So here is the long awaited blog entry that everyone has been waiting for! Sorry that I havent written in such a long time! I'm either in school, exploring Dakar and other cities, getting frustrated with our computer lab because the internet loves to shut off...as well as the electricty, or trekking to the nearest beach with some homework that rarely gets finsihed!

This past weekend was absolutely amazing! It literally took my breath away at some moments. For our fields of internest for our internships, our professors took us to a small village called Toubakouta. It is very close to the Gambian border and a long 7 hour trip in a non-airconditioned bus from Dakar! We left early on Valentines Day morning. Before I left I made sure that I set out all of the valentines that I made for my host family (they are now hanging up in the living room for all to see!) The girls in my neighborhood took a taxi at 6am to arrive to school on time and begin our long journey to Toubakouta. The entire weekend was filled with daily excursions to local farms, fisheries, tours through the mangroves and wildlife reserves (thats where I had my first encounter with rhinos!), visits to the local clinics, and visits to the many different types of schools. Since my internship is all about education and mentoring young girls to stay in school, I paid close attention to the educational system in the local villages. There seems to be a large gap between the generations when it comes to certain ideas of education. We were able to speak with the women of the village (in Wolof which was then translated for us into French) and they strongly believe that they only want their children to go to a certain Muslim school, which is called a Darrah. Here, the children only memorize the Koran and are provided with the basic education. There is another type of school called Ecole Franco-Senegalese, which is a the French school system that includes courses in math, history, French, English, and sciences. THe women are afraid that if their children begin to go to the Franco-Senegalese school, they will forget their native language and loose many of the traditions. Ironically as the women were stating how they do not want a Franco-Senegalese school in their village, many students were walking back from a long day at school from the Ecole Franco-Senegalese. We were assuming that the women didnt truly understand what the children were saying to us since they were speaking French to us and telling us about their dreams for the future. One girl wants to become a doctor so she can come back to her village and provide proper care for her people. Another boy said that he wanted to become a math professor. As you can see, we were all truly inspried and were so amazed to hear both sides of the story.

Yes, I have been studying a lot...but I have also made time to learn some of the Senegalese dances! Oh my gosh I love dancing here! I think I picked the perfect country to study in because everyone is dancing all of the time. There were some university students who came with us to Toubakouta and one night we had a dance party underneath the stars during a hot humid night. A lot of the music sounds like salsa music, so I immediately jumped right in and started dancing. One of my friends, Iddy, asked where I learned how to dance. And when I said I learned in the United States, he laughed, and asked again, thinking that I was joking! We also went to an amazing African dance and drumming performance when we were staying in Toubakouta. I was sitting at the edge of my seat the entire time because I recoginzed the beats from my African dance class that I took last semester. At the end of their performance, the dancers pulled everyone up from their seats. They didnt have to ask me twice to get up and dance! I broke into some of my African dance moves that I learned before, and suddenly I realized that I was in the middle of a huge circle where everyone was clapping and cheering me on as I danced! It was such a rush! My professors who were there so quite impressed with my African dance moves so now whenever I see them at school they always say..."Good morning Martha the dancer!"

As you all can tell, Im love every minute of my stay here in Senegal. At first it was hard for me with the 2 language barriers and the culture shock of living in a developping country, but I am inspired every day. My professors are amazing and I am learning so much in the classroom. Im also making sure I learn as much as I can outside of the classroom with the Senegalese culture and making more and more friends. Yesterday my friends Sara, Laura, Amy and I went to the beach with a couple of the university students that we met at Toubakouta. It is so great to finally feel comfortable speaking French with people my age and not being afraid to make mistakes! They are also teaching us funny phrases in Wolof so I can come back home and impress my host family!

There so much much more to say but I should go! I love you all! Thank you so much for all of your messgaes that you write to me on my blog! They really make my day!

I love love love love you!! Ba suba (Until next time!)

Love Martha