W.A.I.S.T
Man its been awhile since I have updated but seems like I'm busy all the time and when I do get some free time the last thing I want to do is spend it on the computer. Today I had to come up to the college to get a few things and thought I would take advantage of the quiet of the weekend to let you all know whats going on.
This past week Lydia and I took the long trip up to Dakar, Senegal for what is known as W.A.I.S.T. The name has a double meaning for some when they add an "ed" to the end of the acronym but officially it stands for West African Invitational Softball Tournament. As the name implies this tournament brings people from all over W. Africa for a weekend of softball and fun. There were teams from Benin, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea. Peace corps definitely has the highest number of participants at the event but the teams also include native W. Africans, diplomatic personnel, military personnel, and ex-pats from various countries. People come for various reason. Some are serious about playing the game, some come for fun and to see the city and I'm pretty sure some just come for the drinks, especially those from countries like Mauritania where alcohol is outlawed. We came mostly for fun and to see the city but had a great time playing softball as well. We didn't do so well and lost every game except one that we tied but I don't think anyone on our team had played softball for at least a few years if ever so not too surprising.
We spend a lot of our timing hanging out with the other people around Club Atlantique which is where the event was hosted. Its like a slice of America on the coast of Dakar. Including a swimming pool, cheeseburgers, and volleyball. Its quite surreal actually. Most of the volunteers are hosted by various embassy personnel in the Dakar area so that they don't have to pay for a place to stay. Lydia and I were lucky to get a great host with a really nice apartment right in the center of downtown Dakar. He treated us very well and we enjoyed all the modern conveniences even if just for a few days. Dakar is pretty amazing in itself. Some call it the Paris of W. Africa. Now I don't have a frame of reference for that one but they do speak french at least which was interesting since we don't. But we managed to wing it and come up with enough french and hand gestures to get around. Sometimes we were lucky to have a friend with us that spoke French or Wolof the local language. Anyway, Dakar is located on a point that juts out into the Atlantic and the scenery along the cost is beautiful. Some areas have nice beaches and others are high cliffs with waves crashing at the base. Some of the terrain reminded me a lot of the coast of California. After living in a village for the last 9 months, seeing sky scrappers and a real city environment is pretty crazy. We spent a night walking down the street just seeing the sights and every night we had great food. The first night we ate with our host at his apartment, the next night it was Italian, then Indian, and finally Ethiopian on the last night. The food was definitely another highlight of the trip.
We didn't have any games on Monday (because we suck and didn't qualify) so we took the day to check out on of the Islands just of the coast. Its was just a short walk from where we were staying to the ferry and the island just a 30 minuet ride away. This island played a big part in the slave trade back in the day so there is a lot of related history. There is also a large amount of the original colonial buildings still intact so it has a really unique feel as you walk down the narrow streets. We spend a few hours there and then headed back to the mainland. On the way back on the boat Lydia and one of her friends decided they should shave their heads! They had been talking about it for awhile and had been carrying all the tools with them waiting for the right time and what better time then on the back of a boat in the Atlantic. Anyway check out her blog for a picture.
The trip there and back was long and hot. Getting from our house to Dakar can take about 5-6 vehicles ranging from car to bus to horse cart and at least one boat thrown in for good measure. The whole trip lasts about 10 hours one way. But it was good to see a bunch of Senegal on the way Some day I will catalog all these modes of transport and put pictures up for you but for now you will just have to imagine. Needless to say when we finally made it back to The Gambia on Tuesday we were glad to be home and subsequently passed out just after eating dinner.
Here in Gambia life goes on pretty much as usual. Work is going well and I feel like the projects are moving forward at a decent pace. We just had a new family move into our compound over the last few days so we now have another 6 or 8 people running around adding to the excitement.
I have had a chance lately to check out the much publicised One laptop per child (OLPC) laptop. The company sent several to our Peace Corps post for evaluation and they have been getting passed around between the IT volunteers. My fist impressions are good as far as reliability and cool integrated features but it definitely has some drawbacks most notably that you have to plug it in to charge it which wont work to great if you don't have electricity in your village. Solar or a hand crank is probably the best answer to that. But if they can work around such things then it could be a useful tool to introduce students to computers.
Speaking of solar power I just read an article in popular science the other day and a California company has found a way to use a technology that has been around for quite awhile apparently to manufacture very cheep, highly efficient and flexible solar panels. That sounds pretty sweet to me but now we just have to wait and see if it actually turns out to be as awesome as it sounds. Check out the article http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/green/item_59.html
In other news my friends Nick and Amanda are getting married next Friday up in Washington state. So I would like to say I love ya, good luck and we miss you guys sorry we won't be there to enjoy the day.
Check out all the new pics and read the captions for the low down. See you soon.
This past week Lydia and I took the long trip up to Dakar, Senegal for what is known as W.A.I.S.T. The name has a double meaning for some when they add an "ed" to the end of the acronym but officially it stands for West African Invitational Softball Tournament. As the name implies this tournament brings people from all over W. Africa for a weekend of softball and fun. There were teams from Benin, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea. Peace corps definitely has the highest number of participants at the event but the teams also include native W. Africans, diplomatic personnel, military personnel, and ex-pats from various countries. People come for various reason. Some are serious about playing the game, some come for fun and to see the city and I'm pretty sure some just come for the drinks, especially those from countries like Mauritania where alcohol is outlawed. We came mostly for fun and to see the city but had a great time playing softball as well. We didn't do so well and lost every game except one that we tied but I don't think anyone on our team had played softball for at least a few years if ever so not too surprising.
We spend a lot of our timing hanging out with the other people around Club Atlantique which is where the event was hosted. Its like a slice of America on the coast of Dakar. Including a swimming pool, cheeseburgers, and volleyball. Its quite surreal actually. Most of the volunteers are hosted by various embassy personnel in the Dakar area so that they don't have to pay for a place to stay. Lydia and I were lucky to get a great host with a really nice apartment right in the center of downtown Dakar. He treated us very well and we enjoyed all the modern conveniences even if just for a few days. Dakar is pretty amazing in itself. Some call it the Paris of W. Africa. Now I don't have a frame of reference for that one but they do speak french at least which was interesting since we don't. But we managed to wing it and come up with enough french and hand gestures to get around. Sometimes we were lucky to have a friend with us that spoke French or Wolof the local language. Anyway, Dakar is located on a point that juts out into the Atlantic and the scenery along the cost is beautiful. Some areas have nice beaches and others are high cliffs with waves crashing at the base. Some of the terrain reminded me a lot of the coast of California. After living in a village for the last 9 months, seeing sky scrappers and a real city environment is pretty crazy. We spent a night walking down the street just seeing the sights and every night we had great food. The first night we ate with our host at his apartment, the next night it was Italian, then Indian, and finally Ethiopian on the last night. The food was definitely another highlight of the trip.
We didn't have any games on Monday (because we suck and didn't qualify) so we took the day to check out on of the Islands just of the coast. Its was just a short walk from where we were staying to the ferry and the island just a 30 minuet ride away. This island played a big part in the slave trade back in the day so there is a lot of related history. There is also a large amount of the original colonial buildings still intact so it has a really unique feel as you walk down the narrow streets. We spend a few hours there and then headed back to the mainland. On the way back on the boat Lydia and one of her friends decided they should shave their heads! They had been talking about it for awhile and had been carrying all the tools with them waiting for the right time and what better time then on the back of a boat in the Atlantic. Anyway check out her blog for a picture.
The trip there and back was long and hot. Getting from our house to Dakar can take about 5-6 vehicles ranging from car to bus to horse cart and at least one boat thrown in for good measure. The whole trip lasts about 10 hours one way. But it was good to see a bunch of Senegal on the way Some day I will catalog all these modes of transport and put pictures up for you but for now you will just have to imagine. Needless to say when we finally made it back to The Gambia on Tuesday we were glad to be home and subsequently passed out just after eating dinner.
Here in Gambia life goes on pretty much as usual. Work is going well and I feel like the projects are moving forward at a decent pace. We just had a new family move into our compound over the last few days so we now have another 6 or 8 people running around adding to the excitement.
I have had a chance lately to check out the much publicised One laptop per child (OLPC) laptop. The company sent several to our Peace Corps post for evaluation and they have been getting passed around between the IT volunteers. My fist impressions are good as far as reliability and cool integrated features but it definitely has some drawbacks most notably that you have to plug it in to charge it which wont work to great if you don't have electricity in your village. Solar or a hand crank is probably the best answer to that. But if they can work around such things then it could be a useful tool to introduce students to computers.
Speaking of solar power I just read an article in popular science the other day and a California company has found a way to use a technology that has been around for quite awhile apparently to manufacture very cheep, highly efficient and flexible solar panels. That sounds pretty sweet to me but now we just have to wait and see if it actually turns out to be as awesome as it sounds. Check out the article http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/green/item_59.html
In other news my friends Nick and Amanda are getting married next Friday up in Washington state. So I would like to say I love ya, good luck and we miss you guys sorry we won't be there to enjoy the day.
Check out all the new pics and read the captions for the low down. See you soon.
posted by Andy at
7:20 AM
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