I’m in Nairobi! After a brief detour in Switzerland and some truly awful traffic (Nairobi has the second worst in the world!) I made it to my base in Nairobi.

Fortunately for me, this is my parent’s house in an area of town called Gigiri. They’ve lived here for many years and have kindly offered to let me stay here when in Nairobi to A) save some cash and B) have a workspace with some decent internet — ‘decent’ of course being a term relative to Africa. My primary month of filming runs from June 20 to July 23, during which I’ll be climbing Mt. Meru, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and Mt. Kenya back to back to back with little to no respite. In preparation for that rather grueling period, I’ll spend the next month mostly based here in Nairobi doing several things. I’ll be finalizing logistics such as equipment lists and permits; for example, I just finished submitting a film permit to the Kenya Wildlife Service that asked me to submit a final version of the film in VHS format; either their form is out of date, or (more likely) they’ve never felt like upgrading their system. I have already (in the day and half that I’ve been here) touched base with an experience filmmaker who lives here in Nairobi and is helping me arrange interviews and with a local Kenyan climbing guide, Samson, who will be going on several smaller expeditions with me to film and research for my story. Later this week we will be heading out to Lukenya, a small mountain about two hours from Nairobi where Samson guides.

I’m excited to get this show on the road and I’ll keep you updated! In the meantime, here’s my minimalist mountain filmmaker camera rig:

Bonjour ! Ça c’est mon premier post au Sénégal. Ça va bien ici. Je suis arrivé lundi à Dakar à vingt heure. Je suis resté là un soir et le prochain jour je suis allé à Saint Louis. Je suis arrivé la même nuit comme Laura, une gentille femme française. Nous avons appris plus tard que nous habiterions avec la même famille d’accueil. Je suis heureux que je ne sois pas arrivé seul. J’habite avec une veuve qui s’appelle Madame Madeline Faye. Elle a deux filles et un neveu qui habitent chez elle (aussi un ancien Talibé utilise une salle pour faire des vêtements, on peut dire qu’il habite ici aussi parce qu’il reste toujours ici). Madame Faye m’a donné le nom Babacar (un nom sénégalais comme Louis en France ou Joe aux Etats-Unis) après son beau-frère et aussi m’a nommé le « Chef de Village ». Le chef est le responsable pour les autres volontaires dans la maison (il y aurait un maximum de quatre, mais maintenant nous sommes seulement deux, Laura et moi). Cela existe principalement pour les volontaires qui ne peuvent pas parler bien le français. J’étais heureux de trouver que Madame Faye ait le Wifi, ça n’est pas la situation pour les autres volontaires. Au total, il y a dix volontaires ici que j’ai rencontré trois fois cette semaine, ils sont très gentils (nous travaillons sur les projets différents).

La ville de Saint Louis est petite mais pas trop. On marche toujours sur le sable et aussi prend les taxis. Il faut garder la petite monnaie parce que tout le monde ne prend pas les grands billets. J’ai fait deux grands tours de la ville, une promenade lundi avec Laura et aussi un tour guidé avec Habib, un employé de Projects Abroad. Je remarque toujours les déchets qui est partout et les pauvres gens qui me demande de l’argent. Beaucoup de bâtiments sont délabrés et la plupart restent avec électricité et eau douteuse. Ici on mange toujours de la nourriture fraiche parce que personne n’a une place pour la garder. On dort à travers le bruit qui consiste du son de prière des Mosquées, du son des animaux et du son des bébés. Jusqu’à présent, un soir je ne dors pas bien et le prochain soir je dors très bien parce que je suis très fatigué d’avoir perdu le sommeil le dernier soir. C’est la vie.

Je travaille au Bureau de Microfinance qui est près de la maison (une minute à marcher). Je travaille avec Cher (qui est sénégalaise) et Rachel (qui est Ecossaise). C’est un bon système ici pour le Microfinance, après avoir bien appris je voudrais vous l’expliquer. Cette semaine nous avons visité des femmes qui ont déjà reçu un prêt pour vérifier que tout se passe bien ou pour ranger les paiements. J’étais aussi surveillant d’un examen de maths pour cinq femmes qui veulent un prêt. Cela ne marché pas bien parce que je ne comprends pas le wolof ou le « français déformé », un vrai mélange de wolof et de français, et je ne pouvais pas remarquer si elles étaient tricheuses.

En général, tout se passe bien ! Je suis fier de mon niveau de français et je peux bien parler avec les autres volontaires ou sénégalaises qui ne parlent pas anglais. Il faut apprendre quelques mots en wolof pour les conducteurs de taxi qui parlent seulement le wolof et aussi pour bien négocier le prix au marché. Je garde un journal quotidien qui restera sous mes postes officielles. Regardez aussi les photos au-dessous. A plus tard !

Hello! This is my first post from Senegal. Everything is going well here. I arrived Monday in Dakar at 8 pm. I stayed there one night and the next day I traveled to Saint Louis. I arrived on the same night as Laura, a nice French girl. We later learned that we would be staying with the same host family and I was thankful that I did not arrive by myself. I live with a widow named Madeline Faye. She has two daughters and a nephew who live with her (and also a Talibé who uses a room to make clothes to sell, and one could say that he lives as well because he is here all of the time). Madame Faye gave me the name Babacar (a Senegalese name that is like Louis in France or Joe in the USA) after her brother-in-law and named me the “Chef de Village”. That person is responsible for the other volunteers (there can be a maximum of four at the house, but now it is only Laura and I).  This position exists primarily for the volunteers who cannot speak French well. I was happy to find that Madame Faye has Wi-Fi as this is rare here and not the case for the other volunteers. In total, there are ten volunteers here right now, I met them 3 times this week and they all seem very nice (we all work on different projects).

The town of Saint Louis is small but not too small. Every day I must walk on the sand and take taxis around town. You always need to have change or small bills on you because everyone only accepts cash and does not have much change. I have taken two big tours of the town, a walk with Laura on Monday and a guided tour on Tuesday with Habib, an employee of Projects Abroad. Every day I notice the trash that is everywhere and the poor people who ask me for money. A lot of buildings are dilapidated and most do not have reliable water or electricity. One only eats fresh food here because nobody has any way to store it properly. I also have to sleep through a lot of noise that is composed of the sounds of the prayers at the mosques, the animals and the babies crying. Up until now, one night I do not sleep well and the next night I do because of the lost sleep the night before. But I guess that’s life here.

I work in the Microfinance office with Cher (who is a native) and Rachel (who is Scottish). There is a good system in place for the microfinance here, and once I learn the whole process I will explain it to you. This week we visited a lot of women to either collect payments or simply to check to see that their business is going well. I also proctored a math exam for five women who are trying to get a loan. This did not really work because I do not understand wolof or the “deformed French”, a true mix of Wolof and French, and I could not tell if they were cheating or not.

In general, everything is going well! I am proud of my French and I can easily speak to people who do not speak any English. It is also necessary to speak a few words of Wolof for the taxi drivers who only speak Wolof or to negotiate the price down at the market. I am keeping a daily journal as well that I will put under my official posts. Check out the pictures below! Until next time!

Le coucher du soleil dehors Dakar/The sunset outside of Dakar

Un kiosk normal/A typical street stand

Ma chambre/My room

Madeline, Yacine et Daouda

Saint Louis

Un bon repas/A good meal

Les bonbons/The treats

Rachel et le Couteur/ Rachel and the Tailor

Jour 1 – Un voyage long, beaucoup de chèvres et de vaches dans la rue, nous avons été arrêter par la police 3 ou 4 fois. J’ai vu beaucoup de déchets dans la campagne et la ville. J’ai joué avec les enfants et ai fait une longue promenade avec Laura (et Madeline) autour de Saint Louis. J’ai rencontré madame Faye, Madeline, Daouda et Yacine.

Jour 2 – J’ai mangé le petit déjeuner en attendant Habib, du pain au chocolat. Il nous a expliqué toutes les choses de Projects Abroad (presque les mêmes choses que sur le site web) mais c’était bon. On a fait un tour du Centreville de Saint Louis et a mangé à Le Longueur. C’est là que j’ai vu les premières personnes blanches ici (ils étaient touristes, je pense). J’ai rencontré Cher et Rachel (qui est Écossaise) au bureau de microfinance. Il est un bon système pour ça ici. Après, tous les volontaires (10) sont sortis pour une boisson. Nous avons fait des bonbons (pour une cérémonie religieuse) et j’ai posé beaucoup de questions à Laura (3 mousquetaires).

Jour 3 – C’était mon premier jour de microfinance. J’ai changé des numéros sur un examen pour un Talibé qui veut faire son propre business. Après, nous avons visité trois femmes qui ont déjà reçu les prêts. J’ai rempli un questionnaire pour une femme qui avait le prêt depuis six mois. Sa maison était très petite mais elle me semble heureuse. A cause du prêt, elle peut payer les frais scolaires pour ses enfants et peut épargner quelque francs chaque mois. Pour déjeuner j’ai mangé du mafé (du riz blanc avec une sauce d’arachide). J’ai par hasard garder la monnaie des autres dans mon portefeuille, mais je pense que ça c’est correct maintenant. J’ai vraiment rencontré les autres volontaires, notamment Alicia, qui vient de Suisse. J’étais aussi un surveillant pour un examen ce qui était pris par un groupe de femmes. On a regardé des vidéos de la vie de Laura.

Jour 4 – Aujourd’hui on a corrigé les examens des femmes et ensuite a visité 4 femmes qui ont déjà reçu un prêt. Une femme a un jardin, mais l’eau ne fonctionne pas à cause des mauvaises dettes du propriétaire qui apporte de l’eau là de Saint Louis. Il y avait aussi une femme que les autres volontaires de microfinance pensent que Cher est déjà tombé amoureuse avec elle. J’ai passé l’après-midi en tapant le blog et ça. Le soir, les volontaires sont allés chez Amine, qui travaille au centre des Talibés. On a bien mangé et j’ai parlé avec Alicia et Michell sur leurs paies. Quatre personnes m’ont dit que je parle bien le français, incluant Laura (la française) et Alicia (la suisse).

Day 1 – It was a long trip and we almost died several times by the cows and goats in the road, and we were stopped by the police 3 or 4 times. I saw a lot of trash in the countryside and in the towns. I played with the children and took a long walk with Laura (and for a while Madeline) around Saint Louis. I met Madame Faye, Madeline, Daouda and Yacine.

Day 2 – I ate breakfast while waiting for Habib, some bread with chocolate spread. He explained to us everything about Projects Abroad (most of which was also found of the website) but it was good. We toured downtown Saint Louis and ate at a restaurant. I saw the first white people since coming to Senegal there, I think they were tourists. I met Cher and Rachel (who is Scottish) at the microfinance office. It’s a good system here for it. Afterwards, all of the volunteers (10) went out for drinks. We made treats (for a religious ceremony) and I kept posing a lot of questions to Laura (ask me about the situation of the 3 musketeers).

Day 3 – It was my first day at work. I changed the numbers to create a “new” exam for a man who wanted to have his own business. After, we visited three women who already received their loans. I filled out a questionnaire for a woman who has had here loan now for six months. Her house was very small but she seemed happy. Because of the loans she is able to pay for her kids’ student fees and enroll them in an afterschool program, in addition to being able to save some money each month. For lunch I ate mafe with the other volunteers (white rice with a peanut sauce). I accidently shoved someone’s money in my wallet, but it’s all good now. I got to better know the other volunteers, notably Alicia, who from Switzerland. I also proctored an exam for a group of women. We all watched some videos that Laura had taken at her work.

Day 4 – Today I graded the exams of the women and then we visited 4 women who already received a loan. One woman had a garden, the water was not working because the owner who brings the water from Saint Louis did not pay his bills. We also visited another women who the other microfinance volunteers think Cher is in love with. I spent the afternoon typing the blog and this. During the evening, all the volunteers went to Amine’s house, the director for the center for the Talibés. We ate well and I spoke with Alicia and Michell about their countries. Four people so far have told me that I speak French well, including Laura (who is French) and Alicia (who is Suisse).

I AM IN SHANGHAI!!!!!!

I have officially been in Shanghai for 24 hours now and it has been a blast thanks to Projects Abroad, which has been a great help as I land in China. I am deprived of sleep but full of good food. Food is essential to Chinese culture, and Shanghai is the hub of good food, from Michellin stars to local food stands. In Chinese, a common phrase to greet friends is not “hello” but it is 吃饭了吗？ “Have you eaten yet?” While I recover from my jet-lag and prepare for my work placement tomorrow, I indulge myself in the local delicacies. The first thing that you notice is the price. The food here is of course heavenly delicious but also super cheap!

My first meal is a vegetable and rice dish with the local specialty, a soup filled dumpling called Xiao long bao. (Soup dumplings, dragon dumplings, basket dumplings) It was a relatively large portion and very VERY good! And the whole meal was only 19 RMB!!! ($2.75).

Breakfast time is my favorite time to explore the city because people from all worlds come to dine in local spots. Right under my flat is a busy center full of people lining up for a nice breakfast. I lined up for a small food stand with the longest que, and it was for sure worth it. Again, super affordable and delicious. One Shao mai (rice filled wontons) and four fried dumplings (Sheng Jian Bao) only costs 6.5 RMB which is not even $1!

This heartwarming meal is the perfect thing for a “welcome to Shanghai” feel and a great cure for jet-lag and home sickness. As I grow used to the metropolis of China, I become indulgent in the food that is served. I think this connects me more to the Chinese culture and the Shanghainese community, because as the locals say, “Food is divine.”