"We are Happy from Dakar"

     Studying abroad has the potential to be this awesome experience where you immerse yourself into a new culture and learn more about yourself and the world. It also has the potential to make you pessimistic about the human condition. Two Fridays ago as we were heading to our internship, I was talking with Emma about our experience so far. We both realized that we were studying such heavy subjects that we then observe in everyday life. We weren't just talking about development or the lack thereof, we were affected by it. The 2 hour trip to Yeumbeul shows that the road system here needs improvement and in some parts, there’s just dirt and no road to speak of. We are asked several times a day by children and other individuals for money. When we pass the suburb of Pikine, we can see that there are people living in conditions that are less than decent. Our goal of studying development isn’t simply about understanding the theory, but it’s also realizing that there are real human beings affected by the policies created. When you think about everything that needs to be worked on, you begin to wonder where one would even start. Does the education system receive our attention first? How do we combat poverty and give people more options? Are the environmental problems the one that we need to focus on? Are we going to pay attention to the public health? What about economic development? If we were the leader of a country, where would we start?
     In thinking about all of this, we were talking to someone who reminded us that progress will take place. Not everything can be done overnight but little by little; there are changes that will be done to improve the quality of life here. I also want to be clear that I don’t want to tell a single story of Senegal as this place where everything is terrible and I am miserable. That would be a lie. I had to adjust to living without certain things but being adaptable will get you far in life. I can’t yet join in conversations in Wolof because the vocabulary isn't there.  I can’t give money to every kid in the road who asks for it and I definitely don’t have the solutions to tackle all the problems we've seen so far. Other than the moments where I feel overwhelmed, I am definitely happy to be here.

     While we are on this subject, I found a video on Youtube titled,"We are Happy from Dakar." It is definitely worth sharing! My sisters introduced me to the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and I have been a fan ever since.