Célèbre

It's 9:00 A.M. Saturday morning and the 8 of us, accompanied by Waly and Adji, groggily make our way through the streets of Fann to the Université Cheik Anté Diop.  None of us are really sure what is happening, thanks to our combined interpretations of the French explanations we received in class.  We know that there is some presentation this morning, and that tomorrow we are leaving for a town called Sokone for a week with a group of university students. 

In my hand is a short speech written by Waly that my classmates generously volunteered me to recite.  I look over the speech as we walk, preparing to present it briefly to 10 or so American students from Boston, as Waly had explained to me earlier.  We wait outside a building of the university as busses and escorted vehicles pull up to the entrance, which gradually becomes the center of attention, news cameras, microphones, backdrop and all.  Finally I am ushered by Adji up the steps, into the building, and into a room full of professional looking people.  I am given a baseball cap with the name of the group on it, to pull together my ensemble of a turquoise paigne (wrap-skirt) and a child's size Ray Rice T-Shirt (waiting for laundry day).  We are all ushered out of the room onto the front steps, crowded around a set of microphones, facing about 200 people and multiple television and video cameras.  So Waly underestimated a little bit.  Did I mention that the speech is in French? 

So about an hour and a half later, after standing under the sun and in the middle of at least 20 people, listening to endless speeches that all said the same thing - "thanks for having us here with you, we look forward to helping the people of Senegal, blah blah blah," - I am introduced to the lackluster audience of students, directors, and teachers.  I briefly introduce myself, recite my speech, and am greeted at the edge of the stage by the enthusiastic handshake of the overall director of the program, a tall, light-skinned, jovial man.  After explaining a bit about the MSID program in hushed tones, I am released to go stand with the students.  Less groggy and more confused, we make our way back to the WARC, where we spend the rest of the day in the air conditioned computer lab, working on our papers that are due Monday.

The speech (Waly's home video version, so the quality isn't so great)

Later that evening, while playing cards with a neighbor, Luca, I explain to him what I know about my upcoming week, based on what I had heard that morning.  We are going on something called "vacances citoyennes" to Sokone for a week, but most people will be gone for two.  In Sokone, we will be doing various activities to help the community, including reforestation and alphabetization.  As I contemplate my next discard, Aby and Diallo rush into the house and excitedly rush through a sentence or two directed at me.  Advised by Luca to slow down, they repeat themselves, more coherently this time, "On t'a juste vu sur le télé! À l'université, t'était sur le télé!" - "We just saw you on TV! At the University, you were on TV!"  Laughing abashedly, uncomfortably aware of the multiple eyes and smiles upon me, I can't help but hope that my family is proud of me, and realize how much I will miss them during the coming week.