First Rain

The first rain of the season has graced Dakar. I got to experience this element of mother nature while sitting at a plastic table on the beach, feet in the sand, eating fresh barbequed fish by candle light. The beach by my house turns into a restaurant after dark - all the fresh catch of the day is at your disposal. Pay no more than $2 and you got yourself a giant plate of fish, grilled onions and a bit of greens. I was trying to explain to my Senegalese friend that this same experience would be expensive and very sought after in California! Here in Senegal, fresh fish dinner by candle light with your feet in the sand is the food and ambiance of the lower class - that's fine, I'll take it. 
In addition to this ambiance was our conversation about the most pressing issues and barriers to health and health care in Senegal and the possible solutions. Hence I was incredibly content. The wind nor the rain could deter my probing to know more, to ask, to listen, and to understand the culture that is so inextricably connected to the decisions affecting the health of children, adolescents, and mothers. These days it is no secret that no health issue can be simplified, nor solution realized without the involvement of the people and a profound understanding of their individual and collective cultures, needs and wants, and the context in which they live in and in which the health system functions. That said, its much easier to acknowledge this approach rather than to practice and implement it.
Anyways, much to my dismay, we had to succumb to the rain and head for cover. And now here I am... writing this post with the sound of rain pounding against the roof of my room and wind blowing the bamboo and palm trees outside my door.
I do intend to write more about the health issues, my work and the wonderful people I am encountering, but its these day to day experiences and conversations that I am surprised by and grateful for that I can't help but share.