I am currently in Sally. We have been at the beach for three nights now and we are leaving tomorrow. I have had a wonderful time here but Christmas was a little lame. It felt weird not being at home with the fam but the day managed to scoot along. We went to the beach for most of the day. This area is somewhat touristy so the beach is kind of annoying because there are so many Senegalese people trying to sell us things. We finally snuck down to a part of the beach where the vendors cant come. It is a private area that is filled with vacationers staying in the resorts here. We managed to sneak into one of the resorts today and swim in the fancy swimming pool. We were surrounded by all white people...it felt weird but good.
For Christmas dinner, we all got dressed up and went out to dinner. We ate at a small restaurant right on the water. The food was good and the people were actually nice. It is VERY hard to find good service in restaurants because the servers dont work for tips. This was the first Christmas that i didnt get one single gift, but it was ok because no one did. A few of the girls got packages that thy saved until Christmas morning to open. I havent received any Christmas packages yet but i know a few are en route...hopefully they will be waiting for me in Sokone when i get back after the holidays!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Have yourself a merry little Christmas...
December 20th
Yesterday we had the baptism for the new baby. His name is Moussa by the way. We had a baptism but I don’t think it was a traditional ceremony because my family is short of money because of Tabaski. Like I said before, everyone spends every penny they have on Tabaski. In general, when a family has a baptism, the father slaughters an animal to share with family and friends. We did not do that. The baptism consisted of people coming over in the morning to visit and drop off small gifts and money. The men all gathered and prayed all morning. He women mostly stayed in the bedroom all day with my mom and the new baby. It is very strange but my mother and the baby have yet to come out of her bedroom. I saw her come out one time earlier in the week for about 30 seconds and then she went back in. I thought that was the whole point of the baptism… a big showing of the baby. I didn’t expect anything like the Lion King ( you know, when the monkey, Rafiki takes the new baby lion, Simba out to Pride Rock and holds him out for all the animals to see and they all start singing and bowing JJ) but I certainly thought Amie would bring the baby out for all to see. Anyway, the day went on and people came and went. I went in to hold the new baby and a man came in to pray for him. He held Moussa’s head and prayed for about a minute and then haucked a big luggy (don’t know how to spell that but you get the point) and spit on his head…lets just say not all of it went on the babies head and I got rather large blessing myself! The day continued and all the women gathered and made tea for hours and hours. I decided to be a good volunteer and I went to town to buy some sodas… That went over well but then some women were very angry because they didn’t get any. Whatever. Anyway, many people stayed for lunch and then in the evening everyone from the whole village came over for a dancing ceremony. I got some great photos and videos. If you read my previous blog entry, you will remember that I mentioned the women pulling their skirts up to show all when they dance at baptisms… nothing less happened at my house. I got flashed more than a few times! All in all, the day came and went and was quite eventful.
Every day, I eat lunch and dinner with my family. I never eat breakfast there because volunteer before me didn’t so they just assume I don’t want to I think. The first day, my mother told me to go to the boutique and buy bread…so that’s what I do. My family eats dinner generally around 8 pm but for some reason lately it has been getting later and later in the evening. A few nights ago I was in my room waiting for dinner and it was about 8:45. My mother Binta came to my door and asked me if I had eaten already and I said no. She looked very upset and she told me that there would be no dinner that night because the family didn’t have any food. That night we didn’t eat and I heard the children crying before bed because they were hungry and couldn’t fall asleep. This leaves me in a weird position. I pay the family every week for me to live here. They get more than enough money from me. I also usually buy them food in the market or fruit in town before I come home. When my mother came and told me there was no food, I wanted to go and buy something for them but it was too late at night and nothing was open. That night sucked and we all went to bed hungry. Now I don’t know what to do if this happens again. It’s difficult here because if you give an inch, people will take a football field…really. I don’t want the children to go hungry but also I don’t want the family to get the idea that I will just go buy them whatever they want if they don’t have money. I think that would start a trend that would be difficult to stop. I want to know why my father is not giving the mothers money to buy food. I also want to know what is happening to the money that I give them. I don’t give them enough to support the whole family but I give them more than enough to feed just me. If it happens again, I will go to my father and ask why but for now I’m keeping my mouth shut because I don’t want to cause any drama in the family.
Other than that, all is well in Senegal. Today it was a chilly 60 degrees. It also rained. This is the dry season and I haven’t seen rain since November 4th. It only rained for about 5 minutes but it was a nice surprise nonetheless. I hope everyone at home is prepared for a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all have a great holiday. Eat some Christmas cookies for me!!!
Yesterday we had the baptism for the new baby. His name is Moussa by the way. We had a baptism but I don’t think it was a traditional ceremony because my family is short of money because of Tabaski. Like I said before, everyone spends every penny they have on Tabaski. In general, when a family has a baptism, the father slaughters an animal to share with family and friends. We did not do that. The baptism consisted of people coming over in the morning to visit and drop off small gifts and money. The men all gathered and prayed all morning. He women mostly stayed in the bedroom all day with my mom and the new baby. It is very strange but my mother and the baby have yet to come out of her bedroom. I saw her come out one time earlier in the week for about 30 seconds and then she went back in. I thought that was the whole point of the baptism… a big showing of the baby. I didn’t expect anything like the Lion King ( you know, when the monkey, Rafiki takes the new baby lion, Simba out to Pride Rock and holds him out for all the animals to see and they all start singing and bowing JJ) but I certainly thought Amie would bring the baby out for all to see. Anyway, the day went on and people came and went. I went in to hold the new baby and a man came in to pray for him. He held Moussa’s head and prayed for about a minute and then haucked a big luggy (don’t know how to spell that but you get the point) and spit on his head…lets just say not all of it went on the babies head and I got rather large blessing myself! The day continued and all the women gathered and made tea for hours and hours. I decided to be a good volunteer and I went to town to buy some sodas… That went over well but then some women were very angry because they didn’t get any. Whatever. Anyway, many people stayed for lunch and then in the evening everyone from the whole village came over for a dancing ceremony. I got some great photos and videos. If you read my previous blog entry, you will remember that I mentioned the women pulling their skirts up to show all when they dance at baptisms… nothing less happened at my house. I got flashed more than a few times! All in all, the day came and went and was quite eventful.
Every day, I eat lunch and dinner with my family. I never eat breakfast there because volunteer before me didn’t so they just assume I don’t want to I think. The first day, my mother told me to go to the boutique and buy bread…so that’s what I do. My family eats dinner generally around 8 pm but for some reason lately it has been getting later and later in the evening. A few nights ago I was in my room waiting for dinner and it was about 8:45. My mother Binta came to my door and asked me if I had eaten already and I said no. She looked very upset and she told me that there would be no dinner that night because the family didn’t have any food. That night we didn’t eat and I heard the children crying before bed because they were hungry and couldn’t fall asleep. This leaves me in a weird position. I pay the family every week for me to live here. They get more than enough money from me. I also usually buy them food in the market or fruit in town before I come home. When my mother came and told me there was no food, I wanted to go and buy something for them but it was too late at night and nothing was open. That night sucked and we all went to bed hungry. Now I don’t know what to do if this happens again. It’s difficult here because if you give an inch, people will take a football field…really. I don’t want the children to go hungry but also I don’t want the family to get the idea that I will just go buy them whatever they want if they don’t have money. I think that would start a trend that would be difficult to stop. I want to know why my father is not giving the mothers money to buy food. I also want to know what is happening to the money that I give them. I don’t give them enough to support the whole family but I give them more than enough to feed just me. If it happens again, I will go to my father and ask why but for now I’m keeping my mouth shut because I don’t want to cause any drama in the family.
Other than that, all is well in Senegal. Today it was a chilly 60 degrees. It also rained. This is the dry season and I haven’t seen rain since November 4th. It only rained for about 5 minutes but it was a nice surprise nonetheless. I hope everyone at home is prepared for a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all have a great holiday. Eat some Christmas cookies for me!!!
Monday, December 15, 2008
I finally found internet...... I hope you are as happy as i am!
Today is December 15, 2008…I think. I have not been able to write on my bog for weeks now. I apologize for not keeping people more updated. Tabaski was last week and everything has been closed for the holiday. Now I am at the cyber café and the internet is not working…again I am having to save to my USB. I biked 20K to get here so I’m hoping the internet will start working before I leave.
Everything has been going well. I have been back in my village for several days now. My mother just had a baby 4 days ago. I was not home when it happened. When I got back, no one even mentioned that she had the baby. FINALLY, after several hours, I asked where she was and my second mother made some gesture to make me realize she had the baby. People here won’t speak about pregnancy or about a baby until it is one week old. The mother has to hide in her room for one week with the baby. They believe evil spirits will come and hurt the baby if it is out in public the first week. I went in my mother’s room and saw the baby for a few minutes only. It is a boy…. Another boy… it does not have a name yet because the also wait one week to name a new baby. There will be a baptism on Thursday next week. I’m not sure what really happens at these baptisms but I have heard it’s pretty crazy. It lasts all day. In the morning the women go alone and meet up for dancing. They dress up in fancy dresses and sit in a circle. The dance around and lift up their skirts for everyone to see EVERYTHHING…really…no joke. I have not witnessed this yet but my closest Peace Corps neighbor told me she saw it and it always happens. The women also wear thin little slips under their dresses with pornography drawn on them. I have seen these. Women can absolutely not show their knees but they can wear a skirt with porn drawn all over it… I will never understand it! Anyway, I am planning to go to the baptism Thursday. I am also planning to keep my clothes on! Hopefully I can get some good photos there. I will try to keep them PG. I am having my old roommate from training come to visit me next week. She lives all the way across the country. It will be good to see her. She reminds me of Becca, my roommate from college. I also had a visitor this week from David, one of my close neighbors. When I say close, don’t get confused. He lives pretty far away but close compared to the others. We met up with Laura and Jessica and went to the beach. There are many campements near my house. They all have small beaches…really small water holes with really salty water. We had lunch there and swam. It was fun but after, I got incredibly sick. It was the first time since I got here that I thought I was going to die. Well ok, not die, but I was very ill. I still don’t feel completely better but I am getting there. I think I may have a parasite. I am going to Dakar for the New Year and hopefully I can make it to a doctor in the city.
I heard it was snowing at home a little. It is about 95 degrees here in the afternoons. It gets down to about 60 at now. This is “winter” here. Its nice because I can actually sleep without sweating. When it is 60 degrees, it feels really cold. I wish I could see the snow…someone needs to send me photos. PLEASE! I received a package from The Leffler…. THANK YOU!! The photos were great. I send pics every week but I think people at home forgot that I don’t get pictures of them every week… My hut is now decorated with lots of photos of Jack, Molly, Luke, and Will…. They also sent coloring books and crayons. My little bothers and sisters are having a blast with them. Thanks again… I loved it!!
Everything has been going well. I have been back in my village for several days now. My mother just had a baby 4 days ago. I was not home when it happened. When I got back, no one even mentioned that she had the baby. FINALLY, after several hours, I asked where she was and my second mother made some gesture to make me realize she had the baby. People here won’t speak about pregnancy or about a baby until it is one week old. The mother has to hide in her room for one week with the baby. They believe evil spirits will come and hurt the baby if it is out in public the first week. I went in my mother’s room and saw the baby for a few minutes only. It is a boy…. Another boy… it does not have a name yet because the also wait one week to name a new baby. There will be a baptism on Thursday next week. I’m not sure what really happens at these baptisms but I have heard it’s pretty crazy. It lasts all day. In the morning the women go alone and meet up for dancing. They dress up in fancy dresses and sit in a circle. The dance around and lift up their skirts for everyone to see EVERYTHHING…really…no joke. I have not witnessed this yet but my closest Peace Corps neighbor told me she saw it and it always happens. The women also wear thin little slips under their dresses with pornography drawn on them. I have seen these. Women can absolutely not show their knees but they can wear a skirt with porn drawn all over it… I will never understand it! Anyway, I am planning to go to the baptism Thursday. I am also planning to keep my clothes on! Hopefully I can get some good photos there. I will try to keep them PG. I am having my old roommate from training come to visit me next week. She lives all the way across the country. It will be good to see her. She reminds me of Becca, my roommate from college. I also had a visitor this week from David, one of my close neighbors. When I say close, don’t get confused. He lives pretty far away but close compared to the others. We met up with Laura and Jessica and went to the beach. There are many campements near my house. They all have small beaches…really small water holes with really salty water. We had lunch there and swam. It was fun but after, I got incredibly sick. It was the first time since I got here that I thought I was going to die. Well ok, not die, but I was very ill. I still don’t feel completely better but I am getting there. I think I may have a parasite. I am going to Dakar for the New Year and hopefully I can make it to a doctor in the city.
I heard it was snowing at home a little. It is about 95 degrees here in the afternoons. It gets down to about 60 at now. This is “winter” here. Its nice because I can actually sleep without sweating. When it is 60 degrees, it feels really cold. I wish I could see the snow…someone needs to send me photos. PLEASE! I received a package from The Leffler…. THANK YOU!! The photos were great. I send pics every week but I think people at home forgot that I don’t get pictures of them every week… My hut is now decorated with lots of photos of Jack, Molly, Luke, and Will…. They also sent coloring books and crayons. My little bothers and sisters are having a blast with them. Thanks again… I loved it!!
I finally have a tutor!
This was witten almost two weeks ago but i have not been able to find internet connection since... enjoy...
Today is December 5, 2008… CRAZY… I have been in Senegal for almost 3 months now. Time has flown by… I am now in my village writing this blog on my laptop….dont get confused..i definitely do not have internet here. Im saving to my USB and posting to my blog tomorrow… Anyway, this week has actually been somewhat successful. I found a Sereer tutor and also a French tutor. I just need to buckle down and make myself study now. I have more time than one could imagine but somehow things still don’t get done…like studying. My sereer tutor is my brother, Ablaye. I just found out recently that he in fact is not my brother but is a friend of the family. He is living here because he is going to school in Sokone. Sokone is the town right next to the village. I didn’t know it until yesterday but Ablaye came here the same week that I came. He speaks English and is usually more than willing to help me with Sereer. My French tutor is a guy in Sokone named Tam. He is a friend of another volunteer. He is pretty cool but I am just waiting or him to profess his love.. I know its coming :X. I am happy to be catching back up on French. Its coming back to me fairly easy but I really need to memorize verb conjugations. It gets hard to learn here having a man for a teacher.. Somehow they always get confused and think if you are coming to class its because you are in love with them. Weird. Othere than finding tutors this week, not much has happened. I have started hanging out with Laura… a PC volunteer in Sokone. Its nice to have friends here that speak English. I cant describe how hard it is to live in a country where you cant communicate exactly what you want to say. Also, I ca understand why Peace Corps does not let everyone learn Wolof. Wolof is the national language. One would think that PC would be smart enough to realize that everyone should learn the national language first and then move on to a given ethnic group language. When I travel I can’t speak to anyone. Only about 2 % of the population in Senegal speaks Sereer. It’s so hard to travel and try and figure out what’s going on in the garage. The garage is just a place filled with cars and people EVERYWHERE. The people there are so aggressive. They are always shouting and banging on the cars ad trying to get their own cars filled up. Cars in the garage wont leave until they are full. So sometimes one will sit there for 2,3, even 4 hours waiting for the car to fill up. The cars seat seven people (plus the driver). It’s a real pain. Imagine how hectic that sounds and having to wait for hours and people are crowded around the cars begging for money…since I’m white…I’m loaded….right? And when they find out I am American, its even worse. It’s hard to fake being French when you don’t speak French. There are also children called “Talibe’”…these kids go to school to learn the Koran and are sent out to beg for food/money. They go to the garage with a bowl and stand by the cars and sing prayers in Wolof. They are crowd around the cars and jingle their change around in your face while they sing…and they definitely reach inside the cars. I would love to take a photo in the garage sometime but its to dangerous. There are pick pockets everywhere and it would not surprise me if someone came up to me and ripped m camera out of my hands there.
Tuesday is Tabaski. Tabaski is the biggest holiday of the year in Senegal. I think it is the New Year for Muslims. Im not exactly sure but I know its huge. People have been talking about it for over a month. Everyone spends every penny they have to buy a new outfit. This is the biggest time of the year for thefts . Everyone wants to look hot for the big day. Im not sure yet how it will be after Tabaski but I have a feeling my family will be eating worse than they already do. My moms just went out and bought new hair for all of my sisters. People here don’t think about the future. Every month I give my family money to pay for food and to buy things for the house and kids. I made sure this month to not give it to them yet because I know they would spend the money on clothes and hair for Tabaski. I am going to Kaffriene for Tabaski with Ablaye (not my brother Ablaye). I am leaving tomorrow. I am hoping it will be a good time. Korite was fun but definately not what I expected. I am heading back to the village Wednesday I think. I heard Tabaski is a festival ad can last for several days. Lets see how long I can last!
I received three pieces of mail this week… shout out to Roy and Denise…Gram..and Yvonne Wells!!! Thanks for the letters and cards! Its always nice to have something waiting for me at the post office.
I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Everyone in my group is planning a trip to the beach. It is confirmed and I will be maxing and relaxing in the sun December 23- 27. We are renting an apartment house in Mbour. I haven’t been there yet but I was told it is a big tourist area….the holidays are usually a big time for tourists in Africa. I think we are spending New Years in Dakar. Some volunteers are not coming because they feel guilty about leaving their villages for more than a week. Im not sure what they are drinking but that hasn’t hit me yet…im looking forward to an even tan and some partying with some fellow outstanding American citizens. It will be a good time but some way, some how, next year I am going home for Christmas!
Today is December 5, 2008… CRAZY… I have been in Senegal for almost 3 months now. Time has flown by… I am now in my village writing this blog on my laptop….dont get confused..i definitely do not have internet here. Im saving to my USB and posting to my blog tomorrow… Anyway, this week has actually been somewhat successful. I found a Sereer tutor and also a French tutor. I just need to buckle down and make myself study now. I have more time than one could imagine but somehow things still don’t get done…like studying. My sereer tutor is my brother, Ablaye. I just found out recently that he in fact is not my brother but is a friend of the family. He is living here because he is going to school in Sokone. Sokone is the town right next to the village. I didn’t know it until yesterday but Ablaye came here the same week that I came. He speaks English and is usually more than willing to help me with Sereer. My French tutor is a guy in Sokone named Tam. He is a friend of another volunteer. He is pretty cool but I am just waiting or him to profess his love.. I know its coming :X. I am happy to be catching back up on French. Its coming back to me fairly easy but I really need to memorize verb conjugations. It gets hard to learn here having a man for a teacher.. Somehow they always get confused and think if you are coming to class its because you are in love with them. Weird. Othere than finding tutors this week, not much has happened. I have started hanging out with Laura… a PC volunteer in Sokone. Its nice to have friends here that speak English. I cant describe how hard it is to live in a country where you cant communicate exactly what you want to say. Also, I ca understand why Peace Corps does not let everyone learn Wolof. Wolof is the national language. One would think that PC would be smart enough to realize that everyone should learn the national language first and then move on to a given ethnic group language. When I travel I can’t speak to anyone. Only about 2 % of the population in Senegal speaks Sereer. It’s so hard to travel and try and figure out what’s going on in the garage. The garage is just a place filled with cars and people EVERYWHERE. The people there are so aggressive. They are always shouting and banging on the cars ad trying to get their own cars filled up. Cars in the garage wont leave until they are full. So sometimes one will sit there for 2,3, even 4 hours waiting for the car to fill up. The cars seat seven people (plus the driver). It’s a real pain. Imagine how hectic that sounds and having to wait for hours and people are crowded around the cars begging for money…since I’m white…I’m loaded….right? And when they find out I am American, its even worse. It’s hard to fake being French when you don’t speak French. There are also children called “Talibe’”…these kids go to school to learn the Koran and are sent out to beg for food/money. They go to the garage with a bowl and stand by the cars and sing prayers in Wolof. They are crowd around the cars and jingle their change around in your face while they sing…and they definitely reach inside the cars. I would love to take a photo in the garage sometime but its to dangerous. There are pick pockets everywhere and it would not surprise me if someone came up to me and ripped m camera out of my hands there.
Tuesday is Tabaski. Tabaski is the biggest holiday of the year in Senegal. I think it is the New Year for Muslims. Im not exactly sure but I know its huge. People have been talking about it for over a month. Everyone spends every penny they have to buy a new outfit. This is the biggest time of the year for thefts . Everyone wants to look hot for the big day. Im not sure yet how it will be after Tabaski but I have a feeling my family will be eating worse than they already do. My moms just went out and bought new hair for all of my sisters. People here don’t think about the future. Every month I give my family money to pay for food and to buy things for the house and kids. I made sure this month to not give it to them yet because I know they would spend the money on clothes and hair for Tabaski. I am going to Kaffriene for Tabaski with Ablaye (not my brother Ablaye). I am leaving tomorrow. I am hoping it will be a good time. Korite was fun but definately not what I expected. I am heading back to the village Wednesday I think. I heard Tabaski is a festival ad can last for several days. Lets see how long I can last!
I received three pieces of mail this week… shout out to Roy and Denise…Gram..and Yvonne Wells!!! Thanks for the letters and cards! Its always nice to have something waiting for me at the post office.
I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Everyone in my group is planning a trip to the beach. It is confirmed and I will be maxing and relaxing in the sun December 23- 27. We are renting an apartment house in Mbour. I haven’t been there yet but I was told it is a big tourist area….the holidays are usually a big time for tourists in Africa. I think we are spending New Years in Dakar. Some volunteers are not coming because they feel guilty about leaving their villages for more than a week. Im not sure what they are drinking but that hasn’t hit me yet…im looking forward to an even tan and some partying with some fellow outstanding American citizens. It will be a good time but some way, some how, next year I am going home for Christmas!
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