In the grand scheme of things, I barely have any time at all in Senegal, but I hope I'll be able to see at least some of the beauty so eloquently described by this author.
For years, I have imagined Africa. When I was very young, it was the continent I always wanted to visit, and my admiration for the continent, and the desire to understand the lives of those who live there, only grew as I aged and learned about the unique cultures, countries, and languages of Africa. However, going to Africa was something I never knew I could actually do: for years, I dreamed about the vast savannas and colorful coastal plains, the mountains, the valleys, the churches and mosques and cities where traditional and modern lived on the same block, never knowing whether I would experience it for myself. I dreamed about the downtown markets, bustling with activity, not knowing if I would ever visit one. I dreamed about the west coast of Africa, so much unspoiled, without knowing if I would ever see for myself the African sunset over the eastern Atlantic.
But now, I leave in 29 hours; one day. Destination: Dakar, Senegal. Africa.
I have the right to be hyper - I woke up at 4:28 this morning after approximately four hours and 28 minutes of sleep.
DC rocked, as always. I'm going to miss my regular trips to DC while I'm in Argentina - as soon as I get back, I'll want to take a trip to DC. The city is amazing, purely amazing. It's full of cafes, well-dressed professionals, beautiful architecture, rich history, international influence, and government buildings that shine orange and yellow in the morning sun. Every time I walk around DC, I marvel about how well-put-together the city is: monuments to influential figures, fountains, squares and circles, and parks are artfully placed between beautiful unique buildings. Every building in the city is uniquely decorated and/or created with elements of abstract form: because the buildings have a height limit (so they don't overshadow the Capitol and White House), they demand attention through unique form instead of imposing heights. I've been to a variety of cities in the mid-Atlantic: Baltimore, NYC, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Harrisburg, and Annapolis, and DC's atmosphere is much, much different from any of these other mid-Atlantic cities. It's truly one-of-a-kind. If you've never been to DC, go.
Here's the report of my day, and, well, my conclusions from the day! If you ever go to DC, eat lots of pastries. I ate an unhealthy amount today. Yum. No regrets there! Considering there are, oh, only six or seven little cafes and bakeries every block, that shouldn't be a problem. And eat pastries at the bakeries with the comfortable lounge chairs. No explanation necessary. Don't worry, you'll find them.
I made a rather ridiculous mistake. Lesson: if you have an appointment to submit something, make sure you have the document you need to submit (and did not leave it in your scanner the day before). Long story: so, I came to DC with my dad (he had a meeting, and my sister and I tagged along) because I had an appointment about the Department of State to submit my FBI background check. In the morning (before 5AM, remember, and I got less than five hours of sleep), I grabbed my folder with my visa documents, including (I thought) my FBI background check and the ID and check I needed for the appointment. After lunch, my dad brought the folder down from his office, where I'd kept it in the morning, and I checked to make sure the background check was there before I headed to my appointment. It wasn't. After a few minutes, I realized where it was - still in the scanner, where I'd accidentally left it after scanning it to send to the translation service. I called the DOS and rescheduled my appointment to Tuesday. Second lesson: if you want a second day in DC, leave what you need for your appointment at your house. Hey, that's what I call a bright side.
DC nap tip: the grass on the mall is extremely comfortable to lie on. It's, uh, rather bumpy, to say the least, and there are random patches of dirt, but when you get past that, it's incredibly soft grass.
I call DC "the city of cranes" because there is always construction. For example, today, besides the array of cranes one can always see in the skyline, I passed three construction sites with roaring jackhammers, not to mention the fact that part of the mall is closed off because a new museum is being built, and that the Washington Monument was surrounded by scaffolding. So if you go to DC and everything is covered in scaffolding, don't be annoyed. It's part of the experience.
Now, finally, here's the song this blog post was named after! And, yes, this does fit in with the theme of the post, because this song reminds me of DC; I'm always tempted to hum it when I'm wandering the city.
If you can't tell from the title, this isn't going to be a very focused post!
I should be going to bed right now - I need to wake up at 4:30 tomorrow to get to DC early. You won't hear me complaining about getting up early to go to DC! I love that city - I usually spend the day walking around, though tomorrow my itinerary will be interrupted by the fact that I have an appointment to get an apostille of my background check from the Department of State for my Argentine visa. Ah, well, I still have plenty of cupcake-getting, traffic-dodging, and metro-riding time even with my appointment!
I love DC - I love it because I've had unique adventures there (to say the least: ending up in Uruguay, silly and interesting tourists, crazy drivers, bad and wonderful Chinese food, creepy strangers, and the like). It's interesting to see, thinking of places that I have made connections with, places I have a unique relationship with, that the most important factor in determining whether a place is a place I "love" is whether I've had unique, everyday experiences in that city. Besides the places I've lived, DC and Ocean City, Maryland, are the places I have the strongest connections to - both cities in which I've had many "everyday" experiences in, such as walking around and getting hot chocolate. It's too late to truly think properly, but I think what I'm trying to say is that the best way to get to know and love a place and to truly "take a piece" of that place with you when you leave is to have everyday experiences in that place, not to visit the coolest attractions or run around trying to see the entire city.
Anyway...a change of topic, brought to you by random Patagonia pictures I found on the internet!
GENERAL ROCA! Mi ciudad nuevo! Says the internet - for all I know, this picture could be of some city in Nevada, as there aren't really any specific identifying characteristics. Isn't the sky beautiful though? I posted on the 2013/2014 Argentina exchange students group on Facebook at one point, saying I was going to General Roca, and someone who lives in General Roca commented saying " Welcome to the best city in the world". Seeing pictures of General Roca makes me so excited to see the city for myself!
I realize that this paragraph had no transitions between thoughts and probably didn't make sense to anyone's brain except my own excited brain. Oh well.
A penguin - which can only be found in the southern Andes, the very south of Patagonia, and the southeast Atlantic coastal regions of Patagonia. Therefore, there are no penguins in General Roca.
Lastly, because I need to get off here, finish an email, and go to bed to get up at 4:30 AM, I'll leave you with one of the theme songs of my outbound life: Don Omar's "Danza Kuduro"!
Before I begin the bulk of this blog post, I'd like to share an image:
To the trained and/or, more likely, squinting eye, this image may represent the unpredictability of the modern world, or commercialism in society. To me, this best represents the Argentine visa process. It's interesting. Yeah, interesting is a good word for it.
It can also be called "an educational experience" or, just as accurately, "sticker collecting". Ah, but to an extent, it's good fun! It's an excuse to drive all over the tri-state area and go to DC a couple of extra times.
Now to the bulk of this post:
Telling others that you are an outbound foreign exchange student, especially those whose only experience with foreign exchange students has been through "That 70s Show", can be interesting. In rural south-central Pennsylvania, where foreign exchange students are a rare species and even international travel is uncommon, I've been looked at like I have sprouted three heads for planning to go abroad as an exchange student. Here's a list of some of the questions and comments I've gotten, both normal and abnormal:
1. "Why would you want to do that?" Well, there are these things called other countries, and other cultures, and other languages, and they're pretty darn interesting! Not to mention the benefits of being fluent in two languages and cultures, gaining insight on your own culture and other cultures, reducing stereotypes about your home country and your host country, being able to look at life with the values, attitudes, and views of two cultures, growing as a person, and making lifelong relationships.
2. "Will you be going to school?" Well, actually, I was planning on staring at clouds all year while my peers attended school.
3. "Do you speak Spanish?" No, solo un poco espanol mal. Actually, my usual response is, "Nope! But I've studied German and Chinese!"
4. "When do you arrive in Italy/Spain/Germany/Europe?" Me: *blank, confused look* "Do you mean Argentina?"
5. "You're going to be in Buenos Aires (or a city that isn't in Argentina: I've gotten Rio de Janeiro and Santiago), right?" Me: Uh, no, though I'll fly into Buenos Aires! I'm going to General Roca. Them: *confused look* Me: *talks excitedly about the size and location of mi ciudad nuevo*
6. "11 months, that's a long time!" Me: Depends how you look at it.
7. "You must be excited." Me: YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!
Yesterday, I made another visit to the town bank. Thankfully, this time, it was not to get something notarized and to order money while pressed for time - though I must say, I lucked out with ordering money, as I was able to get the currency I needed. A note for the future: any currency you need can be provided by your local M&T bank, even if there are only a thousand people in your town. The bank simply orders the currency from wherever the currency is stored. This is something I heard from a Senegal-bound student and then tested myself - I was surprised that, one, I was able to get West African francs in the US, two, I didn't have to go to Baltimore to get them, and, three, it only took them three business days to come. Anyways, I headed back to the M&T bank yesterday to pick up the francs I'd ordered.
I received 100,000 francs, which is roughly equivalent to 200 USD. I know, the exchange rate is interesting: it's much different from the Euro, which was only worth a bit more than the USD. I received 10 bills worth 10,000 francs each: each was basically the equivalent of the 20-dollar bill here in the US.
Here's a picture of one side of the bills I received:
The other side has a wooden mask and symbols indicating a theme of telecommunication. The bird design on this side of the bills indicates that these are relatively new bills, issued in 2003 or later.
Along with Senegal, the francs are the official currency of Benin, Togo, Niger, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Cote D'Ivoire.
This map shows the countries that use the West African franc in green. They also show the countries that use the Central African franc in red.
It's interesting to read about different countries that use the same currencies and about the currency of other countries, since the Euro is the only international currency typically referenced in the US.
Speaking of interesting, that would probably be the best word to describe the look on my face when I realized that I really, actually was going to have to spend all of these francs in a month. However, I can't say that I don't know how I'm going to spend my 200 USD: I'll be incredibly frugal in the first couple of weeks and end up frantically buying presents for my friends and family in the last week. I'm frugal, to say the least - here in the US, I rarely shop (I dislike shopping; I find it rather pointless), and only buy things when I need them AND they're cheap. However, I think exploring the markets in Dakar should be exponentially more exciting than being dragged into Forever 21 by my sister! I've always pictured the typical African city market - full of life and color, so I'm incredibly excited to explore.
On another topic, I was in Annapolis today (yes, in the pouring rain). My main mission was to acquire an apostille for my birth certificate, which I need for my Argentine visa. My second mission, which I daresay was much more exciting than acquiring an apostille, was to purchase host family gifts for Senegal. I bought a variety of adorable crab-themed and Maryland-themed goodies to give to my host family in Senegal - therefore, another item was crossed off my to-do list for Senegal!
I have to say, I'm crossing off items from my to-do list much too quickly. When I've got two days left in the US and I'm already packed, have my plane and bus tickets, and don't have to rush around getting currency or a credit card (last year, for Europe, I thought I might have to go to the Arundel Mills Mall, an hour and a half away, two days before I left, to get Euros), I don't quite know what I'm going to do!
There are only 11 days until I depart for Senegal and, in 32 minutes, there will only be 10 days. Therefore, I naturally should be thinking of logistics at this point, shouldn't I? I'm a bit behind schedule from where I was eleven days before I went to Europe - heck, I was probably packed by then! Oddly, while I remember vividly making my packing list for Europe, I remember very little of the actual packing, except that I packed my clothes in ziplock bags that kept breaking and worried about having enough contact lenses solution.
Anyways, if you're reading this blog in preparation for your own month-long trip to Senegal, you may find my packing list slightly helpful (though you will most likely find my commentary completely useless)! If not, you might want to keep scrolling. This may or may not be helpful if you're going on a CIEE Leadership Academy to a country besides Senegal.
Packing list:
Important documents - passport, passport copy, etc; you know the drill
International Certificate of Vaccination - considering it's required to get through immigration in Senegal, this is something you might not want to forget
American cell phone, which will be turned off for the duration of my time in Senegal
3 long skirts - striped, blue, and grey
Pants made from light fabric
Black shorts that cover my knees - Head tennis shorts. I love these things, and they're great for travel because they have, well, huge pockets meant to fit three or four tennis balls each!
5 shirts - haven't decided what shirts I'm taking yet, but at least one long-sleeved one for mosquito protection purposes
Jacket - haven't decided which one yet
Two nightgowns
5 sets of underwear/socks (can't you see, I have a theme of "5" going on here)
One-piece swimsuit
Flip flops
My tennis shoes for everyday wear
A pair of flats for "dressy" occasions (if one has flip-flops/sandals/tennis shoes that can pass for "dressy", I'd recommend packing those instead)
String bag for weekend/day trips
Camera
5 fully charged batteries for camera (should hold about 800 pictures, which should be enough)
Contact lenses - the pair in my eyes, obviously, plus maybe two or three extra pairs (better be safe than sorry when it comes to contact lenses)
Glasses
2 or 3 travel sized contact lenses solutions (6 or 9 oz total)
Tiny French phrasebook. Minuscule.
My new, ready-to-use notebook (once I finish my current one)
Little book of photos of my family, my area to share with people I meet
Homestay gifts, Baltimore themed. Yet to be purchased!
Anti-malarials (malarone) - copy of prescriptions
Other medication - copy of prescriptions
Sunscreen (in 3oz containers)
Travel umbrella
Travel alarm clock
Bug wipes
Archtek toothpaste tablets
Shampoo and conditioner in bar form
Bar of soap
Passport Health water bottle with filter
My West African francs
Enough American money to get me to the airport in one piece
Writing this down, it seems like a lot of stuff, but looking at some of it in my backpack (I'm only taking a carry-on), it's not THAT much. Thankfully.
Speaking of American money, let me excitedly mention my airport arrival plans. I'm not going to do this in too much detail, obviously, in the name of safety and security (I'll post more about my arrival plans, well, once they've already taken place). I leave at night to Senegal out of New York. During the day, because I don't live far enough away to warrant flying (plus, way too expensive), and nobody wants to drive to the New York area (a hassle, and way too expensive), I will be taking a bus and then public transportation to the airport. It should be, well, exciting, and I'm leaving PLENTY of time to get there.
Oh, and speaking of West African Francs - I pick them up from the bank tomorrow! I can't wait to post pictures. Surprisingly, ordering West Africans Francs (as I'm sure you can imagine, not the most popular currency ordered in my small American town) was easy, and I could do it from my local bank.
I thought I'd share some pictures of General Roca and Rio Negro Province.
First and foremost:
The Argentine flag! The flag of Rio Negro Province!
Mi Ciudad Nuevo (my new city), General Roca:
At night:
Pictures from Rio Negro Province: Rio Negro! For all of you non-Spanish-speaking readers, "Rio Negro", which the province is named after, translate to "Black River". This image shows the river! A flat road (I'm not sure where it is in the province). The sky is so blue! A beautiful picture from the salt flats in the eastern part of the province, near the ocean. A beautiful picture of Rio Negro. A road - I'm not sure where this is in the province. An amazingly-colored landscape near Neuquen.
I don't think I've expressed this before on my blog, but do forgive me if I'm repeating myself: in September of 2012, when I was waiting for exchange applications to be released, everything moved so slowly. It seemed like ages before I would apply, get an interview, or receive an acceptance or rejection. However, once I received interview notifications, everything seemed to move so quickly! In late January, I received interview notifications; in early February, I had interviews; in mid-February, I submitted my Speedwell application; in mid-February, I learned about the CIEE Leadership Academy scholarship; at the very end of February, I submitted my CIEE app; in mid-March, I received my CIEE scholarship award notification; in mid-late March, I received my Speedwell notification; in mid-April, CBYX notifications started; in mid-late April, I received my CBYX alternate notice. Everything seemed to move so quickly - it seemed like, for a couple of months, something major was happening with my applications every two weeks or so. The point is, time has been flying.
Now, it's only fourteen days until I depart for Senegal.
Wow.
I'm doing a round of practice packing now, to make sure everything fits in my backpack. It definitely should - I just have to figure out some small details of packing and what to bring now, such as what to do about adapters and camera batteries. I added my bug wipes to my bag today - they came in the mail this afternoon, which was surprising, as I only ordered them two days ago.
I'm prepared though, to leave for Senegal. I have my Megabus ticket to New York, and besides those few items I still have to buy/figure out what I'm going to do about them, I'm basically ready to go. The only thing else I need to do is sort out my debit card (as it's much easier to get Senegalese currency once in the country as opposed to trying to order it from the US).
However, though I'm prepared to leave for Senegal now, it's good that I still have two more weeks here - because of the Argentine visa process! I have to get documents notarized, drive to Annapolis for an Apostille stamp, sending a form to Harrisburg for an Apostille stamp, and get my birth certificate and FBI background check translated before I leave. Then, my parents will only need to take care of a couple of things while I'm in Senegal - sending documents off to Harrisburg and DC for Apostille stamps - which will enable us to get an appointment at the Embassy in DC to submit all of these documents and hopefully promptly receive my visa. It's an extended process alright - I've heard the Argentine visa process is one of the most difficult for exchange students, and, well, that seems to be true! On the contrary, my exchange friends headed to Germany only need to go somewhere once they get to Germany (I know, how vague), to get a visa.
This post has gotten a bit off topic (not sure if I had an intended topic to begin with), but, hey, it's an update on how the process is going - it's moving along, slowly but surely.
The Argentine flag!
The flag of Rio Negro Province!
Rio Negro! For all of you non-Spanish-speaking readers, "Rio Negro", which the province is named after, translate to "Black River". This image shows the river!
A flat road (I'm not sure where it is in the province). The sky is so blue!
A beautiful picture of Rio Negro.
A road - I'm not sure where this is in the province.
An amazingly-colored landscape near Neuquen.