THANKSGIVING IN SENEGAL

I had my first Thanksgiving in Senegal and most probably my last and I can tell you all, it was very nice.   One always meets very interesting people in foreign lands and this Thanksgiving was no different. 

We were 13 people + a 7 month old cute baby girl – 8 Americans, 2 Spanish, 1 French, 3 Senegalese, 1 who I believe is Ethiopian and the baby girl who is half American half Ethiopian.   Four languages were spoken throughout the evening – English, French, Spanish and Wolof.   Among the Americans, there was a lovely family of four from Poughkeepsie, NY – Ron and Sharon and their two daughters whose names I am sorry to say I can’t remember.   One of them has been teaching English in Spain for three years.  They are friends of Jenny’s who happens to be Kathy’s – the Kiva staff member I work with -  roommate.  Their first time here, they were at the end of their trip and gave me some good tips about the "musts" of Senegal.  I now have a trip to the desert on my bucket list before I leave here.  They couldn’t say enough good things about – sounds just wonderful. 

From Spain came a mother and daughter who were so much fun.  The daughter Susanna works for some cultural outfit here.  Elena,  her mother was visiting.   The turkey which had come all the way from the States on a government plane, was delicious – courtesy of Tom, the father of the little girl, who works for the Embassy.  Mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin and apple pie were all part of the feast.   Good food, good conversation and an easy/relaxing time was had by all.

That's Jenny with the turkey that arrived in a taxi, cooked elsewhere because of oven problems 

Everything is just about ready

Ron from Poughkeepsie doing the honors

Just a couple of side notes:  Elena kept expecting us to sing songs.  She could not understand how we could have a holiday where there was no signing.  We explained to her that outside of Christmas, we don’t really have any holidays with songs.  She couldn’t quite get it.  She was also fascinated with the thermometer that was in the turkey when it was brought to the table.  She thought it a bit on the strange side.  When it was explained to her that it was the only way to make sure the turkey was cooked, her reply was  “well we just stick a knife in and see how it comes out.”

So overall, I had a really nice Thanksgiving – although I did wake up homesick that morning for the first time since I’ve been here. 

Other than that, work has been going well.  Finally beginning to feel productive.  I spent two days at the beginning of the week in Thies, a city about 50 miles from Dakar, visiting the headquarters of one of our MFI partners.  Stayed at a very luxurious hotel – Hotel Rex…..  Should anyone of you ever find yourself in a town called Thies in Senegal some day, you now know where to NOT stay.

Here are a couple of pictures of my room.  

Note the sleeping bag on the bed – and thank  God for it.  Otherwise, I wasn’t getting anywhere near that bed.   My initial plan upon seeing the room, was to spend the night in the chair but after a couple of hours of trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep in it, my body and mind finally broke down.  I got my sleeping bag out and went to sleep on the bed.  The bathroom was somewhat more challenging considering there was no toilet paper and most important of all – NO LIGHTS.  Anyway, the place had wi fi so I could at least go on line when there was power. 

Not complaining.  Nothing so far has really been a problem for me.  In fact, I am getting quite used to the place and getting more and more comfortable in my skin when I am out and about.  One thing I could definitely do without though is those damn air force jets that fly over the house at least 4-5 times a day starting at about 6:30 in the morning.  It’s been going on for a good two weeks now.  WHEN WILL THEY EVER STOP????  One story going around is that it is the Mauritanian air force practicing for their big independence day celebration on November 28^th.  They apparently don’t have runways that can accommodate their jets, so they’re using the ones here.  I don’t quite believe it.   It doesn’t make sense to me that a country would buy jets they don’t have runways for themselves… but whatever…..