Dear Senegal,
Three weeks.
Four weeks on your soil.
Three weeks in my new hometown of Mbodiene.
My time here has gone so quickly that I don't even know what to say to you, except that I'm not ready to say goodbye. I'm not ready to stop hearing Wolof all the time. I'm not ready to live in a house instead of a family compound. I'm not ready to not have fresh fish every day.
I'm not ready to leave.
I still barely know you. I'm still just learning, just listening, just starting to comprehend. I feel like I've barely arrived and now I'm about to leave – seven months really isn't enough time.
What makes it worse is that I don't know when I'll be back. I have no idea what our future holds, but I hope to meet you again someday. I have a debt, you see. A big one. It's a debt to all the people who repeated themselves endlessly in Wolof when I had no idea what anyone was saying. To my neighbor who took a good hour of his time to sit with me as I drew my family tree and teach me all of the different family members. To those I have called mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, friend. To my language tutor. To the countless people who have helped me find places and things, selflessly shared food, and given me a reason to call you "home".
It's a debt to you, Senegal, for making me learn, for helping me understand, for letting me grow.
I could spend hours recounting all the things I love about you and all the reasons three weeks is too soon, but I'll try to keep it short and simple. You've showed me community; life as a human, not just an individual. Out of everything I've learned here – how to wash clothes, about breakfast noodle sandwiches, two languages – that is the most important. You've also given me time to understand myself and opportunities to understand others.
I can't tell you how important you've become to me. So I hope you know how serious I am when I say I'm not ready, but I have to go anyway. I have another adventure ahead of me, and the things you taught me will be the things that get me through the harder days.
I'm not really good at goodbyes, so I'll just say this:
Ba beneen yoon, Inshallah.
Until the next time, God willing.
Ndombour Ndiaye