Presently I sit in a travertine arched space waiting on my wood-fired pizza in La Scaletta in Trastevere, Rome. Sipping on a cool Peroni I marveled at the sites of this past week: Ancient Ostia with 2,000 year old streets, shops, and outdoor mosaics; the grandeur of the major basilicas here in the Holy City--Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni, San Paolo, San Croce, and of course San Piedro. The odd and eccentric sites like the cemetary that houses John Keats with an Egyptian style pyramid in the background. The fountains in the Piazzas Repubblica and Barberini--sites I last saw and reveled over 18 years ago. Adding to that, the fun from living with a couple of young Romans in their apartment over a piazza, hanging out with their friends, and eating heavenly banquets in the homes of their families and friends.
Seven days ago I had a farewell open house in Dakar. Saying goodbye was surreal yet undeniably painful. To have been touched by so many in such meaningful, authentic ways. To be humbled by their humility, simplicity, and generosity. I believe my two closest friends there--Zacheria and Abdoulaye--are on much more optimistic life paths than where they were last year; for that I am grateful. With the generosity of all my wonderful friends, family and acquaintances back home, we were able to fulfill Zach's dream of buying cattle to raise as supplemental income and possibly a new way to make a living.
Zach and I on the boat heading to the Casamance in Southern Senegal
Abdoulaye landed a job in a bank and now is a commercial loan officer, leaving behind the horribly exploitative work as a warehouse hand in a supermarket. With the money raised we bought him an appropriate business wardrobe, put him through driving school--as we also did with Zacheria--bought him a motorbike for transportation, and were able to help create a new source of income for his brother Alioune back in the home village of Palmarin by buying him a horse and cart. They will serve as a sort of village taxi/transport. But above and beyond what we gave them, they gave me so much more: unconditional friendship, a perpetually attentive ear, a patient and forgiving spirit during some of my outbursts of impatience and anger, and a genuine concern for my piece of mind. Qualities that are rare to begin with, and even more so when they endure. I'm starting to understand the meaning of friendship through them. It is not about dependence, but independence through interdependence. Like Gibran said, the pillars of the temple must stand alone, yet the temple cannot stand unless they work together. Friendship is about bringing out the best in the other. Not imitating him, not fashioning him in your image, but opening yourself up to receive his giving and to inspire in him a quest to fulfill his own potential. In this process are good times and bad, laughter and tears, fear and courage, and through this friendship comfort is found.
So many subjects to broach. The social scientific yet deeply personal reality of material poverty, poor physical health, and lack of upward economic mobility. The issues of economic exploitation, injustice, pay and gender equity, respect for law and order. Anecdotes that tell so much yet are only a drop in the ocean. Lives of people, lives of my friends, helped or destroyed by the maladies found in society. There are others like Sambe and Sara, both security guards married with children, constantly trying to secure and stabilize their housing and food situations with monthly salaries that barely reach 150 USD. There's my beloved friend Ismaila from Mali who works as gardener, cook, housecleaner, and security guard 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a mere 100 USD a month. He is a stranger in a strange land, and has no foreseeable time off from his ridiculously wealthy Christian Lebanese bosses, to go visit his mother, father, sisters or brothers back home.
There is so much to share. There is so much upon which to reflect. I have changed beyond my own recognition, yet I am still me. I don't ever want to forget the lessons of life that Senegal has taught me. I want to internalize them and find a new inner peace upon my return to the States. I know life and realities there are different, but now so too am I. I look forward to reconnecting with you all, deepening our friendships, and continuing with you this beautiful journey of learning we call life.
