Saturdays at the Office

Saturdays in the Dakarois work schedule is something I have never understood....some places are open, some aren't....some people work, some don't. Basically it isn't like a typical Monday to Friday were a lot of people work nor is it like a Sunday where nobody works. Regardless, for me, working on a Saturday noticeably feels different.

It is not every Saturday that I go to the Hospital, but I try to go in at least once or twice a month to check in on things, and each time, I thoroughly enjoy it. On Saturdays, the Hospital is very quiet and relaxing, which is the reason I enjoy going. I can go in for an hour and call it a day, just to check in on things. I don't feel obligated to change into my work clothes, but feel comfortable wearing shorts and tennis shoes.

With work on the Psych project reaching momentum and Mboup, the gardener for the project being out of town, I decided to go in yesterday to water the Psych garden and hangout with Lope, one of the gardeners from the Infectious Diseases Ward.

After spending a bit of time at the Infectious Diseases Ward and having breakfast with Lope, I headed to Psychiatry. When I got there, I noticed a few patients beside the garden in some shade socializing. One of them I had met a few times over the course of last week.

I started watering and noticed a couple of them were speaking English. I wasn't entirely surprised, partially because The Gambia's proximity to Senegal and numerous conversations I had had in the past with some patients in English. What surprised me was that they were speaking English with each other.

A few minutes later, the only girl in the group, and the best of the English speakers walked to the entrance of the garden and asked if she could come in. I invited her in and gave her a tour of the garden and had a nice 10 minute conversation with her. One of the other guys, the one I had met before came in as well. As the conversation wound to a close, one of them asked if I wanted a cup of aataya (tea) in a few minutes.

As I got back to watering, I thought in my more about the meaning of the project to me, the meaning of conversations with the patients to me and possibly to them, as well as the potential support group that these individuals have with each other on this Saturday afternoon in the shade drinking tea, speaking English, and an American to the side. As a result, I gave them a handful of mint for their tea and continued to talk to them for a bit across the fence before finishing up my watering.

When I finished, I closed up the garden and ended up chatting with the group for a few minutes and had some tea and for some reason it was one of the more memorable things that I've experienced here.

Out of the group there, everyone, including myself, had a story, but it didn't matter on this Saturday to this group. The warmth I felt was strong.

It is weird how words sometimes can't sum up your thoughts, and this moment is one of those cases. Basically, the time I was at the Psych project strengthened my emotions for wanting to stay in Senegal another year as well as realizing more of what my potential is and should be, and not settling for less.

Hope you have all had a great weekend.