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Sometimes I think that so much happens in one day that I cannot fit everything in my memory. Then I realize that I’ll be here for a year so I can calm the hell down. So forgive me if this post seems rushed.
The political demonstrations are interesting to watch and hear about. They started the day before my arrival and have been continuing for the past couple days. The people are at the end of their rope. They desire change, and are passionate about their rights and nurturing a democracy. They put up with things Americans would be having a second revolution over. In Senegal, electricity and politics are linked. A few years ago, power was steady and it wasn’t a problem. But the impetus of the last bout of riots was the power outage, which lasted over 12 hours yesterday. Before you think it’s not really something to get too worried over, reflect on how much electricity is used every minute or a variety of essential tasks. Many people have businesses dependent on power, and when it’s out for an entire day, a day’s loss of income is not taking lightly. In Senegal, people are resourceful and find creative ways to make money in an economy with an unemployment rate of 50%. Makes you really question how much a days wage means to you. But you lose money again, and again, and again, your patience vanishes. The power goes out at least once a day anyway, but usually for a couple hours.
The official explanation is an old power plant at the northern dam of the Senegalese River, but it’s pretty common knowledge that the government does it as a means of ‘saving power.’ They will strategically shut down entire neighborhoods at a time. With the power out for so long, people were demonstrating in the streets, building bonfires in the middle of the street with tires and broken furniture. The fires were a message: basically saying that they can provide a very different kind of light if they government pushes too far.
Our group (10 students) were having dinner last night when demonstrations took place on the street outside our restaurant. The TV was tuned to a loud soccer game, so we didn’t really hear anything besides a vague chanting. However, when we went outside the street had transformed. This was about 11:30, we’d been eating for a couple hours and by the time we came out there were two bonfires in the street and lots of people still milling around them. While the main demonstration was over, the sidewalks teemed with people. Some people were still shouting, the street had been blockaded to stop traffic, and we heard sirens in the distance. We stood on the corner to check out the scene for a few minutes and we heard on a nearby radio that riot polite were outside l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop, fac de FASTEF. To orient you, dear reader, the FASTEF campus of l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop was exactly where we were headed, as it's where we're living. Learning there's riot police at your front door isn't good news. So we took the back door and didn’t have any problems. On the way home, though, we were approached by a Senegalese woman who had lived in the US for many years. She said this is the first time in history anything like this has happened. She was pretty shocked and walked us part of the way home. On the street, complete strangers would approach us and reassure us saying, "don’t be scared, it is just for the electricity, don’t be scared." They even pointed us down some safe side streets so we wouldn’t have to see the actual demonstrations. Our program staff had expressly forbade us to take part, linger at, or attempt to watch any of the riots that rocked our portion of the city. Needless to say, it was a thrilling walk home.
The official explanation is an old power plant at the northern dam of the Senegalese River, but it’s pretty common knowledge that the government does it as a means of ‘saving power.’ They will strategically shut down entire neighborhoods at a time. With the power out for so long, people were demonstrating in the streets, building bonfires in the middle of the street with tires and broken furniture. The fires were a message: basically saying that they can provide a very different kind of light if they government pushes too far.
Our group (10 students) were having dinner last night when demonstrations took place on the street outside our restaurant. The TV was tuned to a loud soccer game, so we didn’t really hear anything besides a vague chanting. However, when we went outside the street had transformed. This was about 11:30, we’d been eating for a couple hours and by the time we came out there were two bonfires in the street and lots of people still milling around them. While the main demonstration was over, the sidewalks teemed with people. Some people were still shouting, the street had been blockaded to stop traffic, and we heard sirens in the distance. We stood on the corner to check out the scene for a few minutes and we heard on a nearby radio that riot polite were outside l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop, fac de FASTEF. To orient you, dear reader, the FASTEF campus of l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop was exactly where we were headed, as it's where we're living. Learning there's riot police at your front door isn't good news. So we took the back door and didn’t have any problems. On the way home, though, we were approached by a Senegalese woman who had lived in the US for many years. She said this is the first time in history anything like this has happened. She was pretty shocked and walked us part of the way home. On the street, complete strangers would approach us and reassure us saying, "don’t be scared, it is just for the electricity, don’t be scared." They even pointed us down some safe side streets so we wouldn’t have to see the actual demonstrations. Our program staff had expressly forbade us to take part, linger at, or attempt to watch any of the riots that rocked our portion of the city. Needless to say, it was a thrilling walk home.
When we got home, all of us went to the balcony (we're on the 3rd floor and have a decent view) to see if anything was visible. Nothing happened. Haha. But we turned on a radio (hand-crank powered no less) and tried to find a station that would tell us something about the current events. We didn't get much information but we had a good time talking about politics and trying to predict what might happen. That's also when we discovered that a bird comes out at night and has a call that sounds like a possessed clown cackle. It was a sound of nightmares.
So, the parting message here is: Rachel is staying for a year in the most exciting period for politics! It will interesting to see what will happen in the months surrounding the election.
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