Saturday, June 21st -- Brinkama, The Gambia

I'm in Africa!

We flew into Dakar, Senegal, on Friday morning, on South African Airlines-- which happens to be a really, really nice airline. Of course, then we had to drive to Bwiam, and most specifically, drive through Dakar and along the coast of Senegal.

Senegal is not pretty and it is not nice. The people try to con you, and there are dunes of trash everywhere. However, the farther away from Dakar you get, the more quickly things improve. The border, not so much. you have to check out of Senegal, then drive 50 feet and check in to The Gambia. The Senegal border, though, is a mess. There are people everywhere, mostly kids, that walk up to the windows. Their job is to ask us toubabs -- tourists -- to give them stuff. I was writing in my journal -- "pen for school?"-- and one girl just kept pointing to different things -- my bracelet, my watch, my sunglasses -- "can I have that?". When I told one little boy that he couldn have my silver bracelet, he screwed up his face to cry, decided it wasn worth it, and walked away.

The Gambia, though, is very different. Here, "It's nice to be nice," and everyone is. On the street, you greet everyone you come across, and with at least 2 exchanges of greetings.

The hospital we're staying at is very nice. We have beds and usually electricity and occasionally flushing toilets.

The worst part so far, for me, is the malaria medication. It makes me feel really sick, and this morning, I threw up on the packed bush taxi, which was really disgusting. On the bright side, I now have a new african skirt, and it's very pretty.

Also, I've been using my French! Incredible, I know, but it worked.

Next time I'll write more, but you pay for time to spend on the internet and I'm out.

Wednesday, June 17th -- New York

We finished up orientation today, and we're heading off to Africa in the morning. Today, we mostly did our medical briefing, and then talked in groups, and took a train to Target.

From now on, my blog posts are going to be different. I'm not going to be posting every day, and I'll decline, probably from writing lists of what I did. To be honest, the only reason I was really doing that before is so that I can remember what all of my pictures are of.

And speaking of pictures, photo uploading on Gambian dial-up could give me an aneurysm, so there will be fewer of those.

But I'm really excited! I like my group a lot, and we leave in 6 hours. Earliest possible contact will be on Saturday -- it'll take us about 2 days to get to Banjul and settled there.

Notes:
Banjul: (bahn-JOOL) capital city
Bwiam: (bwee-AHM) where I'll be, at Sulayman Junkung General Hospital.

I am flying New York to Dulles to Dakar, Senegal.

Tuesday, June 16th -- Adelphi University, Long Island, New York

Today was my first day of orientation!!! I can't wait to go to Africa.

I got up at 5:50 AM. I was supposed to get up earlier, but I was so tired from walking around everywhere and packing, etc., that I slept through the alarm the first time it went off. As a result, I missed the 6:04 N train to Atlantic-Pacific, which was actually two trains earlier than I needed, but the next one was late and I missed the layover at Atlantic-Pacific/ Flatbush Avenue (LIRR) for the train to Hempstead, NY that I needed.

Of course, this was all for the better anyways. There was coffee upstairs. Delicious, delicious coffee that I put on a giftcard, so it was like free coffee, which is even tastier.

The train to Nassau Blvd (Adelphi University) was actually pretty nice. It was very similar to the long distance-style trains in Europe, but with smaller overhead areas and not THAT nice. Padded seats, though. I started writing in my journal (I'm keeping a journal, too, for when I don't have Internet access or anything. I always keep a journal when I travel) , and I quickly discovered what was NOT nice about the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road), which is that it swings boisterously back and forth while speeding along the track. And since I was facing backwards with nothing but coffee in me, I was feeling a little gross.

All in all, I got to Nassau Blvd at 8:25, where miracle of miracles, there was an Adelphi shuttle waiting! For random Adelphi people! And my backpack, so I didn't have to lug it however many blocks there were! It was a beautiful thing.

I checked in at New Residence Hall and dumped my stuff in my room. It's nice. It's a triple, smaller than my triple at Rice, but still big -- two beds long, and the width of two beds plus a desk. There are two big windows, and then a little entryway. One one side there's a bathroom with a sink, counter, shower and toilet, and then across from that, there's an alcove with drawers and closet space. The lighting is pretty good too. I mean, Rice rooms are nicer, but this is really good.

I went downstairs and a group of us walked to a little on-campus cafe spot to get food, and I met some of the first people in my group! More about them later. I also met another girl from Rice named Kristen (Brown College '09). She was Larissa's roommate. We're the only Rice people, and have no idea each other were going, and we're going to different places.

Then, orientation began. The first part was a panel discussion with previous crossroaders, who talked about their experiences, good and bad moments, and embarrassing moments. My group leader, Alison, is great. She's big and loud and exuberant, and loves the area we're going to and has infectious energy. Her bad moment -- when digging out a septic tank, she was throwing big rocks out of the pit, and accidentally cracked a fellow crossroader's head with the rock when he bent down unexpectedly (he was fine).

We also did a teambuilding exercise, building the tallest tower possible out of a stack of notecards. The five group leaders (there are only 5 groups [2 to Gambia, 2 to Ghana and 1 to Kenya] of 10 people, this program is WAY smaller than I thought) performed skits about things that might come up. We talked about culture shock and how hard it will be to come home, as well as icebreakers and don't-judge-by-appearances types of activities. At some point, we broke for lunch and ordered Chinese, which was delicious.

Afterwards, we met with our group and talked about pet peeves and such, as well as general rules and such for the trip. We'll get much more in depth tomorrow, which is also when the medical officer is coming to talk about health risks and such, and we'll register our plans with the Embassy.

After that, though most of our group walked down to the Strip, which is Adelphi's tiny little street of shops and restaurants and stuff. The group was me, Alex, Molly, Ling Ling (all girls) and Matt, Heedoek, and John (all guys). The only people missing were Alison, Tammy and Russell. Everyone but me got Chinese, and I got pizza that looked way more delicious than anything they ate. No offense, guys, but my pizza was awesome.

I had a really good time, and I really like my group. Everyone seems really nice, and I think we'll get along well. Plus, everyone has such interesting stories and comes from different backgrounds and has varying interests, so we won't run out of things to talk about forever.

We went on a mission after that -- a mission for ice cream. And it failed horribly. Even though it was still light out, we had talked until 8PM, and everything had closed. We had to settle for donut holes and frozen coffee at Dunkin' Donuts -- we're trying to cram in as much American junk food as we can before we cook roots on a camp stove for 2 months.

All in all, I can't wait to go to Africa. My group is great, my group leader is great, the place we're going sounds fantastic, and I'm ready for my adventure to start!

Less than 36 hours til departure!

Monday, June 15th -- New York City

The titles of the blog posts lie a little bit, by the way. When I was in DC, I was actually in Arlington, VA, and right now I'm in Brooklyn. Which I suppose is NYC, but not Manhattan, which is the real NYC.

Today was my big day exploring the city, and my feet resent me for it. Here's the rundown:

• 9:00 Leave Tsz's
• Take F train to W 4th to find Rocco's Pastry shop. Get rained on.
• Find the shop. Best. Mochacchino. Ever.
• Take F train to Rockefeller Center for Top of the Rock.

(Rockefeller Center)

(Empire State Building, from Top of the Rock)

• Get gifts at the NBC store.
• Try to withdraw money. However, my debit card expired last month. Crud.
• Figure out how to use traveler's checks!
• Walk 7 blocks to an American Express so I don't pay an exorbitant fee.
• Get cashmonies.
• Take E train to B train to Cathedral Parkway to visit St. John's Cathedral of the Divine, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Honestly, I've seen much cooler cathedrals. It was bare, and not in the ascetic, holy kind of bare, either. Just empty. The statue outside was fantastic, though.
• Take B train back down to 72nd st. for Central Park West entrance.
• Central Park: Strawberry Fields, Cherry Hill, Bow Bridge, Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, The Mall, The Dairy, Wollman rink, the statue of Balto, Conservatory Water, the statue of Hans Christian Anderson, the statue of Alice in Wonderland, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (I'll visit next time), Cleopatra's Needle (the obelisk to Thutmose III from Heliopolis), Beveldere Castle, Turtle Pond, Sweedish Cttage Marionette Theater, and then exit at 81st st at the American Museum of natural History (I went in the lobby, but I'll have to go through another time). My feet hate me. I ate the cannoli and croissant I gt at Rocco's while overlooking the Bow Bridge, though, and they were incredible.

(Balto, diptheria hero)

• Walk 4 blocks to the 1 line at 79th and Broadway, take to Times Square.
• Times Square and Broadway.

(Times Square)

(Next time, Broadway, I swear)

• Take the N line to Canal Street for Chinatown.
• Get asked to by a handbag by EVERYONE. I had a string bag, and so everyone assumed I was looking for handbag-handbag-louis-coach-dolce-and-gabbana? All the vendors all over NYC speak like this. Whenever it rains, it's always umbrella-umbrealla-you-want-to-buy? Nationality makes no difference.
• Take 6 train from Canal Street, line ends the next station because I should have taken the 5 train.
• Take the 6 train back to Canal, then take the W train to Whitehall (Battery Park, where we left for the Statue of Liberty yesterday) to find some art.
• See a really cool lightning strike, then see all the vendors I was going to visit finish packing up their booths for the impending storm. Then I got rained on again.
• Come back to Tsz's and shower.
• Eat tasty curry rice! Apparently, the talk of the meal again was how well the white girl used chopsticks.

Tsz and I watched last week's Colbert episodes (broadcast from Baghdad) and I packed. I have to get up in 4 1/2 hours to take the train to orientation, which is why this post is rather terse. Also, I would hve had a lot to write about. I'll post more tomorrow!

Sunday, June 14th -- New York City

Tsz and I slept late again today -- I have got to stop doing that. We had a bit of an excuse, though; we stayed up until 3 watching Milk. The movie was fantastic, by the way.

We actually met one of her friends (a Lovetteer) at Battery Park, where they are filming Nicholas Cage's new Disney movie. No one was there filming, but all the equipment -- lights, cables, trucks, new cars that were cordoned off and very obviously going to be smashed to little bits -- were there, eerily unattended.

(These are so obviously going to be smashed to little bits.)

From Battery Park, we took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. The statue is the same as it is in all the pictures you've ever seen of it. I suppose I would've had a bigger impression if I'd been allowed up, but they weren't selling any more Monument passes for the rest of the way, so we couldn't even climb the pedestal. I was actually pretty disappointed, not because I wanted to stand in the lines, but because I have been to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to climb George Eiffel's other structure, one on each side of the Atlantic. I guess I'll have to come back.

(Sadly, with neither flip-flops not swim trunks, I was ineligible to on these two boats.)

(Liberty Island)

(Tsz and I and the base of the Statue)

The other stop on the ferry is Ellis Island, which I expected to be extremely boring. It wasn't! The Department of the Interior hired some really top-notch statisticians and designers to make it really interesting. The best exhibit, though, in my opinion, was the photographs from after Ellis Island was abandoned, and before LBJ incorporated it into Statue of Liberty National Park. It's haunting, especially the pictures of the old hospital -- peeling furniture, dusty mattresses, and wallpaper blossoming off the walls.

(Manhattan, from Ellis Island)

We tried to find Rocco's pastry shop, which is apparently the best pastry shop in New York, but got off in the wrong part of Greenwich Village (on the opposite side of NYU in NoHo than we wanted to be) and packed it in early.

Tsz's mom had made food for dinner, and I hadn't been to a meal like that since Honghui's LNY celebration. I was the only one who didn't speak Cantonese -- and I was the only one not speaking it. I was, however, complimented on my use of chopsticks. I love being complimented for being able to use chopsticks correctly, mostly because I have no idea how I really got to know how to use them. For the record, though, I actually am very good at eating with chopsticks. Just ask Emily Norviel.

Tomorrow, Tsz has to work (she works in Central Park's press office) and so I'm going to explore Central Park on my own. And, hopefully, I'll be able to find Rocco's this time.

Saturday, June 13th -- New York City

Tsz and I are officially lazy -- we got up late and didn't get out into the city until after noon. Once we did, though, we had a little too much fun in the rain.

Our first stop was Rockefeller Center, but we didn't go to the top because it was too expensive. We're cheap. We were unusually classy tourists, as our next stop was the NY Public Library (the ceiling was painted as a WPA project, which I thought was great) and the nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of New York. Next was Grand Central Station, and we stopped in the Chrysler Building to look at the ceiling mural (which was really not all that exciting).

(St. Patrick's Cathedral)

(Grand Central Station)

It was, unfortunatly, raining, so we decided to leave Chinatown and Little Italy for another day. However, I thought I saw the other apparently awesome chruch (St. John, the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world). Funny story -- it wasn't. It was St. Patrick's again, from the opposite side. All was not lost, though, because we found the Build-a-Bear Workshop and the American Girl Store. SO. MANY. CHILDREN. Oddly, there was no sign of the American Girl Samantha anywhere. I'm guessing Mattel got sued.

(World's Ugliest Build-A-Bear)

(If I were smaller, I could be a toreador!)

(Summer Camp American Girl apparently neutered her own dog)

(American Coyote says is alarmed!)

We had delicious dumplings in K-town, and then came back. Movie night!

PS-- the web won't let me upload photos right now (I think Tsz's brother and his friends are using too much broadband playing Fallout 3 [and then jumping at each other pretending to be zombies, and then screaming] for the ics to load) so I'll add them later. (photos added).

Friday, June 12th -- Washington DC and Brooklyn, NY

Today, Beth and I were incredibly lazy and slept in until around 10, only getting up because we were hungry. We then commenced to be lazy some more, until I did my laundry and we got a little bit lost on the way to Target. Yes, Beth didn't know how to get to her own Target, because she "never paid attention" when she went there before. Oh Beth, it's a good thing I love you, because you are ridiculous.

Upon coming back, we ate copious amounts of Mac&Cheese, and I checked the bus to New York. I thought that I could take the bus at 6:30 or 8:00, but the only bus on Fridays that goes all the way to Brooklyn left at 5:30 -- only 45 minutes later. I packed hurriedly and horribly, and Josh got us there with an impressive amount of speed.

The bus, though, was an hour and a half late, as an earlier bus that day had broken down. It was a nice charter bus, though, with Wifi and Slumdog Millionaire, even though I just continued reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ("Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-concious landed gentry?). 5 1/2 hours later, I got to Brooklyn, and Tsz and her dad picked me up.

NYC tomorrow!

Thursday, June 11th -- Washington, DC

Beth and I got up early today and did a fantastic amount of touristy sightseeing. We probably earned some sort of medal.

We left the house around 7:30 to get to the Washington Monument -- tickets to the top are free, but you have to line up early to get them and to pick a time to ascend. Afterwards, we decided it was pancake time (an excellent time) but had a miserable time finding a food court. We eventually found one advertised in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, where we were entirely underdressed for even their food court.

(Beth, Me, and the Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial)

Next, we did the Memorial March -- The WWII memorial (very impressive), Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Women's Memorial, Korean Memorial. The Korean Memorial used to have soldiers walking through a rice field, but the rice died, and my mom is right-- the bushes that replaced the rice are extremely ugly.

(Carnation at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial)

(Vietnam Women's Memorial -- someone placed carnations in their hands, too)

We walked down around by the tidal area for the Potomac River where the Jefferson Memorial is located. The walkway was flooded, and we got to the FDR Memorial before turning around to make it to our Washington Monument tour time. The FDR Memorial is fantastic, with waterfalls everywhere.

We got to our tour on time (didn't matter, though, because you only go up 8 at a time) and rode the elevator to the top. Luckily, a lot of the fog had evaporated, but the views were still a little faded out.

(Lincoln Memorial and WWII Memorial from the Washington Monument)

Next, we started the really exciting part of our day. Philip Tarpley, a sophomore at Rice, is interning at Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson's office, and he gave us a tour of the Capitol building! Starting on the steps of the Russell Senate Office Building across the street (when we saw the Ambassador from Zimbabwe arrive) we walked in and through a metal detector to enter the building. That's all that's required. Anyone can walk in and find the office of their congressmen, inform them that they are a constituent, and strike up a conversation if the congressman is in. Of course, Senators don't usually have time for that sort of thing, but it works in the House.

We walked through the very impressive marble hallways and down to the train that links the offices and the Capitol. A vote had just been called, so the trains were reserved for congressmen and close staff only (a bell rings when a vote is called, and senators have 15 minutes to get to the chamber before the votes are collected). On the other hand, we saw Senator Hutchinson and Senator John McCain -- McCain walked within three feet of us.

(Original Supreme Court Chamber)

Once in the Capitol Building, Philip gave us the whole tour -- old Supreme Court Chambers, Old Senate Chamber where that one congressman got beaten with a cane (APUSH, anyone?), Old House Chamber with rotten acoustics, and the dome, where the Presidents lie in state. We also walked back down along the Brumidi Corridors, a frescoed set of halls that are incredibly detailed and beautiful. I didn't realize there were frescoes like this anywhere in the US, let alone in the Capitol building. It looks like Europe. On the way out, we took the train and saw another Senator, John Cornyn.

(House Committee on Appropriations, off the Brumidi Corridors)

As our last stop on the Mall, Beth and I went to the Library of Congress. I just wanted to stop in, but we stayed for almost an hour. The Library is gorgeous -- it looks like a cathedral inside. The floors are made of Byzantine-influenced mosaics, the ceilings frescoed and painted, and the balustrades carved. Again, it looked like it belonged in Europe.

(Library of Congress Great Hall)

Overall, my impression of Washington DC -- or at least the area around the Mall -- is that it is startlingly like Paris. All the buildings in both cities are of an even height, and, when looking down from the Washington Monument, the streets radiate in a similar way. The National Mall is analogous to the Champs du Mars. Most of the buildings are in either a Roman style outside (Library of Congress) or Greek (Lincoln Memorial). We even have in common that now, some of our most lavish buildings are erected as edifices to our reason and democratic governments.

We went to George Washington University to end our day and met up with Cindy for Indian food! Afterwards, we went to the Kennedy Center for a free jazz concert. The quintet was a bunch of kids in their 20's, and they were all unbelievable, especially the drummer. Cindy's friend Andrew was there (his friend also leaves to work in a hospital in Gambia next week, but isn't in my group -- I'll have to see if he's with OCA), and afterwards, we all stood out on the terrace and looked over the Potomac. We also went back to Cindy's dorm/apartment and on the dorm roof for a while.

(Roommate Reunion in the Hall of Nations, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts)

Hooray for roommate reunion! Tomorrow I'll be biking with Beth's family, and will probably leave for New York on Saturday morning.

Wednesday, June 10th -- Washington, DC

Today was my first full day in Washington DC, and Beth and I made the most of it by walking all over it. We got up early and ate breakfast -- and snuggled with her cute puppy Bailey -- and took the metro into DC around noon. The metro and buses here are expensive.

(Beth, Me and the Lincoln Memorial -- from the Washington Monument)

We first walked up to the White House, then down to the Washington Monument. There was a big commotion -- news trucks, police cars, and a circling helicopter -- so we went to find out what happened. There had been a shooting at the Holocaust Museum (it's now on the front page of the BBC and all over CNN: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8094076.stm).

We walked past all the museums on our way up to the Capitol Building, and then spent a little while just looking around. There were a lot more police cars and ambulances, as well as, at one point, an FBI bomb squad truck, and we were going to ask some nearby Capital Police what was going on. Then we realized that they were searching the parking lot with a K9 Unit, and began shooing people away when the agents in bulletproof vests arrived. We decided that walking away from there was our best option, and poked around the Botanic Gardens until Beth's dad called, offering to pick us up.

(The Capitol Building)

I wanted to walk up to the Supreme Court first, and we went right up Capitol Hill. You can get really close to the building. The Library of Congress and the Supreme Court building were just across the street, and so we went to see the Court. Beth's dad called to pick us up -- he had parked 7 blocks from our location -- and his phone died. By the time we got to the intersection of 7th and Independence, where he was, he'd already left, so we took the metro back.

(Beth at one of the Corinthian Columns of the Supreme Court)

Later, we went to Josh's house in Bethesda for dinner -- his parents were really nice. Then I went to Beth's and Josh's dance lesson -- sadly, I was an observer only -- before coming back to Arlington. We're getting up early tomorrow so Josh can drive us into DC before traffic and we can get tickets to climb the Washington Monument.

Arrival in Washington DC

I went out to breakfast with my mom in the morning, and then flew into Washington-Reagan yesterday afternoon. The pattern was impressive -- we reached pattern altitude right next to the Lincoln Memorial, then flew along the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument, looking up the street to the Capital building. Beth and her sister Laura picked me up (and brought her PUPPIES!) and we drove back to her house.

In the evening, we ordered in pizza and played Loaded Questions for Beth's mom's birthday. Josh came over, as did Laura's boyfriend Steve. Beth's parents were both there, as was her son-to-be-adopted little brother Chris. It was fun!

Today, I think we're going to go down to the National Mall, and maybe the International Spy Museum.

Monday, June 8th

I've started a blog so that I can keep everyone updated as to what I'll be doming this summer in Africa! I leave tomorrow (Tuesday) around noon for Washington DC, from where I'll leave to NYC before going to Africa on the 18th.

I hope your summers are all going well!