interesting. I'll try to write more about the people here and the workshop next time, that is if I even go to any more of it. In the meanntime, calls and e-mails are appreciated...it sucks to be sick in a foreign country.

le bureau

I've refrained from writing much about my life at the office lately, not so much because I've been spending any less time here, but because my expereinces and observations are mostly about how poorly run this organization is, which I'm not sure are necessarily things I should write in detail about on a public blog. But, suffice it to say that I'm learning about a lot more than just gender, peace and security here at this internship. Luckily, despite some serious managerial and administrative shortcomings, there are also a few really great people working here and I've really been enjoying talking with and working with them. Unfortunately, if the other problems aren't dealt with I think FAS risks losing them.

Rosalie is the program director, and is such an awesome woman. She has a lot of experience in the international development world and has a great understanding of how things should be run. Unfortunately, she hasn't been given the leeway to implement a lot of the things she knows need to be done to move the organization forward. But she and I have become good friends and last night I went to her 7 yr old son's birthday party with her and met her family.

But, back to the work update...we're currently preparing for a seminar on GEnder and Peacebuilding that is being jointly run by FAS and the University for Peace. It's taking place next week in Mbodiène, which is a littel resort town about an hour and a half outside of Dakar. I'm going to be going to it and I'm hoping to attend the workshops rather than spend all of my time dealing with logistics, but we'll see how that pans out. On Thursday we're going on a site visit to a tactical trainig center where they train UN and AU peacekeepers and other military folks. I'm pretty excited about that and I'll be sure to take pitcures and update you all when I return. I leave for Mbodieène on Sunday and am hoping to have a bit of time before I go to get out and about a bit in Dakar, but something tells me I may just be seeing more of the office, as there is much still to be done to prepare for the workshop. I keep telling people that if I come home as white as I left, no one is going to believe I spent the summer in Africa...but as it is, I haven't gotten a whole lot of sun in the past few weeks.