So, much to my chagrin I'm back in Dakar after spending 5 or so lovely days in St. Louis.
St. Louis was the first capital of Senegal and is located farther to the north, close to Mauritania. It's an island that the Europeans developed as a place of commerce during the 17th century. It's now a UNESCO world heritage site and most of the original buildings are still there (though in real need of renovation). It's also the birthplace of ceebujen.
And we got to stay in the beautiful Hotel Sindone with wifi and ac!
I spent most of my time there researching for a presentation on the Signares. Signares were the metisse daughters from marriages between European men and Senegalese women. They were very wealthy and held a lot of political and economic power. Unfortunately, it was a bit difficult for us to find out any real information (at least considering our constraints). But we did get an interview with the former mayor of St. Louis, who had been a good friend of Leopold Sedar Senghor (the first president of Senegal). He also met Jaques Chirac, Franco, DeGaulle...yea. We spent most of the interview just looking at his many photographs and incredible collection of West African Art.
The other interesting thing for me about St. Louis was how closely it's still tied to Europe, at least more so than Dakar. Some people there still believe they're french citizens, depsite Independence and all. But most people will greet you with "Bonjour, ca va?" instead of "asalaam maalekum, nanga def?" I mean, there are a lot of French tourists there...which was also kind of strange. I've noticed that I'm not used to seeing lots of white people (toubabs) around. So it was a bit shocking in St. Louis where we frequently ate at restaurants with other toubabs, or that people seemed less fazed by our whiteness. It was actually a little refreshing. Guess I'm finally getting to know what it's actually like to be a minority and not phyiscally fit in.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Alladin et Le Roi des Voleurs
This is so bizarre.
I'm sitting in a cyber café at Cheik Anta Diop University, watching Alladin and the King of Theives in french. I haven't seen this film since I was at least 8 years old...but I can't believe how much of it I remember, even if it's in another language.
So on Sunday, Robin and I went to l'île de Ngor off the north coast of Dakar. We took a pirogues, which is a large, colorful fishing boat to get there. The island was bright and colorful like Gorée, but the beaches were muuuuuch nicer. The only thing is that if you want to sit down, you have to pay. But they have these really nice spots with mats and umbrellas for only 1000 cfa (about $2.25), plus someone will watch your stuff when you're in the water, which is good, because we spent most of our time swimming! The water was incredibly clear, though filled with a bunch of rocks. We hung out with some senegalese, who wouldn't believe that our names were Mariama and Aïcha (which they are...in Senegal). By the end of the day, I got one proposal, one phone number and a half hour of frisbee so I think that we did pretty well for ourselves. I think me and a few other people are going to go back this wednesday after class.
I just realized that Alladin was probably muslim. And I totally remember all the words to these songs. Hahahahaha "You don't come out of thin air...." ou ici , " tu ne tombes du ciel"
Oh, and we had a wolof quiz today that I thought I was going to fail and somehow beasted...which is good, because people want you to speak wolof here, not french. which makes sense, because who really wants to be speaking the language of their colonizers?
I'm sitting in a cyber café at Cheik Anta Diop University, watching Alladin and the King of Theives in french. I haven't seen this film since I was at least 8 years old...but I can't believe how much of it I remember, even if it's in another language.
So on Sunday, Robin and I went to l'île de Ngor off the north coast of Dakar. We took a pirogues, which is a large, colorful fishing boat to get there. The island was bright and colorful like Gorée, but the beaches were muuuuuch nicer. The only thing is that if you want to sit down, you have to pay. But they have these really nice spots with mats and umbrellas for only 1000 cfa (about $2.25), plus someone will watch your stuff when you're in the water, which is good, because we spent most of our time swimming! The water was incredibly clear, though filled with a bunch of rocks. We hung out with some senegalese, who wouldn't believe that our names were Mariama and Aïcha (which they are...in Senegal). By the end of the day, I got one proposal, one phone number and a half hour of frisbee so I think that we did pretty well for ourselves. I think me and a few other people are going to go back this wednesday after class.
I just realized that Alladin was probably muslim. And I totally remember all the words to these songs. Hahahahaha "You don't come out of thin air...." ou ici , " tu ne tombes du ciel"
Oh, and we had a wolof quiz today that I thought I was going to fail and somehow beasted...which is good, because people want you to speak wolof here, not french. which makes sense, because who really wants to be speaking the language of their colonizers?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Musée D'Ifan et autres choses
So yesterday we went downtown to the Musée d'IFAN West African art museum. We had an assignment to choose a piece of art and then research/write about it. Of course I was excited, being an art history major/museum enthusiast and all. Plus, I know a lot about west african art from the seminar I took on it last year so I couldn't wait to see how they presented it.
The museum is a weird mix between some hokey looking diaramas and dusty glass cases shoved up against the walls. And it's really small. Like really really really small. It took us less than an hour and a half to get through the whole thing. The collection is pretty extensive, but very poorly presented. They had a special collection that took up the entire second floor, but it felt like the pieces were placed very haphazardly. You couldn't even see some of the work because there was no lighting in some areas!
My friend Caulder and I ended up having a long discussion about museum theory and cultural differences...I almost became more interested in the museum itself rather than the artwork there. He brought up an interesting point, that maybe since Senegal is used to preserving history in an oral fashion, museums aren't really their thing. Unlike americans, they don't feel the need to preserve old material things. I've recognized this in other parts of Senegal, like architecture. People don't like to try and repair slash maintain their houses- they'd rather tear it down and build a new one.
After the museum, we all came back to SIT for lunch and to do some work. We've been mostly going to these restos that serve very american/european fare like pizza, hamburgers and omlettes. I definitely enjoy eating there, especially when I'm getting sick of fish and rice...but now I'm kind of getting sick of their food too. So I convinced some people to come check out this Ethiopian restaurant I had seen while on our way to one of our favorite eateries, La Gondole. The food ended up being really good, if a little pricey. But the atmostphere was really chill, and the place was really nice and colorful. After we finished our lunch, the owner took us upstairs to the roof. It was this really awesome lounging area, with a bar and colorful pillows for sitting and tons of plants. Apparently they have music and dancing there on the weekend, so I think we're going to check it out sometime soon.
Speaking of music and dancing, last night a bunch of people from my group ventured out to a bar/boîte that's called Le Mex. A bunch of people had passed by it when they first visited downtown Dakar and were excited to go because it's supposed to have kareoke. Turns out the only things that are there are old white men and skinny prositutes. We ended up making our own fun and dancing to the club music, but it was a really bizzare scene. Good news was, we foudn two amazing hamburger joints near by. See, hamburgers in Senegal are a bit different than in the US. Here, a hamburger consists of a bun, a patty, cheese, and egg, fries, onions, mayonnaise and ketchup. They're pretty frickin intense, but definitely delicious- even for someone who rarely eats red meat.
So now I'm chilling at SIT, studying for a wolof test on monday and writing a cultural essay for tuesday. We don't have a whole lot of work here, which is sort of weird for me....but I'm a little glad. I'm already being overwhelmed culturally so I'm not sure if I could handle my regular workload. But I guess it's time I start working on that stuff....
ba bennen yoon!
The museum is a weird mix between some hokey looking diaramas and dusty glass cases shoved up against the walls. And it's really small. Like really really really small. It took us less than an hour and a half to get through the whole thing. The collection is pretty extensive, but very poorly presented. They had a special collection that took up the entire second floor, but it felt like the pieces were placed very haphazardly. You couldn't even see some of the work because there was no lighting in some areas!
My friend Caulder and I ended up having a long discussion about museum theory and cultural differences...I almost became more interested in the museum itself rather than the artwork there. He brought up an interesting point, that maybe since Senegal is used to preserving history in an oral fashion, museums aren't really their thing. Unlike americans, they don't feel the need to preserve old material things. I've recognized this in other parts of Senegal, like architecture. People don't like to try and repair slash maintain their houses- they'd rather tear it down and build a new one.
After the museum, we all came back to SIT for lunch and to do some work. We've been mostly going to these restos that serve very american/european fare like pizza, hamburgers and omlettes. I definitely enjoy eating there, especially when I'm getting sick of fish and rice...but now I'm kind of getting sick of their food too. So I convinced some people to come check out this Ethiopian restaurant I had seen while on our way to one of our favorite eateries, La Gondole. The food ended up being really good, if a little pricey. But the atmostphere was really chill, and the place was really nice and colorful. After we finished our lunch, the owner took us upstairs to the roof. It was this really awesome lounging area, with a bar and colorful pillows for sitting and tons of plants. Apparently they have music and dancing there on the weekend, so I think we're going to check it out sometime soon.
Speaking of music and dancing, last night a bunch of people from my group ventured out to a bar/boîte that's called Le Mex. A bunch of people had passed by it when they first visited downtown Dakar and were excited to go because it's supposed to have kareoke. Turns out the only things that are there are old white men and skinny prositutes. We ended up making our own fun and dancing to the club music, but it was a really bizzare scene. Good news was, we foudn two amazing hamburger joints near by. See, hamburgers in Senegal are a bit different than in the US. Here, a hamburger consists of a bun, a patty, cheese, and egg, fries, onions, mayonnaise and ketchup. They're pretty frickin intense, but definitely delicious- even for someone who rarely eats red meat.
So now I'm chilling at SIT, studying for a wolof test on monday and writing a cultural essay for tuesday. We don't have a whole lot of work here, which is sort of weird for me....but I'm a little glad. I'm already being overwhelmed culturally so I'm not sure if I could handle my regular workload. But I guess it's time I start working on that stuff....
ba bennen yoon!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Isle de Gorée
I want to preface this post with apologizing for not writing more. Believe me, it's not for lack of news etc., but rather my own laziness. Ok, I should really say exhaustion. The only time I have online is write after class ends, and I'm usually so tired/overheated/deyhdrated that I'm not in the mood to try and be witty and informative. I just want to pass out next to my 15,000 cfa fan.
It was also difficult for a while for me to write, because (honest truth) I wasn't happy for some time. This will be known as my "cultural adjustment" period. I believe I'm nearing the end, mostly because I've gotten used to a lot of things that used to bother me- like there being garbage absolutely everywhere, the cockroaches in my bathroom, the crazy ass drivers, the constant blackouts...
you get it.
So after that intense day of fasting, me and some of the other students took a trip to Gorée Island, which is off the coast of Dakar. This is the oldest settlement in Senegal, and where many slaves were kept before they were shipped off to the Americas. After our exhilarating ferry ride, we went to La Maison des Esclaves (House of the Slaves), which is known for La Porte de Voyage Sans Retour (The Door of No Return). It's difficult for me to really express what I felt when I was there...it was like I couldn't process the knowledge of how many people had suffered and died in those same rooms I was walking in.
After that, we had lunch at this outdoor restaurant that was right next to the ocean. I had shrimp and peas (gots to get my veggies) and some delicious buy juice, which comes from the fruit of the Baobab tree. We were all pretty excited to be eating good food in a pretty place, but then we couldn't be left alone! First it was the billions of flies swarming around our food, then the merchants who would hang over the fence and try to sell us things, then the cats that would walk around our heels, then the beggars...By the end of the meal they were about 5 people asking us for money while one of the cats climbed on the table and snatched up the last of the yassa poulet. That put a bit of a damper on the day.
Then we went to another museum that discussed the history of Senegal. While it had interesting information, it was all poorly presented. So we ended up spending most of the time on roof (it was some sort of fort), looking at the amazing views of Dakar and the rest of the island.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
La jeûne
So I'm fasting today. Ramadan started a little over a week ago, which means that mostly everyone in Senegal is fasting, because mostly everyone (95%) is Muslim. Ramadan has made my first weeks in Senegal a little...difficult. Things close early, restaurants don't serve a lot of food, night clubs aren't popular, and your family forces you to eat two dinners. Well, a break fast and a dinner. But since I'm not fasting (well, until today that is), it felt like two dinners. So I started to wonder if it would be easier, perhaps, to go along with the rest of the country and not eat during the day- it certainly would make it easier to eat two meals in the evening. So last night when my brother Papis asked, and when are you going to start fasting? (I had mentioned the first evening that I might try) I replied, well if you can get me up at 5 AM, sure. Why not?
The thing is, I imagined that our pre-fast meal would be like our evening meals. Enough food that I wouldn't want to eat again for hours. But when I sat down this morning, there was before me some baguette, butter and powdered milk AKA the standard fare during Ramadan. But usually there are other things, like sausage, or eggs. Nope. And on top of that, I had to eat it in about 5 min because my sister woke me up late. So I had my buttered baguette in one hand, my hot milk with 3 sugar cubes in the other and one eye on the clock as I preceeded to eat and drink as fast as humanily possible, knowing that this would be the last food I would eat until around 7PM. And right at 6:50, Oumi told me to set down my cup and swallow the last of my baguette.
And that was the last time I ate today.
Now, I normally don't get breakfast at the house. Everyone usually gets up at 6 or whatever and then goes back to sleep until around 10 and I leave at 8. On occasion I've been able to rough it out until lunch but usually at that point I start fading out and get snappy. I am far beyond that point now. The hunger feels like a big emptiness in my stomache, a bite that itches but i just have to ignore for a few more hours (only 5 now!).
I'll eat my entire portion tonight, even if we have cëebujen for dinner.
The thing is, I imagined that our pre-fast meal would be like our evening meals. Enough food that I wouldn't want to eat again for hours. But when I sat down this morning, there was before me some baguette, butter and powdered milk AKA the standard fare during Ramadan. But usually there are other things, like sausage, or eggs. Nope. And on top of that, I had to eat it in about 5 min because my sister woke me up late. So I had my buttered baguette in one hand, my hot milk with 3 sugar cubes in the other and one eye on the clock as I preceeded to eat and drink as fast as humanily possible, knowing that this would be the last food I would eat until around 7PM. And right at 6:50, Oumi told me to set down my cup and swallow the last of my baguette.
And that was the last time I ate today.
Now, I normally don't get breakfast at the house. Everyone usually gets up at 6 or whatever and then goes back to sleep until around 10 and I leave at 8. On occasion I've been able to rough it out until lunch but usually at that point I start fading out and get snappy. I am far beyond that point now. The hunger feels like a big emptiness in my stomache, a bite that itches but i just have to ignore for a few more hours (only 5 now!).
I'll eat my entire portion tonight, even if we have cëebujen for dinner.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Alxumdulilay!
So much has happened since my post a few days ago. Today was the last day of orientation, which means classes start on Monday. I can't get over this, because I feel like I've already been here for weeks, not days. I wish I could write forever and go into intense detail about everything that I've done so far, but then this blog post would go on for pages and no one has time for that. So I'll try to do some highlights.
One big one is the Senegalese food. We've eaten a couple of traditional dishes so far, all of which are really heavy and spiced. Senegalese dishes are traditionally eaten with your hands, with everyone sitting around a large bowl or platter. We had some hilarious results the first time we tried...Fish is really popular, which makes me happy since I fell like I never eat enough of it at home. Unfortunately, vegetables not so much. But! Mango is in season and you can buy it off the street for less than 50 cents. I say that's a pretty sweet deal.
Hmm...what else. Well, we've begun wolof classes and I can spend 5 min greeting someone...but not much else. I really need to learn more because my family speaks mostly wolof at home, unless I ask them a question or they're explaining something to me. Speaking of my host family, I spent my first night there last night. They have a dome in the middle of their house! Oh, and sattelite tv, and a chauffeur. What? They watch "Pimp My Ride" dubbed in French and the French version of Survivor. I gave them a book about Philadelphia Murals, a frisbee and the game "Set". I taught set to my host sister Bineta and she's starting to get the hang of it.
So right now it's Ramadam and my family is fasting. So I found out last night that they eat two meals- one to break the fast and THEN dinner. So I was really confused at first when around 7PM we started having eggs and bread and then 3 hours later (when I was ready to pass out) they bring out dinner! So I didn't eat a lot and now family thinks I'm anorexic. My sister kept asking me if I ate enough and didn't believe me when I said, "oui, j'ai bien mangé" and kept putting rice on my plate.
I think yesterday was the best so far. We had a Senegalese band come in and play beautiful music and dance for us. I have a recording on my camera that maybe I can put up here? Yea, still getting used to this blogging thing. Even though I used to do it all of middle school. Anyways. After the music we got a great lunch at a place called Les Ambasseds that had european fair and ICE CREAM and the place where I'll be getting my birthday cake, come november. BUT THEN, we went to the Village des Artistes and wow I think I found what I want to do for my ISP. Our prof Sarah said we could stay there and rent out a studio and just, do art. all day. I'm really interested in contemporary African art and it would be amazing to work with/learn from/write about the artists there.
Alright, it's almost 6 PM here and I have to get home by 7...and I'm not sure exactly where I live. I live in the quartier next to where SIT is, but the thing is that my host family's chauffeur (yes, they have a chauffeur) drove me there last night and here this morning. I sort of payed attention, but you know, I wasn't really awake.
One big one is the Senegalese food. We've eaten a couple of traditional dishes so far, all of which are really heavy and spiced. Senegalese dishes are traditionally eaten with your hands, with everyone sitting around a large bowl or platter. We had some hilarious results the first time we tried...Fish is really popular, which makes me happy since I fell like I never eat enough of it at home. Unfortunately, vegetables not so much. But! Mango is in season and you can buy it off the street for less than 50 cents. I say that's a pretty sweet deal.
Hmm...what else. Well, we've begun wolof classes and I can spend 5 min greeting someone...but not much else. I really need to learn more because my family speaks mostly wolof at home, unless I ask them a question or they're explaining something to me. Speaking of my host family, I spent my first night there last night. They have a dome in the middle of their house! Oh, and sattelite tv, and a chauffeur. What? They watch "Pimp My Ride" dubbed in French and the French version of Survivor. I gave them a book about Philadelphia Murals, a frisbee and the game "Set". I taught set to my host sister Bineta and she's starting to get the hang of it.
So right now it's Ramadam and my family is fasting. So I found out last night that they eat two meals- one to break the fast and THEN dinner. So I was really confused at first when around 7PM we started having eggs and bread and then 3 hours later (when I was ready to pass out) they bring out dinner! So I didn't eat a lot and now family thinks I'm anorexic. My sister kept asking me if I ate enough and didn't believe me when I said, "oui, j'ai bien mangé" and kept putting rice on my plate.
I think yesterday was the best so far. We had a Senegalese band come in and play beautiful music and dance for us. I have a recording on my camera that maybe I can put up here? Yea, still getting used to this blogging thing. Even though I used to do it all of middle school. Anyways. After the music we got a great lunch at a place called Les Ambasseds that had european fair and ICE CREAM and the place where I'll be getting my birthday cake, come november. BUT THEN, we went to the Village des Artistes and wow I think I found what I want to do for my ISP. Our prof Sarah said we could stay there and rent out a studio and just, do art. all day. I'm really interested in contemporary African art and it would be amazing to work with/learn from/write about the artists there.
Alright, it's almost 6 PM here and I have to get home by 7...and I'm not sure exactly where I live. I live in the quartier next to where SIT is, but the thing is that my host family's chauffeur (yes, they have a chauffeur) drove me there last night and here this morning. I sort of payed attention, but you know, I wasn't really awake.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Dakar?
Well, after an entire day of traveling I've finally made it to Dakar. My body is in weird time warped mode after taking two 5+ hour long flights and I go between exhaustion and hyper active. During our 5 hour layover in Paris most of us passed out on the floor. When we landed in Dakar it was already night, so I wasn't able to see much of the city. We're staying in this really nice auberge that has ac and (if you couldn't guess) wifi! It's only for 5 days though, and then we're off to our home stay families for a few weeks.
So truthfully, not much as happened so far. But I'm sure by the end of the week there will be interesting stories to tell. Plus I won't be jet lagged (or not as much) so my posts will be more coherent.
gros bisous
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