Fan mangi dem? - Where am I going? (Being directionally oriented)

Sorry it's been a while since I've written a post. I have several that are almost finished in my mind that I just need to type up. Hopefully I'll be able to post them this week and they'll make up for my lack of posts.

I have a pretty good sense of direction, but context is everything. Back in the states, some people use street names and others use land marks to orient themselves geographically. Here in Senegal, there are street names but nobody knows them. The houses and businesses are numbered but there is no order to the numbering. Addresses consist solely of the neighborhood and house number. Senegalese people don't rely on maps like we do in the US, they rely on people. If they don't know where something is located, it's completely normal to ask people along the way. There's no stigma associated with asking for further direction.

In one of the classes I'm taking, Dakar in Transition, we're learning about the city of Dakar through a combination of historical, geographical, sociological, and anthropological lenses. One of our first assignments was to make a map/drawing of the route we walk between our houses and the Baobab Center. When we shared them in class, a few themes were evident. We had only included the names of the very large streets. (While all the streets in our area are marked with a name and/or number, the markings are rather discrete and nobody pays attention to them.) We noted the locations of the houses or businesses of some of the people we regularly pass by: neighbors, family friends, women and men we greet at the boulangerie, fruit, or coffee stands. If I were to draw a map of the neighborhood I live in back in the states, either while at Beloit or while home in California, it would look significantly different. To say the least, the “landmarks” would be buildings and street names, not people.

A few thoughts on that:

- The speed of transportation. In Senegal, I walk almost everywhere. I experience the area from the perspective of a pedestrian. Especially when I am back home in California, I am in a car for the majority of the time I spend going through my neighborhood.

- The organization of space and the nature of business. Both here and back home, I pass by businesses when going from one place to another. Back home, they are generally inside big buildings and interactions are impersonal. Here, the businesses I pass are small corner stores, hole in the wall tailor shops, meat shacks, and food stands. Interactions are lengthy and personal.

Our professor also asked us to orient the maps on a broader level by identifying the direction of North. I got it on my second try. While we'd thought our maps were oriented compatibly, we were off because our perceptions of the direction of several main roads were off. Our sense of direction was off because the things we were basing it on had given us a false sense of direction.

On Friday, I saw one of the most beautiful social occurrences I've ever seen. It was 14:00 (2 pm) and the call to prayer had just begun. I began my walk back to the Baobab Center earlier than usual. My host brother had left just before me and as I closed the gate, I caught a glimpse of where he'd gone. Men and boys lined the street with their prayer mats in front of them. A few others were quickly joining them. They were all facing the same direction, towards Mecca, as they are supposed to. Now that's some sense of direction, geographically and spiritually.

It's Friday 14:00 (2 pm). The boutique, like many other businesses, is closed. My host brother is among the several men praying in a line in the shade made by the building.

I could see men praying in line as far down the street as I could see. (I felt so bad taking this picture because they're praying but I really wanted to capture this moment.)

On the plane ride here, there were individual TV screens in the seat backs. I occasionally checked the "Map/Flight Info" and this was one of the screens in the rotation: The direction and distance to Mecca.

This has been a long post, surprise surprise, but I want to make one more connection. Sense of direction also applies not only to geography but also to time. In the months before arriving in Dakar, I had a strong sense of how much time was left before I would be in Senegal. I have been here for just over five weeks. I have just under three months left of being in Senegal with the study abroad program. I will be back in the states in three months. Those last three sentences correspond to three different mindsets of understanding the time I have here (insh'allah) and the mindset that I have greatly impacts how I spend my time and how much I invest into relationships here and in the US.

The future is creeping up on me in multiple regards. I've made decisions about how I will spend my time this summer and senior year. Each decision changes the direction in which I'm headed to some degree.

The playlist that goes along with this, in case you're curious, includes:

- A LOT of Switchfoot: Gone, Meant to Live Dare You to Move, Red Eyes, This is Your Life

- “Divine Intervention” by Autopilot Off

- “Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks

- “Sidewalks” by Story of the Year

- ”Little Wonders” by Rob Thomas

- “From the Inside Out” by Hillsong

- “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns

- “Take this Life” by Shawn McDonald

- “Move Along” by The All-American Rejects

- “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack

- “These are Days” by 10,000 Maniacs

- “God is a DJ” by P!nk

- “Kids” by MGMT

- “All at Once” by Jack Johnson

- “Good Life” by OneRepublic

- “Tension & Thrill” by Sleeping at Last

I have a pretty good sense of direction, but context is everything.