Loving it up

To tell the truth, I didn't think I would make the eight hour flight to Senegal. My discomfort in such close quarters showed exceedingly where propriety is still asked of each person. But low and behold here I am! Stamped and ready, Senegal here I come!

Before I arrived, however, I spent a few days in New York City with an alumna of Rhodes. My hosts were both entertaining and gracious. After spending an hour and a half looking for my shuttle bus, I was on my way from JFK to Manhattan. That night we ate at Libretto's, a nice eat for a great price. Personally, the cheese ravioli with fresh tomato sauce and basil made my night. Check out the place:

http://librettospizzeria.com/

When we got to the apartment, I experienced my first doorman. Usually, when I see a building that has a doorman, I do not go inside. They seem to say "I am here to make sure that you do not get in without a proper look over." However, when I became a guest of the building, the doorman became a symbol of security, friendship, and loyalty. These are the people who have the potential to become your most trusted helper or that person that forgot to tell the building plumber that your sink was clogged and overflowing… Get my drift?

Without attempting to highlight the lack of women in the profession of "doorman" as a ideological statement, I still must mention how I find it ironic that in the North doormen are only men. This would make sense in the South, where "every gentleman holds the door for a lady." However, in the North, where such a statement does not hold, then it would seem that this profession would be sporting a high number of women employees.

A Day Full of Bests

• Sausage, egg, and cheese on a roll: best New York breakfast (And it's delivered!)

• Getting $10 tickets for an evening at Carnegie: best deal for incredible opera voices

• High Line: best New York moment

Check it out -> http://www.thehighline.org/

• Chelsea Market: best underground getaway in the city

• Magnolia Cafe: best place for some great cupcakes and blueberry crisps. Seriously! My vanilla cupcake with buttercream icing was the perfect mixture of cake batter (reminding me of the taste of biscuits) and sweet, buttery cream on top.

• Times Square: best finish to the day with scrumptious and well-priced chinese and a tour through the 3 story M&M store. Only downside was when Mickey and Minnie denied my request for a photo without a $1 tip...

It's not until you walk New York by yourself that you realize how simply awkward you can feel in a place that is not your space. One morning, I decided to do some light shopping in about 2 hours, except that it took me three because of my many wrong directions and turnabouts in the street. Nonetheless, it didn't last long once I got the hang of it. Later that day we hit up Tiffany's and The Plaza, two places I've only ever heard of but never experienced. Tiffany's was chic, set up for the prime shopper. Promenading through The Plaza, I felt like a little girl at a grown-up tea party.

Large, ornately decorated Orthodox churches are not common in the states, so I made a little detour up to 97th to see St. Nicholas

Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Church. The beauty of this church i indescribable. The two primary walls reach to about 20 feet, covered in a wispy blue, while the back walls hosts les chanteurs. The North wall has a story of its own: created through the forward extension of the walls themselves. These walls covered with the Saints of the Holy God, and tangible icons, gilded in the kisses of the pious, strategically placed throughout.

Check it.

http://www.ruschurchusa.org/en/10/222/110

Looking to Senegal

"Gonna take some time to do the things we never have" -Toto

We made our way into a world of far off, low-lying buildings and dust clouds, seemingly nothing in the distance. Riding along the roads the world became a blur of building skeletons, Arabic and French Billboards, sand, people, trash, taxis, and horse-drawn buggies; a true mixture of poverty and modernity.

Realizing that I would definitely be doing some things this semester that I never have done before, I was happy. Happy because what is your life worth if you cannot redeem it through the exploration of others?

Sometimes it is difficult to escape the mold into which you were born. I understand this. But, also if you can escape it, it will be the most rewarding experience that you will EVER have. People find meaning in their lives through their linkage to other human beings of similar beliefs and practices. But, my question is, how do people really know who they are if they never try to look from the inside out? Who do we become when trapped by our own selves?

CIEE is an awesome study abroad company. I continually have to keep reminding myself that their are other programs that are run by CIEE. the staff here really feel like family and as if they are running an actual solitary school located only in Senegal. Fatima is a local liaison for students. If we need anything, she helps us learn how to take care of it. When walking with Fatima to exchange money, we asked her about why so many buildings in the area were only built halfway and then left to the environment. This was something that I noticed immediately: the seemingly vacant buildings all over the city. Not only are they vacant, but most of them are unfinished, simple skeletons of what they could become. Fatima told us that when a new president comes to power, they feel the need to spend any dormant money holds so that the people to do not accuse them of "stealing" money. In the last few years this has resulted in the building of many new apartments and such. However, most run out of money before being able to accomplish them. When a new resident comes to power, they do the same thing, except on their own. So, this results in the many different incomplete buildings across the city.

Jet lag is rough. So, I must bid you adieu. As I lay my head down, I drift in and out of sleep to the sound of people in the streets and goats in the side yard. Laying awake at one point, I thought that even today, one does not need a camera to capture Dakar, but a recorder. Sounds are prevalent, varied, and bright while the scenes may not please the eye.

Postscript: Apologies for the lack of photos. Internet in Dakar is so-so, so it might be a while.