I thought I'd give you a little more on Yoff, the village/suburb of Dakar where I have been for a week and a half...
It's just as hot as Dakar. HOT. But everyone knows just about everyone else, and it doesn't really feel like a city here, even though it looks the same. People are supposedly more traditional, but I haven't seen much of a difference overall.
Yoff is known for the Lebou people that have lived here for a very very long time. They are traditionally fishermen, however lately the fish off the coast have been disappearing due to big boats that have destroyed their environment and over-fishing in the area. This is a tragedy that doesn't seem to have a solution right now. The Lebou also are known for their spiritual life. I mentioned that 95% of the country is Muslim, however it's always mixed with animistic beliefs. This is incredibly confusing for me, just because it is so ingrained in their lives and they don't talk about it that much. They believe in Genies, who were created by God and who are themselves Muslim (right now you can't summon them or feed them during the day, since they too are fasting for Ramadan). They were created to carry out God's work. You need to keep them happy (don't mess up) so that they don't get angry at you and cause harm to your family. You need to give them offerings of milk, blood or whole goats at certain times. (This last rule isn't followed by a majority of the people in the city, but they say it becomes more ritualistic as you move inside the country). Families and regions also have their own totem animals or women (yes, yes, women next to animals, not the first time I'll mention that) whom the genies will inhabit and protect them, as long as they are good to that animal. For example, a region outside of Dakar, Khaolak, the komodo dragon is their totem. They cannot kill it or harm it in any way. Some friends here told a story of a family in Khaolak who sets out food for a Komodo dragon that just walks into their house and leaves in peace.
The people also often wear gris gris to prevent them from harmful genies. I still haven't understood how genies can be bad since they're created by God, and I am not sure I'll ever get a clear answer. Anyways last night I went to a soccer game which was really cool/interesting for a lot of reasons. During the game the power went out (like it seems to do every day here, so it was no surprise). Immediately everyone pulled out their cell phones and there was a sea of blue, white and pink dots across the stadium. When the lights came back on about 5 minutes later, there was a fight on the field because someone from one team tried to steal the gris gris that was protecting the goal of the other team. The police came out and tried to break it up. The police are always at soccer games- both the crowd and the players can get pretty rowdy. My friend and I were the only toubabs and 2 of about 20 women in a crowd of 3,000. That was a fun experience.
That's all for today folks!
p.s. I always enjoy emails, wink wink nudge nudge. :)
It's just as hot as Dakar. HOT. But everyone knows just about everyone else, and it doesn't really feel like a city here, even though it looks the same. People are supposedly more traditional, but I haven't seen much of a difference overall.
Yoff is known for the Lebou people that have lived here for a very very long time. They are traditionally fishermen, however lately the fish off the coast have been disappearing due to big boats that have destroyed their environment and over-fishing in the area. This is a tragedy that doesn't seem to have a solution right now. The Lebou also are known for their spiritual life. I mentioned that 95% of the country is Muslim, however it's always mixed with animistic beliefs. This is incredibly confusing for me, just because it is so ingrained in their lives and they don't talk about it that much. They believe in Genies, who were created by God and who are themselves Muslim (right now you can't summon them or feed them during the day, since they too are fasting for Ramadan). They were created to carry out God's work. You need to keep them happy (don't mess up) so that they don't get angry at you and cause harm to your family. You need to give them offerings of milk, blood or whole goats at certain times. (This last rule isn't followed by a majority of the people in the city, but they say it becomes more ritualistic as you move inside the country). Families and regions also have their own totem animals or women (yes, yes, women next to animals, not the first time I'll mention that) whom the genies will inhabit and protect them, as long as they are good to that animal. For example, a region outside of Dakar, Khaolak, the komodo dragon is their totem. They cannot kill it or harm it in any way. Some friends here told a story of a family in Khaolak who sets out food for a Komodo dragon that just walks into their house and leaves in peace.
The people also often wear gris gris to prevent them from harmful genies. I still haven't understood how genies can be bad since they're created by God, and I am not sure I'll ever get a clear answer. Anyways last night I went to a soccer game which was really cool/interesting for a lot of reasons. During the game the power went out (like it seems to do every day here, so it was no surprise). Immediately everyone pulled out their cell phones and there was a sea of blue, white and pink dots across the stadium. When the lights came back on about 5 minutes later, there was a fight on the field because someone from one team tried to steal the gris gris that was protecting the goal of the other team. The police came out and tried to break it up. The police are always at soccer games- both the crowd and the players can get pretty rowdy. My friend and I were the only toubabs and 2 of about 20 women in a crowd of 3,000. That was a fun experience.
That's all for today folks!
p.s. I always enjoy emails, wink wink nudge nudge. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment