Monday, September 22, 2008

Toubab Dialo-like a vacation in a vacation









I have a Wolof quiz in a few minutes, but here are some photos from this weekend. Everyone went to Toubab Dialo, a little village two hours south of Dakar. It was absolutely beautiful there! We stayed at a really cool hotel and you can see my room, which overlooked the ocean. A few of us went on a walk yesterday morning to explore the village and got invited into the house of these five artists, who gave us fonde and watermellon and played the flute and danced for us, and we talked for the morning. We all shook with our left hands because we plan on meeting again some time. You can also see the pirogues (boats) on the beach and a big rock on the beach in front of the hotel where Sarah and I posed for a shot. Also we did baticking, so I have a cool piece of fabric now.
Friday I went to another beautiful closeby beach/island called Ngor and will post photos of that later, as well as the lighthouse I climbed. I'm a little worse for the wear right now with various scrapes and cuts and blisters so I'm going to get that straighted out at the doctor first and will post again. Wish me luck on the quiz!
Ba beneen yoon
Amanda

Monday, September 15, 2008

Jaay Fonde!

Jaay is to sell and fonde is millet (a grain you cook like rice, etc.) so it means to sell millet. When you boil millet and mix it with sugar and pour sweet yogurt over it and eat it for dinner it's supposed to make you fat so you get a big booty. So if you have a big booty people say "jaay fonde!" because you have so much millet you can sell some and because if you sell millet it's a win-win situation because you either make money or you eat it yourself and get a nice big butt.
One of the guys in the big Marche Sandaga downtown who was following us around kept saying that to me to which I kept responding "Je comprends!!" and then he tried to touch my butt so I pushed him away and we (five of us) busted a move across the street. You've got to stick in packs at the market.
In other news, I'm preparing the dinner for the family tonight. I hope they like it. It's a bunch of vegetables with curry and garlic and raisins. They also want me to make soul food. On Thursday we were all talking about food and I was saying how I want to make dinner. They said "you know soul food?" and I was all "Oh yea I do" and was listing off good foods so they said "you can make us soul food!" So that's what I'm going to do next week. Yankee white girl makin soul food in Senegal.
Speaking of race, I saw a guy with a shirt that said "nigga fatal"- I found it intriguing.
Another interesting use of words- I really thought I could tough it out, but I have so many mosquito bites all over my body I feel like I have chicken pox. My host sister said "Tu as beaucoup du pimps!" Yea I have a lot of pimps! Pimps being short for pimples meaning mosquito bites. I've put up the net on my bed and it feels like sleeping in a transparent coffin.
Also my host family, mainly my host mom, was discussing marriage with me a couple days ago (this subject comes up very often here-I get asked often if I am married and when I will marry and why not and what I think of marriage) and she asked "you marry Senegalese?" I said maybe "you marry American?" Maybe, again. "You marry Renee?" (my host brother!) I said well I don't know about that, maybe!" People believe that the easiest way to getting to the US, or anywhere else, is by marrying someone from there. Hence me and all of the other girls on the trip often get asked if we are married and have people propose to us and say they love us.
Healtchare: I spent twelve hours downtown on Friday, and among the many sights was a street lined with dozens of people in wheelchairs and with crutches begging for money. This was tragic and uncomfortable. Maybe since it was Friday (the holy day) and people are most likely to donate alms on Fridays, they make it more convenient for money giving. There are more people than at home walking around with knarled feet or in wheelchairs. Maybe as a result of other untreated diseases? Access to preventative medicine and healthcare in general is extremely difficult without money. Not that the US doesn't have it's own failed healthcare system- failings have different symptoms everywhere.
A friend (who will remain nameless upon her request due to mixed feelings about the incident) and I decided to check out a music store I read about a couple days ago. We set off, but predictably never reached the fabled store. First some guy from her neighborhood spotted her and was talking to us and wanted to go all the way to the music store-he asked for us at a stand and apparently it was shut down. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable so we ducked into a bookstore to gently say goodbye. Not three minutes after leaving another guy came up to us who said something about being at the university and that he was Mormon and he looked very spiffy and had a cell phone and zip drive and briefcase. Then came the catch-he had diabetes and needed us to give him medicine-it only cost 6000 CFA (about $12, but it's the principle). I said no because I wasn't buying him, but my friend gave in, so we traipsed around for the better part of an hour listening to how he has diabetes and she paid for our ride to the right pharmacy where he got the medicine. I went to make sure she was safe, but I just...am not sure because he looked much better off than many other people on the street and I didn't buy the story, but I suppose he wouldn't have asked us if he didn't need the money. I don't know. After that we started walking toward the bus and happened upon a huge mall-like structure with Casino inside-a huge supermarche a cross between Stop and Shop and Walgreens. There were a lot of toubabs there and upper class types. We didn't buy anything, but I enjoyed looking. The clinical brightness and cleanness was striking and odd compared with the rest of things outside the store.
I have much more to say but got to get home for lunch.
Ba beneen yoon!
(Until next time!)
Speaking of money: an update on the bus strike. It only lasted half a day because it's Ramadan and people need the money for their families especially right now.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Strike!

The buses went on strike today. I have no idea how long the strike will be, but it means car rapide rides at all times, which will be that much more cramped without buses! At least I've discovered that there is labor organizing here.
Also, the CIEE (my program) office got broken into, including the safe, and someone's laptop and a ton of money in an unspecified amount was stolen last night. Good thing I didn't bring my computer with me!
On a lighter note, this Friday I plan on visiting the IFAN museum which is Dakar's museum of art, and have a trip to this fabled patisserie (pastry shop) downtown where the rich and famous go- it has a guard at the door! I'll just tell myself that I'm contributing to the regional economy. One of our neighbors is going to make me a boubou for pretty cheap money, so I've got to go buy fabric anyway. Yay for new handmade clothing! This woman isn't just a neighbor, but is somehow related to my host mom. At the end of our street is also my host mom's sister-in-law and her family. Small world! It must be nice having so much family around. The suicide rate in Senegal is extremely low because people realize their place in the family and get so much socialization all the time. If I say to my host family "I'm going out for a walk" (which I tried once) they don't understand why I would walk by myself for no reason, and assumed I was going to a friend's house. Also, everyone's stuff is communal. Once something is left out in the open, it's for everyone. Everyone in my family, from what I've seen, shares food when they bring it home-whether it's peanuts or donuts (mmm) and if I leave my sandals out people wear them around (which I've been doing, but they're so worse for the wear that I'm hiding them under the bed now so I don't have to buy new ones). From what I've seen, it's common to be asked for small amounts of money or things, and people are willing to give. I've let my host sisters have a little money and use my phone, and people have also paid for my bus fare twice when I didn't have enough or the right change!

To Farid: Would you like me to buy you a new "teapot" here? I have no idea how to spell the Hindi word but I know how to say it! All of them here are plastic and striped usually. Mostly kidding since I know you've already got one :D- maybe a pair of sandals?
I don't have a webcam but I do have a microphone and will look into the Yahoo/skype thing.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Mango Madness/Goree


This won't be a long entry, but here are a few photos. I can't get all of my photos up on facebook because these computers aren't compatible with facebook's uploading program, so you'll have to settle for these! If you know my family, you know that we aren't very renowned photographers, that is if we even remember to bring the camera anywhere. Add that to my self conciousness around looking like a privileged tourist and you have me-who doesn't take as many photos as some others. ---Note: okay so I can only get this one photo up, it's a view from the balcony outside a classroom at school. This is the center of campus. Note the Senegalese flag in the center and the ocean just behind :D---
As I mentioned previously, the computers here cause me unending frustration, but otherwise I try to let things slide.
A little while ago after class I was excited to eat a mango I bought yesterday because my fruit and vegetable intake is very low, and I went to open the skin when a little white worm started crawling out, so I immediately dropped it and threw it away-simultaneously grossed out and dissapointed. However last night I did get to have some bueye, which is a smoothie-like juice made from the fruit of baobab trees. It is delicious and tastes sort of like banana and strawberry combined, along with some orange.
This weekend at Goree Island was great. A cheap ferry takes you out (cheap for students anyway) and the island is carless and has winding narrow dirt streets. It's famous in history for being the headquarters of slave export in the Senegambia region, and we went to the Maison des Esclaves- the building where 300 Africans at a time were kept before being shipped out to the new world. The upstairs of the building is where commerce and trade deals were made by white and Afro-European (mixed race) merchants. We saw the cramped rooms where people were kept, and the "door of no return" where boats could pull up to load their "cargo"-never to be seen again. It is open and looks out onto the ocean. Despite the deadly history of the island (there are also WWII era cannons at various points and an old fort turned into a history museum-once the island was even bombed when the Vichy regime and the free French were fighting) it's extremely picturesque, colorful, and peaceful. Theres a little beach where we all went swimming, a church, and many many people selling tourist items who follow tourists around trying to sell them things. Since I've been to some concentration camps in Europe, forts in the US, etc. I thought of how much this place contrasts with those. At Goree, it's about unification and fun in the sun as you check out the architecture and talk with residents- the level of seriousness when touring the Maison was not the same. Maybe they don't think Europeans (and Americans) can take that level of seriousness-it would dampen their mood for buying food and tourist items. It's probably true? On Goree is also one of the most renowned high schools in Senegal-it's a boarding school for girls named after the famous Senegalese author Mariama Ba. There is a church for Catholics on the island, a hospital type building, and at the top of the island where parts of old WWII forts are people have made their homes (inside). Nothing is made on the island and everything is shipped in on the ferry-it seems even the baguettes that people generally eat for breakfast are shipped! (That might not be true).
The first week in October is our "fall break" and I and three other girls have begun planning our excursion. I think we're going to stick to the "petite cote" which is the coast south of Dakar and north of the Gambia. There is one place where the rooms are treehouses in huge baobabs. It's going to be a very nature oriented, riding pirogues (canoes) through the coastal mangroves sort of trip. Very exciting!
Got to get home for lunch-stay tuned.
Amanda

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

I Am A Toubab and So Can You! / Ramadan Begins

Happy Ramadan to one and all! I started writing this post yesterday on the first day of Ramadan, but the power went out and the generators in the computer lab were being funky so I had to get off. The second day of Ramadan is equally good. One thing about Dakar is that there are a lot of power outages- for at least a couple hours every day. It's been going on for about two years now. People just light candles and go about their business. More on Ramadan in a few paragraphs.

I know that you (my family) are very anxious to hear about the continuation of my travels- my internet access is limited to the computers at school in the computer lab (which is sometimes closed and other times occupied by a class). There are "telecentres" around but most of them only have one computer or so and I haven't bothered to try one yet. We'll see how I feel when I have to finish my two final papers. I've gotten a phone though and tonight I'm going to buy a sim card, so I should be working approximately by tomorrow.

Well then! Last week I finished orientation and signed up for classes, and have now had all of my classes at least once. I'm in Intermediate French 2, Beginning Wolof, Senegalese Culture and Society (which is this semester also functioning as a class in cross-cultural communication, and I'm very excited about it), a history class called Colonization and Decolonization focusing on Senegambia (that's Senegal and the Gambia combined-Gambia being the country that is completely surrounded by Senegal except for the Atlantic), and Gender and Development (which is going to be totally awesome because it's all field trips, guest speakers, and movies and we volunteer at an organization that works with girls in one of the poorest areas of Dakar as part of our grade).

On Friday the end of our orientation we traveled to the Baobab Center (named after that lovely national tree) where we learned about different cultural concepts in Senegal and "ate around the bowl" for the first time and tasted about ten different scrumptious juice drinks particular to Senegal. One of the ladies at the center is an artist who coordinates a workshop programme to train women in different arts so that they can start their own businesses. I got her card and she is going to come do a batik workshop with some of us in the near future!

The most exciting thing about Friday however was that our host families came to pick us up! In my case it was a guy who lives down the street from my family and his little sister, who are also hosting a student. The university is in the neighborhood of Mermoz and I'm living in Ouakam, which is a 15 minute bus ride north. Our street is a block away from the far side of the airport. I'm living with a grande famille! Along with my host mother are five sisters, all between 16 and 25, two nieces (daughters of 2 of my host sisters) who are 1 and 6 respectively, and a host brother (the nephew of my host mom) who I think is 28 or so. My host father works in the Casamance, which is the southern part of Senegal, so I have yet to see him. There are also other kids from the neighborhood who hang out at our house, and there are a lot of young people my age on the street who we go visit and who visit us. At every corner there are little shops, like tailors or telecentres, but mostly minimarches, many of which are the size of a walk-in closet but are stocked with everything you could possibly need. We go to different mini-markets depending on what we need for the best price. My host brother keeps to himself pretty much and doesn't eat with us or any of that. My first extended conversation with him was last night when him and his sister decided to have a French lesson for me. So it's basically a house of women! they're always sitting in the living room talking and there's always activity and we're always going to some mini market to get some thing. The TV is always on but mostly people don't watch it (sounds kind of familiar :)? ).

I've been in about five houses by now and they're all very open so that the air can flow. For example, you have to walk outside to get to the washing area and the bathroom but it's tiled and closed off. There are a couple of small rooms beside the bathroom and kitchen that are open (no roof), and one of them has the stairway that's open and leads up to the roof, which is flat, and is where we hang the clothes to dry. There are no air conditioners, but sometimes a fan is on. It's always extremely hot and humid and I am forever sweating. Everyone is very clean and forever taking showers-so I am too (mom) :). The toilet doesn't flush and you just squat on it, which I'm still getting used to, but it's all good.

The food. The food has definitely lived up to my high expectations! I mentioned "eating around the bowl"- for meals the food is put in a large, sort of flat, bowl for everyone to eat out of. Traditionally you use your hands (everyone washes first, and only uses the right hand because your left is for the bathroom. You do everything with your right hand- like eat and accept/give gifts). We did that the first night for my sake I think, but usually we use spoons. There is no stove, so food is mainly rice, couscous, and maybe some lentils with either fish or chicken and some mostly root vegetables. There are lots of spices. I like the concept of eating from the same plate. There's this one dish whose name I forget that is more like a dessert, but we had it for dinner too. It's fattening apparently so it will give you a "fonde"-a big butt- which is desireable here :). It's boiled millet (a grain) with sugar and something else I think, and then you pour this sweetened yogurt over it, or sometimes condensed milk I think, and it's so good! My favorite drink is a popular one in Senegal called bissap. You get a bunch of dried hibiscus flowers, boil them, add mint candies which melt in the boiling water, and I think you add some ginger too. Then when it cools off you add a ton of sugar, and it turns out as this sweet red minty cold drink. Yum! I had one of my host sisters write down the recipe for me, though it's in French.

Speaking of food, Ramadan is great in this respect. Of course there's the fasting, but most of the people in my house don't fast (including my host mom)-though they do get up at 5am before sunrise. My favorite part is when we break the fast at sunset- we ate sweet bread with butter, dates, and nescafe creme. The coffee people drink here is nescafe-powdered instant coffee. This one we had last night comes in individual packets and is powdered cream and coffee, and then we put a bunch of sugar cubes in- very tasty. At the same time on TV they turned to the Arabic prayer chanting with scenes of Mecca and people praying that is special programming for Ramadan. Then dinner is between 9 and 10pm. Everyone stays up until at least midnight just hanging out.

Saturday night I went to a nightclub with three of my host sisters and three of their friends. It took about two hours for everyone (besides me) to get ready and trade clothes. We went to this posh club called the Senat (pronounced sena) at the Hotel Meridien which was verry upscale. (The kind with multiple swimming pools with different color lights in them and large palm trees.) Luckily it was free to get in for some reason. We spent another 20 minutes in the bathroom so everyone could put on makeup. There was too much "grinding" for me and mostly American hip-hop. It was okay, but we didn't leave until 5:30 am, walked a mile for a taxi, and then didn't get back home until 6:30am!! What's more, I had to get up at 7:30am for a trip to downtown Dakar with the students in my program! It was worth an hour sleep though, because we saw the major sites downtown like the presidential palais, American embassy, and Marche Sandanga (this huge market area! People follow you around trying to sell you things. It looks kind of like a flea market only much more cramped and crowded, and some people have store fronts, but they're all really small-like open closets.) We all got coconuts that the vendor chopped open for us so we could drink the milk, then chopped them again so we could scoop out the insides. My group's (6 people) guide was really cool and graduated from the university we're at a few years ago and now works at a bank downtown. After the trip he took us to the naming ceremony of his little nephew, back in Ouakam! The naming ceremony happens when a baby is a week old, and the whole family gets together to eat a lot of food and celebrate. We all got to hold the baby (there's a photo of my somewhere on my friend's camera) and eat. In the evening my host brother and sister and I went with a family down the street to the Point des Almadies- a nice beach spot north of us in the same super rich neighborhood as the nightclub. There were a million little kids and we watched the sunset as a rainbow appeared behind us before it started to drizzle out. Love the rainbows here! It's been raining often, but in large bursts so I've hardly used my umbrella. Most of the streets aren't paved and even ones that are aren't cambered, so the rain leaves huge puddles everywhere that splashes people on the sidewalks when cars drive by. The water combined with heat makes the trash that's around smell particularly bad, but luckily the trash is mostly in large piles rather than evenly spread. There are a lot of cars here, but not an overwhelming amount. Most people can't afford them, so there is a good transportation infrastructure. There are tons of taxis, but there are also blue public buses that go most places, and privately owned car rapides (mini-buses-kind of like big VW buses) that go everywhere. People drive horribly though. In a car rapide on Sunday on our way downtown the day almost became a tragedy when we hit a little boy crossing the street. Thankfully, he was able to stand up afterwards and had many adults around and we called an ambulance, so it was okay.

Contrary to Adam's (my brother) warning, there are not any children slapping me and asking for money. The only people who've asked me for money are the little boys who are talibes- followers/students of different marabouts (religious leaders). They're pretty unobtrusive and I feel bad for them, but most people I've talked to think it's exploitation and don't give money to them.

This Saturday we're going to Goree Island, which was one of the four communes (cities) where people were French citizens during colonization (as opposed to everywhere else where they were subjects). It was the main slave port in the area, although Senegal wasn't one of the biggest slave export areas. I'll have another entry to write by some time next week and will be able to include that trip, hopefully with a couple of photos. I'm still adjusting and the cultural learning curve is a challenge, but that's exactly why I came here so I'm really glad about everything!

Thanks for reading,
Amanda

P.S. I am a toubab. Did I mention this already? Originally it meant white person but it's been extended to mean any type of foreigner or outsider. I and the other students regularly are referred to as toubabs within our families, etc. There are actually a surprisingly large number of toubabs in Dakar. When I see other white people, who are mostly tourists or are wearing sun glasses and driving nice cars, I usually avert my eyes. I've discussed this with my friends in the program and they feel similarly. It's generally awkward. In the US one thinks of outsiders as lower on the power scale and usually with less privilege, but generally it's the other way around here so I've been thinking about that a lot, as I had expected. It's really weird. Why bother flaunting how much money you have, you know? Why bother pretending your back home by walking your dog, going to posh restaurants, and driving your SUV, when clearly you are somewhere else? Why not embrace? I don't know.

P.S.S. This p.s.s. is especially for my mom but anyone can read it: The sheets were a BIG hit! They loved the sheets a lot. And here it's so hot you only use one sheet and don't have anything over you, so it's really like two sheets for them. And the lotion was a big hit too, as well as the coloring books.