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.