Long time, no update. Sitting here munching on Reese’s pieces from my roommate who received them in a “Halloween package” from her mom. Some students in my program are considering testing trick-or-treating in Dakar. They’d probably just be really full because every house they would stop at would demand they eat part of their dinner. The Senegalese sense of hospitality means even random people on the street offer to share their food with me.
Since my return to Dakar about two weeks ago, school has gotten more demanding, I am in the midst of having a tailor make clothes for me (they have beautiful cloth here- some people say Dakar gets the shaft for not being considered one of the fashion capital’s of the world; I agree for the simple fact that all Senegalese women walk around in very high heels on a Monday morning on the sand sidewalks), and running water has ceased to flow at my school. Apparently the neighboring school has also stolen our generator. Nevertheless, I have begun to think more about what I will miss about Senegal opposed to what I currently miss about the US. For one, the aforementioned classes at my local gym. One of the numerous awkward moments that seem to characterize everyday here was during a “Body Attack” class. This class is unbelievable. The room is always filled past capacity and is an hour of either jumping up and down, an obscene number of push-ups, or splitting the class in two and having everybody run at each other. By the end of the class, everyone is so exhausted people actually look pissed as the instructors continue to scream Allons-y! (Let’s go!). During one exercise they had everyone running around the room in circles doing high knees. An instructor was suddenly next to me and put his hand out as if he wanted to hold hands. In the scheme of things it didn’t seem too weird- we had already done some type of square dancing that involved interlocking arms. So I finally put my hand in his. Only to finally hear him say “genou! genou!” (knees! knees!). The hand motion was to get me to lift my knees higher. My face was probably the color of a tomato. He just let go of my hand and pranced off to the next victim.
The theme of being kind of lost continued throughout the week. This past Sunday, three other girls from my program and I headed off to the nearby “Ile de Madelaine”- an uninhabited island off the coast of Dakar- for the day. We paid for the 15 minute boat ride over to the island (fully equipped with life vests and a driver who was wearing a hard hat?) as well as a guide. Upon arrival, no sooner had we gotten out of the boat, it was gone. While there were some Frenchies with us, one sporting an entirely too small speedo, it wasn’t exactly clear where this guide was and we had just been deserted on the island. So, we decided to just started walking around. But, the Senegalese have a way of coming through and within 10 minutes a man just emerged from the brush and started walking with us. “Ummm, are you the guide?” “Yep”. Hey great! The island turned out to be beautiful and included hundreds of birds and some quality kodak moments inside a baobab tree (national tree of Senegal).
Then, yesterday, it had finally been set for me to have a meeting with the company I am supposed to be interning with (yes, I have been here for 8 weeks already). The woman who coordinates all the internship business is less than pleasant. She is very scatter-brained, rarely listens but prefers to bark in French over the phone, and has a tendency to ignore people for weeks on end. Nevertheless, she has lots of connections and has found me an internship at a microcredit agency, an aspect of economics that really intrigues me. When she and I arrived in the neighborhood where the company was, she realized she didn’t know exactly where it was. Unfortunately, neither did the 10 people we asked on the street. She had also forgotten the number of the agency. Solution? Go home and try again another day. Had to laugh when she told me I’d have to come back another day and find it by myself once she got the address and phone number. That sounds like that will end well. Oh well, all about patience.
Finally, I gave a presentation in my French class today on marabouts (heads of Islamic brotherhoods) in Senegal and their power in the government (HUGE topic). Despite being a secular state, marabouts who head some of the major brotherhoods have a lot of power in Senegal because citizens have deep respect for the marabouts’ opinions and will usually vote the same way as their marabouts. Today, the president, Wade, is a member of a major brotherhood in Senegal called the Murids. As a result, the government is essentially being run from the holy Murid city, Touba. Yesterday, my culture class had a speaker who works in Senegalese media. He talked about all the opposition media (against the government) and the emergence of private radio in Senegal. Given that 30 or so percent of the population can’t read, the radio in Wolof (most prevalent language in Senegal) has allowed many more people in Senegal to be more aware of what is going on in the country. As a result, more people, especially young people, now view the marabouts only as a spiritual leader, rather than as a leader on every aspect of society from religion to politics. Religion will continue to be a huge factor in the Senegalese state but it was interesting to learn about the influence of the media.
Ok, long update. 1 week until rural visits. Apparently we will be staying in villages outside of Dakar by ourselves and few people speak French (funny how at this point French is the comfort language; there is a sense of relief when you find out someone speaks French). Sounds like some quality time in my own head.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Relaxing Vacances
Hello everyone, I am back at school after spending fall break in south-eastern Senegal. Let's just say, I am definitely looking at Dakar in a new light. As my friend Grant put it- before we left for fall break, I judged Dakar based on all the things it didn't have. Now, I am appreciating it for everything it does have. like toilets.
Last Friday, I left my house at 530 am to meet up with 3 girls and 3 guys from my program to take a sept-place (old beat-up station wagon that has seen better days with one seat in front, 3 in the middle, and another 3-seater stuffed in the trunk) to Tambacounda- the "hub" of Southern Senegal. 12 hours and miserably bumpy roads later, we arrived. For about 6 of those hours our driver swirved in and out of potholes as we drove through vast very green landscape and passed increasingly smaller villages with thatched huts, goats, pigs, and kids jumping up and down as we passed. By day two we had reached our "base camp"- the southern most "city" in Southeastern Senegal, Kedougou. It began to dawn on me just how far into rural Africa we had gone when the options for lunch at a local food store were canned lentils, tuna, or ravoli. That was when the game began: what do you wish is around the next corner? At the moment, it was a super Stop & Shop. By the end of our biking adventure, it was a spa.
By the third morning, we had run into a guide who said he charged 15 dollars a day and would bring us around to the local villages. My group proposed the idea of renting bikes to get around; our guide said we had to be "tres fort" (very strong) to bike the 75 km or so to get around over the next few days. We confidentely said yes, we are tres tres fort. It turns out it was not the distance, but the boulders we were biking across on one-speed easy-rider bicycles with occassional chains breaking and questionable gears that was the issue. That day, we biked for a while, stopped, climbed a mountain with stunning views across to Guinea (wasn't really planning on doing this but all of a sudden our guide was leading us up a steep incline and there you go), and then continued on to the town of Ibel. About 3 km away from Ibel, my chain snapped. So, we did the most logical thing: tied a string to the back of Grant's bike and had me hold on to the other end. Great video clip of that.
That night, we had climbed a second small mountain to the town of Iwol where we stayed for the night. Even when you know in advance, it comes as a surprise when there is no electricity or running water. I took a bucket shower behind a hatched fence next to what seemed to be the entire town sitting around, cooking. The next morning (post sleeping on wood bed = did awesome things for my back) I expierenced a little culture shock. We spent the morning walking around the village and any one- ranging from old grandmothers to small children- would just walk up to us, stick their hand out, and say "cadeau" (gift). We handed out tons of candy and kola nuts that our guide had instructed us to buy, but people kept asking for more and given this isn't the first time this had happened, it was overwhelming and disheartening that we were just seen as rich people who should give them stuff. Our guide sometimes had the same attitude- sticking out his hand during every meal we had, expecting to be shared with. Later on that day, part of our group got lost (to explained in a minute) and when we tried to recruit some people for help, their first question was - what will you give us? In some ways, sharing is part of Senegalese society- it is a communal society. Just today, a guard on the street offered to share his lunch with me. But, in other ways it is shocking, as I wonder how someone would react if I invited them over my house and immediately said "what did you bring me?".
We left the town around midday, climbed down the mountain, and jumped back on our bikes. We were feeling "fort" and ready to roll. Within 15 minutes we turned off the main road. Little did we know, we would be riding over what seemed to be a dried up river bed for the rest of the day. Trying to be good spirited, jokes were made like- good thing we are wearing helmets, glad my chain just fell off my bike again, gears would be awesome right about now. A few hours in, our guide said we were 30 minutes from a village where we could get much-needed water. A few minutes after, our group ended up on two different roads and being out in hot rural Africa suddenly got less funny. One group ended up forging 3 rivers and tramping through people's corn fields, going without seeing human beings for an hour at a time. Another guy ended up by himself for a while until our guide found him and had him bike through a stream to get to the village. Me and Grant- the only two people who had water-purifying sticks- managed to stay on the path the whole time and just thought the rest of the group was being really slow as we sat and waited at the village (in the meantime, we both got shit on by a bird- Amy, Paris take 2?). By the end of the day we all managed to meet up, looking quite rough and really shaken up, but fine. The next few days we saw a beautiful waterfall, met some peace core workers, biked on more ridiculous roads, played a lot of cards at various campements (little huts where we stayed), and trecking our way back to Dakar.
Driving home yesterday, I actually looked like a different person because there was so much red dust all over my face. My host family looked at me in horror and directed me towards the shower. The final stretch home had been scary because there had been a soccer game in dakar between Senegal and the Gambia. After the game, people were flooding the streets and one man actually reached into our car and snatched a friend's money purse right off of him. People were banging on the windows, starting fires, and throwing rocks. I have never expierenced any kind of riot and am happy to never be in one again. Needless to say, great week- what an adventure. So many more thoughts on everything, but this is enough for now. Back to school tomorrow morning and then three more weeks until "Rural visits". I think I am going to tell the director I already did mine and should probably sit by the beach instead. xoxo miss you all.
Last Friday, I left my house at 530 am to meet up with 3 girls and 3 guys from my program to take a sept-place (old beat-up station wagon that has seen better days with one seat in front, 3 in the middle, and another 3-seater stuffed in the trunk) to Tambacounda- the "hub" of Southern Senegal. 12 hours and miserably bumpy roads later, we arrived. For about 6 of those hours our driver swirved in and out of potholes as we drove through vast very green landscape and passed increasingly smaller villages with thatched huts, goats, pigs, and kids jumping up and down as we passed. By day two we had reached our "base camp"- the southern most "city" in Southeastern Senegal, Kedougou. It began to dawn on me just how far into rural Africa we had gone when the options for lunch at a local food store were canned lentils, tuna, or ravoli. That was when the game began: what do you wish is around the next corner? At the moment, it was a super Stop & Shop. By the end of our biking adventure, it was a spa.
By the third morning, we had run into a guide who said he charged 15 dollars a day and would bring us around to the local villages. My group proposed the idea of renting bikes to get around; our guide said we had to be "tres fort" (very strong) to bike the 75 km or so to get around over the next few days. We confidentely said yes, we are tres tres fort. It turns out it was not the distance, but the boulders we were biking across on one-speed easy-rider bicycles with occassional chains breaking and questionable gears that was the issue. That day, we biked for a while, stopped, climbed a mountain with stunning views across to Guinea (wasn't really planning on doing this but all of a sudden our guide was leading us up a steep incline and there you go), and then continued on to the town of Ibel. About 3 km away from Ibel, my chain snapped. So, we did the most logical thing: tied a string to the back of Grant's bike and had me hold on to the other end. Great video clip of that.
That night, we had climbed a second small mountain to the town of Iwol where we stayed for the night. Even when you know in advance, it comes as a surprise when there is no electricity or running water. I took a bucket shower behind a hatched fence next to what seemed to be the entire town sitting around, cooking. The next morning (post sleeping on wood bed = did awesome things for my back) I expierenced a little culture shock. We spent the morning walking around the village and any one- ranging from old grandmothers to small children- would just walk up to us, stick their hand out, and say "cadeau" (gift). We handed out tons of candy and kola nuts that our guide had instructed us to buy, but people kept asking for more and given this isn't the first time this had happened, it was overwhelming and disheartening that we were just seen as rich people who should give them stuff. Our guide sometimes had the same attitude- sticking out his hand during every meal we had, expecting to be shared with. Later on that day, part of our group got lost (to explained in a minute) and when we tried to recruit some people for help, their first question was - what will you give us? In some ways, sharing is part of Senegalese society- it is a communal society. Just today, a guard on the street offered to share his lunch with me. But, in other ways it is shocking, as I wonder how someone would react if I invited them over my house and immediately said "what did you bring me?".
We left the town around midday, climbed down the mountain, and jumped back on our bikes. We were feeling "fort" and ready to roll. Within 15 minutes we turned off the main road. Little did we know, we would be riding over what seemed to be a dried up river bed for the rest of the day. Trying to be good spirited, jokes were made like- good thing we are wearing helmets, glad my chain just fell off my bike again, gears would be awesome right about now. A few hours in, our guide said we were 30 minutes from a village where we could get much-needed water. A few minutes after, our group ended up on two different roads and being out in hot rural Africa suddenly got less funny. One group ended up forging 3 rivers and tramping through people's corn fields, going without seeing human beings for an hour at a time. Another guy ended up by himself for a while until our guide found him and had him bike through a stream to get to the village. Me and Grant- the only two people who had water-purifying sticks- managed to stay on the path the whole time and just thought the rest of the group was being really slow as we sat and waited at the village (in the meantime, we both got shit on by a bird- Amy, Paris take 2?). By the end of the day we all managed to meet up, looking quite rough and really shaken up, but fine. The next few days we saw a beautiful waterfall, met some peace core workers, biked on more ridiculous roads, played a lot of cards at various campements (little huts where we stayed), and trecking our way back to Dakar.
Driving home yesterday, I actually looked like a different person because there was so much red dust all over my face. My host family looked at me in horror and directed me towards the shower. The final stretch home had been scary because there had been a soccer game in dakar between Senegal and the Gambia. After the game, people were flooding the streets and one man actually reached into our car and snatched a friend's money purse right off of him. People were banging on the windows, starting fires, and throwing rocks. I have never expierenced any kind of riot and am happy to never be in one again. Needless to say, great week- what an adventure. So many more thoughts on everything, but this is enough for now. Back to school tomorrow morning and then three more weeks until "Rural visits". I think I am going to tell the director I already did mine and should probably sit by the beach instead. xoxo miss you all.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
African at Heart, Partying with Muslims
Think dinner is soon and since it may just be mystery meat, anxious to get home. Ended up having a splendid birthday. Highlights included: lots of great birthday wishes and letters (thank to you as well Teddy), buying and eating (correction: devouring) pasteries with my family from a place that was air conditioned and smelled like Paris, getting sung happy birthday in multiple languages multiple times, and hitting up a local restaurant/bar at night where not only had the other students bought me a cake but old senegalese men sung me happy birthday and told me I was an American, but African at heart... like i said, going to be a good decade.
yesterday was korite and all of the americans were super excited. some families gave their students bou-bous to wear (gorgeous dresses that are very colorful and apparently quite warm)and lots of food was made- it marks the end of ramadan. of course, as with everything unclear what was going on generally throughout the day. just basically sat and greeted six billion people who came to wish good tidings etc. had a big lunch and delicious baobob juice (baobob trees are the huge trees that are everywhere in senegal). turns out that no one really has dinner then (so not really our american idea of eating all day and stuffing your face- even lunch it was like i mean i could eat more...) and while i was fortunate enough to get some leftovers from lunch for dinner, some students were a little starved this morning. funny different concepts of holidays. we americans are like so where is the buffet? and we have to give food to every single person who comes over? who wasn't even invited and just showed up?
today had a european day. went to the center of town which was nice and quiet, ate at the institute francaise, went to probably the biggest grocery store in senegal (aka little smaller than average american one) to buy snacks for fall break, and then topped if off with some "nice cream"- delicious ice cream store. off to south eastern senegal tomorrow. someone's mom's friend is driving us in his station wagon...
sure to be many good stories upon my return :)
yesterday was korite and all of the americans were super excited. some families gave their students bou-bous to wear (gorgeous dresses that are very colorful and apparently quite warm)and lots of food was made- it marks the end of ramadan. of course, as with everything unclear what was going on generally throughout the day. just basically sat and greeted six billion people who came to wish good tidings etc. had a big lunch and delicious baobob juice (baobob trees are the huge trees that are everywhere in senegal). turns out that no one really has dinner then (so not really our american idea of eating all day and stuffing your face- even lunch it was like i mean i could eat more...) and while i was fortunate enough to get some leftovers from lunch for dinner, some students were a little starved this morning. funny different concepts of holidays. we americans are like so where is the buffet? and we have to give food to every single person who comes over? who wasn't even invited and just showed up?
today had a european day. went to the center of town which was nice and quiet, ate at the institute francaise, went to probably the biggest grocery store in senegal (aka little smaller than average american one) to buy snacks for fall break, and then topped if off with some "nice cream"- delicious ice cream store. off to south eastern senegal tomorrow. someone's mom's friend is driving us in his station wagon...
sure to be many good stories upon my return :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Birthday in Africa
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!
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!
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.
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