Maybe the last one . . .

First, let me start out by saying that power outages suck. We have very frequent ‘coupures’ here in Dakar in all different neighborhoods, and we have been having quite a few more than normal- as in multiple times a day sometimes for hours. It sucks. So I’m writing this blog on Friday but not sure when it will actually be posted. Just an FYI.

Ok, moving on from that- this has been a really good final week here. I had my last final on Tuesday and handed in my last paper on Thursday (not the best thing I’ve ever written, but I learned a lot about tontines, which are women’s saving groups).

This past weekend we had a group dinner with all of our professors at a nice restaurant, and Orchestra Baobaob performed! A world famous awesome group, so it was really cool to have them just for us. Then on Saturday a huge majority of us went to the island of Ngor where we had a house rented and proceeded to cook up a storm (for about 40) and have a really good time. Considering how wrong something like that could have gone, I’d say it was a rousing success. I spent Sunday on the beach, pretty much sleeping/resting to gain energy back from the night before.

On Monday we had a ‘re-entry session’ with the entire group, just as a beginning opportunity to start thinking about readjusting. It is weird to think about how it all has gone. Returning to America has very high expectations in terms of what it will be like. Although not an eternity, 4.5 months is long enough to forget what things can be like. For one I’m sure it’ll be a huge sensory overload. Right now I understand so little of what goes on around me, or at least in comparison to how much talking, music, advertisements etc I’m going to be able to comprehend at home.

I’m not quite sure how much or in what ways I’ll miss Dakar. It has been pretty insane living here and at times have these ‘woah, I’m living in West Africa’ kind of moments (and for the record, don’t ask me how Africa was, ask me how Senegal was- I’ve only been to a teeny-tiny portion of this vast continent). Those moments are usually pretty cool, and I’m pleased with how I have adjusted for them to be able to happen. Earlier on in this semester I was struggling with the feeling that my independence was gone and that there wasn’t much I could do here alone as a white female. But today I went downtown without a problem (granted, I took a cab, but that is because I wanted to be back in time for lunch) and wandered around and did my different gift-shopping errands on my own. I didn’t even think twice about it, which was really cool and a great feeling.

It’s hard to say whether or not I’ll miss all of the insane driving, the horrible pollution, the beggars and other negative things, but they all really add to what it is like to be here. The vibrancy and the life of this city and country are at times sad, but there is so much here that adds to the adventure of everyday life. I think that I’ll miss that, the random occurrences or the odd sightings or the vendors trying to sell you a set of plates through your cab window. And I’ll never get over the livestock (particularly the large cows/bulls) lazily crossing the street.

Other things have been going well this past week(s). I feel like I’ve really grown to like my family and feel much more comfortable there overall. I especially really love my little brothers. They are just SO much fun to get to come home to every day and they are always really excited to see me, which is a wonderful feeling. I think that they’re quite sad about me going- one of them has taken to asking me every time I leave where I am going and when I will be coming back. We have a fete planned at a nearby house (2 goats were slaughtered- big deal) for program people to invite their family members too, so I’m excited to bring my brothers along. Overall I am really lucky for the host family that I got. I didn’t end up becoming extremely close with anyone, but I think that it was a really important and great cultural experience, and without it there is no way that my semester would have been the same. For a goodbye gift for my family, since I couldn’t think of anything great, I’ve decided to help cook/fund our lunch on Monday. As I believe I’ve mentioned before I LOVE Yassa Poulet (Ginaar/Chicken) so on Sunday I’m going to go and buy three chickens. I’m not sure if they’ll be alive or what, but I’ll let you know. Then on Monday I’m going to ‘help’ Yande cook our lunch, which will be my last meal at the house. Quite fitting I do believe. Plus my brothers are excited for the special meal and keep asking me when I’m going to go and buy the Ginaars. Should be fun!

It’s been odd saying goodbye to people this week, just because it has been happening so sporadically. Some people have left on trips to other parts of West Africa (some people are actually crazy enough to go to Mali this time of year- it’s going to be insanely hot) so there have been a few random goodbyes. I’m also one of the last people to leave, so as eager as I am to pack up (which I have started to do) I still have a good amount of time left. Funny to think that three days constitutes a ‘good amount of time’. Plus there are so many people that I will be seeing back in the US- so many of us go to school in DC and I have good friends out at St. Olaf in Minnesota, so I’m sure that I’ll be seeing people. My time abroad last time was SO much harder- I think that this time I am just far more confident that I’ll be seeing these people. I don’t know if I’ll be seeing Senegal again. People always ask if you’re going to return, and the response is always ‘in’challah’ but it’s hard to know. There are so many other places in the world that I’d love to see, so it is hard to know if I’ll be making it back here any time soon. Some of the people on this program fully intend upon returning in the near future because they’ve found a connection here. However, I do know that I really want to see more of Africa, and I think that Senegal was a great introduction for me of what it is like to go somewhere so filled with culture.

Touba

Long time, no post! I've been busy with wrapping things up and I keep meaning to write but keep putting it off. Anyways, I went to Touba on Tuesday with my Islam class, a city that is about 3-4 hours away from Dakar. It is the capital of the Mouride brotherhood in Senegal, so it is a very very big deal city, and one that is rapidly growing as well. Mouridisime was founded by Chieck Ahmadou Bamba, a Senegalese, so there is a great deal of national pride in the brotherhood.
The city is owned by the Khalif, the head of the brotherhood, and it is he who distributes the land to people- they don't buy it. Hence, the city is rapidly growing. People come to Touba for Magal, which celebrates a week after the prophets birth, his baptism. For that it is a mini pilgrimage for Mourides, and everyone heads out here. My family here is Mouride, so they were very excited about me getting the chance to go to Touba (and were shocked that I wasn't staying the night).
When we actually went, we drove out there, stopped at the house of a friend of our professor to use the restroom, and chilled out on some mats to 'recover from our journey'. Very welcoming. Following this we drove up to the grande mosque- and boy is it grand! At this time we ladies also had to put on our headscarves (already dressed in long skirts and tops that covered part of our arms). It was HOT out! We had a guide to show us around the mosque and show us different parts (and keep us out of where we weren't supposed to go). It was a gorgeous place and quite large with multiple rooms for praying- I can only imagine how full it is during Friday prayer, let alone during Magal. The mosque was done in a very morracan style (I suggest googling images of it- there are some great ones, better than what I could get).
Following touring the mosque we went to go and see an old source where people go to drink the water because it is holy. Mostly felt annoyed because some kid decided to take pictures of us on his camera phone. Aggravating because I don't do it to other people (always ask before you take a picture) but I know a bunch of tourists do it anyways.
By this point it was lunch time so we went to another friends house to have some tasty Chieb. Our host was an important (female) leader in the brotherhood and in the group that my professor is a part of (he himself is quite important). She is the wife of the now deceased marabout, which is a big deal in itself. It was a wonderful lunch- and I ate with my hands! Sometimes it is just SO much easier to do things that way.
That was pretty much the end of our field trip- it might seem like we didn't do much, but it was important for us to go and see Touba, a city completely run by the Mourides, and it really is like a mini-Mecca. And it was important for me to get to go because it is an important place for my family (I picked up some prayer beads for my host mom). It was very too the point too, which is always nice, as opposed to lingering in the sun.
I came home that evening, exhausted, but went over to my friend Jessie's house for some yummy yassa poulet- and ate with my hands again!!!
Other than that, this week has just been some tests (nothing too hard) and working up the energy to write my anthropology paper- which will have to be postponed while I go to the beach this weekend- a bunch of us have rented a house for sat/sun, to cook and generally hang out. Really looking forward to that!!!

beach activities

I went to the beach yesterday to hang out, eat a sandwich and read. I was also treated to seeing a mini-herd of goats getting washed in the ocean. Very amusing, very Senegalese. I'm sure I'll miss odd things like that.

Ok, so I cheated . . .

On my aunt that is. Here’s how the story goes: so I have been getting clothes made by my aunt Seynabou (and Aka, who is her apprentice) and I have been very satisfied with everything that she has done for me and have loved a lot of the clothes that she has given me as cadeaux. I mean, who doesn’t want to come home and get given clothes every now and again? But I can’t help but have a wandering eye, especially when other girls show up at school with amazing creations. Granted, some of this is due to their creative imaginations and good drawings, but they all came from the same tailor. Ousmane. That is the response that everyone gives when asked who made their outfit. And what he does is not just African items, not in the least.

The last straw came when my friend Yasmeen showed up to a party in the cutest and coolest jacket. She had gotten so much stuff made by him (granted, Air Maroc lost her bags en route to here, filled with great pieces, so the girl has a reason to need new things) but this jacket was the tipping point for me. A knee length coat with a mandarin collar, not made to shut, but instead done to show off the amazing embroidery all along the edge of the coat. Truly gorgeous.

Seeing as how the time is winding down here (just over two weeks!) I figured I could go ahead and cheat on my aunt and take some things to Ousmane. I’m still having her make me a few things, but his talent seems more advanced and capable of great things. Hence I went fabric shopping with Kayleigh today, and boy oh boy did we tear it up at HLM. Partially it was a great experience because it is always fun to buy fabric, but also because every time I go I know more and more what I’m doing, my Wolof is better and I can bargain better. The first time I went I wandered around far less, but by now I’ve enjoyed exploring the twisting hallways of random buildings, seeking out what I can.

There are a blocks of outside stalls with all kinds of piis (fabric) and there are great things to be found there. But the fun comes when you go wandering around. Inside of one building is the best place to find mbazin, which is the fabric, used to make the grand Senegalese outfits known as boubous. It ranges in price and quality and is always astounding just how many colors and patterns the stuff comes in. Both Kayleigh and I were interested in mbazin, so we searched through numerous cabinets in dozens of stalls, hunting for that perfect mbazin.

Sometimes it is hard to get mbazin because since it is traditionally used for boubous, it is sold in 5 or 6 meter bundles. Neither of us needed nearly that much, so things are often quickly narrowed down when you ask for 2 or 3 meters. As well, they immediately point you to the most expensive mbazin. So I guess my secret is out- my mbazin isn’t the highest quality. But the price difference is huge (4,000 for 3 meters as opposed to 15,000+) so it’s worth it. Kayleigh and I both ended up finding the kind we wanted from the same person- it helped that he was a really nice vendor who took his time with us. It can be surprising how often the salespeople here aren’t nice, as though their demeanor has no effect on their chance of a sale. That might just be the salesgirl in me.

Along the way we both picked up a ton of fabric that we were very satisfied with, but by far the best purchase location of the day was with the women who sold to me and then struck up a conversation. As usual, the question after what is your name is ‘am naa jekker?’ Why not ask straight off the bat if I have a husband. The response is always “Waaw waaw,” which always leads to questions about him (he’s Senegalese, but lives in America right now, I live in Mermoz, no, we don’t have any children yet, but I plan on giving them good Senegalese names. Senegalese men are always the best, good husbands, and why yes I’m Senegalese, can’t you tell by my jaay fondee (big butt). Of course I always eat well! Oh yes, I love Senegal, it’s wonderful here). It was by far one of the most amusing conversations I’ve had yet here, possibly because my Wolof and my manner of speaking had gotten better bit by bit. I think that being able to do all of that in Wolof should count as my final exam, personally. It’s all little white lies and allows for some fun cultural interaction. While with them I picked up 6meters of wax (the colorful patterned fabric) for a present for my aunt who makes me all of my stuff. I gave it to her today and she was really excited about it and very grateful, which was nice for me to be able to do, because she’s always making nice stuff for me.

After fabric shopping we hopped in a cab home and while driving along a one-way street (ok, probably two-way, but we American’s would probably judge it an alleyway) we came along a large mass of men, just standing there. But of course! Friday at 2pm- holiest day of the week and the most important prayer time. We had to do some very strategic backing up, but it was really cool to see this huge mass of men of all ages praying together. In some odd way I think I’ll miss living in a country with religion such a prominent thing.

Back at home I ate lunch quickly and then met back up with Kayleigh and our friend Julie and set off to Ousmane’s. When we showed up he was still eating his lunch (probably had just finished praying) so we went to get a cold drink, which turned out to be a wonderful side-trip. At the store I found packaged Kinkeliba (the tea I drink every morning) and Bissap (the juice we made in Foundiougne). I had really wanted to bring some back to the US, but wasn’t sure how I felt about lying to customs about not having unpackaged tea or flowers, but now I have 40 packaged bags of each! I’ll have to ration them carefully, but I’m excited to make them for people to try out.

We then went to Ousmane’s and the party began. Julie tried on an adorable dress she had gotten made and picked up a bag she had gotten made. I then handed over my fabric, along with pictures for each thing. A few of the items I had found online (thank you very much Urban Chic website :) so I had great pictures to give him, and one item I had drawn out. He took very precise measurements for the items, measuring the lengths of sleeves and dresses. Kayleigh then handed over her things, we made a date to stop by on Thursday to try stuff on and see what kind of leftover fabric there is. I cannot wait to get my stuff back!

Although I think that since I’m cheating and my aunt will know I cheated, I might have to pull a bad-girl move and wear one thing to school and then change into an Ousmane creation once there. But there’s very little time left, so I think I’ll be able to manage. I’m dying to see how it all turns out, but I think I’ll just have to wait and do some paper-writing in the meantime.

Ok, so maybe I was a little tough on life here in the last post. I'm just feeling very ready to go home and am eager to get a move on doing things like finding an apartment. But I will miss some great things from here (at least I think - it's hard to tell how I'll feel about not being here when I am still here). For one, my host family has turned out to be great. At first there were difficulties. Even if you know that there are cultural differences, it's still hard to deal with that and remember that when you're living amidst them. But now I like being at home and seeing my family and they tend to seem to be pretty happy to see me. There isn't a whole lot that we talk about- it's mostly small talk, but that's ok. I like that I am somewhere that gives me the freedom to come and go, and I love coming home to have my brothers rush up to me to say hello! I'm currently trying to figure out what kind of a thank you present to get for them for hosting me. I'll be going to Touba next Tuesday, which is the Mouride capital (Mouride is the most popular Muslim brotherhood in Senegal, and Touba is like their Mecca) so hopefully I can find them something there. They're very excited for me to go (my brother Khadim says that there is everything there, anything you could want is there) and I'm very excited to get the opportunity to go, especially since it will be with my Islam class (and awesome Islam professor) so it'll be in a small and educational group. So much to fit in during these last few weeks.
It's really strange to think about how life will be like at home. All of those things that I miss will suddenly be right in front of me and will probably be overwhelming. Also, the transition back to American food will aparently be difficult, which is no fun, but I think I'll manage to trudge through it if it means I get to eat my favorite foods again. The adjustment is going to be hard but as I've said before (I think- I feel like I often repeat myself in these blogs) I'm glad to have the time here to reflect on all of these things and consider how I feel about being here while still being here. Not much time left, but I'll do my best to keep taking advantage of my awesome/interesting situation!

as the time winds down . . .

So as of today I officially have three weeks left in Dakar. And I must say, I'm getting pretty excited! Ever since coming back from my rural visit I have felt this way, but I think it's a really positive feeling. I was really dreading the rural visit before going on it, but after having done it, and having it go really well, I feel like I've accomplished a lot here overall. So it's a good feeling that I'm ready to go home, and since I still do have three weeks left here I have time to finish up my schoolwork (which other than a horrible ten page anthropology research paper in french that has yet to be started isn't too much work) and process everything I've seen here.
I don't know if I'm quite ready to vocalize how I feel about here- I've been talking to a lot of my friends about our experience, and I'm not the only one who is ready to leave here. We've all had a great experience, but we also have a lot of things that we're ready to get back to. Something important that I've realized is that while I do like Senegal, I haven't fallen in love with the country as an overall. I don't know if I was expecting to become enamored with it or what, but I haven't, and that's ok. There's a lot of things here that frustrate me, both on the big scale and on the small scale. So much about Senegal is going in the right direction, but it still lacks so much structure and motivation from so many parties, that a lot of stuff is just so frustrating (for example, why build a whole new airport near Dakar, when the roads that the Senegalese drive on are such a mess that they drive in the fields?).
On the smaller scale, it's hard being white here. One of the reasons I came here was because I wanted to try something different in terms of being a minority. And while it's not as though they're mean towards white people, it's just always pointed out. Everywhere you go. There is nothing wrong with shouting 'toubab!' at a white person and at times it's just annoying. There is also the assumption that since you are white, you have money which means that you can get overcharged for things, even things with a set-price like a sept-place fare from Dakar to another town. Some days it's just exhausting being pointed out all the time and I look forward to that being over- although I'm glad to have had the opportunity in my lifetime to challenge myself in a new situation. And I think it's gotten harder over time because I feel like I should be treated differently, because I'm making a real effort to live here, and not just be a tourist. But alas, they don't know that, they just see that I"m a toubab.
However, on the posititve side, I feel like I have made a ton of progress while here. Although I don't think I will ever reach the 'home' feeling while here, I do feel like I've settled into things a great deal better. I am really grateful for my family, who lets me come and go as I please and is always happy to see me. My little brothers, loud though they may be, are a lot of fun to have around and it makes me really glad that I've ended up in a truly family environment- I think that without them I would not have nearly the understanding that I do of Senegalese culture. Also, it's been awesome having an aunt for a tailor, who randomly gives me new clothing!
Another fun thing was coming home the other night to find out that there was a big fete (party) going on next door! I laid in my bed for about an hour, just listening to the awesome tam-tams, and then eventually going up to the roof and watching the dancing in the neighboring courtyard. The culture here is really so vibrant (aside from the fact that they had the fete with the community month that didn't need to be given to any family that month. Instead they used it for a fete- why save when you can dance? Around here you worry about today and God takes care of tomorrow). I will definetly miss being surrounded by such vibrancy!!!

rural visit wrap-up

Friday was a pretty relaxing day because it was Shannon’s birthday and she wanted to be able to take the day easy. As a result we spent the morning make French toast using some good baguette bread and tasty eggs- with syrup available to put on top. I had a really good time cooking actually, and makes me look forward to getting home to cook tasty things for myself! It was a lovely and lazy morning, and Shannon seemed quite happy to spend her birthday that way. Also, her cat Bullwinkle had three little kittens! It made for a fun birthday surprise (I had said at the beginning of the week that she would have her kittens on Shannon’s bday).

For the afternoon we went to a cool little hotel to have drinks and wander into the water. It was really cool hanging out and wandering into the water- you could wander out so far into the water at the low tide, but as we played more and more aller pecher (go fish!) the closer up the water came. Apparently there is a tide twice a day, so there’s a lot going on in that water.

Around 6pm two of Shannon’s Peace Corps friends came to Foundiougne to help celebrate her birthday. They joined Shannon and Kayleigh and I left the hotel under the pretext of taking showers, but instead we went into town and bought her birthday presents! We picked her up a broom and a teapot- both very quality and important gifts when you live in rural Senegal! Soon enough we went out to dinner at the local Italian restaurant (we had to go a few days ahead of time!) where we got to have a lovely three course meal. It truly was a whole week of good eating- much better than I had expected J

Saturday morning we got up to say goodbye to Shannon’s friends (and stopped to get a great omelet and potato sandwich along the way). We went back to her place, packed up our stuff, said our goodbyes to the kittens and walked over to the port. Kayleigh and I decided to go through Mbour this time and take a different route, which involved a ferry to the other side of the river (which ran on time), take a taxi cab (expensive and we only took it bc the bus was broken), then a sept-place over to Mbour, and then a cab to our hotel!

It was a HOT day of travel and we were very happy to show up at a hotel, right on the beach, drop our stuff into a cute little room, and walk right into the ocean. As usual we were ambushed by vendors, but seeing as how I was really truly without money I was able to say ‘no, merci, amuma xaalis’ (no thank you, I don’t have any money). The water was quite full of seaweed, but there were a bunch of pretty shells to collect, and it really capped off the ‘rural visit’ quite well!

In the evening Kayleigh and I had ourselves a very nice dinner. I ordered a great salad that really could have qualified as a first course, but I was more than happy to have my chicken dish in addition (and profiteroles for dessert!). I NEVER thought I would come to Africa and nearly as much (and on occasion as well) as I thought I would.
Sunday morning we went to the beach again, read some more and then packed our stuff up. As much as the very lovely staff encouraged us to stay, we couldn’t, but they did provide us with a free ride to the bus/car station! We grabbed a sept-place in a decent amount of time and found ourselves back in Dakar by around 3pm. A quick trip, and after talking to my friends about their truly rural, HOT, visits, I’m quite happy with the weekend that I got to spend with Shannon and Kayleigh.