Thanksgiving in Dakar was a success!! .. except our cheese was stolen.

 Thanksgiving morning

So, we decided to share the Thanksgiving tradition with our Senegalese friends and family. We made yams, green bean casserole, holla bread, turkey with roasted vegetables (the neck and organs were all still attached), fruit salad (all I could make), mashed potatoes, apple sauce, a massive salad, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, and cranberry sauce (which was actually bissap sauce)... ALL FROM SCRATCH. Oh, and bissap punch. Believe it or not, everything turned out perfectly. I've never had such a feast. It was ridiculous. Just want to mention also that we cooked everything with a gas stove/oven, no blender, sharp knifes, power outages, water outages, shortage of mixing bowls, no cutting boards and not enough forks. We also negotiated for all our vegetables and sugar. I can't believe we pulled it off. 

Christine's yams, complete with marshmallows

Sarah's green bean casserole

Sarah and I decimated the turkey

Making my fruit salad... I have a great story associated with this watermelon.

Mom, you don't need an electric knife when you have your hands

cooking french toast for our profs

Theresa with the turkey neck and head

We also made everyone say what they were thankful for and the Senegalese started crying because they couldn't believe we had shared our tradition with them. We have it all on video, so it should be available soon. But, it was one of the most rewarding moments of my life.

I'm thankful for all my friends and family both here and in the States. I'm thankful to have this chance to be here in Senegal for 6 months. I know not many people get to have an experience like this and I'm incredibly appreciative of my mom for giving me this opportunity by helping me in every way possible throughout my life and supporting me while I'm here. I am thankful for my sister for being my best friend and keeping me grounded while I'm here. Also, my grandpa for being my moral compass and supporting every decision I make. I am thankful for my uncles because they filled areas that were lacking in my life. I can't forget my friends... couldn't live without my friends. Finally, I'm thankful for my family as a whole because I know no other family as close as ours and I'm very proud and lucky to be apart of it. Being here makes me think how easily I could have been born somewhere else and live a completely different life. I am truly thankful for my life and everyone it it.

Now that I've gotten all sappy on everyone... I have to do my homework. Three essays and a presentation due within one week. I'm getting glimpses of reality again.
Love Always,
Alyssa

Screw Europe... We're going to Touba.

I don't know why more people don't know about this place! AH! So beautiful and peaceful. Can't even tell you. Totally unreal.

Okay... now I'll actually tell you what it is. Touba is the holy city of Mouridism and it was founded by Aamadu Bamba (you see his picture everywhere in Senegal). The mosque there is the second largest mosque in West Africa (the Casablanca mosque is the biggest I think) and 35,000 come to pray there every Friday. Crazy right? Also, just a fun fact, no one can engage in frivolous activities.. such as smoke, drink, dance or listen to music.

 I don't think I've ever experienced so much peace in my life.

Lots of peace and love,
Alyssa

TEBASKI!

Guy who killed our moutons

Lord, what a holiday. Definitely kicks Christmas in the butt. So I fell asleep to three moutons (sheep) outside my door... along with lots of pee and poop (I actually couldn't go to the bathroom without stepping in it). Then I woke up to machetes hammering at their dead bodies. It was great! There was literally sheep blood outside my door. We killed three sheep: one for my mom, dad and uncle. Normally, my dad or uncle across the street would kill the sheep, but they were incapable, so my family hired someone named Mohammad to kill our sheep for us. I got to help butcher and cut the meat before cooking.

Brothers slicing up the mouton's private parts

Then I got to wash the blood and sheep guts off my courtyard. Surprisingly, I was totally into it and not afraid at all. Then we had lunch and I have to say that it was definitely one of the best meals I've ever had.. definitely top 5 (yes, better than City Kitchen or Tratoria). We just had the ribs, liver, and heart and, oh my gosh, so so so delicious!!!! On the side, we had olives, onions that look like olives, expensive mustard (don't like mustard, but this was delicious), onion sauce, coos-coos that had the consistency and look of yellow rice, salad with balsamic vinegar (!!!), french fries, and fresh bread. OH.MY.GOSH.!! Can't even begin to tell you how good it was... it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. AND, no one can call me a picky eater anymore because I tried everything.

This isn't even half the meat

You'd think that's be enough for lunch.... not. After everyone finished and I thought I was going to die from over-eating, my mom brought out a large tray of fresh fruit (red apples, bananas, yellow apples, oranges, green apples, tangerines, watermelon, and papaya). ALSO, she brought out another large tray of, what looked like, every drink you can imagine. Needless to say, I need to lay down for awhile. Around 6ish, I started to get ready and put on my new clothes. Everyone was in their new clothes.. it was insane. People will easily spend $300 on new clothes for Tebaski if they have the money. I clearly didn't spend that much money for one night, but some of my friends spent $80 on their outfits... ridiculous. We then made our rounds to all the houses and people-watched for awhile. Because I was so full from lunch, my mom only shoved 2 pieces of pizza down my throat. We then spent the night hanging out with family and friends and asked everyone to forgive us for our wrongdoings. It was wonderful.

Prof. Thioub!

MOM!

Brothers... lookin' so handsome.

DAD

Les hommes senegalais!

I got a wonderful package from my wonderful mother last week... but because it was so heavy, I had to take a taxi back to Mermoz and I had an interesting experience on the way home with the taxi man...


Negociating (waxalay) with the taxi man as I'm holding a heavy package...
A: Asalamaleikum!
T: Maleikumsalam!
A: Nangadef?
T: Magefirek.
A: Ana wa ker ge?
T: Nungi fa.
A: Alhamdelay!
T: Alhamdelay!
A: Mosqué de Mermoz. Naata la?
T: 2 mille (2000)
A: AH! C'est trop cher! 500.
T: 1000.
A: Déedet. 500.
He drives away and then honks his horn for me to get in (btw, this is pretty standard for getting any taxi in Senegal).
So I get in and he starts off...
T: You are so beautiful... So I've always wanted a white girlfriend. Do you have a boyfriend?
A: Oh haha... Why do you want a white girlfriend when the Senegalese are so beautiful?
T: I find white girls more attractive. So will you go out with me?
This is as he's making wrong turns everywhere en route to my house. Thank god I'm a local and knew how to yell at him to go the right way...
A: Well.. I have a boyfriend and he'd be really angry if he found out I went out with you.
T: You're boyfriend isn't here. Is he back in the USA?
A: No, he's Senegalese and he's going to beat you up if you continue to do this.
T: That doesn't matter. He doesn't have to know. I live just over the VDN (main highway), you can come to my house.
A: No no no! Turn left here! I need to go home. I can't go out with you, I already have a boyfriend. 
T: (He ends up turning left) Well you can just give me your number and I can call you.
A: Hahaha... Why don't I look for another white girl for you?
T: No, I only have eyes for you.
A: Well, I have a lot of American friends that you could possibly go out with... turn right here!
T: No, I only want to go out with you.
(He turns in front of the mosque)
A: Why are you doing this? I know that I'm white, but I live here. I'm Senegalese. You wouldn't do this to a Senegalese girl. My name is Mariama Diallo and I'm Pular. My mom would not be happy with you.
(just for the record... I'm internally freaking out at this point, but trying to laugh and smile.. and get into my neighborhood where people recognize me)
T: I'm Pular also! That's why you should go out with me.
A: (shit) Tahawal! Tahawal! (Stop! Stop!)
T: No, not until you give me your number and go out with me. I want to be your husband.
A: No, I can't be your husband. I already have a boyfriend and he's going to beat you up.
T: Just give me your number.
We get in front of the grocery store where the people inside know me really well.
A: Fine I'll give you my number... Just stop the car.
He stops the taxi.
A: Do you have change for 1000?
T: Non.
A: Really? You don't have 500 cfa?
T: Non.
A: Okay, I'll go try and find the money for you.
I get out of the taxi and want to kiss the ground, but I run into the grocery store with my heavy package and tell the owner that this guy was giving me trouble and I still need to give him money. The owner then asked me what happened and I described it to him quickly. Suddenly, he takes the money to the taxi man and yells at him for about 3 mins. lol. It was great. When the owner came back in and I said: "Les hommes senegalais!!!" Then he promptly told me that not all Senegalese men are like that and to not judge all men in Senegal by this one man. I told him that it's difficult to be a Tubab in this country sometimes, but it was a funny cultural experience! He then offered to carry my box home for me and I said I could do it myself.


Yeah... fun stuff.
I'm getting really anxious to share my experience here with my family and friends. It's going to be just great.
Peace and love,
Alyssa






Nothing to do with the subject.. but here are some cute pictures.

This kid woke me up while I was sleeping and started throwing things around my room, demanding we take pictures, and then ran off with my glasses. Nevertheless, they're pretty cute.

Last days in Richard Toll.

Day 9: L’experience fait la difference: Talked about microfinance this morning at the USAID office. I do think microfinance has a variety of beneficial aspects and when implemented correctly, it can work; HOWEVER, there are also negatives to microfinance when large banks get involved and take advantage of their clients. The USAID representative dismissed any type of corruption within microfinance and I had a really hard time getting along with him after that. Nonetheless, it was really interesting.

Day 10 (Wednesday): We went to the USAID office again for a short while and then visited a rice lab. Doesn’t sound exciting, but it was actually really cool. It was interesting to see all the technology they use because it was obviously a bit dated and they mentioned how it’s difficult to work with old technology, but they manage. Then we visited Rosso, which is the main city between Mauritania and Senegal. We saw boats carry people and trucks back and forth from Mauritania and back. Then we got tons of marriage proposals and this one guy tried to sell us an “iPhone”. We tried to tell him that the phone he’s selling is nothing like an iPhone, but he was convinced that it was. Oh well. There was another guy who said he came from NY yesterday because he was working there. We asked him where he was in NY and he responded “NY.” Obviously, we knew he hadn’t been there, but we had fun playing with it. We then drove to some road, where we waited an hour for a guy to take us to another rice factory. This one was a lot bigger and the machines were really cool to watch.

THEN, we got to have lunch at Meredith and Sarah’s house. The whole experience felt completely unreal and should have come out of a movie. So, we get there and Mama Fall takes us to the backyard where she has this gorgeous garden and a mango tree in the center. We then find all of these mats and pillows under the mango tree and just lounged. It was one of the most peaceful moments I’ve ever had. Then she brings out 4 giant plates of food for us. Oh yeah, and she slaughtered a goat just for us that morning. Most everything in the food was picked from the garden, so everything was so fresh. It was amazing. After we were stuffed, she brought out a drinks and watermelon for us. It was clearly over the top. We then spent the afternoon playing with the sheep and sleeping under the mango tree. It was wonderful. 

For dinner, our family made Aya and I some eggs and French fries with soy sauce because we shouldn’t drink milk. It was so cute. Then we made Attaya with our sister. 

Day 11 – We actually have homework: Thursday was presentation day. Our final assignment was to create a presentation on anything we want. A bit ambiguous, right? Aya and I finally decided to do our presentation on conflict in the Senegal River Valley. It was very interesting, only we worked on it until 7pm. I understand this is normal in the States, however, this is technically the first assignment we’ve had for this class, so we were all kind of struggling with the workload. Oh yeah… it’s in French as well. We weren’t finished but Aya and I walked home. After dinner, the siblings walked us to a restaurant downtown and assumed we would just pay for them even though Aya and I didn’t eat any of it. The positive side is we got to meet our older sister’s boyfriend and, in true Rickard fashion, we grilled him hardcore. There were a couple of uncertainties but, all in all, Aya and I approve. No one is good enough for our sister though.

Day 12 - PRESENT: We got to the USAID office early to finish our project and go over it with Tonton Ibou. It said it was good, but of course I wasn’t satisfied. We went to the market one last time to buy presents for the fam. We noticed the night prior that our family was using small plastic cups and washing them out, so Aya and I bought them some nice glass cups. Then I bought really 3 beautiful pottery-looking cups (just under $2) and some curtains for my family in Dakar. Then, of course, I had to buy another pagne (it’s my favorite because it’s blue, purple, and lime green) and two teapots to make attaya in (so cute). After lunch, we gave our family the glasses and they seemed very appreciative. Aya and I then had our presentation… it went well.. yeah, that’s all I’m going to say about that. 

THEN! We went to Pax, a rural village for a dance party. It was insane! I don’t think I’ve ever been so overjoyed in my life. I don’t even know how to explain it… it was just so wonderful. It was definitely the most fulfilling experience I’ve had here so far. 

When we returned from the village visit, we had our last dinner with the family. Mom gave Aya and I matching pagnes (because I need one more of those) and older sister said she was sad to see us leave. Unfortunately, sister who used to be our best friend decided to turn on us last minute and didn’t talk to Aya and I all-night. She was bitter that I wasn’t going to give her my iPod and a variety of other things. It was sad to end our stay like that and we were pretty upset at the time; however, we now can see that she’s just at that age in her adolescence that we've all been through and we shouldn’t take it personally.

Day 13 – Ready to go home: Aya and I were ready at 7:30am… and the bus didn’t come until 9am. We were thrilled. But then we found out that Erica had to be hospitalized and was going to return to Dakar in an ambulance. En route, we found out that she has malaria. She’s out of the hospital now, but it was pretty scary at the time. On the way home, we also stopped by this market and waxallayed for some baskets. I also bought a pretty awesome present for my wonderful sister, Cassie. We reached Dakar at about 10pm. I was soooo happy to be home in my own bed and with my family and friends.

I saw my mom for the first time the following morning. We both started crying and I told her I was sorry for not being with the family over the last couple weeks. She kept saying "C'est la vie, C'est la vie!" After, I gave her the presents and she was so surprised. When I gave her the curtains I was nervous because I didn’t know if they were a good quality and they were this odd minty green color. She then pulled me into her room and it turns out that her bed setting is all this random minty green color and she has tons of clothes in the same color. She said: “This is my color!” Such a beautiful moment. 

Sorry it took me a week to post this. I tried to load a video from the rural visit, but it wouldn't let me. I'll try another time. 
Even though the last two weeks have been jam-packed, words can't describe how fortunate I feel to have had an experience like that. It was that type of hands-on learning that is soo rare, but the most beneficial. I've never learned so much in two weeks. 

Unfortunately, I've had some personal issues over the past couple weeks, but nothing I can't handle!! Still loving my experience here and wouldn't trade a single moment... 
Peace and Love,
Alyssa

Second Week of Senegal River Valley

(internet does exist in Richard Toll.... at the USAID office.. if anyone was wondering)

Day 6 (Saturday) We are not in Senegal: We left at 9am for a wildlife reserve. We got to see huge tortoises, monkeys and gazelles. We then got two pirogues and went on an hour ride on the river to a private beach. And now I'm going to just show you pictures because words can't describe how beautiful it was. AND, Uncle Bob would kill these guys if he knew how many safety violations there were on the water. Also, a thanks goes out to my wonderful mom, again, for buying me the best camera in the world (in my opinion)! 

Eating crepes at a hotel with a pool and beach... yes, we live hard lives

Day 7 Le barrage: We left St. Louis today and headed back to Richard Toll. On the way back, we saw the dam the separates the ocean and the river. It controls the water level of the river. Very cool. We also got to walk into Mauritania for a short period of time. Can you imagine coming from Mexico or Canada and simply asking the US police: “Hey, can my students just hang out for a little bit and buy something in the US, just so they can say they’ve been there?” Hah! I think not. So I bought some beautiful purple (of course) fabric with Meredith from Mauritania. Awesome, right? So then we headed back to our home in Richard Toll. We had planned to just tell the family we ate already, but of course the family waited for us (it was 10pm). So our stomachs exploded, once again.

Day 8- la cremerie: Yes, we visited a creamery and a Pular village. The creamery was really interesting because they actually get milk from locals who follow free-roaming cows. Then the locals bring in the milk and they’re paid accordingly. Doesn’t this sound better than the US creameries? HECK YES!! The only problem right now is that it is hardly sustainable because the transportation costs of bringing the milk to the creamery outweigh the payment for the milk itself. So, they’re working on it. Then we went to a Pular village (My family is Pular!) in BFE. When most Americans think of Africa… this is what they imagine. Everyone was so excited to see us. The people were sooo hospitable… Teranga to the max. We had someone translate while we asked questions about village life. Really interesting. The most interesting thing for me was that the women normally collect the water and it takes two days to go to the water source and back. Such a fascinating way to live. When we got back to our house at 4pm, our papa saved, of course, a TON of food for us. Aya and I then went to the market in the evening. I went on a shopping-spree and spent about $15!! The prices here are just unfair. I got 7 scarves for $2 and three types of fabric for $13.50…. lord did I splurge. 

Quintessential Africa picture... They were still really cute.

3 days old!

Still more adventures to come from Richard Toll....

Peace and Love,

Alyssa