good morning! been 20 for about 9 hours now and feeling great. in reality, the power went out last night and i woke up multiple times only to find i had sweated through my shirt (the same one i wore yesterday because ive run out of clothes) and this morning, both my host mom and my roommate forgot it was my birthday. BUT all about the positive attitude over here. for example, my host sister sent me a text message at midnight last night (yes, we do live in the same house) saying: 'Happy Birthday i wish to u happiness, success, health of diamond and all that u need and wish in your life. je fais beaucoup de fautes en anglais mais tu peux me corriger (i make many mistakes in english but you can correct me). so sweet dreams for u girl. i wish be the first". and she was. it made me happy :) also upon arrival at school this morning, totally snagged a computer within seconds and the internet was working. its going be a good day/ decade.
this past weekend, i went with 7 other students to a small beach town - pompingin- 2 hours south of dakar. highlights included: my friend having to push the taxi we took to get to the gare routiere (a large field with tons of old station wagons and buses that can take you wherever you need to go after an hour of bargaining with at least 20 men) because it broke down in the middle of a traffic circle, staying in a huge house right on the beach for like 10 bucks a night per person, paying the salaries of every person in the town for the month by buying lots of food from the local "grocery store" (read: hut with canned veggies, drinks, and eggs), eating dinner on the beach with candles and my friends surprising me with a cake made out of cookies welded together with nutella for my birthday, and seeing real-life huge giraffes and rhinos about 2 feet from me at a local reserve.
tomorrow is korite, the festival ending ramadan (well it could be thursday- depends on the moon). apparently it entails lots of eating and everyone wearing beautiful dresses- both those things sound good to me. then this weekend, off on a 15 hour adventure to south-eastern senegal to do some mountain climbing, see waterfalls, and hang out with the people of the bassari country. i read a travel humor book that says that "sometimes half the fun of going somewhere is getting there. most of the time its not"....
sorry i have not been as good at responding to everyone's emails of late- been away/power not working but i really appreciate all the birthday cards (mom, judy, and dad) and nice emails... love to you all!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Lot of Sun Little Power
Bonsoir (Goodnight)! It is actually only 3 pm here but everyone starts saying goodnight around 1 pm - maybe they feel like if they start saying goodnight earlier in the day, night will actually come faster and then they can break fast (one more week of Ramadan and counting).
This week has been a bit of a dousy (sp?). It started off well; my whole group went to this gorgeous Gaudi-esque hotel for the weekend and the door to my room actually opened up to the beach. We got to eat lots of vegetables (!! its usually bread for bfast, bread for lunch, and rice for dinner) and i made a batik (create art with wax and paint, felt like i was in 4th grade but it serves as nice decoration in my room here- i hung it from some rope i strung between random nails in my wall). When I got back I ended up getting a bad cold which resulted in 97 tissues per the hour and I was less than thrilled. What made it tough was that my mother here (my "Yaay" is what we call them in Wolof) was being less than helpful. Sunday night she told me to go get some rest but by the next morning when I replied that no I had not slept well rather than saying "ca va" she blew if off and said oh you're fine. only to tell me tuesday morning that if i hadn't showered the night before and left my fan on, i wouldn't still be sick (no id be sick AND sleeping in my own dirt and sweat). a guy at the cyber cafe told me not to use napkins to blow my nose but i should use cloth tissues. why do you care?? go bug someone else! just a few days of everyone needs to get out of my face and stop giving bad advice. all compounded by the electricity going in and out, computers all over school making loud consistent beeps for hours on end as a result of power outages, my yaay consistenly seeming to favor the other hanna (my roomie), and when i disagreed with her about bad advice, shes like you just don't understand what im saying. and then tell my roommate to explain to me what she is saying. one of those i am not an idiot im just trying not to flip out at you.
long story short, i realized i was expierincing some culture shock. im not used to being disagreed with over useless topics like showers and not having my own space. this is also a heirarchial communial culture meaning that i am supposed to listen to what my yaay says and realize everyone's constant advice is just part of all helping each other out. before i left i was like, ok be prepared for culture shock. of course i thought culture shock would be over dealing with the heat, cockroaches, and mystery meat for dinner. turns out to be much deeper and personal. makes sense retrospectively. i guess that is the nature of culture shock- it is a shock haha.
feeling better today and excited for another little weekend getaway with some friends here. we are taking a "sept-place" - 7 places- (a 7 person station wagon that acts as a taxi and may or may not have goats on top of it) to a town south of here to chill on the beach, wander around in some of senegal's signature trees- the baobab trees, ride a pirogue (what the fisherman use), and maybe see some animals. reminds me how sweet study abroad is :)
finally, just went to a little presentation by the us embassy. like reverse culture shock and i had to laugh as this muscle-man true "Ameri-k-en" guy gave us a talk on security. comments like "well dont be going to the casamance area, they'll cut your ears off". all of the students were like that was one true "Ameri-k-en" (aka something we are not and are embarrassed by) and made me understand more why so many senegalese intellectuals here will criticize their own country and its people. one of my directors is like the post office is ridiculously slow and annoying and im like hey this is your country- but i guess we do the same thing when we talk about different american sub-cultures.
ok thoughts for the day complete. off to do some work and then maybe go to another crazy gym class. miss you all.
This week has been a bit of a dousy (sp?). It started off well; my whole group went to this gorgeous Gaudi-esque hotel for the weekend and the door to my room actually opened up to the beach. We got to eat lots of vegetables (!! its usually bread for bfast, bread for lunch, and rice for dinner) and i made a batik (create art with wax and paint, felt like i was in 4th grade but it serves as nice decoration in my room here- i hung it from some rope i strung between random nails in my wall). When I got back I ended up getting a bad cold which resulted in 97 tissues per the hour and I was less than thrilled. What made it tough was that my mother here (my "Yaay" is what we call them in Wolof) was being less than helpful. Sunday night she told me to go get some rest but by the next morning when I replied that no I had not slept well rather than saying "ca va" she blew if off and said oh you're fine. only to tell me tuesday morning that if i hadn't showered the night before and left my fan on, i wouldn't still be sick (no id be sick AND sleeping in my own dirt and sweat). a guy at the cyber cafe told me not to use napkins to blow my nose but i should use cloth tissues. why do you care?? go bug someone else! just a few days of everyone needs to get out of my face and stop giving bad advice. all compounded by the electricity going in and out, computers all over school making loud consistent beeps for hours on end as a result of power outages, my yaay consistenly seeming to favor the other hanna (my roomie), and when i disagreed with her about bad advice, shes like you just don't understand what im saying. and then tell my roommate to explain to me what she is saying. one of those i am not an idiot im just trying not to flip out at you.
long story short, i realized i was expierincing some culture shock. im not used to being disagreed with over useless topics like showers and not having my own space. this is also a heirarchial communial culture meaning that i am supposed to listen to what my yaay says and realize everyone's constant advice is just part of all helping each other out. before i left i was like, ok be prepared for culture shock. of course i thought culture shock would be over dealing with the heat, cockroaches, and mystery meat for dinner. turns out to be much deeper and personal. makes sense retrospectively. i guess that is the nature of culture shock- it is a shock haha.
feeling better today and excited for another little weekend getaway with some friends here. we are taking a "sept-place" - 7 places- (a 7 person station wagon that acts as a taxi and may or may not have goats on top of it) to a town south of here to chill on the beach, wander around in some of senegal's signature trees- the baobab trees, ride a pirogue (what the fisherman use), and maybe see some animals. reminds me how sweet study abroad is :)
finally, just went to a little presentation by the us embassy. like reverse culture shock and i had to laugh as this muscle-man true "Ameri-k-en" guy gave us a talk on security. comments like "well dont be going to the casamance area, they'll cut your ears off". all of the students were like that was one true "Ameri-k-en" (aka something we are not and are embarrassed by) and made me understand more why so many senegalese intellectuals here will criticize their own country and its people. one of my directors is like the post office is ridiculously slow and annoying and im like hey this is your country- but i guess we do the same thing when we talk about different american sub-cultures.
ok thoughts for the day complete. off to do some work and then maybe go to another crazy gym class. miss you all.
Friday, September 19, 2008
greetings from efficiency friday! trying to do a million things today before the group goes away to Toubab Dialow (a fishing village where we get to lounge on the beach and do some West African dance, art, or drumming) tomorrow morning. so far have eaten delicious cereal, hand-washed laundry and hung on the roof for the world to see, and written the beginning of a french paper on child prostitution in the US! still to go: grocery shopping, lunch avec la famille et hanna (actually not with the family- they are all still fasting- about 10 days left of ramadan), going to a local market to buy more crap clothes for fall break trip to hot interior of senegal which is more lush and has mountains, and then the gym. probability that this will all happen? slim to none. but i am being very american today running around to try to do it all.
this week has gone quite quickly and floored that come sunday, i will have been here for a month. a highlight of the week: joined the local posh gym. tons of little french women elliptical-ing and foreign families lounging by the pool. i actually create puddles around every machine i use because despite the lovely fans the gym provides, its toasty. yesterday took an abs, butt, and thigh class (to get the jaay fonde - aka a big butt- that everyone around here wants. whenever i leave the house to go out on the weekends my sisters give me a nice tap on the butt and say oh lala jaay fonde. other girls have not been so lucky and their moms have said to them: oh you are so nice and fat. not exactly something we american girls want to hear). ANYWAY, the instructor really pushed limits and we did more squats than ive done in my life. he was singing along loudly to the american music in the background saying I WANT YOU and I LOVE YOU as we are all ready to fall over. amusing to say the least.
ok off to the grocery store. if anyone happens upon some articles on civil war in uganda feel free to forward them along. i have do a paper/presentation on it in french this semester and washu library resources are like you are in africa, no getting into our databases for you.
miss you all! good luck at sectionals wuwu! don't worry ive been stalking all the emails...
this week has gone quite quickly and floored that come sunday, i will have been here for a month. a highlight of the week: joined the local posh gym. tons of little french women elliptical-ing and foreign families lounging by the pool. i actually create puddles around every machine i use because despite the lovely fans the gym provides, its toasty. yesterday took an abs, butt, and thigh class (to get the jaay fonde - aka a big butt- that everyone around here wants. whenever i leave the house to go out on the weekends my sisters give me a nice tap on the butt and say oh lala jaay fonde. other girls have not been so lucky and their moms have said to them: oh you are so nice and fat. not exactly something we american girls want to hear). ANYWAY, the instructor really pushed limits and we did more squats than ive done in my life. he was singing along loudly to the american music in the background saying I WANT YOU and I LOVE YOU as we are all ready to fall over. amusing to say the least.
ok off to the grocery store. if anyone happens upon some articles on civil war in uganda feel free to forward them along. i have do a paper/presentation on it in french this semester and washu library resources are like you are in africa, no getting into our databases for you.
miss you all! good luck at sectionals wuwu! don't worry ive been stalking all the emails...
Monday, September 15, 2008
He Has Trouble Making Connections
I have decided that all Senegalese men have taken a class in the Art of Persuasion. Given that they all aced it, they have decided it is appropriate to practice their skills on innocent foreigners no matter the time, place, person, or appropriateness of doing so. Yesterday, I went for a run along the Atlantic and as the sun was setting, it was absolutely spectacular. This bliss was shattered when I ran by a man who had also been running but was taking a break. As I ran by him, he starts to run again and then miracously, it seems we are running the exact same pace! Aka new running partners. He seemed nice enough, chatting with me how good sports are for the "sante" (health) and isn't it nice out. We reached a beautiful mosque where there are many steps down to the ocean that I try to run up and down once (many of the soccer players in Dakar come here and run the steps) each time I come. He runs down them with me and asks me where I am from. Unable to come up with the French word for Norway, I decided to be honest. By the time we had gone back up the steps, he had complemented my French saying I didn't sound American at all and could he have my number. "email perhaps? it is so hard to make connections here. he has a friend in the U.S. who is married with a child and is happy. he can show me all of Senegal and be my tour guide." i should have known.
I was straight with him and said I didn't know him and I wasn't going to give out my number (all of this is happening in French while we are jogging along the water and I am wondering how I will get rid of him before he sees where I live and camps out in my front yard for eternity). He said he understood BUT and then another 20 minutes of every argument he could come up with. He said if he was in the U.S. and in my position and needed help he would give me his number. and you would also move into my house at the drop of a hat and marry me if you could sir. the answer is NO. ridiculous encounter but managed to get rid of him before i got home. the good news is: it was fun to use my french a little bit and i was happy i could carry a conversation and run at the same time.
monday morning at school now. have my first oral exam in wolof on wednesday. it is on the 89873498473 ways to say how are you. this weekend was nice between some beach time, going out (included being at a club with overly-sexual french military men who grind with each other and then try to dance with you and more senegalese woman dancing at themselves in the mirror- now wondering whether these women are prostitutes? it is legal here), and eating at the wonderful institute francaise where you can get away from the noise of the city and oily fish for one night. spent yesterday at home doing work and reading. i feel more and more comfortable here which is nice. and it is equally nice to know I can operate in a 3rd world country. off to read a little french article on negotiation. something all senegalese vendors know like the back of their hand.
I was straight with him and said I didn't know him and I wasn't going to give out my number (all of this is happening in French while we are jogging along the water and I am wondering how I will get rid of him before he sees where I live and camps out in my front yard for eternity). He said he understood BUT and then another 20 minutes of every argument he could come up with. He said if he was in the U.S. and in my position and needed help he would give me his number. and you would also move into my house at the drop of a hat and marry me if you could sir. the answer is NO. ridiculous encounter but managed to get rid of him before i got home. the good news is: it was fun to use my french a little bit and i was happy i could carry a conversation and run at the same time.
monday morning at school now. have my first oral exam in wolof on wednesday. it is on the 89873498473 ways to say how are you. this weekend was nice between some beach time, going out (included being at a club with overly-sexual french military men who grind with each other and then try to dance with you and more senegalese woman dancing at themselves in the mirror- now wondering whether these women are prostitutes? it is legal here), and eating at the wonderful institute francaise where you can get away from the noise of the city and oily fish for one night. spent yesterday at home doing work and reading. i feel more and more comfortable here which is nice. and it is equally nice to know I can operate in a 3rd world country. off to read a little french article on negotiation. something all senegalese vendors know like the back of their hand.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Naka ngoon gi? (How is your late-afternoon/night?) You respond with Ngoon gaangi nii rekk. (My late afternoon/night is here only. aka its fine. have yet to understand what the "here only" really means but just going with it) I have spent the last few weeks learning all the various forms of greetings in my wolof classes. the senegalese are all about the greetings. there are like 10-15 questions people rattle off about people's families, friends, your health, etc within like 7 seconds of greeting each other. as an american, when learning about them in class im like no one really says all this right? i feel like id be a totally annoying person saying all of it. especially because it doesn't matter if you are on your death bed in the hospital, you say "im fine" to everything. or "il fait chaud" (its hot). but just something you get used to- i leave half an hour before school starts even though it is about a 10 minute walk because you are expected to exchange greetings with everyone u see along your walk to school.
Had another week of classes. Interesting to see how the teach here. A lot of writing on the board (which is a constant issue because the white board markers work for about 12 minutes before running out- its weird) and every class has assigned presentations to all the students. kind of like students teach the class past week 4. have finalized my schedule and am taking, french, wolof, senegalese culture and society, economic development en francais, and international crisis en francais. should hopefully find out about an internship in microfinance somewhere on dakar on monday. so things are shaping up. i like having classes (always have) and its nice to have things to do everyday but i am definitely so american in the sense that im like how can i do homework if the light in my room doesnt even work and i cant access a computer.
took a west african dance class this week - wow i have never sweated like that in my whole life. everyone was just dripping but the instructor had some drummers come in and the whole bit, was pretty sweet. the class was after i spent 3 hours, no joke, going to the post office and back. it was quite a day. for all of u who were just about the mail me a package, please don't haha. my mom sent me some cereal and milk which has just been incredible to have in the morning but it was a the quintesential 3rd world expierence getting the package. i went to one post-office where they made me sign a bunch of stuff only to go to a 2nd one by taking a bus and walking forever. there, i literally talked to 15 different people about my package and had a piece of paper stamped by each of those people. when i had finally paid for my package and am about to pick it up to take it home a man takes it from my hands and makes me walk around to another desk where a 2nd man hands me the package haha. just like i dont think u need 15 people to help me get my package but whatever- it was one of those, glad i expierenced it but never need to again. interesting- i was with one of the directors of the program who is senegalese and he was so inpatient about the whole thing- more than me, the american. i have found some of the intellectuals here are very critical of senegal and i find it isnt just to impress we americans, but because they get very annoyed with their country. seems wrong in a way. guess that is the issue of the brain drain with all the intellectuals leaving africa....
this morning went with hanna and my two senegalese host sisters to HLM, a fabric market and bought some cloth to have a tailor make me clothes!! ahh. its like 10 bucks for the fabric and then not much more to have a tailor custom-make something for you- apparently this is quite common in 3rd world countries and i am psyched about it :)
tonight karoke at "le mex" in downtown dakar. mmm we are hoping for guacamole...
Had another week of classes. Interesting to see how the teach here. A lot of writing on the board (which is a constant issue because the white board markers work for about 12 minutes before running out- its weird) and every class has assigned presentations to all the students. kind of like students teach the class past week 4. have finalized my schedule and am taking, french, wolof, senegalese culture and society, economic development en francais, and international crisis en francais. should hopefully find out about an internship in microfinance somewhere on dakar on monday. so things are shaping up. i like having classes (always have) and its nice to have things to do everyday but i am definitely so american in the sense that im like how can i do homework if the light in my room doesnt even work and i cant access a computer.
took a west african dance class this week - wow i have never sweated like that in my whole life. everyone was just dripping but the instructor had some drummers come in and the whole bit, was pretty sweet. the class was after i spent 3 hours, no joke, going to the post office and back. it was quite a day. for all of u who were just about the mail me a package, please don't haha. my mom sent me some cereal and milk which has just been incredible to have in the morning but it was a the quintesential 3rd world expierence getting the package. i went to one post-office where they made me sign a bunch of stuff only to go to a 2nd one by taking a bus and walking forever. there, i literally talked to 15 different people about my package and had a piece of paper stamped by each of those people. when i had finally paid for my package and am about to pick it up to take it home a man takes it from my hands and makes me walk around to another desk where a 2nd man hands me the package haha. just like i dont think u need 15 people to help me get my package but whatever- it was one of those, glad i expierenced it but never need to again. interesting- i was with one of the directors of the program who is senegalese and he was so inpatient about the whole thing- more than me, the american. i have found some of the intellectuals here are very critical of senegal and i find it isnt just to impress we americans, but because they get very annoyed with their country. seems wrong in a way. guess that is the issue of the brain drain with all the intellectuals leaving africa....
this morning went with hanna and my two senegalese host sisters to HLM, a fabric market and bought some cloth to have a tailor make me clothes!! ahh. its like 10 bucks for the fabric and then not much more to have a tailor custom-make something for you- apparently this is quite common in 3rd world countries and i am psyched about it :)
tonight karoke at "le mex" in downtown dakar. mmm we are hoping for guacamole...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
hey all.merci merci for all the emails i have been reading them and thinking of responses in my head and then like the internet stops working or i start feeling guilty bc the other hannah is home more than me and i feel obliged to go home blah blah. will write back or call this week. anyway visiting my friend caitlin in her neighborhood right now which may or may not be somewhere in the sahara. it is hot as hell and the bugs are quite large.
anywho 2 weeks down. had thursday afternoon free and so went with some other toubabs - white people as we r called here- to a fishing village and artists market.aka awkardly took pics of fisherman and their beautiful boats and then went to this artist village where i bought a painting for12 bucks, instead of the 100 dollars the guy initially said it cost. was also cajouled into buying a hippotame -a little statue of a hippopatumus that makes me suprisingly happy.think the guy next to me just got electrocuted by his computer. the guys at the artist market know like 5 english words like special price for you and fan u while u r walking around = smart guys. rode in taxi for apx. 7 hours and then ended up in friends neighborhood where there was flooding and tons of traffic. it was around 6 so everyone was trying to get home to break fast =everyone is super cranky and caitlin and i ran across a highway to get home in a foot of water. stuff like that is starting to feel normal. that and sweat dripping down ur back into ur underwear all day.
friday went to the center of town where people flocked us and eventually u just start yelling i dont want ur stupid statue for only 4 bucks, or 1 cent for that matter. researched price of going to morocco for fall break- 1000 bucks. so xnay on that idea. in the afternoon got on bus for just forever and in total blind faith that it would bring us to the beach. and it did and when we got there some men sold us a little hut to sit under and protected us from artists who would come over to us and set up their artwork around us. just relentless but the beach was so beautiful it didnt matter. beach men even invited us to their fish party that night w french girls lol. fish?? hey thats new for senegal! rode home in taxi through a sea of cows. went to a club at night and felt like a freshman in hs bc when we got there at MIDNIGHT but no one was there so awkwardly walked around and then partied to american music w beautiful senegalese woman who dance in front of the mirror to check themselves out and old french men. great crowd. yesterday spent the day at goree island- an old slave island - very pretty and calm. obvi have more ppl selling u statues but beautiful color buildings that look like downtown new orleans. had a tour guide who was like hold my stuff for me and put all her shit in my backpack. and had friend albert hold her girly umbrella. oh ok sure,no problem. anyway off to research what to do for fall break in a month. im thinking spa.
anywho 2 weeks down. had thursday afternoon free and so went with some other toubabs - white people as we r called here- to a fishing village and artists market.aka awkardly took pics of fisherman and their beautiful boats and then went to this artist village where i bought a painting for12 bucks, instead of the 100 dollars the guy initially said it cost. was also cajouled into buying a hippotame -a little statue of a hippopatumus that makes me suprisingly happy.think the guy next to me just got electrocuted by his computer. the guys at the artist market know like 5 english words like special price for you and fan u while u r walking around = smart guys. rode in taxi for apx. 7 hours and then ended up in friends neighborhood where there was flooding and tons of traffic. it was around 6 so everyone was trying to get home to break fast =everyone is super cranky and caitlin and i ran across a highway to get home in a foot of water. stuff like that is starting to feel normal. that and sweat dripping down ur back into ur underwear all day.
friday went to the center of town where people flocked us and eventually u just start yelling i dont want ur stupid statue for only 4 bucks, or 1 cent for that matter. researched price of going to morocco for fall break- 1000 bucks. so xnay on that idea. in the afternoon got on bus for just forever and in total blind faith that it would bring us to the beach. and it did and when we got there some men sold us a little hut to sit under and protected us from artists who would come over to us and set up their artwork around us. just relentless but the beach was so beautiful it didnt matter. beach men even invited us to their fish party that night w french girls lol. fish?? hey thats new for senegal! rode home in taxi through a sea of cows. went to a club at night and felt like a freshman in hs bc when we got there at MIDNIGHT but no one was there so awkwardly walked around and then partied to american music w beautiful senegalese woman who dance in front of the mirror to check themselves out and old french men. great crowd. yesterday spent the day at goree island- an old slave island - very pretty and calm. obvi have more ppl selling u statues but beautiful color buildings that look like downtown new orleans. had a tour guide who was like hold my stuff for me and put all her shit in my backpack. and had friend albert hold her girly umbrella. oh ok sure,no problem. anyway off to research what to do for fall break in a month. im thinking spa.
Monday, September 1, 2008
And Its Getting Real
Good morning. Just had my first class - Wolof. Nice professor and feels like quite an accomplishment not only because it is a new language but because he talks to us in French to explain everything. It is nice to be at beginning of a language because people expect you to know oh 7 words. i guess see if ill have the same attitude in a month. makes me feel ambitious and im like maybe when i get back, ill take spanish or something!
quite a bit has happened since my last blog. on Friday, we went to a cultural center and learned about a lot of aspects of Senegalese traditions and beliefs. for example, if i complement someone's hair and it later falls out im considered a "demm" or a witch and will be outcast by society. of course, no one will tell me they think im cursed, they will just stop coming over and calling me. AWESOME. me being a-lets-talk-about-everything kind of person finds this frustrating lol. we then ate our first traditional meal which involves sitting around a bowl and eating with our hands (only use the right! exected to use your left for the bathroom)- needless to say i had sauce all over my face and it was heavy food. so started to feel overwhelmed for the first time, especially as the count-down to meet our host families was beginning. that afternoon, 2 girls - maryjo and deedee - picked me and my roommate (also named hannah - of course) up. they are both 19 (comme moi!) except maryjo is deedee's aunt. one of many confusing relationships. we took a short cab ride and arrived at a cinderblock house. our housing director had said our house was under construction- more like it is very simple and the family doesn't have much money and is considering construction. but we each got our own room and the family is really very nice, especially the mother, which is all that matters.
the first evening we literally sat for 5-6 hours and watched tv. the senegalese LOVE their tv. it is crazy - no matter how poor the family- they have a tv. it may be heroes dubbed in french or miserable soap operas. the family talked to us and such but people are glued to the set. we ate a traditional dinner again (as will be the rest of the trip- sitting on the floor around a bowl struggling to remember to not use left hand) but they gave us forks. i wanted to hug them. the mother told us we are like her children and when we are happy, it is like the sun is out for her (i think). i almost cried- i think because it was so nice, is something my own mom would say to me, and bc i was overwhelmed just generally. she asked us what we were doing the next day and in my head im like umm something with you? but no, senegalese make no real plans- just kinda hang. seems like one or two people work out of like 10 and thats about it. so hanna and i wandered around our neighborhood most of the day running into out students who were thrilled to see us (as were we to see them). you spend lots of time greeting people and people kept asking us if we were twins because we have the same name. why the heck would parents name their children the same name??? made sure to say busy etc to avoid loniliness and it seems like we have a nice neighborhood and a nice home. so in general, everything takes some getting to used to be a positive.
yesterday, we went on a little downtown outing to see more of the city. everyone was siked to see each other but then i think a lot of us realized what frustrating while traveling really means. suddenly it was super hot and we spent 5 hours looking at government buildings and entering markets where people shove stuff in your face (only 2,000 cfas!!! i give you for only 2,000 cfas! i dont want it for 1 cfa goddamnit- they tell you to be polite but by like 3 in the afternoon i was like go away lol). our guide insisted on stopping every 200 ft to explain where we were, how we got there, where we were going. tried to not lose it. but had a nice bitch-fest with others and we bonded. later went to the beach to cool down and there were apx 74979873 senegalese men there. trying to get into the water all these little boys kept grabbing our feet and older men were splashing us and they slowly start to be on all sides of you. really ends up being kind of miserable and it is just so surprising. never not been able to swim before but they make it a struggle. you are drying off out of the water and you realize 10 people are taking pics. the day before a man told me he is interested in me and kept following me. he said it was love at first sight. i bet they think we are rude but some men really push limits lol. have more sympathy for celebrities now- because that is kind of what you are as a white woman here.
anyway, off to go home and have lunch with the family. then back for 2 more classes- french and development econ. some people ate esphogaus at their homes for meals- im hoping my family can't afford that haha. love to all.
quite a bit has happened since my last blog. on Friday, we went to a cultural center and learned about a lot of aspects of Senegalese traditions and beliefs. for example, if i complement someone's hair and it later falls out im considered a "demm" or a witch and will be outcast by society. of course, no one will tell me they think im cursed, they will just stop coming over and calling me. AWESOME. me being a-lets-talk-about-everything kind of person finds this frustrating lol. we then ate our first traditional meal which involves sitting around a bowl and eating with our hands (only use the right! exected to use your left for the bathroom)- needless to say i had sauce all over my face and it was heavy food. so started to feel overwhelmed for the first time, especially as the count-down to meet our host families was beginning. that afternoon, 2 girls - maryjo and deedee - picked me and my roommate (also named hannah - of course) up. they are both 19 (comme moi!) except maryjo is deedee's aunt. one of many confusing relationships. we took a short cab ride and arrived at a cinderblock house. our housing director had said our house was under construction- more like it is very simple and the family doesn't have much money and is considering construction. but we each got our own room and the family is really very nice, especially the mother, which is all that matters.
the first evening we literally sat for 5-6 hours and watched tv. the senegalese LOVE their tv. it is crazy - no matter how poor the family- they have a tv. it may be heroes dubbed in french or miserable soap operas. the family talked to us and such but people are glued to the set. we ate a traditional dinner again (as will be the rest of the trip- sitting on the floor around a bowl struggling to remember to not use left hand) but they gave us forks. i wanted to hug them. the mother told us we are like her children and when we are happy, it is like the sun is out for her (i think). i almost cried- i think because it was so nice, is something my own mom would say to me, and bc i was overwhelmed just generally. she asked us what we were doing the next day and in my head im like umm something with you? but no, senegalese make no real plans- just kinda hang. seems like one or two people work out of like 10 and thats about it. so hanna and i wandered around our neighborhood most of the day running into out students who were thrilled to see us (as were we to see them). you spend lots of time greeting people and people kept asking us if we were twins because we have the same name. why the heck would parents name their children the same name??? made sure to say busy etc to avoid loniliness and it seems like we have a nice neighborhood and a nice home. so in general, everything takes some getting to used to be a positive.
yesterday, we went on a little downtown outing to see more of the city. everyone was siked to see each other but then i think a lot of us realized what frustrating while traveling really means. suddenly it was super hot and we spent 5 hours looking at government buildings and entering markets where people shove stuff in your face (only 2,000 cfas!!! i give you for only 2,000 cfas! i dont want it for 1 cfa goddamnit- they tell you to be polite but by like 3 in the afternoon i was like go away lol). our guide insisted on stopping every 200 ft to explain where we were, how we got there, where we were going. tried to not lose it. but had a nice bitch-fest with others and we bonded. later went to the beach to cool down and there were apx 74979873 senegalese men there. trying to get into the water all these little boys kept grabbing our feet and older men were splashing us and they slowly start to be on all sides of you. really ends up being kind of miserable and it is just so surprising. never not been able to swim before but they make it a struggle. you are drying off out of the water and you realize 10 people are taking pics. the day before a man told me he is interested in me and kept following me. he said it was love at first sight. i bet they think we are rude but some men really push limits lol. have more sympathy for celebrities now- because that is kind of what you are as a white woman here.
anyway, off to go home and have lunch with the family. then back for 2 more classes- french and development econ. some people ate esphogaus at their homes for meals- im hoping my family can't afford that haha. love to all.
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