Senegal Money Exchange

1$= 448.00 CFA Franc

5$=2,245.00 CFA Franc

10$=4,490.00 CFA Franc

20$=8,980.00 CFA Franc

50$=22,450.00 CFA Franc

100$=44,900.00 CFA Franc

10 useful Words/Phrases in Wolof (Senegal's Language)

bird= kër, dëgër

no = nób, sóf

door = loo, soo

cook = nuyu, ubi

say = bés

moon = tuuru, yuuxu

where = seet, leel

moment = xob, romba

absorb = banta, tapa, santa

meet = siis, lii, kii

7 Days in Dakar, Senegal

Day 1

Imagine my culture shock as I alighted from my 20-hour long plane ride to Dakar. I was bombarded by the sounds and voices of the Arabic language. I felt like I was at a concert where the chaos and the music did not match. I was quickly scooped up from my feet by a rickshaw, and off we went to The Grand Mosque. This is a very sacred religious worshiping palace. These Muslim people worship for hours at a time. I was not allowed in because tourists were forbidden. Wow! From the crazy chaos of foreign voices and their chopped up language with accents in weird places, to the quietness and sanctuary of The Grand Mosque, it has been a big first day.

Day 2
After I packed up some food in a basket for my picnic, I called for a taxi and traveled to the enormous Baobab tree. This tree is otherwise known as the Monkey-Bread Tree or the Upside Down Tree. The reason why it is called the Upside Down Tree is because it looks like someone plucked it out of the ground and slammed it upside down back into the earth. This unusual tree is used in many different ways. The rough bark is used for rope and clothing, the monkey bread is actually a fruit that is eaten by many Senegal people, and finally the leaves are made into different kinds of medicine. It was hard to miss this conspicuous giant with its gnarly branches and very thick trunk.

Day 3
In the morning I decided to join a tour group that was traveling to Lake Lac Rose. As we traveled around the Lake we saw the piles and piles of salt that looked like mini ancient Egyptian pyramids all in white. I am guessing from all of the salt here that the Senegali people make a lot of money by exporting this salt all around the world. When I heard the tour guide say "Now if you look to your left you will see the many miners that we have working here today." I was amazed by how many workers there were; there must have been twenty people per mining hole, and there were at least forty of these holes. That's 800 people working on the salt mine! After the tour was over the tour guide handed each of us some salt chunks. For some reason I bit a hunk out of mine and spit it out immediately; the taste was so overwhelming. Some souvenir! I had a great educational day today, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 4
Today I am going to the Isle de Goree. This island is an island from Dakar's colonial past. This is one of the places where all the slaves were kept. During this historical time the slaves' masters would beat these helpless people until the slaves did exactly as they were told. The island living space is basically all enclosed, and the slaves were held down with a ball and chain. This was a horrible sight for me, someone who believes in freedom for everyone. I even got to feel what it must have been like to be one of those slaves-- as I ran my hand over the rusty, rough, cold metal ball and chain it made me deeply sad and shudder. As a tourist, I was able to try on the ball and chain, and the ball alone was about twenty pounds. I could barely walk! I found this odd and not very pleasing to have to feel the physical and emotional weight of these slaves. But I am glad that I went to the island because I believe that they should free all of the slaves, and some how visiting here and learning more felt like the right thing to do.

Day 5
Now today will be a little different than the other days, as today I am catching a bus and going off to the marketplace. At the marketplace I looked around for things to buy or barter, and all of a sudden I heard this man calling to me, "Hey you!" he shouted. I turned around and we caught eyes, and he said, "Yes you, come over here! I know you want to buy something from me." So I thought, "Hmmm...Maybe he has some cool things." I walked over to his market stall and my eyes were caught by all the colors and textures I saw. Racks of hand-made jewelry (especially pearls), and beautifuly made clay pottery. The man kept trying to make me buy pearls. I guess he noticed that I was a muzungu (foreigner). I kept talking to him and eventually I bought something for my mom. I realized that he was a very poor man who actually lived benaeath his pearl stand at night, and only had one meal a day. We had a long conversation, and I realized that the last bus was leaving in five minutes, so I gave him some extra money and scampered back to the bus make-shift bus stop. I was the last one on the rattley old bus, and they almost closed the doors on me. But before I knew it, I was back at my Dakar home, in my bed, falling asleep.

Day 6

Today I visited the Dakar Presidential Palace. This palace was built in 1906 during the colonial era. During this era the Governor lived in this grand palace, but now, obviously the President of Senegal lives here; Leopold Sedar Senghor. The palace is surrounded with lush tropical gardens. This beautiful mansion is surrounded with Red Guards that obviously patrol the Presidential Palace. I was able to take a picture with these guards in their crisp uniforms. So now I am back at my hotel and I'm about to go to sleep.


Day 7
Well, I guess I saved the best for last. When you think of Africa most people think of going on safari. I too wanted see the animals on the Senegal safari! It was amazing, and it was also surprising to me. This was surprising because most people sign up for an African safari to see giraffes and zebras and lions (Oh my!). Instead of giraffes and zebras and lions, I saw colorful, vibrant birds. Right and left throughout the natural preserve there were 7-up can colored, parakeets and parrots. I also saw some oxen trudging through some dead grass. I was amazed by the size of this humongous beast. It must have weighed one-thousand pounds, and I am not exaggerating. But probably the most remarkable sight of the day was not a mammal nor a bird, it was a huge bright orange, bright red, and bright pink sunset.
When I got back to my hotel, I packed up my things and caught my 11:00 PM flight back home. Flying home I realized that there was one thing missing. Senegal had no clean, fresh water, so I looked on my computer and I found out that an organization named INBO General Assembly of International Network of Water Basins is active in Senegal. This organization works to mantain extreme climate conditions like flood or drought, and preserve clean water. I will leave Senegal as I found it by making a contribution to the INBO.

Senegal Trip

I am planning a trip to Dakar, Senegal. In order for me to travel there, I first need to book flight arrangements. Below is my itinerary.

Thu, Jan 28

Depart: 8:00 am Los Angeles, CA (LAX) United Airlines 966

Arrive: 6:55 am next day Dakar, Senegal (DKR) South African Airways 208

Thu, Feb 11

Depart: 1:50 am Dakar, Senegal (DKR) South African Airways 207

Arrive: 10:58 am Los Angeles, CA (LAX) United Airlines 846

Below are the things that I will do in Dakar.

7 Things to do in Dakar, Senegal

1. Go surfing in the Atlantic Ocean

2. See the film festivals

3. See the art festivals

4. See the music festivals

5. Visit one of their night clubs

6. Go see a live venue

7. See the VEMA Art Gallery

Water Project Blog Entry

Dear (the boy in the picture),
I am a seventh grader at Santa Barbara Middle School. I have an amazing teacher, John Seigel Boetenner, who rode his bike across America. During class one day, he gave us the excruciating experience of doing what you do twice a day. I can't believe that you have to carry five gallons of water to and from your house, twice every day. I only carried two gallons and thought that it was extremely heavy. Also our walk was only about one half of a mile when your trek to your house is about six miles. Not to mention that your climate is quite a bit hotter than the conditions that I had to go through. The really crazy thing is that you’re about five years younger than I am. I wonder, do you get used to carrying so much water for such a long distance? I am also curious as to how long you have been doing this for?
When I was your age, my thought of working hard for chores was cleaning my room. For me it would've been impossible at your age to carry that amount of water for as far as you do. Even today, when I am close to being thirteen years old, I think that carrying two gallons of water from our school to a park a half a mile away was difficult. Also I cant imagine how much your feet would hurt if you walked that far twice a day, every day even with shoes, and you don’t have a pair.
Also you don’t even have a cap for your five gallons, so you have to shove a giant banana on the top so water wont spill out. For one of my jugs, I had to stuff two plastic bags into the lid, and I thought that was creative. I still don’t know how you can do that without being a superman, you’re my hero.

Sincerely,
Dylan Carmody

A Day With John Buldaou

I spent the whole day today hanging out with John Buldaou, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. I have looked forward to being with him ever since I learned about his tragic experience where he walked thousands of miles from Southern Sudan to Ethiopia to flee the genocide in his country. When the child soldiers came to Ethiopia he walked thousands of more miles to Kenya. John spent 10 years in a refugee camp. These lost boys were "running" away from the civil war that had taken over southern Sudan. Later, when he noticed his name on a bulletin board, he then knew that he was going to move to New York, and that's where John is now. When I came to visit him in New York the first thing we did was eat breakfast. I was starved after my long flight from California. And guess what? We ate with our hands! To people in Sudan, utensils are not necessary. John told me that he and the other lost boys still wanted to keep their culture from Sudan, and not break away and forget where they came from, or the experiences that they have had that shaped their lives. They did not want to forget that they walked thousands of miles out of fear and toward safety. Once we had eaten breakfast we rode down the elevator from the top floor of our New York high rise. I asked John where we were going and he said, “We’re going on a real Big Apple adventure!” He didn’t tell me where we were going, but as we hit the streets we suddenly heard honking horns, and saw crowds of bustling people and bright yellow taxi cabs. We went together with some of the Lost Boys to the subway station. I knew from watching the movie that John loved the excitement of the subway. If I know John, I am guessing that he loved the fact that it is underground and went super fast. I asked him if he had ever gotten lost in the complicated maze of the New York subways? He said, "Even after three years of living here I still get lost!" I thought the subway ride was pretty fun too, because I’ve never been to New York before.

We got off at Central Park and found a beautiful park bench to talk the day away. With a dark expression in his eyes, John shared with me about life in Sudan. We talked about his long walks and how it felt to be the leader of other children when he was my age; age 12. I asked him if he ever cried when he lost his parents? I asked him if it was hard to be the leader of about 5-8 children when he was only a few years older? He replied by saying, “I cried every day for a long, long time.” I thought about that, and I thought that I would cry a lot because I wouldn't have known if my parents were alive or not. He told me that it was very hard thinking that his parents were gone. I was so moved by his stories that I was about to cry too, so I lightened up the subject and I asked him, "What should we do next?" He replied by saying in his deep, booming voice, "Let's check out the New York Modern Art Museum. Looking around we saw some of the most mind-blowing, creative, and inspiring paintings, drawings, and sculptures. These were the best created works of art that I had ever seen. It was awesome, and added the creative spark to our afternoon adventure. Now we were hungry! We dodged out of the museum and got some lunch. We stumbled upon some hot-dog place, and New York frankfurter was great! (and I don’t even like hot-dogs.), but I gobbled that dog like I hadn't eaten in a week.

The day had disappeared and I had less than hour to catch my departing plane at 3:30. John and I caught a taxi to the JFK airport. And suddenly, on impulse, he decided that relaxing on a Santa Barbara beach sounded pretty good. John slapped some money on the ticket counter, got a ticket, and he boarded the flight with me to Santa Barbara. Right there, at that moment John taught me the real meaning of Carpe Diem, cease every moment of your life! If there’s a chance for a new adventure, take it!

CARPE DIEM!

A Day With John Buldaou

I spent the whole day today hanging out with John Buldaou, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. I have looked forward to being with him ever since I learned about his tragic experience where he walked thousands of miles from Southern Sudan to Ethiopia. When the child soldiers came to Ethiopia he walked thousands of more miles to Kenya. John spent 10 years in a refugee camp. These lost boys were "running" away from the civil war that had taken over southern Sudan. Later, when he noticed his name on a bulletin board, he then knew that he was going to move to New York, and that's where John is now. When I came to visit him in New York the first thing we did was eat breakfast. I was starved after my long flight from California. And guess what? We ate with our hands! To people in Sudan, utensils are not necessary. John told me that he and the other lost boys still wanted to keep their culture from Sudan, and not break away and forget where they came from, or the experiences that they have had that shaped their lives. They did not want to forget that they walked thousands of miles for out of fear and toward safety. Once we had eaten breakfast we rode down the elevator from the top floor of our New York high rise. I asked John where we were going and he said, “We’re going on a real adventure!” Big Apple, New YorkHe didn’t tell me where we were going, but as we hit the streets we suddenly heard honking horns, and saw crowds of bustling people and bright yellow taxi cabs. We went together with some of the lost boys to the subway station. I knew from watching the movie that John loved the excitement of the subway. If I know John, I am guessing that he loved the fact that it is underground and went super fast. I asked him if he had ever gotten lost in the complicated maze of the New York subways? He said, "Even after three years of living here I still get lost!" I thought the subway ride was pretty fun too, because I’ve never been to New York before.

We got off at Central Park and found a beautiful park bench to talk the day away. With a dark expression in his eyes, John shared with me about life in Sudan. We talked about his long walks and how it felt to be the leader of other children when he was my age; age 12. I asked him if he ever cried when he lost his parents? I asked him if it was hard to be the leader of about 5-8 children when he was only a few years older? He replied by saying, “I cried every day for a long, long time.” I thought about that, and I thought that I would cry a lot because I wouldn't have known if my parents were alive or not. He told me that it was very hard thinking that his parents were gone. I was so moved by his stories that I was about to cry too, so I lightened up the subject and I asked him, "What should we do next?" He replied by saying in his deep, booming voice, "Let's check out the New York Art Museum. Looking around we saw some of the most mind-blowing, creative, and inspiring paintings, drawings, and sculptures. These were the best created works of art that I had ever seen. It was awesome, and added the creative spark to our afternoon adventure. Now we were hungry! We dodged out of the museum and got some lunch. We stumbled upon some hot-dog place, and New York frankfuter was great! (and I don’t even like hot-dogs.), but I gobbled that dog like I hadn't eaten in a week.

The day had disappeared and I had less than hour to catch my departing plane at 3:30. John and I caught a taxi to the JFK airport. And suddenly, on impulse, he decided that relaxing on a Santa Barbara beach sounded pretty good. John slapped some money on the ticket counter, got a ticket, and he boarded the flight with me to Santa Barbara. Right there, at that moment John taught me the real meaning of Carpe Diem, cease every moment of your life! If there’s a chance for a new adventure, take it!

CARPE DIEM!

7 Days In Rwanda

Day 1.
Wow! I'm a little tired. Yesterday I had to sit in a plane for what seemed interminable. But it was worth it because now I'm in this beautiful country, Rwanda. I am so excited for this week as I get to explore Rwanda. Today was so worth feeling a little jet-lagged. Guess what? Today I visited the Virunga volcanoes. Because they're volcanoes, we couldn not hike up, it's just too dangerous. So Plan B -- we got to go in the helicopter! It was so much fun just lifting off. I've never been in a helicopter, the whir of the propellor and the vertical rise all were exciting, and then the view. You should've been there! The view was like nothing I've ever seen -- smoking volcanoes, bright blue skies, and lush, green mountainsides. Today was the best day I have had in a long time. Well, its about 10:30 p.m. so I should get some sleep. Bye.

Day 2.
Today was an O.K. day. I visited the Kigali Memorial Center. It was very sad, but it was actually a great experience for me. I learned that this kind of stuff (genocide, murder, ugly violence) doesn't just happen in movies or video games, it can happen to anyone in real life. Sadly, it has happened here in Rwanda. On our Kigali Tour I sure I didn't like seeing rooms of dead bodies.
After a not so uplifting half of a day, I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone and check off another thing on my "7 things to do in Rwanda" list. So I walked down to a restaurant, got an all-American "Coke" and watched the sunset. After an O.K. day that was filled with many emotions, I went to bed.

Day 3.
Today was the most relaxing day of all. First off, I didn't have to wake up at 6:30 to get ready and catch a bus to any helicopter station or memorial center tour at 7:30. I got to sleep in until about 9:45. So far, so good. I caught a bus and went to the Gesenyi beaches. This is right on the shores of Lake Kivu and at the foot of the Mount Nyiragongo. As I stepped out of the bus I could smell the fresh air. When I looked around the beach for a place to set up, it seemed that their was a spot just for me-- in fact I imagined a sign that said "Reserved for Dylan." So I set up my umbrella, unfolded my chair, and took a nap on the beach. The air felt different and smelled different, but the sand was still soft. When I woke up, it was 5:00 p.m. So I packed up, caught a bus, had some dinner , and went to sleep early. This was day for my body and mind to rest.

Day 4.
Today wasn't quite as relaxing as yesterday, but it was still fun. I got to go to the Nyungwe National Forest. I can still hear the crashing waterfall echoing oin my ears on the hike that I went on. I saw so many things in their natural habitats --from monkeys howling in the tree branches to alligators snapping at the air; it was amazing. I almost felt like I was in the Amazon rain forest. I saw so much green. It was a sight that I will never forget.





Day 5.
Today is my last day in Rwanda, but I don't want to go home. It seems that I have fallen in love with Rwanda. The green jungle, sandy beaches, and wildlife all will stay with me. Today I got to see the Mountain Gorillas on a Rwandan Safari. When I saw these hairy giants on the safari I went crazy. They looked so cool, and they were HUGE!!! They had to be at least 1000 pounds, and one of them was even carrying a baby. Seeing these real kings of the jungle was the highlight of the safari trek, but I also saw giraffes, zebras, and even majestic lions. That night as I chowed down on some tilapia, goat meat, and beef brochettes, I was thinking about how lucky I am to be able to travel to Rwanda and see all of the things and places it has to offer. But now I'm soaring above the Atlantic Ocean heading west and northwest by plane, and soon I will be home and telling all of my friends what an adventure I had experienced. Bye.

Rwandan Money Exchange

Rwandan Money Exchange

1$=570 RWF

5$=2850 RWF

10$=5700 RWF

20$=11400 RWF

50$=28501 RWF

100$=57002 RWF

7 Things to do in Rwanda

7 Things to do in Rwanda

1. Visit the Virunga volcanoes

2. Cry at the Kigali Memorial Center

3. Relax at the Gisenyi beaches

4. Explore the National Nyungwe Forest

5. Go to a Rwandan bar and watch the sunset

6. Dig in on tilapia goat meat and beef brochettes

7. See the Mountain Gorilla

10 Words in Kenyan Rwandan

10 Words in Kenyan Rwandan

1. Komera – Be Strong
2. "Imana yirirwa ahandi igataha mu Rwanda."- "God spends the day elsewhere, but sleeps in Rwanda."
3. JamBoh – Hello
4. Goodbye (afternoon) – MeeReeGway
5. Oya – No
6. YAYgo – Yes
7. SahWah – Okay
8. MAYza - Good
9. BeeBee – Bad
10. MAYzay NAYzah – I'm Fine

Santa Barbara to Rwanda Round Trip Flight

Hi Everyone,

Its Dylan hope you guys are having a great year