Dakaroise

I'm a city girl now.

I left the town of Kolda in the south of Senegal over 2 months ago. After a wonderful 40 day vacation with my family and friends in the states eating, drinking and making merry I returned to Dakar, the capital of Senegal for a third year with Peace Corps. Sort of.

While I am still a Peace Corps Community Economic Development volunteer, I will be spending the next 12 months working on a project with International Relief and Development. IRD's focus in Senegal and the Gambia is improving the cashew industry throughout the value chain. This means from farmer's fields to transformation units IRD shares knowledge and best practices to improve cashew business, because Quality Cashew is Good Business. Personally, I will be working on projects dealing with inspiring innovations in cashew byproducts; anything from cashew wine to paint thinners. I'm looking forward to understanding more about agricultural development work and especially from the higher up perspective of a large Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) as well as helping entrepreneurs realize cool products. Only thing that has me a bit worried is the lunch break - its not quite long enough for my usual 2 hour afternoon nap that I grew accustomed to in Kolda. But as the AC is usually on, I doubt I'll feel the need to sweat away an afternoon under a mango tree.

Big city life is not just about my job, although I do love being in an office where I know that people are coming in ready to work. Its a nice change from the usual biking 4 km to class to find 2 of the 16 students are actually there or waiting 2 hours for everyone to arrive for a meeting. Dakar has much to offer in terms of fun and entertainment - a fact everyone reminds me of when I complain of missing Kolda. Just this past weekend I enjoyed a BBQ, softball games and some cold beers. It could be summer in the states - and certainly feels like it with this heat.

While I miss my Kolda family and friends, the old haunts, and the slower pace of life, I think I am ready to become Dakaroise. However, I am currently trying to find a pulaar herder to maybe take care of a cow so I can make some fresh yogurt... got to keep those Kolda roots.