MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR etc.
I hope that your holiday season is wonderful. I will be heading first to The Gambia, then to the Casamance (in the south of Senegal) for the next week, including Christmas. It will be sad to be gone for Christmas, but I am really excited to travel! And despite the fact that this country is 95% Muslim, they like to celebrate Christmas too, so I'm not totally missing out. I am travelling with 2 other women from my program who are a lot of fun. Tonight I have to pack as lightly as I can and then we're taking a taxi/car to Banjul, the capital of the Gambia. It's odd to have the Gambia just stuck in Senegal like it is... but colonization has never made that much sense. THey were colonized by the British, so they speak English there!
Ok, I don't have time to write any more, but will come back with lots of stories to put up.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Momma's Going to La Mecque
One of the five pillars of Islam, the only one that is not obligatory, is going to Mecca. My host mom is going in a week, for the much anticipated pilgrimage. It's a pretty exciting event in my house, ever since I found out about her going there have been people coming to give her money for the trip and send her off with good wishes. She said she could be gone for up to two months, but probably will be gone for one, but she doesn't know yet. I am a little worried because there have been stampedes during the pilgrimage that have killed up to 1,400 people in the past 20 years. We'll just hope for the best.
As for other family news... The 2 year old and the 18 month old are growing fast, and becoming pretty good friends (of mine). I had to do a family tree (yay elementary school!) and found out that my grandma (Maam) has 10 children, two of which have two wives. None of them have more than 4 kids with each wife, so there seems to be a trend of not having as many kids, but overall there is a lot of family. They always seem to be going to see "a parent" which could be anyone they're related to. Also everyone in the family is named after each other, so we have two NeNes, two Ngones, 4 Aminatas, after Grandma and 5 Mustaphas after Grandpa. Since Mustapha was Grandpa's name, a lot of the Mustapha's are called Pap as well, like my little host brother. If you ask him his name, he'll say "Bebe Pap". They also like to just call everyone by Grandma and Grandpa, as a sign of endearment. My aunt for example (who is due to have a baby at the end of January!) we call Tata Maam - Aunt Grandma. They are really a great family...although it has taken me a long time to really feel like a part of it, they are wonderful.
As for other family news... The 2 year old and the 18 month old are growing fast, and becoming pretty good friends (of mine). I had to do a family tree (yay elementary school!) and found out that my grandma (Maam) has 10 children, two of which have two wives. None of them have more than 4 kids with each wife, so there seems to be a trend of not having as many kids, but overall there is a lot of family. They always seem to be going to see "a parent" which could be anyone they're related to. Also everyone in the family is named after each other, so we have two NeNes, two Ngones, 4 Aminatas, after Grandma and 5 Mustaphas after Grandpa. Since Mustapha was Grandpa's name, a lot of the Mustapha's are called Pap as well, like my little host brother. If you ask him his name, he'll say "Bebe Pap". They also like to just call everyone by Grandma and Grandpa, as a sign of endearment. My aunt for example (who is due to have a baby at the end of January!) we call Tata Maam - Aunt Grandma. They are really a great family...although it has taken me a long time to really feel like a part of it, they are wonderful.
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