Here’s something I learned from the Americans, rather than the Senegalese: I love people who work in development. “Development”, of course, is the very broad term meaning everything from NGOs to microfinance to diplomatic work. It basically means the kind of people who enjoy travel so much that they have decided to do it for a living. Americans or Europeans who I met in Senegal, for the most part, tended to be open-minded, intelligent, intellectual, and generally left-leaning. So, on the whole, my kind of people.
For the most part, I got along pretty well with the other SEM and GENSEN interns. I didn’t always have a huge amount of time to spend with them, due to my travel. Still, when I was around, it seemed like I had hit the people jackpot. At Conn College (no, offense, CC) I have to meet a lot of people before I find a few with whom I really connect, or want to be friends with. The other interns already shared so many of my interests (French, Senegal, Microfinance, Sustainable Development, etc, etc.) that it was much more likely that we would have something to talk about.
I think that’s one of the reasons I’m considering doing something like microfinance for a living. No matter what I’m doing, or where I’m going, these are exactly the kinds of people I want to surround myself with. Even when we don’t perfectly get along, the conversation is certainly never dull!
Funnily enough, one of the people I met there, Josie, is from Irvington, which is about 5 minutes away from my house. I would travel to West Africa to meet my neighbors…
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On a ferry coming back from some islands off the coast of Ireland I ended up talking to a gentleman who grew up two blocks from my parent's house and went to school with and knew my older Brother Bob. It is amusing who we run into on the other side of the world
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