Salut et Asalamalecum!
As I am Ms. Brandl- Salutz's current travel buddy she suggested I give a few words on our travels. I am a here for a very short time because I have to head off to Malawi, a tiny country in central Africa that everyone should visit. Beautiful mountains, green hills and a huge lake. The people are also very friendly. However, unlike my current journey, I will be going for work.
The week in Senegal has been short and sweet and even though it is technically a vacation it has been tiring. We've visited so many people and everyone expects you to stay and eat and talk for hours. We go somewhere for lunch at noon and don't end up leaving until 4pm! And then the families' put on these long faces and you feel so bad that you didn't stay longer. The Senegalese have that affect on you.
Being here for the second time brings different feelings. There is less pressure to fit into a certain mold and adjust to a culture and life that is not my own. I'm a tourist now and damn it feels good. I still try to speak their language and follow their traditions but it definitely doesn't have the same tortuous affect as it did before. I'm still in shock by the way people have to live sometimes and the trash that lines every single street like grass along our sidewalks in the US. And I'll never adjust to seeing the beggar boys in filthy clothes with sores on their heads and snot running down their noses. But I am still so privileged to have the opportunity to come back to this unique place. Thanks to Emily, I had every excuse to make the stopover this time.
Bien à tous,
Kiné Kristen Barba
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