crunch time

I am finally writing again! It's been too long. The days here have been going by fast lately, as I'm trying to cram in as much research as possible in the last two weeks. This is good, for me, because I really cannot wait to be home! The heat here is getting pretty obnoxious- each night is like sitting in a sauna. Well, ok, maybe not that bad, but it is pretty humid, and I'm never dry. More importantly though, I just miss people, places, and things. I'm actually checking out WCCO Minneapolis tv station to watch some news. Anyway, blah blah blah, just turned off the WCCO- wasn't doing it for me!

The last couple of weeks have been really interesting in terms of the work I've been doing. I interviewed my first student early last week, and it went really well. He spoke some English, which helped when I got confused with his French. And, he seemed to understand my interview questions throughout, so that was also good news. He was really sweet about it- he invited me over to his apartment (it's actually a large house), where he lives with 15 other students (I think two guys share each room), and when I got there he ran downstairs to the little market to purchase some Fanta soda. He came back, poured me a cup, and we started the interview. It lasted for about 90 minutes. When we were finished, we sort of just hung out for another hour or so, and he introduced me to the other students living there and told them all about my research so that I could interview them as well. Since then, I've been going back there almost every afternoon to interview 1 or 2 more students. Each time I go over there, we all hang out for an hour or so, then I get started with the interview, then we take an hour break, and then I start another interview, and then we hang out for another couple of hours. So, each time is a BIG time commitment, but that's just how it is here- you don't rush things. In the states, participants would be happy to kick you out of their house, but here, it's preferable to build some sense of rapport with them.

Spending all this time at Adama's house has been a learning experience itself, aside from the research. I can't articulate what it is that I'm learning over there, but I imagine that whatever it is (culture?) it will end up seeping through my paper when I write it up, which I think is a good thing. Personally, of course, it's also nice being able to relate and build relationships with these guys. In terms of actual research experiences, it's been a great learning experience for me because I'm finding out that there are problems with my interview protocol. These problems would have been impossible to foresee, however, as I'm only seeing them now in the process of interviewing. For example, there are some questions that confuse some of the guys, and I've been giving some thought about how else I might ask them, and even more important, thinking more clearly about WHY I'm asking them. There's a specific question, for example, that asks, in general, what kinds of conflicts can one experience in daily Senegalese life? The response is typically the same as the statement I give before we begin the interview, which basically gives the context of the types of conflicts I'm interested in (e.g., conflicts within and between families, between friends and strangers, between work colleagues, etc). In other words, they'll say that conflicts are possible in families and in friendships. But, when I ask for specific examples, they struggle to find any. There are a few possibilities for this discrepancy- first, it could be that they don't feel comfortable giving me examples because they might think I'm using this research to show how conflict-ridden they are (which I'm not); second, it could be that they don't remember conflicts well because it is so ingrained in their culture to let go of them (I like this explanation the most); or third, it could be... hmmm... what else... I know I had another explanation for this, but for some reason I'm drawing a blank now. Ah well, you get the point- I don't know why there is a discrepancy between their responses, but it does provide for some interesting follow-up. I might even ask Adama if he knows why.

Oh, that just made me wonder if there's also a difference between those who are more traditional and those who are more Westernized. I thought of this because of Adama, who seems less traditional, also had less difficulty providing examples than those students who were more traditional. Hmm... this seems to support the first hypothesis above. And, I also had one student tell me that he couldn't answer the questions that were directed at his own life and his own experience of conflicts, but that he could answer the more general questions for all Senegalese people. He seemed more traditional, too. So, perhaps the first hypothesis is better supported than the second, but I WANT to believe the second one because it's more interesting from a theoretical standpoint (e.g., culture might affect memory of conflicts to the extent that it is a virtue to live in, and to promote, peace).

The second hypothesis is also supported somewhat by the responses I've gathered from these students, and from my readings, regarding the general culture of peace here. Islam, I found out, actually means PEACE in Arabic. I haven't verified this yet, but that's what one of the students told me yesterday. Also, the Arabic greetings used here (i.e., Asaala Malaakum; Malaakum Salaam = Peace be with you; And may peace be with you) might promote a culture of peace, as well as the Wolof greetings, which come directly after the Arabic greetings, and ask whether you have peace. I've also been fortunate to gather some Wolof proverbs that situate peace as the most important human virtue. The students have shared all of this with me, and they have spoken about peace as if it were so ordinary and common. I'm not sure what to make of this, yet. I haven't spoken with enough people. But, it is supported by what I've read and by the few interviews I've had with professors.

Anyway, that's just some of the stuff I've been doing here with research. This blog is especially for those of you who thought I was just coming here to get adopted by Angelina Jolie, or if my chances were really good, Madonna.

Other than my research, you can see from the photos of Foundiougne that I've been having a nice time. There's really not much to say about Foundiougne- we basically hung out with Assane's family and walked around town most of the time. Saturday it rained most of the day, so we also spent a few hours playing UNO, which was nostalgic. Ate some more fish- it was yummy. Was almost eaten alive by mosquitos on our first night there- then I woke up and lathered myself in repellant. Rode on a motorcycle for the first time ever- that was a lot of fun (I didn't drive, though- too scary). Also rode on one of those horse-carriage thingies- both the motorcycles and the horse-carriages serve as taxis there because there aren't many cars. It's nicer that way, actually; the air isn't polluted like Dakar's and it feels more like a village.

We did have some Vicki-drama the other day.. that kind of sucked, but it's over now. We had a sit-down conversation yesterday with me, Yemi, and Vicki and went over what had happened and what we want from now on. Basically, she got all bent out of shape the other night because no one remembered to tell Saida what to make for dinner, so Saida didn't come. Then, this was combined with Vicki's disappointment that all we did in Foundiougne was hang out and relax. But, you ask, didn't Vicki stay in Dakar? YES! She did, and when she expressed her disapproval, I asked her why it should bother her. We parted ways after that and didn't talk for the rest of the night. It was like the cold-war in here, or in French, la guerre-froid! Aside from this, she had been picking on Yemi for the past couple of weeks because she thought that Yemi wasn't doing enough work. But in reality, Yemi's been working pretty hard, it just doesn't look like it because she's able to do most of her work on her computer or by studying 100 year old French documents (i.e., not through interviews, like most of us). So in our meeting yesterday, Yemi let her have it- respectfully and assertively. I was proud of her. I made my own comments, and suggested a few things for the remaining time here. Now, things are back to normal and we're living peacefully again. In short, we just had to re-negotiate our boundaries. It was a good learning experience, indeed!

Ok, that's all for now. I was using this blog to take a break from the French translation I've been immersed in this morning. But now, it's time to get back to it, as much as I'd rather not. So, hope everyone's well out there in blog-o-sphere. Thinking of you.