My weekend!

I had awonderful weekend filled with interesting and educational adventures. On Saturday I got up nice and early and got to school ready to go to Goree Island. It was about a 20 minute bus ride and then a 20 minute ferry ride over to Goree, so it is very close to Dakar. It is a very tiny island that is well known historically because it is where a lot of slaves passed through during the slave trade years. Now it is a popular tourist stop as well as a place for people to go and learn more about the slave trade.
We visited two museums on the island, one about the women of senegal and how their tribes differ in customs (ex: how they tie their babies on in little papooses). We also saw the maison d'esclaves, which didnt actually have many slaves pass through it, only a few hundred, but serves as an example and museum of what the trade houses were like. We listened to a speech given at the Maison about the slave trade and looked around a bit. It was interesting to hear how the slave trade was done, and what constituted a good slave. Being at the place which was the last time any of the slaves would be in Africa was very sad, and very interesting. Unfortunately it was a very busy place and it was hard to soak up the importance of the place without being distracted by all of the people milling around.
After that we visited another museum-esque place with wonderful views of both the island and of Dakar itself. Looking at downtown Dakar from a distance it definetly has the look of a big city, with tall buildings. For lunch we went to a locals house and alllll of us were served ceebu jen, which is the traditional rice and fish dish with veggies. Hooray for eating with our hands!
We spent the afternoon wandering around Goree which is covered in art, made there. Its a small but colorful place. There is plenty of bargaining to be done too, and the locals count on tourists who will accept their high prices. All I bought was something to use for lying on the beach, and managed to bargain my way down to the right price- sucess!
After a little bit of wandering some of us headed towards the beach, which was nice and sandy, but horribly crowded. As soon as you sit down vendors surround you and often sit down with you to try to get you to buy things. They are very pushy about it and it gets very annoying, especially when you have no interest in buying. Regardless we had some nice quality time on the beach, but I avoided the water because of the insane amount of pollution there.
Soon after we took the crowded ferry home to Dakar and then bussed back to Dakar. I got home and managed to take a short nap prior to dinner. This can always manage to happen considering just how late dinner takes place. After that me and my friends met up at the 'bar' we have all claimed and called sketch-bar (I say 'bar' because its more along the lines of a liquor store with a patio). But it works and that's what counts. Afterwards we all headed out to the
'tennis club' where there was supposed to be live reggae. Oh Africa, how you fool me constantly. We got into the cab, and the driver assured us he knew what the 'tennis club' was, or at least its location. Along the way we stopped about three times to ask for directions, which was no fun. At last we arrived, ridiculously early (12.30am), and it was, quite literally, some tennis courts. With a dj playing some reggae. And a projection machine showing old Bob Marley videos. Oh Africa . . .
Sunday proved to be another fun day, which allowed me a) to sleep in and b) to go to Marche HLM and buy some fabric! I took a cab with three other friends over the the Marche, which was relatively quiet because it was a Sunday (key word- relatively). HLM is mainly a fabric and shoe market, so you won't find much by way of tupperware, clothes hangers or powers strips being sold on the street. We ventured around, found some gorgeous fabrics and waxhaled (bargained) our way into the right price. Here you come in, make some small talk, look at the fabrics and eventually pick what you want. Once you have picked what you want you start talking about the price. They'll start out way higher than what the real price is, and you start low. With fabric we knew what the price was supposed to be (1,000 cfa per meter, which is about $2 a yard), so we knew what to hold out for.
If you find something that you like, you hold out for the price, and if they dont give you what you want you can walk away in hopes that they will give you the price you want. If not, chances are good that the fabric (or tissu as it is in french) will be available elsewhere. We each ended up getting two types, and I can't wait to figure out what kind of dress I'll have made!!! I'll make sure to send pictures when they're done. Also, I'll post more pictures ASAP- and this time around there are captions for all of the pictures.
Tonight is Tamkharit, which is the Muslim New Year (party like it's 1385!!!), so it's couscous for dinner! It should be tasty!