Veiling and Saint-Louis

So, here's a breakdown of the last couple days: 3 days in Keur Sadaro, a village about two hours from Dakar, 1 day in a dilapidated sports complex dormitory for a lecture in Thies, 1 additional day of traveling with a stop at the Grande Mosque at Touba (Senegal's holy city), and here I am in Saint-Louis, the most European and the most touristy part of Senegal. Our hotel has running water, electricity, a TV that has a French channel (this means American TV dubbed in French), a restaurant where we get to have breakfast every morning we're here, and - wireless internet! This is so luxurious and nice after four days of bucket baths (no running water in the village) and then the sports complex didn't have its running water working either. So I'm glad to be in Saint-Louis, with views of the ocean and wide streets and actual sidewalks, and pretty colonial-style architecture.

That said, the trip to the mosque was crazy. I had to cover my head with a scarf and wear a long-sleeved shirt and a long skirt, which our tourguide made me put another long skirt over, because apparently even the slightest bit of ankle is very tempting. He even tried to put the skirt on me, which was incredibly obnoxious. He also told us that the mosque doesn't have as many prayer facilities for women as it does for men (because, women, of course, can't be as devout since they're home with the kids and the cooking), and then told us that Islam here isn't strict because women don't have to be completely covered.

Um, I was completely covered. The men, though, were allowed to show their arms and heads.

Being in a Muslim country is really hard for me at times like this. It doesn't help to be an American, a feminist, and a Smithie when someone is telling you to cover up and then casually mentioning his two wives - yes, our tourguide did that too.

And he also said that women clean the mosque. Even if they don't have any involvement in its design or structure and aren't allowed into it and have to pray in a small hallway and don't hold leadership positions in the faith. I was really relieved when we left, quite honestly. And I had been looking forward to coming to Touba.

I'm trying to be open-minded, but it's hard, because this all feels very extreme and alienating to me. But at the very least I know that when I go back to the States I'll have a newfound appreciation for shorts, religious spaces where women and men can pray together, and the mere fact that there are people around who aren't religious at all.

Goree

Today we went to Goree Island, 20 minutes from Dakar on a ferry. The architecture there is colonial - clapboard-style shutters on brick painted green and red/pink. There are no cars on the island, and only a few small boutiques to buy sodas and snacks, a few restaurants, and a market where merchants say things like, "Come to my store, good price!" and then proceed to try to seriously rip you off. This is because Goree is a big tourist destination, so most of the time, this probably works.

We also visited the National Museum of Women, or something, which had exhibits on "The Joy of Being a Mother" and tons of kinda scary-looking mannequins wearing traditional dress. I wanted to see exhibits concerning women's rights and history, but the exhibits were mainly objects, like baskets and stoves used by women in villages. Interesting, but not exactly what I was expecting to see (or wanting to see).

We visited an old fort that had some scary-looking human skeletons on display, and then spent the rest of the day in the sun, fighting off vendors trying to sell us bracelets and other stuff we didn't really want.

Now I'm back in Dakar, and excited for our 10-day trip that starts tomorrow. We're going to a village, Thies, and Saint Louis, and I'm excited to travel!

Also, I discovered a beach last week in Dakar that is beautiful. Once you get away from the traffic and the crowds, Dakar can be pretty gorgeous.

Traveling!

So things here have been pretty unpredictable lately. We've had several power outages (including the past two days, which meant no internet). And it's been hard living in a host family. Hopefully all will be resolved soon (I think it will be). But in any case, this is quite a mobile study abroad program, and we're leaving on Saturday for a 10-day trip to Thies, our first village homestays, the Grande Mosque at Touba, and Saint Louis. I'm excited to get out of Dakar and into a more rural, less frantic setting. That said, there are things I like about Dakar. But I don't like the pollution, getting stared at/yelled at in the street, and feeling perpetually lost when I'm trying to get somewhere.

We have something like a 12 hour bus ride. I'm looking forward to reading, listening to music, and looking out the window.

I also really miss Smith, Seattle, and the United States in general.

This is what I miss:
1. people, of course - family and friends.
2. knowing where to find everything I need - here it's either markets (really busy, you need to bargain, and people will try to sell you stuff) or gas stations with a more "western" setup.
3. having a waste/trash management system.
4. American movies and TV.

Pictures!

“Lady Oprah Winfrey Garden of the Children”

Bronze sculpture at the National Arts Village

The view from the hotel we stayed in during orientation during my first tropical rainstorm

A lizard on a wall near said hotel. They have lizards here!

Rooftop TV, Pantene Pro-V, and Desperate Housewives

Yesterday was 9/11, and I realized that six years after 9/11, I was in a Muslim country, watching the news in French on the roof of a house with a call to prayer from a nearby mosque crackling through the air. It was an interesting and strange moment. I'm pretty glad I'm here, even if it's perpetually hot and dusty and I'm afraid of cockroaches and I haven't seen a western-style bathroom in nearly a week and a half.

Also, Senegalese dance is really exhausting, as is playing the djembe drum. I think that my hands are going to be red and puffy for the next few days.

Today's big discovery was a shop that sells Pantene Pro-V shampoo and conditioner, and an array of French and American products. It's close to school, but not to where I live.

There are billboards here advertising "Desperate Housewives." I can't imagine watching that show here. It would seem pretty irrelevant, moreso than it does in the States, which is still a lot of irrelevance.

Our excursion to Saint Louis is coming up fairly soon. I'm excited to get out of the city for a while!

Toubab

Every day when I walk to school I get stared at. Because I'm a white girl and I'm in the minority here and I stand out. At first I was pretty uncomfortable with getting stared at, but now I just greet the people who stare at me, and then they greet me and stop staring.

Yesterday I met a woman who had spent three years in Hartford, Connecticut, and it occurred to me how much I miss Seattle and Smith. The thought that it's going to be three and a half months before I get to see a movie in English is pretty sad to me. And I miss the convenience of American stores - everything you need is there (and plenty of things you don't need) and prices are fixed so there's no need to barter. Here, you get everything in the market and you have to bargain prices down.

Today we are going to the National Arts Village, which is in the middle of the city and actually seems like a village, but artists live there and have their studios there, so we get to take drumming and dancing there, and eventually art classes, which is all pretty exciting.

Also, I have recently discovered that Carambar fruit candy is really good, and Biskrem cookies are too, and it's cheap and easy to buy mangoes and bananas off the street for like 25 cents.

In which Khady kills Fat Bastard

So I'm in my Senegalese homestay, living in a house with eleven people and three generations, at least. A lot of the house is actually outside, and the windows don't have screens or glass in them, so bugs pretty much love it here. I have seen a ton of cockroaches, and yeah, I'm pretty uncomfortable with that.

In any case, I was drying laundry in my room and a really fat one was attracted by the moisture. I was pretty terrified, so I named him Fat Bastard and squished him with a copy of Jane magazine that I knew I had purchased for a reason.

Oh yeah, the people in my house call me "Khady" because it's easier than Megan. It's a little weird to be called a name I can't even pronounce, even weirder to be called the name of Mohammed's first wife. (Khady is a diminutive of Khadija.) It's also pretty strange walking to school and having random men on the street greet me in French and Wolof and say things like, "Mignon! Tu es tres belle!"

Senegal certainly is an interesting place.

Je suis etudiante, je n'ai pas beaucoup d'argent...

So they let us loose in downtown Dakar in taxis in groups of three to go to a particular destination (mine was La Grande Mosquee de Dakar) and find answers to questions about things like the price of a banana. Downtown Dakar is CRAZY. As a white person (who many people assume is rich), you are constantly approached by kids asking for money and venders selling watches, sunglasses, phone cards, and perfume, among many things. Someone tried to rob me, and I have said "No, desolee" many, many times.

After the initial shock of the begging kids and the people selling things, I actually realized I liked it. Dakar smells like spices, urine, baking bread, garlic, sweat, cloth, and lots and lots of people. My group got lunch at a small eatery where they served things like croque monsieur (which I had) and lots of crepes.

Then, upon our return to the market, we were accosted (well, joined, actually) by a group of Senegalese guys who wanted to know where we were from, and then helped us buy things without getting ripped off because we're American and will get charged exhorbitant sums of money for whatever we try to buy, probably even from the cheapest vender. There was jewelry, clothing, cloth, fruit, sliced coconut, juice, books - everything, and at multiple stalls. The guys urged us to buy stuff, and were quite persistent; the guy talking to me said that he was a marabout and would bless my money for me if I gave it to him. I didn't. Then the guys asked for our numbers. People here are really friendly, but it's a little weird to adjust to, being an American, and from a place where I'm not in the minority, so I won't be approached so often because I look different.

That said, by and large, the people here are really nice and and very patient. They also dress in pretty amazing clothes.

ALSO - yesterday was my first tropical rainstorm.

Lady Oprah Winfrey Garden of the Children

Every day this week, we take a bus from our hotel to SIT's school in Point E. And on one of our most recent drives, I noticed a white building surrounded by a white wall decorated with colorful paintings of flowers and stuff like that. This is what it said across the top of the wall:

Lady Oprah Winfrey Garden of the Children

(in French, of course)

...which, of course, is pretty hilarious, especially because it's directly translated, although it really just means something along the lines of "Lady Oprah Winfrey Preschool or Kindergarten" (I'm not really sure which, yet.) I wonder if Oprah Winfrey has anything to do with this school or if they just liked her name a lot. In any case, it makes me laugh every time we go by.

Also, being in Africa, I keep thinking about this really annoying kid I had to work with at a godawful camp two summers ago. He was really rude and threw plastic bottles at his campers, and he loved to make up racist verses to one camp song we sang, which the kids at camp were then obliged to repeat. The song had a refrain of "With a ____, in my hand, I'm gonna be a ____ man." Examples are pizza and pizza man, etc. Anyway, one of the verses he proudly made up was "With a spear in my hand, I'm gonna be an Afri-CAN!"

So I found that pretty offensive, for a number of reasons having to do with blatant racism and stereotyping and colonization, etc. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that I was not the only person working at camp who found this kid's song lyrics objectionable. And just to dispel anyone's curiosity, the only African holding a spear that I have seen in Dakar was a wooden decoration on a sign for a shop.

Africa makes me sick...

Literally. I have been in Senegal almost two days, and I've already gotten sick. It was upsetting and annoying to get sick on my first day in Africa, but since most travelers get sick here, maybe I'll get it out of the way fast. I'm feeling better now, anyway. But seriously, it sucks to get sick at home, and it's even worse - much, much worse - to get sick on your first day in a new country on a new continent where you don't know anyone.

Just to clarify, Africa has made me get sick, but only in the most literal sense. I'm still, for the most part, glad to be here, although definitely in a transition period. We're staying at a hotel in Dakar, and will go to our homestay families on Friday. We have yet to go to the beach, or even see it, so I hope that eventually we'll get to see it.

Meanwhile, I'm getting used to life in a developing country. The roads are bumpy, the showers are detached, and meals are a combination of French bread and Senegalese rice and meat. It's almost disturbing to see the level of French/western culture here, from the way everyone speaks French to the Seattle SuperSonics logo I saw on a kid's backpack this morning - that also made me homesick as soon as I saw it. :(

People are very friendly and generous, for the most part. This morning we had to walk around the district of Dakar where we're staying with random objects in our hands and ask people on the street, in French (preceded by "Asalaam Aleikum," of course) what we were holding. Mine was a jar of mysterious black paste that turned out to be a substance used for incense - it's burned in a ceramic pot and is used by people all over Dakar. Anyway, most people I approached were incredibly patient with me and another student from the program, going so far as to find a ceramic pot and mime putting the paste in the pot, and gesture when we couldn't understand their French.

Another thing about Senegal - it's HOT here, humid, sticky, and very, very warm. I definitely prefer this to the weather in Massachusetts, which will start getting unbearably cold very soon, but it's still shocking to walk out of the air-conditioned room where I'm staying in the hotel and get hit instantly with a wall of heat and humidity. I'm sure I'll adjust, and then think that Northampton is really cold when I come back.

So, Africa doesn't really make me sick. I like it here. I'm looking forward to being better and actually being able to walk around and explore Dakar outside of the classroom.

Oh yeah, and sixteen hours of traveling? I officially do not recommend that to anyone.