Tabaski

Sorry, I'm getting less and less creative with these posts...So this past Tuesday we celebrated Tabaski which is the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the hajj to pay tribute to the day that Abraham slaughtered a lamb instead of his son and to go around to friends and family and ask for forgiveness for your sins. At least this is what one of my extended family members explained to me. My family celebrated by slaughtering 8 goats on our roof. Yes, 8. We have a big family. So I got to see every step of the process from the goats wandering around on our terrace to being on my plate, that is definitely the freshest meat I will ever eat. I don't think I'm going to want to eat goat again any time in the near future, not that I particularly liked it anyway. We mostly spent the day watching the males of the family disect the goats and eating large platters of goat meat, heart, and liver. I can't fully appreciate the holiday since I'm not Muslim and it definitely left me craving some Christmas cheer, but it was nice to have the whole family at home in their new outfits. (My tailor has been backed up for weeks, it's a good thing I didn't miss the goats being slaughtered or I would really dislike this holiday.) I have some homework to finish up and then after our exams are over tomorrow we're going away for the night. This time next week I'll be on a plane to the U.S. It has flown by but I'm ready to get home and see my family and take a hot shower. Although, since I was wearing a fleece jacket in 75 degree weather yesterday I really don't think I'm prepared for the cold...

Lampoul Desert

This past weekend my friends and I decided to go to the Lampoul desert, yet another tourist attraction in Senegal that wasn’t really meant to be here but evolved out of creating real African experiences in a more convenient setting for tourists (similar to the Reserve de Bandia). I’m convinced that a few Biafals decided to take out the trees in a five kilometer squared area and create a desert as a tourist attraction. It’s about 4-5 hours away from Dakar depending on traffic and how pressed for time your sept-place drive is; the campement offers a night in a Malian tent, a camel ride, and dinner included in your stay. Even though it was a cleared out part of the Sahel it was still really cool to see since there were huge sand dunes. I came to the conclusion that after growing up right outside of a city I couldn’t handle the real desert; anyway, it was comforting to be able to see trees for at least part of our trek across the dunes. We only went for a night but getting a sept-place was difficult since Tabaski was coming up and for that holiday everyone returns to their rural villages. We also had some trouble getting back to Dakar since we called the man who drove us when we were ready to return and he informed us he was still in Dakar. We had to hire a man from the village of Lampoul to take us to the next Gare Routier and hire another sept-place from there. It all worked out in the end, even after we ran into enormous amounts of traffic coming back because everyone in Senegal was going to buy their goats to slaughter for Tabaski. We returned in time to go to a Hip Hop concert at L’Institute Francais where Awadi performed, he’s kind of a big deal here in Senegal. We also got a picture with him which was great. The highlight was when one of our friends got asked to go dance on stage since she was the only white girl dancing close to the stage, the announcer raved that he had found the next Beyoncé, good thing he didn’t hear her sing.

St. Louis: The First French Settlement in Africa (and it Shows)

This past weekend our program took us on a trip to the island of St. Louis which is about 5 hours north of Dakar depending on how many pot holes you hit and bush bathroom breaks you have to take. We left Friday afternoon and it took us about 6 hours since one of the buses got a flat tire and we were all too eager to take the bus bathroom breaks with 54 people to please. We arrived at our hotel around 8pm which was a cute place on the northern, quieter end of the island called Auberge Louisienne. We saw a hot water heater in our room and got excited, but we soon discovered that things aren’t always as they seem. We ate a late dinner at the hotel then decided to explore the going out options a bit. My friends and I were determined to find out where everyone in the program should go out the following night. We went to a place called Flamingo with live music, it was reggae that night; it was right on the river and the dance floor was an empty swimming pool. We then made a stop at the all-night patisserie, of course we have to find one everywhere we visit since we now have an addiction to late-night sweets runs. We checked out a few more clubs but made it an early night since we had an early wake up call the next morning.
Saturday morning, much to the excitement of one of the girls in our program we went to the Parc National des Oiseaux Djoudj an hour-long bus ride away. This particular student was ranked third nationally in bird watching and requested that we make a stop there. I can’t complain, though it was pretty cool to see. We took a pirogue ride along their river and spotted a few pelicans. On the way back, we stopped in the middle of nowhere to sit down to a picnic lunch packed by the hotel. Luckily they found shade in the many kilometers of desert between St. Louis and the bird park. We re-boarded the bus and returned to St. Louis where we had some free time so of course we did some shopping. Although, we found that St. Louis had most of the same souvenirs you can find in downtown Dakar only at escalated prices since it’s so touristy. They were not happy when we named the prices we would pay at Sandaga because they could easily charge more to the next unsuspecting tourist. Needless to say we didn’t buy much, but we did make another pastry stop of course. It’s a small island so it was fairly easy to conquer all of the pastry shops on the island in the span of two days. After shopping we returned to the hotel for dinner then went out. It was nice to go out with everyone in the program and each time the club got into an mbalax kick we would just move on to the next one. Since most of the clubs are free for girls and there are only 9 guys in the program we managed to smuggle everyone in for free. We of course made another stop at the patisserie, and then decided to return home and get some rest.
Sunday we woke up early to go on a walking tour of the island. The architecture is very French colonial and therefore similar to New Orleans. I’ve never been before but a lot of people on the program said it was like a smaller more decrepit version of the Big Easy. Since it lost capital status back in 1958, it’s been left to its own devices. We hit up the IFAN museum which oddly enough housed the implements most of us used on our rural visits on a daily basis. One of which was the mortar and pestle used to crush up millet into couscous. It also had pictures of the huts or compounds most of us had inhabited that week. It made me feel even more that being in rural Senegal is like stepping back in time but with cell phone service. Although, come to think of it sometimes Dakar is, too. We had ceebujen for lunch at our hotel. It was interesting to taste and see what tourists do when they eat ceebujen. The fish was of better quality and each part was divided into sauce, vegetables, rice, and fish, but the ceebujen I ate on my rural visit tasted much better. I have found that yassa poulet (chicken in an onion sauce) is much better in restaurants, because if nothing else I get my own plate so I get to eat the chicken without fighting over it with family members. We were sad to return to Dakar Sunday night, but of course it was like coming home; St. Louis was much quieter. We really enjoyed St. Louis so we might go back after exams since we have some free time before the program told us to book our flights.

Same Old, Same Old

So I haven’t written in a while due to a combination of my workload and a lack of exciting occurrences. Three months into it nothing really seems exciting enough to write about. Over the past few weeks I did do a few interesting things, though. Two weekends ago was the Gorée Diaspora Festival which took place on Gorée Island; we went to see the concert Saturday night. There was a variety of music from rap, solo artists (the African version of Gavin DeGraw singing and playing the guitar), an a cappella rendition of the Diaspora, and a woman singing along to a group of drummers. It was music from all over West Africa and they set up the stage right on the beach. It was a great night and we even managed to catch the boat back in time to go to the all-night patisserie then go out dancing. Other than that I’ve mostly been doing homework and going to the various markets to get some shopping done since I only have a month left!

This past weekend a bunch of my friends went to Fatick, an area outside Kaolack to study malnutrition for their Public Health class. They discovered that the majority of the children they tested were malnourished, but they have yet to discuss their findings. I on the other hand stayed here and went to the beach. I also went to a gathering at a friend of a friend’s apartment in downtown Dakar. He works at the Spanish embassy so it was a mixture of European and American ex-pats and locals. I was excited to finally get the chance to ask each some of the Toubabs what they’re doing here. One girl was an au pair for an Austrian family, another was a student from London, one was working for a Swedish media company, and another worked in Public Health and will be spending Thanksgiving in a remote village. The majority worked for various departments of the Spanish embassy. It was interesting to gain the perspective of some of the other people outside of our program. Most of them agreed with our disappointment that development recently has been declining rather than improving, but many appreciated that Dakar has managed to retain its culture while also developing. I was a little surprised to find that living in downtown Dakar has similar rent to a lot of European cities, especially with the cost of electricity increasing due to government mismanagement. They are lucky, however that there are very few power cuts downtown since it’s where all the government buildings are and the majority of the government officials live, including the president, Wade.

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is almost here, considering it’s still hot enough to go to the beach and go swimming and I got a nasty sunburn on Saturday but don’t worry about me because our program has secured turkeys and some pumpkin pie.

Gestu Dekkinu Waa Senegal

(Just to warn you, this is a long one.) 'Gestu Dekkinu Waa Senegal' is a phrase in Wolof that loosely translated means a trip to discover various regions of Senegal, or something like that. This past week our program shipped us off to various areas in Senegal to expereince life outside of Dakar. I, along with seven others went to Kaolack, about 3 1/2 hours southwest of Dakar. We arrived at Gare Routiere Monday morning at 8am and tried to get a sept-place. The first one had to be pushed out of the gare and then didn't run all that well so we requested another one. After 3 1/2 hours we arrived at APOFES. I was surprised our spet-place driver was able to find seeing as road names are never used here, only land marks, and to me it all looked the same. We had some good ceebujin for lunch and then the head of the organization gave us a brief presentation. We must have looked pretty tired because after that they let us take a nap before going along with our day. We later discovered that in fact a nap was planned for every afternoon after lunch. We were grateful since it's still really hot in Kaolack. After napping, we went to visit the Mutuelle Teranga, a microfinance bank run by APOFES. They have 5431 members in the Kaolack region. We then met our host families who were to care for us for the night. My host mother's brother showed up to pick me up in a moped, it's a good thing I packed light. Since I was only staying with this host family two nights (Monday and Friday night) they treated me like a guest and I really got to see what teranga (hospitality) means. They bought me fruit and Coca-cola and gave me the mother's own bed to sleep in. In the morning I woke up to eggs, tea, and more fruit. They were shocked when I only used one sugar in my tea, they had expected me to use at least 6, no joke. I was sorry to leave this family to go out to Paoskoto, a village 50km outside of Kaolack.
After a long and dusty ride we arrived to find that the Cadre Locale de Concertation des Organisations de Producteurs (CLCOP) would take us under their wing for the next few days. We spent the day meeting the sous-pref, the cheif of the village, the head of the elementary school, the head of the health center, and the owner of a local hair salon. Each time we arrived at a new destination our tour guides (members of CLCOP) would ask if we had questions and then a discussion would begin. The most overwhelming was the elementary school because we sat outside having a round table discussion while the entire student body stood around trying to get a look at the Toubabs, they were even standing on chairs. That night after a group dinner (we ate very well all week) the family set up satellite TV so we could watch election coverage on CNN. They don't have showers or real toilets, but they do have satellite TV. Each family has one spicket for water which they then use for all of their cooking, cleaning, etc. I couldn't stay to watch all of the election coverage since I was staying with another family, which i was informed of at 11pm (This is Africa moment). I had one of my friends who was still in Dakar call me to inform me of the outcome. She called at 4am to give me the news and I am currently watching the speech on youtube so while I was a little bitter about being so far from civilization it all worked out.
Wednesday we went to a middle school, a market, and the village of Bouboudeme. Everywhere we went someone would ask us to give them money or solve their problems. It became a little irritating. We were frustrated because we couldn't immidietly give them computers or internet or access to clean water. We tried to explain that we were just students coming to learn and that maybe in the future we could help, but they were still under the impression that we could solve all of their problems, we just weren't trying hard enough. In order to get to Bouboudeme we couldn't get a car to take us so we rode a horse drawn carriage. Luckily, no one fell off and we got a nice tour of the peanut fields. Once we got there we tried to help get water from the well, but we discovered we weren't as talented as the locals. They sang and danced for us so we responded with our rendition of 'Ain't No Mountain' since we all knew it. We also got to try raw sugar cane and raw peanuts; they're better roasted. They gave us a gift of millet to eat for lunch the next day. I don't suggest you try it, I would closely compare it to eating sand.
The next day we left at 9am Senegalese time, i.e. 11am to go out to see a campment (motel) in the middle of nowhere popular among French tourists who enjoy hunting. We also had to ask the owner of the campment about his experiences as a campment owner. Interviewing got a little exhausting. Next, we went to a village to meet a group of women financed by the Mutuelle Teranga. The groupment is a group of very strong women who have used the money they get from agriculture to finance health education and health projects in their village. After talking to these women we were curious to know why the car that had driven us there left upon our arrival. Turns out the plan was to flag down a bush taxi to take us home. We had to sit out in the middle of nowhere with our trusty tour guides hoping enough bush taxis would go by to get all of us back to Paoskoto. After a few tries and an hour of quality bonding time on the side of the road we all got back safely. This was our last night of bucket showers and Turkish toilets and we returned to Kaolack the next morning.
Friday we took a driving tour of Kaolack then returned to our host families from Monday night for lunch. After lunch we went to the organization 10,000 girls (http://www.10000girls.org/) to see how some other CIEE students had been spending their week. It's a great organization started by an American woman to help girls in the Kaolack region with their education. In the Senegalese system, if a child fails a grade twice they are no longer allowed to be in school. Viola Vaughn moved to Senegal to retire but instead girls started asking her to help them with their school work so they would not fail a second time and not be able to continue their education. Since the organization had no outside fudning at first the girls also started programs to make money including soap making, a cafe, doll-making, and agricultural projects. They are going to start exporting their bissap tea to California after they get FDA approval. Viola Vaughn is up for the CNN hero of the year so vote for her at http://heroes.cnn.com/default.asp. After meeting Viola we went to the market in downtown Kaolack which is the second largest covered market in Africa. We only saw a fraction of it, but it seemed as though you could find anything, except for maybe peanut butter (I've been looking for that for a while). We spent Friday night with our host families, I got to meet a lot of my host mother's extended family and practice some of my Wolof with the small children. I also got salad for dinner, which is kind of a big deal. I always seek it out at restaurants. I was sorry to leave my host family in Kaolack especially since I only spent two nights there. I'm happy to be back in Dakar where I can find a few amenities (Kaolack was also lacking in real toilets) but being in the rural areas made me really see how kind and welcoming some Senegalese people are. Dakar feels hectic now, I can't even imagine what going back to the US is going to be like in December.

'Global' Citizenship

Yesterday I tried to pretend it was my birthday since tomorrow I'm going to be in a sept-place for 4-5 hours (I think, it depends on the conditions of the roads, sing along anyone?) on my way to Kaolack, more on that later. We went out to lunch with some friends in downtown Dakar and it felt as though we were stepping into a French diner. On our way there we saw a parade for Obama, apparently they are more excited for our elections than they were for their own. Once people find out you're American they immediately ask if we're voting for Obama, not sure what they would do if we answered no. Everyone here seems to think that if Obama is elected that means more hope for Senegal and Africa in general; they are under the impression that any president of the US will do more for Senegal than their own president ever could. (Not that Wade is really even trying at this point..) That just goes to show that no matter what we say about America losing its global influence, our elections are still more important to most foreigners than their own; even in a place such as Senegal where democracy is a term used lightly. It should be interesting to see how Obama balances this pressure of pleasing Americans and being beloved internationally at the same time.
Last night we went to an outdoor club that only happens the first Saturday of every month, per usual there were at least twice as many men as there were women since most Senegalese teen-aged girls don't go out. Luckily, our Senegalese friends were helpful in fending off unwanted dance partners. There were also a lot of foreigners, it seems to be a popular place among the ex-pat community. Recently we've been talking about how difficult it is to live here and not live like an ex-pat. We joined the nice gym and seek out expensive imported food in order to feel a little more at home. I'm sure these temptations only get stronger if you live here for a prolonged period of time.
Tomorrow we leave for our visits to other locations in Senegal outside Dakar. I'm going to work with an organization called Association pour la Promotion de la Femme Sénégalaise in Kaolack, a town southeast of Dakar. The organization works for promoting women's rights and fighting poverty so I'm going to get to do some work in microfinance. Their website is
http://courantsdefemmes.free.fr/Assoces/Senegal/APROFES/aprofes.html (but it's in French). I'll be returning Saturday so more on my rural adventures coming soon.

Rhinos, Zebras, and Giraffes, oh my!

On Thursday afternoon we renewed our adventurous spirit and went to the Village des Arts in Yoff, the northern side of the Dakar peninsula. We had been slacking a bit with sight-seeing since we’ve had more homework recently. Village des Arts was started during Leopold Senghor’s presidency as a community for artists. We toured through a gallery then walked thorough the surrounding studios talking to the artists who displayed their work in the gallery. They were all very interesting, some were self-taught but many had gone to the art school in Dakar. It was mostly modern-style art in all forms, paintings, bronze statues, limestone, and a giant sculpture made of magazine pages. One of the highlights was the little boy who lived there who took us to feed the resident goat. A lot of people pay good money to feed them at petting zoos in the US, I considered myself lucky.

This past weekend we went to Popenguine, a picturesque town south of Dakar on the ocean. A few French people own vacation homes there, the president Abdoulaye Wade has one there, too. We got there in a sept-place, a station wagon with a hired driver. There are a few gare routiers in Dakar where you can just walk in and ask someone to take you anywhere in the country. You have to know the price though, or you’ll get ripped off, just like every other situation, since most anything can be negotiated. We stayed in a house right on the gorgeous beach. We cooked all of our own meals since we had a fully equipped kitchen we were very excited for. We even pulled together grilled cheese for lunch one day, I had missed that terribly. Once we got there we dropped off our belongings and went to the Reserve de Bandia. We had to hire a 4x4 and a guide to take us through, but it was amazing. We saw rhinos, giraffes, impalas, zebras, ostriches and a huge turtle. Since most of the animals are not native to Senegal, but instead they are imported, we first compared it to Disney world, but that’s where the similarity stopped. For one, they have no idea where the animals will be so you drive around until the guide gets a sense and steers the driver through brush to get the intended animal sighting. Also, since there are very few enforced laws and rules in this country we got to get out of the 4x4 and get just a few meters away from the giraffes and the rhino. Even on safaris in southern Africa they only let you look from a great distance. It was a great experience, but it just reinforced how uncomfortable we feel as tourists in this country now. Each time we return back to Dakar from our weekend excursions it feels more and more like home.