Missing this place....

 

I miss the heat, I miss the sounds of prayer being called across the city, I miss the smell of sand and sweat and rain, I miss the sound of taxis honking, I miss the sight of that blue ocean, I miss my neighbors greeting every morning as I walked to school and every evening as I returned, I miss the sandwich shop, I miss fresh mangoes, I miss car rapides, I miss Lamine's family (oh, so much), I miss the sound of little kids calling "toubab," I miss my friends, I miss the community, I miss my life there.  

 Senegal was the place where Lamine and I first fell in love, and for that reason alone, it will always hold a very special place in my heart.  My heart is so full of love for this place. I miss it everyday.  

ETA: 

This is my final post from the blog I kept while studying abroad. I feel the same way right now.

hello, all.

not sure if anyone's still going to read this, but i felt the need to put a little bit of a closing note on this blog. i've been back in the united states for a few days and am missing senegal desperately. it's hard to describe how simultaneously easy and difficult it is to be back. i'm not sure what i expected, but i suppose i almost thought that i would have to retrain myself in some aspects. and that may be true, but it surprised me how easily i was able to slip back into this life-that i could wake up, turn on the coffee maker, look out at the snow....just the little things. in the same breath, it feels so empty here--so quiet. i miss the calls to prayer, the music that is everywhere, the sound of kids laughing and playing football. i miss inshallah's, alxamdulilay's, and ba beneen yoon's. i miss the sense of community-the greetings, the smiles, the handshakes that make any five minute trip to the market last at least half an hour. i miss it all. i know that the taxis honking and the eighteen marriage proposals per two block radius were tiring at times, but i miss it.

i miss speaking french, wolof, and manding each day. i miss the little kids who called me "aunt" and always had something exciting and new to tell me. i miss the car rapides and the sheer force of life in dakar-the millions of people crammed into one small area-just trying to make it day to day and trying to make it beautiful in the mean time. there's no possible way i can list the ways in which i miss dakar--no possible way that i can list the ways in which life was so beautiful there. i miss my friends and the community that i formed. it's so bizarre to think that in only four months, you can put down roots in a completely foreign environment. it's bizarre, but reassuring in a sense. it's reassuring to know that no matter where you go-no matter what languages are spoken-what traditions are held--people are people, and you can form relationships with one another that can transcend any cultural differences or language barriers.