Day 28: Four Weeks

Tuesday passed like other days. However, like yesterday, there were a few interesting/significant things that I ought to mention.

Lunch today did not meet my approval. In fact, it feels there has been a string of meals about which I feel the same way. After lunch, I was craving more food. We had eaten extremely late (1450) so I had no time to get anything else before going back to class. I had switched my service learning choice from sanitation to agriculture, which meant that I had to be at the organic garden to start a composting project. I arrived there after 1500 (which made me late) and I was still grumpy from an unsatisfying lunch. However, we had a productive service learning session, as we successfully started a compost pile. It’s funny how I switched out of sanitation (which hadn’t been very productive) and into agriculture, were we started a project that will eventually improve sanitation here (hopefully.)

After our agriculture service, I went to the Shell Station with Kaila, Lindsay, Kristen, and Eric. I was thrilled to find that cereal (which is not part of my diet here) prices had been decreased dramatically. I purchased Frosted Flakes, which had dropped in price from $7 to $3. You might wonder why I would be talking about buying cereal: the prices had been slashed because imported cereal is being subsidized by the government. Because the children here are starting school, the government is helping merchants pay for cereal to encourage a proper breakfast diet. I found this interesting, especially because just the other day, I mentioned in my journal how expensive cereal was.

The other significant event of the day was dinner. Dinner was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had; not just in Senegal, but in the past few years. Rich and I ate upstairs on the second floor with our parents and their guest. When we eat upstairs, it’s almost always a good meal, and we end up eating more because there are less people. Tonight however, our mother and father had already eaten, so it was just Rich, their friend, and me. For us, there was an entire platter with yassa (chopped onions in a special sauce), French fries, a basket of bread, and three whole fish. After gorging ourselves, we continued eating until the entire platter was void of all food. Just as we finished, one of our sisters came into the room carrying a large platter of watermelon. Once again, we sat and ate until the plate was empty. Finally, our father poured us glasses of “besap” juice, which is the juice of the hibiscus flower. After finishing this, I struggled up the stairs, walked in to my room, and collapsed on my bed, groaning out of full-ness and satisfaction. An amazing meal was exactly what I needed, and it’s exactly what I got. I slept well.