The Beach

One more week. One more week. One more week and I am out of this place. My feelings about this date have ranged from the ecstatic to the pensive, to the fearful (fearful that this moment would never come). I say this every day, but I am so glad I went through with this ordeal and never quit. Not only will it make my return all the better, but it'll be a testament to the sheer strength of my force of will.

Today, I went to work exhausted. The first few hours were amongst the toughest of this entire trip to Senegal. The kids were awful, and, without the pool, we were forced to entertain them for an hour more than usual. It was hell. It took every ounce of force in my body to stand up, my legs had to fight the urge to crumple underneath my weight. I dread the idea of repeating this tomorrow. However, out of this ordeal, I got two very cute pictures.

Abdul Aziz, a (very cute) psychopath

This photo fails to show the extent to my suffering, but it does show Sirene, a 4-year-old with a passion for diving

The teachers decided that it was too much to keep all the kids cooped up, so we went on a field trip to the beach. I felt like the goat herders who roam the streets of Dakar, pulling their goats towards the sea. The kids were crazy, but none of them died on my watch, so I didn't care. We reached the beach, which was so much worse than I could ever have imagined. I saw not one, not two, but three dead rats like the one I found two days ago. This was interesting, but nothing new. What was new was to see these little toddlers digging in the sand feet from the corpses. The beach was the dictionary antonym of "child-friendly". If I was a parent and I found out my kids had gone to this beach, I'd never let them go to this place again. It was quite disgusting.

Artsy photo of a very, very un-artsy place

The herd on the move

When we got home, we had lunch. For the first time this week, I actually ate the food. After my break, I went to buy a sprite with two of the interns. It was fun, and I felt old and cooler than I actually am. After work, I went in the pool, alongside most of the other interns. This was less fun, but a very nice way to cool down.