Korite/Tambacounda or bust

Yesterday was Korite-the end of Ramadan! The moon was seen in a couple of cities in Senegal and the Khalif of the Mouride brotherhood said so too, so yesterday was Korite. It was unclear if it would be yesterday or today until late Tuesday night. Fortunately we got classes off both days and vacation has begun! Unfortunately I have a French test the Monday I return. Such is life.
Korite is a day of togetherness and celebration after Ramadan ends- we ate food, sat around, and everyone dressed up in their new boubous and kaftans and visited neighbors, friends, and family to say hello and ask after their health. All of the kids ran around in their best outfits and got pieces of change from neighbors so they collected a couple dollars worth-not shabby!
Today I'm going with a friend to negotiate a price for a sept-place to get to Tambacounda tomorrow-an 8 hour drive across the country! I already did this on Tuesday but the guy's phone number doesn't work and it was sort of expensive, so maybe second time will be the charm!
Everything takes longer to do here, such as return something at the store, obtain money from an ATM, or cook food, however it gets done eventually. I try not to be frustrated because I don't want to act entitled. I get the sense that, like anywhere else, there are many things people would like to see done differently-like not have power cuts, get the trash picked up, and see more people getting jobs-or even better-good jobs. They would take advantage of healthcare if it was cheaper and more available, send all of their kids to school if there were enough schools-and equipped ones at that, and they knew that their kids could get jobs afterwards. From what I've seen people don't want the prices of food to go up as they have been-and it would be nice to be more agriculturally independant and not get all of the rice from Thailand and everything else from France, China, and Brazil. These are only observations from my limited experience and the few people I've talked to, but they are logical enough to me.
Yesterday morning I was sitting on the roof sipping mint tea, listening to a boy and man chanting from the Koran at the nearby mosque and reading Audre Lorde's book Sister Outsider. It was very peaceful. I also highly recommend the book. Highly.
Earlier this week I read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness-which was based on his experiences traveling into the Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (I had to read it after reading King Leopold's Ghost a couple weeks ago). It's jarring to read and be thinking about a different part of this continent in a brutally exploitive context and be sitting in front of the tv in the living room in another part of the same continent that shares some similar historical exploitation watching music videos and sipping Fanta. Fanta? Coca Cola, American pop-rap music videos, French cell phone company but also Africa Cola, Senegalese music videos, Senegalese salt, EcoBank...
Bon Korite!
I will write again when I get back from break.
I finally bought myself a mango without worms in it! (I've eaten a lot of other scrumptious mangos here, just not ones I bought myself successfully).

Refer to a map of Senegal (google) to locate Tambacounda, Kedogou, and Dindefelo Falls.