Senegal is the size of a South Dakota. There are seven dialects taught by Peace Corps and that does not encompass all the languages spoken here. There are 15.8 million people living in this country. Everyone has a story about their cousin, and it could be their “joking cousin” or their actual cousin. The lion head of Senegal is actively eating the Gambia.
I live in the area that is the beginning of the western side of the Sahara Desert. I knew the differences from going from my training center in Thies and my beach side village of training in Mboro was different from where I live now. In fact, when I told my first host family that I was moving there, they were the first to warn about the heat. That is the fact.
My area also is colder at night, quieter, has less mosquitos, camels are roaming in herds, and fields of watermelons. While the heat was a fear of mine (and still is), and this could be fueled by the fact that I was cold this morning for the first time ever since living here, I have gown to love my region of Louga.
However, this is not about how freaking awesome Louga is, it is about a recent adventure I took down south. While I live in the northern area full of sand and if there are trees, they are these spikey ones to ward off our famous cattle from the farms, as you move more south the greener and greener it gets. The flats of sand turn darker and fuller of grass weeds. Trees become more common, and more abundant of different types. In fact, the more south you go the more rolling hills there are, and bodies of water are found, and rivers are flowing. the animals develop from not just cattle and goats to monkeys and tropical birds and hedgehogs. Trees are not planted in compounds for shade there are planted to provide fruit and even removed like weeds.
Different dialects are spoken, different wonders are to be seen, different norms entirely. The difference feels similar to moving from America to Senegal. It is a place to relearn about the country I call home.
It begs the question; are we even in the same country?
How can my area be filled with giant herds of goats, cattle, sheep, and camels? While down south the concern is monkeys? How can I be taken in by the vast distance I can see in my desert as well as the overflowing view of hills blocking my view from the land? How can one part never see an avocado and they are of abundance and put on a plate casually as a morning snack? How can my area have some of the best yogurt in Senegal and have it be so sparse in another?
The distance between these two parts of my world are so interesting. It is beautiful to be so incredibly diverse in such a small area. Granted it is not news that this vast change is uncommon for a country in general. It is just an observation I have that one day I can be working through soft sand trying to find shade and the net climbing mountains to see a sea of green below me.
I was just mesmerized by these hills and the different shades of green that I took videos upon videos in my transportation leaving the south.
Don’t get me wrong I have not fallen out of love of my home in louga but I have been re-captivated by this beauty that this country has to offer. Come to Senegal where you can be grazing dunes with camels and the next rock-climbing the side of a waterfall. Again, is this even the same country?
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