Wedding Planning

This summer, I’ll be taking a month vacation as I have the last several years. This year is different, though, as I won’t be getting to the US. In fact, I won’t be traveling far away at all. Instead, my parents, family members, and friends are coming to Dakar and we’ll be celebrating my marriage with my Senegalese fiancee Jeanne Faye.

So, I haven’t talked much about her before, I know. But, last year when I was planning to move to Dakar, there was a very good reason. Jeanne and I have known each other for over ten years now, since my first arrival on the African continent when I was a Peace Corps volunteer. In fact, it’s her uncle that was my host family in my first two months here. And somehow, over the years, we’ve managed to stay in touch and our relationship has grown.

Now, on September 05, 2008, we will begin two days of festivities. The first day is scheduled to be in Dakar and will comprise of the civil ceremony and the church with around 100 people. The second day will be in her hometown Thies, about 50 miles from Dakar, where we will have a traditional ceremony with lots of people at her parents’ house. Seven people, including my parents, are making the trans-Atlantic trek to be here with us for 10 days. Afterward, we are planning a ten-day honeymoon in Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony that comprises 11 tropical islands off the coast of Senegal.

Jeanne’s full name is Jeanne Françoise Guignane Faye. She was born and raised in Thies and moved to Dakar about ten years ago to take a job at the YMCA where she became (and still is) a kindergarten teacher. Jeanne speaks four languages, of which two are French and English (and for those who are curious, we typically speak French between us). She is from a Catholic family, a not-so-common thing in this Muslim country, and of the Serere ethnicity. She has 4 sisters and 3 brothers, all in Senegal except for one brother in Turin, Italy.

Today, we are living in Dakar, around 20 minutes by taxi from the town center and very near the YMCA and one of her sisters. We live on the fifth floor (by American definition) of an apartment building (no elevator) (picture to the right) with a fantastic view of the city and the peninsula (picture below taken from the balcony). Fatim (my adopted Guinean daughter) who is typically living with Jeanne’s parents during the school year is staying with us and studying English four days a week in summer school. And as Jeanne is on summer vacation, she has been taking care of most of the wedding details and setting up the apartment. We are happy in Dakar and hoping to remain here for a little while at least. I have been fortunate here and have been staying busy with work.

Last time I wrote, I wasn’t really certain about the contractual status of my job. Now, I am still a consultant and not an official employee of the World Food Programme, but things are going well. The last time I wrote in March, though, I wasn’t sure I would still have the same job at this point. Well, things look good for the moment, and I expect that after my vacation in September, I will get another contract, probably for several months. This is very good news, particularly with the new responsibilities in my life and the ever escalating prices of food, transport, and the devaluation of the dollar, not to mention prices of life in the big city of Dakar.

People ask if we will be doing something in the US for the celebration of our marriage, as I know that not everyone can come to Dakar. Well, I have two little sisters who are both getting married next summer in Dallas. We would very much like to come and celebrate, but I am not certain if Jeanne will have her entry visa for the US by then. I have an American friend who married a Senegalese woman, and it took them two years to complete the visa process. In any case, we will make it a priority to begin working on it first thing in October! The first step will be an entry visa, or a green card. Nationality would be another decision, and would come later in the process.

And so, with such a big event happening just weeks away, I had to drop a note and let everyone know the good news, if you haven't heard already. You can find some photos of Jeanne and I over the years at the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/AaronSharghi/AaronJeanne

I hope this e-mail finds everyone in good health and happiness. And if you are swinging through Dakar in September, do let us know!