Well more accurately the North Side. I've officially left Mbour after completing the first half of my placement at the pouponniere...if I tried to explain how I feel I would come up short but I know my sentiments include: excitement, pride, gratitude, sadness, peace, happiness, eagerness and joy...just to name a few. I'll now be living in Dakar, the capital: Welcome to the Big Lights! (when there's electricity that is). As I look back on this past chapter to prepare for the next its seems to have both flown by and lasted a lifetime.
My last day at the pouponniere a friend carried Yacine out to the bus to wave goodbye as I left. I felt how I imagine a mother feels when sending her child off to college, well maybe that's a bit extreme since I'm 17 years 6 months short on that kind of bond but I love her and will miss her all the same. What saddens my heart the most is in my time at the pouponniere I seen other volunteers come and go and watched as the babies they bonded with the most are returned to their cribs, and forgotten. No longer having a constant playmate, they become tempermental or worse - lifeless. Rather than focusing on this heartbreaking possibility, I am instead choosing to remember all of our fun moments. Learning to splash in the pool and patiently waiting to see her crawl for the first time (which I have on tape!) are among my favorites and of those that will always be in my heart.
With another 6 months ahead of me at a new pouponniere with a new home stay family I feel like I've been refreshed. I can't lie and say moving to the capital I was hopeful for an upgrade in living. I even for a split second considered there might be hot water....clearly I was living in a fantasy world. Instead, when I asked where the shower was I was escorted to an empty room. Confused, and looking all around I asked...where? To which she responded by pointing to a bucket in the corner...great. Not to worry though, I atleast have moved on from my Turkish toilet to a western one (although I have no toilet seat) and my bed is a real mattress as opposed to the foam mat I have been sleeping on. Put into perspective, I'm living pretty well! My new host mother is very nice, although she speaks 0 english...luckily my neighbor, a young excitable 10 year old boy had been doing pretty good at translating. And with the help of my handy dandny dictionary (thanks mom!) I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Its really a perfect combination of a few extra luxurious and a subtle reminder that I am still in Senegal. All in all I am happy and most importantly ready for the next step in my Journey.
