Heading to Casamance (the province of destination)

We were down to the three of us (Marie-Claude: Orthotics & Prosthetics and Claudine: Assistant Physio who had already had an internship at the Centre Hospitalier Regional de Ziguinchor). The airplane ride to Ziguinchor was very pleasant. It was 45 minutes long and during daylight so I was able to see Senegal’s coast and topography from the air.

(image right: typical street in Ziguinchor in the morning) The Casamance region is beautifully rich with greenery and has rivers snaking through it. The coast looks nice and sandy and it is my intention to spend my weekends there! There don’t seem to be a ton or roads though. I saw my new home city from the air and sighed as I saw that it had lots of green = trees = oxygen in it!

We were happy to find that our luggage had made it safe and sound and were greeted by a number of soon-to-be-important people in our lives: my new bosses, Abba and Omar as well as my new parents: Astou and Landing Badji. They were very kind with helping us carry our luggage and welcoming me to their home. I was escorted to my new home with my new parents in Landing’s 4x4. (image left: view of home from balconym Elaj in doorway) When I arrived, I met the maid, Mami and their son, Elaj (1 year, 5 months old) - who was running around naked! So cute!
I was so happy to have reached destination. Unfortunately, I was looking forward to not having to live from out of my suitcases, but the room I’m in has only two beds in it in terms of furniture.

(image right: my room) I’m sharing it with my “sister”, Rama who is a 12-year old from Dakar vacationing here. Soon after my arrival, as I was reorganizing my suitcases, I got called for my first meal (which is a good thing because I was hungry!). It was delicious rice, french fries and fish (and a couple slices of cucumber). I couldn’t finish my plate so when I was done, I told Astou. To my surprise she just picked up where I left off using the same fork. After a couple bites, she brought it to the family room for somebody else to finish it off. This was a culture shock for me because I’m so used to trying my darndest to finish a plate because not finishing it in some cultures (like ours) means that you didn’t entirely appreciate it. At the same time, I was mixed up because I felt bad for having eaten the portion I did have (~3/4). Had I known it would be shared after, I probably wouldn’t have eaten so much!

My family speaks Djiola amongst themselves so I understand absolutely nothing! I only understand when they speak to me in French.. It’s a hard language to learn as it is unlike any I am familiar with. Before leaving, I received a couple classes in Wolof but as it turns out, was quite futile with regards to my living situation… I am currently on a diet of two new Djiola words per day.

According to my North American standards, the amenities in my new home are extremely basic. The bathroom is the part that takes the most getting used to: a toilet with no rim, no toilet paper, cold water shower, no lock on the door and a very dim light. They do most of their cooking/meal preparation on the floor.

(image right: thing on left is what they use to cook most thingsm its like a mini charcoal BBQ)

My family has a small kitchen with fridge, stove and sink. Most people don’t have a fridge and cook outside on the dusty ground. Bathroom wise, there are three types of toilets:
- African: hole in ground outside with tin slates curved around it (squat)*
- Turkish: ground level porcelain (squat)*
- European: our seated toilets with the flush at the top*; high end tourist spots provide paper
* They wipe themselves (front and back) with their left hand and water so they do not use any toilet paper. Even after my travels in Asia, I have trouble understanding how they do it exactly. So, I have to bring toilet paper with me everywhere I go. And it is expensive here; I payed ~ 11.50$ for 15 rolls.

More to come in the future; unfortunately my last post was mistakingly published the same day as this one...