Rain storms

Here is a video of a rain storm from my window. We have one of these at least once every other day!!




This is a video that I took of a lightening storms rolling in from Guinea. I just thought it looked pretty :)

Taking a survey

Hi Everyone!! Just checking if anyone still gets e-mails if I post to this blog. If so please let me know because I'm thinking of going back to this URL address because blogspot is just more user friendly than wordpress. Please let me know. Thanks!

New blog address

Ok, I haven't been able tofigure out why my computer keeps freezing when I try to log into my blog from my computer but I have decided to give up and create a new blog. Check it out at http://alexinsenegal.wordpress.com Hope you all like it!!!

Finally a new post!!

I know I haven’t posted in a long time but that’s because I have been out of site for some time and as I mentioned before my computer does not like my blog and I can't log in from it. Luckily, my friend said I could use her computer when she's out at site!!! So here is what's been happening.

I left site mid-Feb and headed up to Dakar where I spent the next three weeks. I went up because we had our West African Invitational Softball Tournament, aka WAIST, and then I had some visitors come in to town. WAIST was a very interesting and fun time. I got to Dakar on Tuesday after a VERY long and uncomfortable sept-place ride. I really don’t understand why they don’t try to work on a better public transportation system here. I mean cramming in 8 people (counting the driver) into a station wagon from the 1970’s and expecting it to drive over 400 miles in 100+ degree heat just doesn’t make sense to me. I had the honor of sitting in what I call the suicide seat. It’s the back row of the car (which is more like a bench then a cushioned seat) all the way to the left of the vehicle. I call it the suicide seat because as I learned on this ride to Dakar it’s very hard to get out of the car in an emergency! As we were driving along at break-neck speeds over some of the biggest potholes I’ve ever seen, our engine started smoking. The driver pulled over and opened up the hood only to find that there was a fire under the hood, so we all tried to get out as “quickly” as we could (the Senegalese don’t move very fast). Now for me to get out I had to wait for the middle row of people to exit the car then wait till people figure out how to move the one seat in the middle row forward so that the back people could get out, of course this seat is located in the middle row, right side of the car, the farthest seat from me. So as the flames get higher I’m still stuck in the car because I now have to wait for the person in the back row right to move, then my friend, and finally I can get out. Luckily I made it out without any injuries and I watched as the driver put out the flames with a bottle of water he had under the hood, I’m assuming to be used for just such emergencies. After sitting on the side of the road for about 3 hours waiting for the car to get fixed we were on our way again. We finally made it to Dakar and I went straight to the regional house and fell asleep.

On Wednesday I hung around the regional house and just chilled and waited for Brandyn to get in. He arrived Thursday morning around 5am, I have no idea why all the flights to Senegal get in at the wee hours of the morning or leave at that time. Anyways, so Brandyn made it in safe and sound and on Thursday and Friday we just explored Dakar a bit. On Saturday WAIST started, picture about 200 people, mostly fresh college graduates let out of their villages and turned loose on Dakar, it was interesting to say the least. Every team had a theme and ours was cops and robbers, I decided that the easiest outfit for me was Laura Croft, Tombraider, because all I had to do was buy some fake hair, braid it and attached it to my head. Other people were much more creative with their outfits (see picture below), now what can I say about an 8am softball game where everyone is drinking? Good times!! Seeing as how I am not too athletically inclined I decided to stay in the outfield where most of us drank and had a dance party. I will say that I did go up to bat once during the weekend and I hit it on the first try!!! However, I hit it right into the crowd, OOPS!!! There was softball during the day and parties at night, it was a great time and good stress reliever! WAIST ended on Monday so on Tuesday Brandyn and I headed to Saly, a resort beach town. Before going to Saly I never understood why people would come to Senegal on vacation, after being there I understand, Senegal is to French people what the Caribbean is to Americans. They come here where it’s sunny and warm and they sit in their nice resorts and don’t really interact with the locals, not a bad vacation! So we spent the week in Saly where we just went exploring and walked around, I did profit from it being a resort town and got a much needed massage. The only bad thing was that one night Brandyn got a bacterial stomach infection and was up all night in the bathroom, the worst was that I knew what was wrong and knew what to give him, but I had just taken my last pill a few days ago and I didn’t get any new ones, so I had to wait till the pharmacy opened the next morning to get him some medication. Poor things, but now he can empathize with me when I tell him that I’m sick, I’ve had a bacterial infection three times since I’ve been here.

On Sunday we left Saly and headed back to Dakar. Brandyn was scheduled to leave early Tuesday morning and my friend Swade was coming in at that time. Around midnight on Monday we went to the airport to meet Swade, she volunteered at an orphanage in Cameroon for 7 weeks and decided to swing by on her way back to the States, unfortunately her plane was late and we ended up waiting 2 hours for her to get in. The Senegal airport has not figured out how to update their arrivals screen at the airport and whenever people were getting off a plane we had to ask which plane they were from because we saw Swade’s flight on the screen, but it never said it was delayed. Finally we see her and grab a cab to get her to the hotel just to turn around and get Brandyn into another cab and on his way to the airport. We thought we’d have enough time to get Swade, come back, rest a bit, and then get Brandyn to the airport but with her flight being delayed we got back to the hotel an hour before we needed to get him there. Luckily he got there with enough time.

The first day Swade was here, we just took it easy and I let her sleep in, the poor thing traveled for 24 hours to come see me. For the rest of the week we bummed around Dakar, which I can tell you is not that exciting of a city. We were lucky though and one night we met some Pulaars, that’s the ethnic group I live with down in Kedougou, and they said they had a stand in the market and would help us bargain for stuff when we were ready to do some souvenir shopping. Now, let me try and explain to you what this market looks like, it’s out in the open, covering a few streets and you can get anything from jewelry to irons to clothes to accessories there. Now the whole thing with markets here is that all prices are negotiable, which would be fine except when you’re white the price increases by 200%. So it wouldn’t be that bad but it’s hard to know what the real price is (the one they would give a Senegalese) and how much they’ve inflated the price because you’re white. Funny side note, after talking to many Senegalese they think that we just magically get money from the government. I was talking to a neighbor and I tried to explain that I worked hard for my money and he said that maybe I did but that the government gives me money too, and I looked at him and I asked if he really thought the government just gives me money because I’m white and he said “Yes!” Ahhh, if only it were that easy! Anyways, so we called up our new Pulaar friends and they met up with us and helped us out a lot in the market and they got us some great deals, plus Swade got to see some of the Senegalese hospitality that everyone talks so much about. These guys were great in helping us bargain, asked Swade what she needed to get and tracked it down for us, fed us, and just spent their afternoon taking us around, and at the end they didn’t expect anything from us, now that’s the Senegalese hospitality I know!! I’m glad she got to see this because Dakar can be an overwhelming place with vendors sticking items in your face 24/7, people asking you for money all the time, and you just get an overall sense of people trying to rip you off everywhere. For example, Swade and I went to Goree island, Slave island, I went there at the beginning of the year so I knew that to take the ferry over I paid the resident price because I live here. As I bought my ticket for the ferry I told them I was a resident and showed them my Peace Corps ID and was given the discounted price, Great! However, when we get to the island we are called over by some Senegalese guy telling us we had to pay 500CFA “tax” to get on the island. Now Swade and I are not above paying to do things, I mean it equals about $1, but as we were standing in line I look around and notice that only white people are being shuttled over to pay the “tax”. Well when we noticed this, shit hit the fan, we get into an uproar about it and demand to know when this supposed “tax” was imposed, because I didn’t have to pay last time I visited and how come only white people were being told to pay. The man started to get into it with us that the only people who don’t have to pay are residence, so I tell him that I’m a resident of Senegal but he insist that I have to pay, we continue going back and forth with the man until we finally give in but tell them some choice words in both English and French. As I said, I’m not above paying for things, but only when EVERYONE pays it, not just the white people, this is just one of many examples that I have where we have to pay for something because we’re white, not that they tell you that’s the reason.

The whole time Swade was here she said she wanted to see animals, now unfortunately Senegal is not known for its animal population and the only place to go to get a chance to see some is my region, but seeing as how I lived so far away it just wasn’t possible. So we went around asking tour groups if they offer tours to a nearby reserve that has animals, all these animals were brought in from South Africa, we found one that does give tours, so Swade taking pity on my lack of funding decides to buy a ticket for herself and me. On Monday we got up nice and early and met our car outside our hotel, we are then taken to Bandia national reserve and are driven around the park where we see monkeys, ostriches, rhinos, zebras, buffalos, and giraffes among other animals!! It was a great time getting to see all these animals up close and just roaming around! Unfortunately Swade left the next morning and I bummed around the regional house till my overnight bus to Kedougou left that evening. So I am back now and just trying to get some of my projects up and running.

Here are some of the things I am working on because I know you all want to know what I do.

Well there is the business class that I am teaching to my counterparts employees (wrote about it in my last entry)

Our cleaning lady approached me asking for help obtaining a microfinance loan for a restaurant so I am going to do a prefeasibility study with her to figure out if we need another restaurant and what obstacles might present themselves, and then we are going to work on a business plan that we can present for the loan. If all goes well I will continue working with her and teaching her about different business aspects.

Africare, an NGO here, has asked if I can come in and help train their trainers on how to teach business. They want their trainers to go out to local villages and teach people about business.

I am also working on the finance and budget for a kid’s camp we do in September.

Also, my brother is an English teacher at the local high school and heads up the English club so I am helping with that.

I am also working with an organization called “Friends of Nature” and we are trying to work with the local middle schools on waste removal. I’m planning on getting some garbage cans in the schools and teaching the kids about throwing their trash away. I’m also hoping to work with the teachers so they will reinforce this in the students and hopefully throwing garbage in a garbage can will become second nature to them versus throwing it on the ground.

And finally, the Peace Corps offers the Michelle Sylvester scholarship to local middle school girls. We pick the top ten female students, ask them to write essays about what they want to do, interview their families and pick to top 3 girls who need the money the most and pay their tuition for the next school year along with getting them school supplies.
For a first year volunteer I feel like I have quite a few projects happening and I am very happy with this!

Please not the dance party happening in the outfield!!

Here is the whole team. We joined with the region of Tamba to have the largest softball team :)

An action shot of my attempt to hit the ball. Don't worry, no one was injured :)

Brandyn and I at dinner at the resort in Saly.

The view from the lighthouse in Dakar, the highest point.

I've shown some nice pictures of Senegal, but this is what most of it looks like, this is their coastline. This is the reason so many of us work on wate management projects.

I'm lucky to see warthogs in my region but I never knew that the can't bend their heads to eat so then have to kneel!!

We were lucky to see the only two rhinos in the reserve. The guide said he can go a week without ever spotting them.

Just a picture of how close the rhinos were getting to us!

Here is a group of giraffes. The dark ones are the males while the lighter ones are the females.

This ostrich struck a perfect pose for us so I had to snap a picture!

Some of the zebras that roam around the reserve.

This is going to sound stupid, but I knew giraffes were tall, just never realized how tall!!

Two monkeys just chilling on the fence at the restaurant in the reserve. I tried to catch one for a pet but they are quick little things!!

Why there have been no updates

Hello Everyone, I know it's been a while since I updated my blog but every time I try to log into my blog from my computer, it freezes my system. I am using my friends computer to post this so I know the problem must be my computer. Until I figure this out there maybe large gaps in my post. I'm sorry and if any of you have an idea as to why this is happening I am all ears.

Hope you are all well!!

Small Victories

So I finally have a few projects that I’m working on, I’m really excited because I am finally feeling like I have a reason to be here. One of the projects that I am working on is teaching my counterpart’s employees what a business is and the different aspects that go into a business, such as marketing, planning, productivity, etc. My counterpart’s hope is that by them understanding how a business functions they will see how their lack of productivity or their constant mistakes costs the company money. Sounds like it should be pretty easy, but as I mentioned before I am teaching this to a room full of men who do not live in a consumerist society, so what seems basic for us such as the need for marketing or keeping track of income and expenses is not, so I have my work cut out for me. My first class was quite interesting, I spent the day before class preparing, trying to think of how to explain everything in what I thought were simple terms, and mind you this was all done in French. So I walked into class the next day feeling prepared and ready to go, thinking for sure that by the end of the hour they would all be able to tell me what a business is and give me examples. Well after spending the hour talking to the guys and thinking they really understood it I asked them to give me an example of what a business is, they then proceeded to look at me like I had a third eye. So guess all my hard work didn’t pay off. So now what, back to the drawing board I guess. So for the next week I stressed out about how to get through to these guys, I was stuck as to how to explain this any easier, I mean my definition was somewhere where you can buy goods and services. However, after working for a while I found a way to reword this; I then proceeded to translate it into my broken Pulaar (the local language) thinking that this might help. So off I went to my next class, nervous and not that confident. I told the guys we were just going to sit and talk, I then read my spiel in Pulaar and asked them if they understood, even though they said yes, I had a feeling that they didn’t. I told them that much and asked them what part they didn’t understand, finally one brave soul said it was the word “service”; they didn’t know the meaning of it and so it was blocking their understanding as to what a business was. So I spent the next half hour explaining, re-explaining, using my broken Pulaar and numerous examples to try and get them to understand what a service was. And at the end of the hour when I asked them to give me an example of what a service was, they all gave me examples!!! I was so excited that they got this concept down!!

Now this may seem like something insignificant to you, but as I said these guys have no formal education, some barely understand English, and they live in a society that doesn’t understand consumerism. To me this was a little victory in what is going to be long but worthwhile journey!!

Here are some of my students working. It's a metal shop and waste removal company.

Here is my counterpart (the one in the green hat) teaching one of his employees how to make a gate.

Dinner with the Ambassador!!

So after getting back from Dakar I took some time to just relax a bit. The following weekend was our regional retreat, that’s where the whole region goes off somewhere and it’s a time to discuss house issues and just bond. We ended up going to Mako, which is about 40km away from Kedougou. We stayed in a campment, which is just a series of huts. It was nice to be with everyone from the region. The last day of the retreat was my birthday so it was perfect timing to celebrate because everyone was in town!! We made a huge Mexican feast and partied all night. The only unfortunately thing is that when we went out later in the night, my bike ended up getting stolen. Luckily the country director was heading down to Kedougou the following week so brought me my replacement bike. To this day I still haven’t found my bike but I filed a report with the police and they’re looking for it. We’re all just hoping that whoever took if hasn’t crossed the border into Guinea and is trying to sell it there.

Our country director came down here with the US ambassador to Senegal. They came with a TV crew and were filming some of the volunteers here and what projects they are working on. Unfortunately, I was not part of the group because I don’t really have any projects going on, but I was able to sit down to dinner with the Ambassador three nights in a row. The first night she asked to have dinner with some of the volunteers here, so since I live here I was asked to join. The second night it was just a couple of volunteers that were asked to come to dinner. Only of few of us were asked to come because it was dinner with not only the ambassador but also with the mayor and a lot of other important Kedougou government people. It was a nice traditional dinner with a traditional dance troop performing at the end. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at home so I didn’t take any pictures or video. Now the third night’s dinner was really fun, the ambassador heard that David built his own hut and decided she wanted to see it for herself. As she was there she noticed the pizza ovens that he built and was told how we have pizza parties there occasionally. She decided that she had to stay one more night and participate in a Kedougou pizza party. We provided the food and she provided the beer. It was a nice evening because we really got to sit down with the ambassador and just talk. She’s a really nice, down to earth woman who rolled up her sleeves and helped make pizzas!! Making good contacts as I go!!

Tomorrow I have my first business training class. It’s quite a challenge because I have to explain what business is and business concepts that go with it, such as marketing, pricing, planning, etc. to people who don’t have never been to high school, some of them can’t even read! I’ll update my blog with how it all went. Wish me well!!!

Dinner with the US Ambassador to Senegal!

Apparently the ambassador was so impressed by my friend's pizza ovens that she felt she HAD to come and make pizza with us. So here I am supervising her work!

I am working the ingredient assembly line with the Ambassador.

Zack, a fellow volunteer, decides to serve the woman while the men cook the pizza. I think he was just showing off because the ambassador was there!

Our whole pizza making group with the Ambassador and her press secretary!

Random pictures and observations

So I have noticed that during my short time here I have become used to things that I would normally have found strange. I want to share some of these with you and as time goes by I hope to show you more such things. Also, because I know some of my readers like to see street scenes from Senegal, I have included those as well. Please let me know if I'm starting to get a little weird for thinking this is all just normal!!

My brothers and some of their friends hanging out in my compound playing a card game. Behind them you can see my well so when running water stops we have a back-up; however, when the well drys up, well guess we'll figure something out!

this is the front of my compound. The pink building is the one I live in, not only do I have my own room and bathroom, but I have a rooftop which is where I'll be sleeping come the hot, dry season!

This is one side of my street. It's a quiet day because it was taken on a Sunday. Usually there are people, bikes, goats, sheep, and cars along the road.

This is the other side of my street. If you look at the pile of white dirt on the right-hand side you can see some goats chilling in the dirty. I've just become so accustomed to seeing goats every where that when I walk into my compound and find 10 goats there, none of them ours, I don't think twice about it.

So I was sitting by the pool with one of my friend yesterday and we happened to notice a goat jumping around, neither of us thought anything about it till I realized, I would be quite surprised in American if I saw a goat jumping around a pool!

This is David chopping some wood for out pizza party. The hut that you see behind him is his hut that he built himself!

I am preparing my pizza with some garlic, tomatoes, cheese, and thanks to David's father, pepperoni!!!! YUM!!

And how do we cook our pizzas? In the clay pizza ovens that we built! Who says you have to eat poorly in Africa?

Here is picture of my old host mom, the reason that I have it here is because I want everyone to look at the amount of makeup that she put on (the picture doesn't do her justice) and Senegalese women wear this much makeup and think it looks good. Guess they don't understand what the natural look is.

And where do you get the best food in Senegal, the garage of course. The garage is where all the buses and sept-places leave for Guinea or Dakar, we grab a seat where you can and dig into a communal bowl. Trust me, it's good!!

Here is a typical family's "common room". It's outside and it has mattresses and mats thrown about so that there is always room for everyone to sit or nap.

This is a typical family meal, find a place to wedge yourself in and dig in!

Here is a typical street scene in St. Louis, I included these so that people can see what an average city here looks like. Not too bad, right?

Well not all the parts of a city are nice, here's what the other half of the street looks like. Unfortunately the Senegalese haven't figured out a good way to dispose of their waste so it usually ends up strewn all over the place.

Since fishing is a the major industry in St. Louis I thought that it was interesting to notice that they don't use any fancy gadgets to find the fish, they just take out a boat, like the one above, cast their nets, and hope that something bites.

Another picture of the low-tech, but very efficient boat.

Another typical street up north.

My first Christmas and New Year in Senegal!!

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I just want to take a minute and share something that I realized while I’ve been here. I know most people look at the holiday season and think what a headache, all the things to do before Christmas and then there is the family to deal with. Being here has made me realize what a special time the holidays are, once all the hassle of pre-Christmas is over with and you’re sitting at Christmas dinner with your family it’s really a wonderful time and we need to take a minute and cherish that time because we never know where we will all be for the next holiday season.

So my first Christmas in Senegal was really nice and I got to spend it with some great people. After I left Dakar I headed up to St. Louis to visit my friend Julia. I arrived on the Wed before Christmas and she took the next two days to show me around the city. Everyone talks about how St. Louis has this great European influence, it was the former French capital of West Africa, but unfortunately any of that influence has fallen into disrepair. However, it’s still a nice city that sits right on the beach. We went walking around one of the islands of St. Louis, it’s referred to as The Island and it looks similar to the French quarter in New Orleans but a dirtier. After two days of walking around the city and The Island we were ready for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we spent all day shopping for ingredients for our Christmas day meals, so when dinner time rolled around we really didn’t feel like making anything. Instead we went out to a delicious Moroccan restaurant. We were hoping that they might do something special for Christmas Eve but alas they didn’t. After dinner we roamed around until midnight mass. The funny thing about that was that Senegalese are notorious for being late for everything, but their midnight mass starts at 11pm!! So we stroll in at midnight an hour late and they were half way through the mass!! Oops!! However, it was really nice and I really liked the choir singing carols with African drum beats to them. After midnight mass we decided we had had a long day and headed home for bed. On Christmas morning we got down to some cooking, I made potato pancakes, but I’ll admit, I had to call the expert, my Mom, to get some help (Thanks Mom!), another girl made a frittata, and we had a fruit salad. Everything turned out wonderful and I got quite a lot of praise for the pancakes. After that we just sat around and watched a movie. Around 7pm we started to prepare Christmas dinner. We had shrimp scampi pasta (fresh shrimp!!), pesto pasta, bruscetta, and a cucumber salad, might I point out that everything was made from scratch. We figured out that you don’t need a food processor to make fresh pesto, all you need is a hammer, a plastic bag, and some time to just pound away. Once again everything was great!! I spent another few days in St. Louis where Julia and I decided to treat ourselves with pedicures. My feet have not been completely clean since I got to this country so I figured they needed some well deserved scrubbing. The next day after the pedicures, Julia and I headed to Dakar to ring in the New Year.

In Dakar we met up with our friend Lyzz and her friend who came in from the States, it was nice because we got to do some tourist things. On New Year’s Eve day, we went to Goree Island, this is the island where the slaves from West Africa were housed until they were ready to be shipped to the Americas. Also, this island house different militaries throughout its history because it was the entry way into West Africa. It was controlled by the Dutch, English, Portuguese, and finally the French. Even though there is some terrible history behind the island it really was a beautiful place. We walked around a bit and lucky joined up with a tour group so we could find out a bit more of the history behind the island. They haven’t really figured out how to make tourists spots in Senegal; we had no idea what happened on the island or where anything was, there weren’t any descriptive signs saying “such and such happened here”. For example, our map said there was a castle on the island and we walked around the whole island looking for it but couldn’t find it, it wasn’t until we ran into the tour group that we found out that at the top of the island there was the “castle” but it was actually bunkers that were used by the soldiers that tried to control Senegal.

After visiting the island we all returned to our places and got ready for New Year’s. We joined Lyzz and her friend in their hotel room for a few drinks and then we headed to the main square in Dakar to ring in the New Year. I must say that New Year’s here is a bit lackluster, we got to the square a little before midnight and waited for the countdown. I realized that they don’t really do that here when I looked at my watch and realized that it was 12:03am. So we all said our Happy New Years, hugs all around and then we figured it was a good idea to head out of the square because even if the Senegalese don’t do a countdown for New Year, they do like to shoot off fireworks. Now I was in the Netherlands one New Year’s Eve and they too have the same tradition, however, in Senegal they haven’t really figured out that you’re supposed to shoot the fireworks into the sky and not into the crowds of people on the street. After that it was just going to some bars and clubs, it was fun but nothing out of the unusual. The next day we headed off to the beach for some much needed relaxation. For dinner we took Lyzz’s American friend for the food court in the mall and then we went bowling, OK maybe that was more for us then for him, but it was a lot of fun to feel for just a few hours like you’re back in the States. The next day Julia left to go back and I hung out at our regional house till Tuesday when I took the overnight bus back home.

Normally the bus is supposed to leave Dakar at 10pm and arrive in Kedougou at 10am, however, I didn’t get back to Kedougou till 5pm the next day!!! It took me 18 hours to get home! The bus kept breaking down and they kept trying to fix it and once the other passengers started to get angry they sent another bus to take us the rest of the way. However, the second bus didn’t have enough seats for everyone so the other Peace Corps volunteer and I got the company to take us to a garage (their bus/sept-place depot) and buy us 2 seats in the next sept-place leaving for Kedougou. When we finally made it home I came home to a layer of dust about an inch deep on everything, it’s the dry season so everything is always covered with dust, and a new roommate, a mouse!! I’m still trying to find the mouse to shoo it out of my room and trying to wash everything that’s covered in dust, it’s still a work in prgoress. All in all it was a good trip and a nice break, but it’s also nice to be back in my own bed.

Here is a view of one of the islands, in St. Louis, from the apartment I was staying in.

My friend Julia and I at a Moroccan restaurant on Christmas Eve.

Julia helping me prepare Christmas breakfast. She's grating the potatoes for potato pancakes.

Here are the potato pancakes, delicious!!

Julia and Sarah making Christmas cookies from scratch. Their butter cream frosting was awesome!

Every girl needs a day off, a relaxing pedicure :)

Here is the final product of the pedicure, nice, CLEAN feet (Finally!!)

Leaving the port to go to Goree Island (aka Slave Island). Note that the temperature is 35C that's 95F, HOT!!! Sorry about the pic for all of you on the East coast covered in snow!!

Julia, Lyzz and I on the boat to the island.

I'm pretty sure that this is the westernmost house in all of Africa. I liked that it was nice and secluded.

Just wanted to show how amazingly clean the water is!!

Here is the skyline of Dakar for Goree Island.


Sitting at the top of the island overlooking the few houses that inhabit it.

I thought this nativity scene was pretty interesting. Note that none of the characters have faces!!


The view while leaving Goree.

Julia and I heading out for New Year's Eve. Happy New Year!!!