L'ile de Goree

Boat ride from Dakar to l'ile de Goree. 

The vendors started their charming before we even stepped on the boat. I meet Fatima - she sells beautiful necklaces for a good price - and I was supposed to find her on the island. Not surprisingly, she ended up finding me.  I didn't buy one of her necklaces, even though she wasn't lying - they were gorgeous, and cheap. I figure I have a few months to start my collection. 

The building on the right edge of the island is the Musee Historique. The island has no cars, and is  peaceful escape from the honking and shouting in the streets of Dakar.
I was overwhelmed by how much this island felt like a peaceful, Mediterranean resort town.  Judging from all the European sunbathers, I'm not the only one.
I don't know whether this is a good thing or not. Clearly, the island is more of a tourist trap than some may like, but at the same time it is attracting visitors who are able to learn about the history of the slave trade and of Western Africa in general. I will admit it felt more like I was  on a family vacation, than in a college class, but I did not just go there for the cheap jewelry.

This is the "porte pour un voyage sans retour" - the door of no return. Even this Maison des Esclavages is bathed in beautiful colors. This was one of the houses in which slaves were brought, compared and sold. Most of the houses along the coast were similar slave houses, although many have now been turned into restaurants, hotels, shops and homes for the local residents.

First Half Day - a la plage

After walking around a market, we took a taxi to a private beach - Voil d'Or.
The market wasn't like any I'd seen - I wish I'd taken pictures, I was just so overwhelmed. Real, dead meat was hanging all over the place, with flies, blood and people everywhere. The smells were incredible.
But so was the beach.  Across the way we could see l'ile de Goree, where we'll be boating to on Friday.



















Khrady Aita is 2 1/2 years old and loves touching everything, unfortunately with her lollipop in tow.  But, she loves having her picture taken, so it's worth a little stickyness.
We played a card game the other night - more like hiding the cards in the sofa during the constantly playing Brazilian soap opera - and she helped me with my Wolof homework by adding in her own drawings and drool.
This is the view from on of the apartments of another student in our SIT group. I'm learning to love Choco Mousse, or chocopain, which is on the billboard in the background...not that it takes much learning. It's just nutella, but we have it every morning with our baguette.
In addition, my addiction to les pamplemousses is flourishing.  (Don't worry, that just means "grapefruits"). The fruit stands here are the Senegal equivalent of the Starbucks in Portland.

Lunch Break

This is the ocean view from the Place du Souvenir, one of President Wade's cultural projects to stimulate the economy and attract tourists. It is not quite finished, but the sculpture of Africa is part of a large fountain, in front of the ocean.
I walked here during our two hour lunch break. For lunch, I bought a sandwich from the corner stand for $1 - a whopping value meal of a dense package of french fries, mystery meat, mayonnaise, a fried egg and hot sauce. I really don't know how I survived.  Fortunately, it's been a few hours and I'm still here, however I think I don't need to try it again.
This is another view from the Place...this type of contrast between beautiful sculptures and buildings and piles of garbage has been a reoccurring theme.

Cribs - Edition: Senegal

Stairs to the second floor





View to the right of my door









View to the left of my door









My own bedroom, bigger than my last one at Williams.






And my bed...also bigger than my last one at Williams.

First Day of School

So it's Monday, and I just had my first morning of class. I'll try and recap on my weekend quickly before 2:30, when we have a Wolof class. So Saturday we went on a tour all over Dakar, and Saturday night we went to a club "Just 4 U" to see Orchestra Baobab.
It was incredible..but because of my difficulty with speaking French, I thought I had to return home earlier than was actually necessary...so I was only able to see the group preform one time. It was still great. After talking with Alioune, the father of the three younger children in the house, I figured out that it's alright with them to stay out late so I can get my money's worth. I'm slowly learning that it takes a lot of time to learn what is actually expected/required/allowed here...

What I have learned so far, is that Sundays are very sedentary days. I was able to help "faire un melange" of the spices in the grinding bowl for the lunch we had. But lunch was at three. Which is of course fine, but it's hard to know what to do for the entire morning when you don't know what time things start, and people are generally sitting around and talking, in Wolof of course. So I spend a lot of time trying to find out what people are saying through their gestures and faces. Turns out you can actually understand a lot even went you don't know the language. I know this is not some original thought, but I've never had to experience it. It's pretty incredible.

Also Sundays seem to be the day when so many people are coming and going and eating and giving gifts that one can lose track of who actually lives in the house...

I think I was also invited to watch a basketball game tonight..so we'll see if I understood correctly. Alioune has a friend who plays basketball, and he says his favorite player is Iverson, so at some point we can play, and I can be Roy (as in Brandon, from the Blazers). Sounds good to me.

I also saw some female soccer players yesterday, who invited me to play with them. I was on my way to a meeting so I couldn't play (which ripped my heart apart...) but they said I could play with them another time. It also sounded like they usually play in a different neighborhood though..so we'll see if I can find them again.

Another one of Alioune's friends has invited me to his house, because he says his house, and my house, are one in the same. Everyone is welcome. Plus, his wife is learning English, so we could help each other. My neighbor also wants to learn English, so I should have a lot of people who can help me as well, so hopefully next time I go to a concert I can speak fluently enough to understand the expectations..


These pictures are from our quick visit to Village des Arts, last Friday. We will be returning for workshops (for Batik, ceramics, glass painting), and they also have rooms you can rent for projects, and also for sleeping in. It seems like artist/hippie/relaxing heaven - sand is everywhere and the atmosphere is incredibly chill.

He started with this and less than a minute later...

More of my home..

I need to do laundry. I guess it'll be more fun on the roof than in the basement of a dirty dorm.



The door on the second floor is my own. The one below it leads to the shower.










Moussa is 9, and helps me with my French and Wolof. He had a lot of fun pretending to poke himself with the Obama button I gave him. He also had a lot of fun making me eat a mystery snack..which turned out to be ketchup on an olive, which makes sense I guess - I like pizza. He also has shared his bissap juice, his pizza and his candy with me. I haven't met a nine year old boy like him before! I can't imagine sharing my candy at that age...or, well, at any age really!

Moussa also came with me when I went to buy a 10 liter bottle of water, and tried to carry it back for me. His sister, who is 2 (and a half) was also very helpful, bringing me toilet paper right to my room. She also shares her candy, but only after she's enjoyed it for a little.

I have a family!

First night with my family was amazing and overwhelming. I only remember two names, and I definitely met more than two people.  More pictures to come later - I need to go buy a soccer ball.

One of my "nephews" and my mother at breakfast today, outside

One small part of a market near Place de la Gare in downtown Dakar

The Plateau

Today was "the drop off" day - about as ominous sounding as it is in "Finding Nemo."  Because there was a large pilgrimage (over 3 million people) to Touba yestereday, the city was relatively empty.  "Relatively empty" is the most crowded "empty" I have ever seen.  I can't imagine what it is like on a normal day.
I wish to add more, because it was the most incredible day so far, but tomorrow we start our first night in our Senegalese family's house, and I need to get prepared.  I have never been so nervous - including any track meet I have dreaded (and if you know track...that means something).
So here are my pictures from my fifth day in Dakar.

Place de la Gare...where we were dropped off without a map, to wander for hours.

My first lunch on my own steak and french fries, in a baguette. Ouch

Ndank ndank

We had our last orientation meetings today - learned about the mango worms we could come across (apparently you just pop them out when they come up for air, and if they're larger than a grain of rice...they've been in for a while) - which was followed by yet another amazing lunch. We had Maffe (peanut sauce on rice and meat). My inability to keep the rice either in the bowl or in my mouth continues to amaze me.

In the afternoon we had our first official class - Wolof.  Ndank ndank means literally - slowly slowly..or just little by little. This is how it is recommended we explore Senegalese food - ndank ndank. They suggest you don't eat ALL the foods you want to try in one day...I'll see if I can follow that advice...

 Maffe (and here starts my love affair with hot sauce) - peanut butter sauce, rice and meat = I love Dakar

The scenery makes a run a little less dull.

This is the gym I want to join.
I'm really disappointed I missed the peak hours - but I'll get it better next time. Hundreds of people running back and forth together, sprinting, doing exercises, and always playing soccer.

I wish I did yoga

We went to the SIT Office today, which is a converted house that we'll spend a lot of time in, mostly for classes and homework and picking up mail. Apparently, our guard there is friends with Baaba Maal (a very famous Senegalese musician) and Stevie Wonder (I guess he's famous too...)
We spent more than 3 hours sitting on a "basang" today (which is Wolof for a mat, which means I was sitting on the floor for more than 3 hours), learning about many different items that illustrate a different part of Senegalese life. I am being shown quite evidently every day that I lack all things related to flexibility, and my hips are now those of a much older woman. I just hope that I get used to sitting on the ground quickly - it's embarrassing to hobble around like I am currently. But for all our sitting at least we've been rewarded - today it was Yassa Poule (an amazing big dish of chicken, rice, onions and spices, so many spices) - so I think I can handle it.  Good food tends to be a reward for which I can endure pain - such as arthritic joints.
When we arrived in the morning, we were told to pick one of the displayed items, find a partner and then go outside and ask people about the item. (I can't imagine if we had this assignment in the US - people would cross the street to avoid our questions). This was all the information we were given for our first assignment, so we walked outside and went up to anyone that didn't look in a rush, and tried out our minimal Wolof and my broken French. (There weren't very many people that seemed to be in a rush though, so it was simple to find someone patient enough to humor us). It was incredible how welcoming and patient everyone was. The two items I was carrying were dried Bisap (from the hibiscus flower) and Buy (Wolof for "Pain de singe," which is French for "monkey bread," which comes from the Baobob tree). Both are used to make tea or juice, and help with "fatiguement."

Path to the drumming classroom

Front door of office/room for melting frozen ginger and bisap juice (can't get enough of the juice already, definitely a highlight of the day...)/place I'm going to spend many hours "studying" in.

Another view of the front of our office/classroom/SIT center

Break room

Classroom. Definitely like these learning conditions.  The vitamin D will be essential to my academic successes, I can already tell.