Workshop Over!

So this past month I have been participating in a workshop about tropical microbial ecology with 17 other young scientists from he US and Africa.  It was an INCREDIBLE experience that there is far too much to write about fully.  I made many new friends, learned a ton, and found some potential collaborators for future work - everything you can ask for in a workshop!  Now it is time to get back to work and really get started out here on my own work!

Weekend Adventures and the Start of MicroTrop

Thankfully this past weekend had a few interesting adventures! On Saturday I FINALLY got to sleep in compared to waking up at 6:30 every morning, so that was a blast.  That evening I also got to meet up with Danielle, another alum from St. Olaf who has been living in Senegal for the past 3 years now.  We ended up going to a bar to watch the France-Spain soccer match, have some beers and dinner, and meet up with a handful of Peace Corps Volunteers who are living in the area.  It was great to get to sit around speaking some English and to get away from JUST the area where my lab is.  

On Sunday I was picked up from the guest house at the IRD lab campus where I have been staying (also where there was no running water or internet for the whole weekend...) by Lydie, one of the scientists at the IRD lab I work in, and the director of the MicroTrop Workshop I am not participating in for the next month.  We traveled to the campus housing everyone was staying in last night and I got to meet people as they trickled in from the airport, which was fantastic.  There are about 20 participants here for this month, which will make for a great time and hopefully some lasting collaborations and networks.  Everyone seems great so far and there are a diversity of specialties, even within the already narrow scope of microbial ecology, so I will get to learn a lot here.  Today we had an opening conference and traveled from Dakar to Mbour, where I will be for the next 10 days or so as we run experiments and have lectures here!  Should be a very exciting few weeks!

Internet Adventures

Bonjour!

This week has been a big adventure in getting the internet up and running, both at work and at home.  Let me tell you, trying to get work done with no internet is both a blessing and a curse!  I have been powering through a presentation for the big project meeting I have next Wednesday, but it is severely lacking in pictures due to my lack of access.  Hope they all like texty powerpoints!

I have been search for apartments around here as well lately.  I have this month long workshop starting up on Monday, but while I can, I have been looking for apartments around here to move into when I am done with that.  So far I have a couple of leads, but it is much more complicated here than in the states!  Right now I am operating on walking around looking for "A louer" (For Rent) signs and word of mouth from people in the labs I am working in.  Hopefully I will figure that out soon!

Other than that, things are going well so far - I am realizing JUST how important my French will be, so I am trying to ramp up learning that in order to actually communicate with people.  Hopefully I can reach a conversational level soon!  There are a small handful of people who can speak English here, but for the most part it's all French and Wolof.  Perhaps I can learn a bit of that as well!

I should get back to work, so I will wrap up here and post anything else exciting that's happening over the next few days!

Je suis arrivé!

Bonjour!  So my flights went just fine and I was luckily seated far away from any crying babies. I landed in Dakar and was greeted post-Customs by Dr. Dick who drove me back to the guest house at the research station where I will be staying this first week until the MicroTrop conference starts up next week. Small room, but it has a bed, sink and shower, so I should be alright!  We went out to dinner last night (we being myself, Dr. Dick, and the two undergrads working in Dakar; Owen and David).  Today we have just been meeting with a lot of people and doing basic introductions (and WOW do I need to learn my French quickly - maybe 1 out of 10 people speak any English, and I need to learn to communicate with them!)  and I should figure out what I'll be up to this week before MicroTrop starts.

As of right now I am in a sleep-deprived stupor and as such I haven't been able to process much at all.  Being here is definitely a bit of a shock in may ways, but right now I am just trying to figure out how to communicate with people and where/what I can eat!  As my mind returns to me I'll be able to actually process what is going on a bit better, but for right now I need sleep and a meal.

Au revoir!

Preparing To Go!

Hello everyone!

So I am finally heading off for Senegal tomorrow, and it's all a big mixed up whirlwind of emotions right now.  I have been spending a lot of time with family and friends at home before heading off, which has been fantastic.  We have been eating at some of the best places around town and I even got to go to a Cardinals game with my brother and grandma!

Today we're finally packing everything up in preparation to go and it's really hitting me that I am ACTUALLY moving to Senegal tomorrow!  Trying to fit everything into a bag that I could possibly need for 2 years is definitely an adventure, but it's doable and getting done!

Once I actually get over there I'll post again - can't wait!!