Obama Mooy Sama Président

Wolof phrase of the day: Obama is my president (see above). I could not be happier to come home to America with Barak Obama as my president next year. The reaction to his victory has been amusing here in Senegal. Mainly because EVERYONE knows the result. Some people may have pretended not to be paying attention to the US race for the White House, but as soon as Obama won, EVERYONE and their mother came over to my house to discuss the news and get my feelings on a black man as president. One man yesterday actually told me I had to make sure to keep the Republicans out of power, so perhaps there was one person here who hasn't heard, but I think he's alone. Another thing that I found really interesting was the Senegaleses reaction. Every single person started off by congratulating me. My family and friends here know I voted for Obama, but everyone else is congratulating me without even asking who I voted for. I can't really explain it, I just find the whole congratulatory thing strange. I appreciate their enthusiasm and boy are the Senegalese excited about Barak Obama!! My host mom has completely forgotten about telling me that if he won he would certainly be assasinated by racists and encouraging me to vote for Clinton and is singing his praises and congratulating me all day long. Barak Obama has some high standards to live up to here in Africa. Even more so in the United States....

In other news, I mentioned last entry that I had two university students staying with me for a week as part of their program. It's called a "rural visit" and every student spends one week of the program outside of Dakar either with a Peace Corps Volunteer or an NGO worker depending on their interests after university. I ended up with a student from UC Boulder and another from Occidental College in LA. Both were amazing. We had a very good time together and I think they were pretty relieved to not be in a village for their rural visits. They sat in on my computer classes in Thiès, got to witness firsthand me showing up for meetings only to have the other party not show up (which is beginning to feel like the majority of my work here), hung out with some Senegalese friends here in town, taste some of Pout's lovely fruit (it is after all what we're known for) and make some nice American food to boot. After two months of cebb u jenn, everyone could use a good plate of pasta, regardless of how tasty cebb u jenn is.

So yeah, a good time was had by all. I came in with them to Dakar this morning for a medical appointment on Monday. Having been here 14 months already (but who's counting?) I am due for my mid-service physical and dentist appointment. I am interested to see what all of this sugar in the attaya I drink here has done to my teeth...