so do you remember the last words of The Wicked Witch of the West? "Oh what a world, what a world..." as she descends into a puddle of her own being. This was how I was feeling about 20 minutes ago, just before I checked my email, and just before I had a little chat with Vicki. But, as with other things in life, my "problems" just had a marvelous way of being melted down to nothing- on their own time though, not mine. I put "" on problems because everything now that I consider to be "problems" seem so ridiculous in light of the things I've seen here.
Today, I was supposed to have an interview with a professor in sociology at 10am at the University. I arrived on time, but he was in class, and he walked out of it to tell me that he had to cover a lecture for one of his colleagues, and that we could not meet as scheduled. He actually walked out of his class of 50+ students to tell me this- can you imagine? I was appreciative, but I was in plain sight of all the students, and I felt like such a Toubab (this is the word Africans use to talk about white people.. I think I mentioned it before.. it's not derogatory, but it can be). If it were me, I would have been thinking, "Why the heck is our professor leaving class for this Toubab? Isn't it enough that he's colonized us at one point, and now he's doing this?" But, then again, that's my own way of thinking- it's not necessarily theirs. In fact, I'm sure it isn't.
Ok, so I admit I'm a bit dramatic. Now you see how my mind works.
I walked away from Semou (the professor) feeling defeated, again, and without clear direction about what to do next. He told me to come back at 1pm, but it was 10am, so what was I to do for 3 hours? Wait around in the hot sun? No, so I tried the library, figuring I could sit in there and study. Hah! Good luck trying to find an empty seat in there during exam time! There were SEVERAL, I mean SEVERAL, tables with chairs for students, and each was full. Ok, Plan B- I decided to walk to the other research center I've worked at before, WARC, which is about a 30 minute walk from the U campus. It's a lovely walk, though- it's all along the coastline. It was warm, but bearable with the cool breeze from the ocean. And, I kept thinking to myself, "I'll soon be in an air-conditioned room," over and over again!
I studied at WARC until 12:30, then packed up and got back on the road. You should really see me here- I'm sure it's quite a vision.. this Toubab who's walking like he's on a mission, rather than sauntering like the Senegalese. I'm sure it's quite amusing to watch. I even laugh! But on I go, on my little mission... and I get there, we meet again (Semou), and we sit in his stifling office. I start in with my pigeon French, and he quickly takes command of the conversation, much to my relief. As he shares his beliefs about peace in Africa, I sit there, scribbling away on my notepad, trying to jot down every little French word or phrase I catch (I record the interviews, too), while every 5 seconds I use my left hand to wipe the deluge of sweat coming from the top of my scalp. I think if I had hair it might catch the sweat, but because I don't, it falls down to my eyes as soon as it's produced. It's really obnoxious. But what makes it worse is that he's not sweating a bit, even while he's wearing a full length bou-bou that covers him from neck down. Yes, they are supposed to be cooler, but still! In that heat I don't think it should matter.
After a half hour, we wrapped things up, and parted ways. I caught the nearest bus home and walked to the fast-food joint around the corner. I got a light, cold sandwich- anything else sounded disgusting at the moment. I went home, then realized that I didn't have a key to get in, and both Vicki and Yemi were at the Baobab Center- a good 20 minute walk, or $3 taxi. The sound of walking any more made me want to cut my wrists right then, so I decided to sit in the shade, eat my sandwich, and take a taxi after I'd cooled off a bit. This is exactly what I did.
When I finally got home, I took a cold shower and fell asleep. This was at 5ish, and I didn't wake up until 8, when dinner got here. This heat REALLY is incredible. It is a force to be reckoned with. I pushed it a bit too far today, and it bit back. Vicki said not to do that again, and I'm going to try not to, even if it means spending a little bit more money on a taxi when I could just as easily walk. But, I have to remember, walking 30 minutes here is not like walking 30 minutes anywhere else!
Even after my interview today, I was still feeling defeated. I had literally spent the entire morning and afternoon working for one 30 minute interview. True, it was an amazing interview, but still! If I try to do this everyday I'll run myself into the ground for sure. Other than calling these professors on their mobile phones (which I really didn't want to do because of my discomfort with French), there's really no other way. So, tomorrow, I decided, I will make phone calls as early as possible. And, if I get their voicemails, I'm going to say that I'll try them again in a few hours. And if that doesn't work, I'll say that I'll try them the next morning. And if that doesn't work, I may have to invest in a cell phone so that I have voicemail. Our home phone doesn't have voicemail, which is why I'm making this sound more complicated than it needs to be. Vicki agrees with this strategy (note to self), and, she confirmed that I had a hard day (another note to self). She also said that this is normal at first, and that it gets easier. I'm trying to keep that in mind, but it gets hard.
So yeah, I was just about to throw the towel in when I opened my email and there were two emails- one from a student at the U that I had asked to interview, and one from Kany (the Senegalese woman in Minneapolis whom I had dinner with before leaving), both offering to help with my research! Kany said that she heard I was having problems contacting professors, and that I could contact two of her professor friends (although I probably won't, as they're both language professors, and not all that relevant for my topic), and the student said enthusiastically that he would sit down with me for an interview. So there you go- "problems" solved, sort of. They're solved in the sense that I feel motivated to do this another day, and sometimes that's all one can hope for. For me, definitely, it's enough for right now, and I'm grateful for it.
Ok, my eyes are drooping again.. I guess it's time for bed! Seriously? Ok, I guess so. Until tomorrow!
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