As I have spent the past week and a half in Charlotte relaxing, working on finding a job and thinking back over the past three and a half years, I just wanted to thank everyone who was there along the way as well as those who followed my adventure and this site. Your words of encouragement, thoughts and prayers during the application process, two years plus one and in the search of the next chapter have all been greatly appreciated.
Thank You!!!
Back on US soil a few days 'early'. Came back and managed to surprise my mom for her birthday yesterday. Managed to get her pretty well.
After 1155 days in Senegal, how do you spend the next few days to sum them up.....it is not easy for sure.
Somebody asked/told me tonight that "you must be stoked" to leave Senegal and you know what, I am not.
Dakar has been a solid home for the past three years. I can easily find flaws with the place as well as well some great moments, but it has been my home. Saying goodbye to friends and family is never easy, especially when you know you want to come back to visit but do not know when.
Peace Corps and Senegal have been my life for the past few years and I cherish them both for it and hopefully I will be a better person as a result of them.
Friday was Maouli's fourth birthday, so I went up to the Sane's to help celebrate. Below are some pictures.
I promise I will write about my taxi ride home later....
Today, I was at the Hospital, checking in with the garden at the Psychiatry Department when Jared and myself heard some amazing music. We couldn't tell if it was coming from speakers across the wall or what. Finally, we realized a gentleman was playing a guitar beside the garden in a space hidden by a mango tree.
Because this is the type of thing we have wanted to happen in the garden, we invited him in to play. Mboup, the gardener walked in a few minutes later and it proved to be a great Friday. What more can you ask for, great music, friends, mangoes, sapooti, carosil all in a space you built from ground up.
Below is a short snippet of him playing. Sorry it is so short, was hoping to get a full song on video, but the head doctor ended up coming in for a meeting.
Probably one of the biggest honors bestowed upon me was the naming of Baby Sane today. He was named Mouhamadou Hakim Land Sane.
Needless to say, in the shock of the Senegalese attending the ceremony, I showed up late and missed the actual naming. It was 9:30 when I arrived, after being told that around 9:00 would be a good time to get there. If somebody tells you that, it means, you are probably going to be waiting till 10:30 for it to start. As a result, I told everyone I was early and they got a good laugh.
I ended up spending much of the day at the Sane's, eating the traditional lakkh, which I managed/struggled/fought back tears to eat just half of my plentiful bowl. For lunch, we chowed down on thiebouyapp (pictured), also known as my favorite dish....I couldn't get enough. After lunch, we managed to get three rounds of tea down before I realized that I needed to head home.
Three years living here and becoming part of the Sane family myself...working with Aliou at the hospital, teaching him and Fatou English for some time, being somewhat of a big brother/uncle their kids, them being the best friends somebody could ask for and enjoying dinner, a Coke, and a Fanta at their house weekly for much of my time here, it is going to be difficult to say 'hope to see you sooner than later'. To me, this relationship is partially what Peace Corps is about.
Baby Sane was born today around 3 p.m. (Dakar time) at Hopital Principale. He weighed 3 kg, 650 g. Fatou and the baby are doing great. More pictures will come I'm sure.
