DreamsofINDIGOdances?

Frank Ocean inspired me to care more about Tumblr. even though part of me is against this…hmmmmm

I was invited to Africa (Senegal and Cape Verde) by my science teacher about a month and a half ago. I decided that this would be a good way for family and friends to join me. They would be able to see pictures and watch videos of anything i see. I landed in Dakar, Senegal yesterday morning. 

Problem

I have a camera, but i have such a hard time interrupting the moment with the camera. In the midst of my experience, i tend to forget that someone else might want to experience these moments with me. It is not until I am walking away from the cow crossing the highway slowly, that i realize my family would have gotten a kick out of that. I intend on stealing pictures from my roommate when she sits her camera down because she is better at this than I am. Id rather capture the moment solidly in my memory without the interruption that i believe the camera causes….sorry fam.  i intend to do better.

Anyway…so far i have eaten really good food. mostly fish…the hotel is a walk from the beach but the good life wont last long. we are leaving for cape verde tomorrow. Thats when we begin the work. Ive enjoyed myself so far. I think Dr. Jenkins stopped in Senegal so long to visit his professor friends. We havent done any work here but he keeps making us get up to come to the University as if there is work to be done. But honestly, of he hadnt we’d still be sleeping

The weather is not nearly as hot as people kept telling us. It is humid but they are also going through a drought. There is alot of dust in the air so that kind of blocks the sun. I believe it will be hotter when we come back from Cape Verde.

I went to the beach last night, It was nice. There was a village located on the beach. There was an artist on the beach who gave me two bracelets and he had a conversation with my roommate, my professor and me about the history of the island. Apparently, they are one of the few villages who had little to no contact with the French colonialists. Though they all speak french (mostly a french and wolof blend) they kept their traditions. He also talked to me about Ebony wood. He said they call it “black gold” because unlike other types of wood, it does not float, it sinks. It is solid and valuable…i took that personally :)

right now i am in a seminar about the flooding that recently occurred in Niger recently. Its in French. Not just any kind of French, they are using “science words” in french lol.  so im a little bit lost. I can tell you that the professor who is giving the seminar has lost his house and car however the mosque in his neighborhood is safe. I also know that the flood has something to do with the monsoon in the south and something that occurred from the north in the Sahara desert… but thats about all I caught.