OK, I've officially had enough of Senegal. Rather, I've had enough of being away from home, being in Africa, being on my own... it's time to go home now. Two more days of listening to people being interviewed; one day of driving; two more days of putting it all together in Dakar.
I feel guilty about not being entirely happy to be here. It's really an amazing opportunity, and I am genuinely glad to have come here. And, although it's been grueling at times, I do find it much more interesting and rewarding to visit a place for work—meet with people doing interesting things, talk to actual Senegalese people—than to visit as a tourist and see only the surface (at least I'm getting one layer further). But I've had enough.
Meanwhile, the 21st century is really pretty amazing. I'm sitting here in the middle of nowhere in eastern Senegal but have been checking in daily with friends and family. More than daily, in fact, if you count the text messages on and off throughout the day. Quite a contrast from 21 years ago, when my parents were in Botswana for a year: I spoke to them every few weeks, when they were in town. They would call my dorm room and have me call back; we'd talk for a few minutes, usually with a terrible delay; and it would cost a fortune.
Mom is still traveling around the world: her blog posts beginning today are from Cochabamba, Bolivia, where she's doing a homestay while studying Spanish. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, her Bolivian SIM card doesn't seem to allow her to send text messages, so we can only communicate the old-fashioned way, by email.
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