Oh, you haven't seen the last of me.

You might be thinking that you're done with me. That, seeing as how I'll be home in less than two weeks, and leaving Senegal in about a week, you won't have to be reading this blog much longer. (I mean, I don't even know who is reading this exactly, but...) So you think you're done with my travels, eh? Well, guess again. I give you: Direct from Dakar, Part Two: The Internship!

Today I can finally say with certainty that I will be back in Senegal next summer for my CISLA internship! (cisla.conncoll.edu will explain that further, if you're interested). I'll be back here in late May, and working for The SEM Fund/GENSEN from May 25th until July 31st, based here in Dakar. I'll be traveling around however, to the ecovillages (including Diourbel and Palmerin, where I have already visited) to do work for the NGO. It's not completely clear every specific of what I'll be doing, but I'll likely start out doing journal entries for Kiva.org, and collecting data for the NGO on their loan recipients. I think if all goes well and I settle in nicely, they're going to ask me to teach some technical skills classes in some of the villages. What they really need is business management. While I'm not exactly qualified for that per se, I am in touch with a woman here in Dakar that runs ANOTHER NGO which teaches women about business management. So, hypothetically, she could teach me to teach others. Also, I could definitely give English, French, or technology (computer) classes, on a rather informal basis.

Anyway, this is all very exciting, because most students in my CISLA program don't get their internships confirmed until next semester. I'm always stressing at the last minute about things, so it is a huge (and exciting) relief to have dates and accomadations set! My program pays for my housing and such, so that I can work for the NGO for free. So, that's it. I'm definitely coming back. This couldn't come at a better time, because I definitely don't want to say goodbye to Senegal. If I didn't have so much work to do on my ISP still (I'm writing the report and preparing my presentation now) I would be freaking out about leaving. At least this way when I leave I can say... "ba bennen yoon, inch'allah!" ('till next time, god willing).

Yay!