I can't tell you her name just yet, but my aunt had a baby girl last weekend. They wait a wek before naming babies, and apparently the dad gets to name them. This is a stupid rule in this case because the mother is a second wife and her husband is hardly around. They actually live in two different towns usually. I get to go to St. Louis (in Senegal, the second largest city) for the second baptism. I am super super excited. Last night I got to hold her for probably 30 minutes... highlight of my life. She'll probably be named Aminata, like the majority of the women in the family, after Grandma. The good thing is that it can be shortened in several ways: Ami, Amina, Adja (somehow) but I haven't heard Nata. Probably for reason.
This weekend I have the vague assignment of checking out the tourism industry in a rural ecovillage. This basically means that I am going on a long weekend, and it's paid for! I'm going with one other girl from the group. The downside is that I am missing my host mom's coming home party, which is apparently even bigger than the going away party for the pilgrimage. I can't imagine her caring too much, as she'll be seeing everyone and their mother over the next few days and I myself don't REALLY mind avoiding the huge group and endless eating. I'll get to do that next weekend, which is enough for moi.
Other than that, things are going along. This week I had ALL 3 classes I was supposed to have, which is always a good but unforunately not usual thing. I started a project at a local clinic/public health organization, which is interesting, but it seems like all of my work is going to be jammed into the last 2 months. So if I don't write, that's why. Ask any questions burning in your mind. Jamm out. (jamm=peace)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Killing Goats and Christmas Craziness
Hello all...It's been a while. Thank you for your Christmas letters and packages...they are making me feel so loved and I really appreciate it.
Christmas was much better than I expected it would be. We were walking around Ziguinchor a few days before when a woman called us into her house. Somehow we were adopted into their family, that just happened to be Catholic, and spent Christmas eve and Christmas with them. They were the most welcoming family I have ever randomly met, and we felt very comfortable there. There were people of all ages, like most big Senegalese families, so feeding a few extra mouths wasn't a huge deal. We made sure to bring dessert though, and despite our wishes, we sat at the table and ate with a bunch of the men, since we were guests. The women who made the food sat around the bowl somewhere else. NOT fair, but not our place to decide. The Grandma of the family was definitely in charge, despite the fact that she was in a wheelchair and couldn't see very well. She was very spunky and kept offering us more wine and told us we had to dance. So we all danced... a lot.
Coming home from our long and otherwise uneventful but relaxing vacation was nice. The 31st was the day of goat-killing, which I watched all of except for the actual throat-cutting. The disassemblage was fascinating, and I was amazed to be eating grilled liver while the rest of the body was still being cut up and divided into the appropriate places. I don't know if I can handle sheep again, and I am really looking forward to being a vegetarian again when I get home, haha. Despite the disturbing side of it, I enjoyed the holiday. It's not very often that you get to see the entire process of how meat gets into your hands. And we got to get dressed up in our boubous and visit the neighbors. I'm not very good at that type of thing...I can get dressed up but they visit to chit chat in Wolof, and seeing as I don't really like chit chat in English, I was a silent guest. I think holidays here are mostly about getting dressed up and seeing as many people as possible. The eating is important too, but only after the first two objectives.
I hope you all had a good holiday! I will be putting up pictures eventually, but for the moment I'm at a stand still on that beause I have a lot of other work to do online. My apologies.
Christmas was much better than I expected it would be. We were walking around Ziguinchor a few days before when a woman called us into her house. Somehow we were adopted into their family, that just happened to be Catholic, and spent Christmas eve and Christmas with them. They were the most welcoming family I have ever randomly met, and we felt very comfortable there. There were people of all ages, like most big Senegalese families, so feeding a few extra mouths wasn't a huge deal. We made sure to bring dessert though, and despite our wishes, we sat at the table and ate with a bunch of the men, since we were guests. The women who made the food sat around the bowl somewhere else. NOT fair, but not our place to decide. The Grandma of the family was definitely in charge, despite the fact that she was in a wheelchair and couldn't see very well. She was very spunky and kept offering us more wine and told us we had to dance. So we all danced... a lot.
Coming home from our long and otherwise uneventful but relaxing vacation was nice. The 31st was the day of goat-killing, which I watched all of except for the actual throat-cutting. The disassemblage was fascinating, and I was amazed to be eating grilled liver while the rest of the body was still being cut up and divided into the appropriate places. I don't know if I can handle sheep again, and I am really looking forward to being a vegetarian again when I get home, haha. Despite the disturbing side of it, I enjoyed the holiday. It's not very often that you get to see the entire process of how meat gets into your hands. And we got to get dressed up in our boubous and visit the neighbors. I'm not very good at that type of thing...I can get dressed up but they visit to chit chat in Wolof, and seeing as I don't really like chit chat in English, I was a silent guest. I think holidays here are mostly about getting dressed up and seeing as many people as possible. The eating is important too, but only after the first two objectives.
I hope you all had a good holiday! I will be putting up pictures eventually, but for the moment I'm at a stand still on that beause I have a lot of other work to do online. My apologies.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Merry Christmas, Casamance
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Here comes the president
So... It's been a while since I've written, but I don't want to flood you with wordy descriptions and stories. Instead I'll give you a few gems:
Benn: The president lives a short, pretty much straight drive from the airport, which happens to go along the road that I live off of. When he is coming back from taking a trip, which seems to be relatively often, it is suddenly necessary to get him back to his house ASAP, nothing can stop him! They block off all acess to the road, making people turn around or wait for him to go by. Then, at lightening speed his fleet of police cars, trucks and big black SUVs come whizzing by, with a few motorcycles to pave the way. Individual guards have to stand at every intersection to make sure no one is in the road. Needless to say, it's a huge ordeal, and kind of exciting and probably unnecessary. Speaking of the presidentm he is 81 and running for presedency again this winter. He also looks like he came out of a horror movie because he has very little facial expression.
Naar: A while ago I was walking to school along that same road, past the small shack-compound and in front of the sign that said TUMMYTUCKS above a white woman lying on her stomach in a bathing suit. Next to the sign was a group of about 7 boys all under the age of 10 naked, throwing water at eachother. I smiled at the funny image of it all, and as I was looking over I caught their attention. They however, thought that I was the funny one, and all started pointing at me. The irony of the whole scene still tickles me, and seems almost representative of how I feel here: a little out of place, struck by ironies of the first world clashing with the third, being laughed at and laughing at it all.
Nett: Wolof is not so easy for me to pick up, but it is getting better. I've noticed a bit of a change in the way people treat me when I make an effort to speak it too, it gives them something for them to joke about and for us to laugh about. Also university courses are becoming a headache to deal with, not because they are hard or anything, but because so far they have failed to exist. Today is day three of trying classes and hoping that the professor will decide to come. Eventually they may pick up, but it looks like I have a lot of free time to figure other parts of my life out, apart from academics and such.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We tried to replicate it, and did a pretty good job for what we had to work with. It may be one of the only thanksgivings that I will have that includes having to change clothes because of the hot hot day and going to a huge market to haggle for prices of zuchini and green beans.
Benn: The president lives a short, pretty much straight drive from the airport, which happens to go along the road that I live off of. When he is coming back from taking a trip, which seems to be relatively often, it is suddenly necessary to get him back to his house ASAP, nothing can stop him! They block off all acess to the road, making people turn around or wait for him to go by. Then, at lightening speed his fleet of police cars, trucks and big black SUVs come whizzing by, with a few motorcycles to pave the way. Individual guards have to stand at every intersection to make sure no one is in the road. Needless to say, it's a huge ordeal, and kind of exciting and probably unnecessary. Speaking of the presidentm he is 81 and running for presedency again this winter. He also looks like he came out of a horror movie because he has very little facial expression.
Naar: A while ago I was walking to school along that same road, past the small shack-compound and in front of the sign that said TUMMYTUCKS above a white woman lying on her stomach in a bathing suit. Next to the sign was a group of about 7 boys all under the age of 10 naked, throwing water at eachother. I smiled at the funny image of it all, and as I was looking over I caught their attention. They however, thought that I was the funny one, and all started pointing at me. The irony of the whole scene still tickles me, and seems almost representative of how I feel here: a little out of place, struck by ironies of the first world clashing with the third, being laughed at and laughing at it all.
Nett: Wolof is not so easy for me to pick up, but it is getting better. I've noticed a bit of a change in the way people treat me when I make an effort to speak it too, it gives them something for them to joke about and for us to laugh about. Also university courses are becoming a headache to deal with, not because they are hard or anything, but because so far they have failed to exist. Today is day three of trying classes and hoping that the professor will decide to come. Eventually they may pick up, but it looks like I have a lot of free time to figure other parts of my life out, apart from academics and such.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We tried to replicate it, and did a pretty good job for what we had to work with. It may be one of the only thanksgivings that I will have that includes having to change clothes because of the hot hot day and going to a huge market to haggle for prices of zuchini and green beans.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Back in Dakar
My sister brought it to my attention that I've written on Thursdays for the past three weeks...until now. Inconsistant! The fact is, I no longer have free internet access every day. Instead I am spending more time taking advantage of the city and it's many offerings, or at least trying to. Yesterday for example another student and I spent a good chunk of money to swim in the Piscine Olympique. It was really peaceful and huge and totally worth the money. I'm also trying to run more to explore the area around my house. It's not hard, but it is a task to dodge people and to pretend that I don't see them staring at me. I just figure the more I look like a 13 year old boy, the better it is, so that's what I shoot for when I leave the house.
Coming back to Dakar has been interesting for me. I can actually see how much more comfortable I am here with the culture and everything. Some new students are here, have been here for 3 weeks, and I can see them going through the same conversations that we had. They seem like trivial worries to me now, 8 weeks into my stay. At the same time it becomes more and more obvious that I will never blend in here. You may think this is a funny idea, and I myself didn't ever expect to fit in, but it's interesting to see the ways in which I've become comforable and in which I am and will always be my American self. Also interesting to see that by coming to a culture centered around groups, I feel like I'm becoming more of an individual.
Coming back to Dakar has been interesting for me. I can actually see how much more comfortable I am here with the culture and everything. Some new students are here, have been here for 3 weeks, and I can see them going through the same conversations that we had. They seem like trivial worries to me now, 8 weeks into my stay. At the same time it becomes more and more obvious that I will never blend in here. You may think this is a funny idea, and I myself didn't ever expect to fit in, but it's interesting to see the ways in which I've become comforable and in which I am and will always be my American self. Also interesting to see that by coming to a culture centered around groups, I feel like I'm becoming more of an individual.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Ba Beneen, Yoff
It's already time to leave Yoff, and head back to my family in Dakar. I have mixed feelings about this, but am really happy that I got to come here and see another perspective, meet new people, etc. Yoff is a suburb of Dakar, or another neighborhood in Dakar depending on who you talk to, but it does have a smaller feel to it. Like the other night I took my host cousin to a party my friend's host brother was having, and of course they just happened to know each other since kindergarten. And when we said we had to pick up our friend at the Ndiaye's house, they knew where that was too. Small.
Monday was Korité, the end of Ramadan. It was not as exciting as I thought it would be for how much they talked about it beforehand, but it was a good day nonetheless. I put a ton of pictures up from it on my webshots page which gives a good idea of what it was like: Eating and getting dressed up for pictures. Part of the dressing up in the afternoon, after eating, is for when they go to visit other people. I don't know how they decide who goes and who stays, but people were coming by all afternoon and night, and my host mom and aunts went out at least once.
More exciting news...I found this kind of yogurt that has millet in it. Millet is like couscous only larger, and it tastes really good with vanilla yogurt. A tub of it is about 70cents and has been my lunch for the last couple of days. I also have baguettes every day. Makes me miss France :).
Overall...comfortable. I'm getting more and more comfortable every day. Life is good.
Enjoy the cold for me all you people in the US.
Monday was Korité, the end of Ramadan. It was not as exciting as I thought it would be for how much they talked about it beforehand, but it was a good day nonetheless. I put a ton of pictures up from it on my webshots page which gives a good idea of what it was like: Eating and getting dressed up for pictures. Part of the dressing up in the afternoon, after eating, is for when they go to visit other people. I don't know how they decide who goes and who stays, but people were coming by all afternoon and night, and my host mom and aunts went out at least once.
More exciting news...I found this kind of yogurt that has millet in it. Millet is like couscous only larger, and it tastes really good with vanilla yogurt. A tub of it is about 70cents and has been my lunch for the last couple of days. I also have baguettes every day. Makes me miss France :).
Overall...comfortable. I'm getting more and more comfortable every day. Life is good.
Enjoy the cold for me all you people in the US.
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