My Experience with Tailors

One of the top 5 things to do in Dakar is to buy fabric and take it to the tailor. It's a bit overwhelming, but that's why everyone looks so beautiful here: 

Experience #1: I decided to take some fabric to the end of my street and get a simple pagne made. I was told that the appropriate price was 1000 cfa, so I go down there and he says it's 1500 cfa because there's too much fabric. Now, I'm thinking that I should be stubborn about it and just walk away, but he knew where I lived and knew my mother, so I thought that if he made a pagne and a fular (something to go around your head) that 1500 cfa was okay. I also asked him 3 times if he was ripping me off and he said "Non". So, I walked back to my house and my mom was in the courtyard so I asked if 1500 cfa was the right price and she was not happy. She said it was supposed to be 1000 cfa (which is only about a dollar difference), so she told me to go back and say that's unacceptable and if he didn't give me the right price I should ask for the fabric back. I told her that it was fine and that I'll know better next time and she said: "Non. Tell him your mama said no!" Now, I'm freaking out because the tailor said that it'd be ready in 15 mins, so it was probably already done and who wants to go up to the guy making your clothes and say: "My mama said no! Give me a better price." So I walked out the door and came back to say that I couldn't do it and she had the maid accompany me. When we got to the tailor, she must have asked him what he charged me, and you could tell he knew he was in trouble. The maid said "1000 cfa" and that was all it took. When we were walking back, I said "Jerejef (thank you)" a bazillion times because that was the only thing I could say and she laughed. I started talking to her in French and she was talking in Wolof (we both didn't understand each other) and it was a cute cross-cultural moment. When I walked into the house, my mama said that I can't be an American and pay whatever they ask for... she said it wasn't the Senegalese way.

Experience #2: This weekend, I found out that my Tata owns a variety of tailor shops around Dakar, so Erica and I went to her with Erica's brother, Youssou, to get the rest of our clothes made. It took about 15 mins by taxi, but it was worth it because she charged us 5000 cfa for each piece (that's about 10 dollars !!!). We got there and ended up having to walk 10 mins to some random house, where her husband called. He said that she'd be there in 10 mins because we were Americans (I hate it when that happens). So then we walked all the way back and went into this tiny shop with about 4 men at sewing machines. You could barely move 3 steps inside. Our Tata had us look through magazines, but we couldn't find anything that we liked so she had us draw it out. Oh lord was that a struggle. I took at least 45 mins to describe it all and, in the end, we were so tired that we basically just went for the easiest choice. Unfortunately, the clothes won't be ready until Oct. 15, but again, the price she gave us was unheard of in Senegal. She took our measurements and we headed out and by that time it was pitch black outside. Erica and I just stood there for a couple minutes trying to breath because it was so overwhelming. We had to walk to the main road to find a taxi, which was difficult because the roads were flooded, and when we got home we chugged a bottle of water.

All in all, crazy experiences... but so much fun. I can't wait to get more fabric and do it all over again.

When we got back home, I was waiting for dinner in front of my Tata's house (Erica's mom) and I went into my house to see if dinner was ready. When Erica sat down for dinner, her mom asked why I wasn't having dinner with them and actually got mad. Erica promptly called and told me to come over NOW to dinner with her family. I was just confused and walked over there, and her mom aggressively told me to sit and asked why I wasn't eating with them. She said: "We are the same family, so I should eat with them." All I could do was laugh and eat everything that was shoved my way (which was a LOT). I also made the massive mistake of saying I liked the onions, which gave her reason to shove all the onions my way and then get another bowl of onions and poor them in my space in the bowl. When I was done, I almost thought they'd have to roll me into my house because I was soo full.

Never a dull moment in Senegal :).
Bésuba! Alyssa

Interesting Things about Dakar

I thought I'd share with you some unique aspects of Senegalese life, so you can fully understand why I love living here. :)

1. Everything is shared. If there's a bottle of water set out for people to drink, there will be only one glass/cup for everyone to share. You just have to wait your turn for the cup.
2. You don't drink and eat at the same time. You always eat and then drink. Supposedly, this is to prevent choking.
3. If you thought the midwest was friendly, you thought wrong. You greet EVERYONE here. This means that when you're walking home, you have the same 30 second conversation at least 10 times. Once I walked into my friend's house and asked if she was there and I got a long lecture on how I didn't greet her first.
4. You bargain for just about everything here. It's a way of developing relationships with people. I think it's funny that you're gaining friendships while being mean and not giving them the price they want.
5. The Senegalese are very observative. If they see you once, they'll most likely recognize you again, which is really frustrating because it's hard to remember who people are here. I understand this may be because I'm a Tubab, but it's been frustrating to have people remember your name and not remember theirs. Also, when you're eating from a big bowl, the mom will quietly throw meat your way if she notices you're having a hard time breaking off pieces or if you're just not eating any.
6. I always look shitty (by the way, I feel I can use this word because my grandpa taught me it... although my grandpa has taught me a lot of things that I shouldn't say out loud :)). Rephrased: I always look grungy compared to everyone else. You can try to look better than the Senegalese, but you can never look as good as them. Especially when you go out to the clubs... I've never seen so much bling in my life.
7. You're lucky to find a toilet with toilet paper and a toilet seat. That's all I'm going to say about that.
8. Most families are very matriarchal, especially my family. My mom runs the household and knows everything about everyone. My dad barely speaks to me and if he does speak to me, he's getting someone to accompany me to another house, or telling me to not take anything out at night. I was not expecting this before coming here.
9. There's this cooking show that people are obsessed with here. It's called MasterChef. It's kind of like TopChef. I find this hilarious because the food they make on the show looks NOTHING like Senegalese food and the plates prepared on the show could maybe satisfy half a person; whereas here, the food could satisfy more than 10 people.
10. Men are very affectionate with one another. It's hard to get used to, but after awhile it's very refreshing because I feel that if two guys are sitting at a dinner table together, people assume they're gay. Here, it's very normal to have guys going everywhere together, and even dancing together. It's actually very rare to see men and women together out in public.
11. It's never silent in Dakar... you can always hear some type of sound and it's usually people singing in the streets. It's one of my favorite things here.
12. When it rains, Dakar becomes lazy. My prof (my Tonton) didn't show up to class all day on Monday because of the rain. In his defense, the roads are completely flooded when it rains, and it's really difficult to get to school without walking through puddles ankle deep; however, the roads were moderately cleared up by the afternoon.
13. Women like to cook outside their homes with cauldrons. Most of them are cooking peanuts or corn. When we're walking home, it's hard not to stop.
14. Lots of people have sheep living in their homes, most likely on the rooftop and they feed them lots of cardboard. Although they do like to eat clothing as well because Katie's shirt was hanging on the roof to dry and a sheep ate the whole thing. So now one of her few shirts will probably be in her dinner within the upcoming weeks.

Doesn't this just make you want to jump on a plane to Dakar?!
Love, Alyssa

Excuse my French... but I fell in mouton shit!

So, I went home with Katy to make Attaya with her host brother and I ended up making about 5 friendship bracelets for her little sisters. We ended up eating lunch 15 mins before we had to be in class, so rushed lunch and ran out the door because our prof lowers our grade if we're late. We as we're running, I slipped in mud filled with mouton poop... yes, sheep dunette! I had it all over my hands, which took more than 2 litres of water to clean off, and all over my new skirt. Not to mention, I dropped my water bottle, phone, and keys in the muck as well, so now they have a wonderful mouton stench. I tried to clean off as much as I could, but I couldn't be late for school so I had to run across Dakar with mouton crap all over me. Once I got into the Baobab Center, I tried to take a shower, but someone was in the bathroom with the shower, so I went into the other bathroom and hosed myself down, but it just would not come off. I found a random pagne on the floor so I just decided to wear that and my prof started laughing out loud at my situation. I yelled: "Ce n'est pas drole!!" I came into class smelling like mouton dung and simply prayed for class to be done early. My day was suddenly saved by a package from my mom, with chocolate in it. Although, it was Africanified chocolate... meaning it couldn't help but be a bit melted. Nonetheless, it tasted sooo good. After class, I ran home and took two showers in order to fully eliminate the rancid stench. Then I had dinner and made more Attaya with Erica and the host brothers.

I think this is the first time I found myself saying: "This would never happen on the streets of Grosse Pointe!!" And I've come to the conclusion that I don't love my prof because if he wasn't so strict, then I wouldn't have been running to class!! I don't understand why this man is Senegalais and wants us to be on time? It goes against Senegalese culture!!

Hands down, the most embarrassing moment of my life!

Pictures of Gorée and the Night Club

Looking out from Gorée

Assane Ndiaye

Random Rapper Guy, who is apparently famous

La Maison des Esclaves

Cute Kid

Walking around Gorée

Cool Fish

Guides

Le temps senegalais!

This weekend made it very clear to me that I'm in Senegal. SHOCKER, I know, that's it's takin' so long to realize this, but it has.

Friday Night
After dinner, we had went to a birthday party for one of the host brothers. The party was in an apartment in Medina and it was so interesting because the girl who lived in the apartment cooked for about 20 people. That would never happen in the States! Especially for people of a younger generation. This girl was probably a couple years older than me and she made 2 crepes, pizza, salad, and a couple other unidentified (like most things here) foods for EACH person. It made me feel so lame considering the extent of my cooking is EasyMac... and I frequently screw that up. We then sang Happy Birthday and ate some cake. Around 2am (yes, 2am) we went dancing and my conclusion is that Americans cannot dance. I don't know where these Senegalese learn how to dance, but it's amazing and makes every Tubab (Caucasian) look incredibly lost.

Saturday

Old Prison

I would have loved to sleep in, but the Baobab Center planned for us to go to Gorée Island with the guides.. at 10am. Gorée was an island used to hold slaves, before traveling to Europe, the Untied States or Latin America. The ferry ride took about 15 minutes and, although it's totally catered to tourists (aka tubabs), it is absolutely beautiful.

Door of No Return

The first places to visit was the Maison des esclaves (House of Slaves). The most fascinating aspect for me was to hear/see history from a different perspective. I feel as if the brutalities of slavery are avoided; however, at the Maison des Esclaves, they weren't afraid to tell it like it is... excuse my cliche. In addition, it was more powerful than learning about slavery in the States simply because I'm living in a country that is still recovering from colonization, and may never fully recover. This is not to sound hopeless, but you can see every day how colonization has affected the lives of the Senegalese. The most prevalent example of this is the way French has been imposed on the Senegalese. Now, I won't bore you with my opinions on colonization, but you can see why this visit to Gorée was inspiring for me. We then went to a couple other museums, including an old prison. We sat down for dinner and heard some good music. We then spent the rest of the day on the beach. The water felt like a jacuzzi and because it was so salty, you could float easily. Although, after two hours we were so sick of Gorée because vendors would not stop bothering us. When I got home, I took a nap and after dinner, Erica convinced me to go out to a concert with our guide Samba.

So, we got to the Boabab Center to meet Samba at 11pm. We waited for 45 mins and then we called. He said he was coming, but he never showed up. Around 12:30am, some other guy decided to take us to the concert. When we got to Just 4 you, we found out that there actually wasn't a concert there and we went to Madison. When we got to Madison, we found out that the Baobab Orchestra was in fact not performing and that Assane Ndiaye was performing. We decided since we'd gone through all that trouble, that we'd stay. The performer was supposed to start at 12, but it really didn't start until 3am... le temps senegalais!!! All in all, I'm glad I went... although I basically fell asleep listening to Assane Ndiaye sing. His music is on iTunes if you're interested.


My pictures aren't attaching to this blog, so I'll attach them to another blog.
Bisous!
Alyssa

Naka la nuy waxé ci Wolof?

I just hate it when I type a long post and the electricity goes out, and then I lose all my work. ARGH! Okay well let's start over... C'est la vie.

We had our second Wolof class today!! It was awesome. I don't know why they don't offer Wolof in Universities. Probably because no one would take it... but that's a lame explanation because it's such a cool language to learn. Although I understand that it's not very useful unless you're traveling in West Africa... which is like less than 2% of the American population. BUT STILL, no excuse. It's a ballin' language. So, as you might have guessed, I'm going to attempt to teach you Wolof... (and I know Ariana is the only one reading this and attempting to speak Wolof).

Initial Conversation with everyone:
Asalaa maalekum (Peace be with you)
--> Malekum Salaam (and you also)
Na nga def? (How are you?)
-->Maa ngi fi rekk (I am fine)
Ana waa ker ga? (How's the family?)
-->Nu nga fa. (They are fine.. it literally means "they are here")
Alhamdulilay. (Thank God)

Other useful phrases:
Fate naa sa tur. (I forgot your name.) (SOO USEFUL)
Baax maa (It is good)
Baal ma, Bebenan. (Forgive me, until next time --> good to say for beggars)
Kii kan la? (Who is this?)
Yow naka la tudd? (What is your name?)
-->Mon (your name) la tudd.
Yow naka la sant? (What is your last name?)
--> Mon (last name) la tudd. 
Jerejef (Thank you)
--> Nokko Bok. (your welcome)
waaw = yes
deedeet = no
Fii fan la? (Where is here?)
Naka la nuy waxe ci Wolof? (How do you say (blank) in Wolof?)
Jamm nga fanaan? (Did you have a good night?/Good morning!)
--> Jamm rekk, Alhamdulilay. (yes.. literally mean peace only)
Jamm nga yeen du? (Did you have a good day?)
-->Jamm rekk, Alhamdulilay.
Fananal ak Jamm. (Goodnight)
--> Jamm ak jamm. (peace and peace)
Mon American la. (I am American)
Deegna Wolof? (Do you understand and know Wolof?)
Kii suma harit la (You are my friend)
Tuuti. (a little bit)
ba ci kanaam. (See you later)

So that is my petit lesson to the world. Basically, if you can speak a little Wolof, people won't hassle and rip you off as much because they think you're a local. Also, the Senegalais get sooo excited when you know a little Wolof.

Anyways, hope you find it as cool as I do. :)
Bebenan!

Kee suma harit la!

Riding in a CarRapid!

I know it was two nights ago, but I have to tell you about dinner. I had little packets of heaven for dinner! It had the consistency of a crab cake, but it was made with red fish, and it was inside this crust of bread crumbs. Then there were sweet onions in the middle of the bowl, which we ate with bread. And then we had french fries and salad on the outside of the bowl! I think I told my mom about 6 times that I loved the dinner and she didn't bug me about me about eating more. Hopefully we have that again.

So yesterday, we visited a variety of places including an awesome book store, the University of Dakar and WARD. We were all really tired so I don't think we got much out of it, but it was nice for the Baobab Center to take us there. And plus, Samba took us and he is clearly my favorite person here. Every time he comes around, he makes you smile, laugh and want to jump around with him. (In the picture, he's wearing the hat I gave him... or rather he took).

We also had our first History of Islam class. The professor is very concerned that we all don't have Senegalese finances yet. He also told us how to recognize a Saay Saay (sketch ball) in Senegal. He also said he's really chill and doesn't have a lot of homework, but he won't let us eat or drink in class and he said he normally assigns 20 page papers. He's a walking oxymoron. Nonetheless, I'm really excited about the course and having him as a professor. After walking home at 7:30pm, I got home and while dinner was being prepared the electricity was out and didn't come back on until 6am. We had mash potatoes and ground beef with bread for dinner. Then we hung out with some kids from the other big study abroad program in Senegal. We hung out with Bary, the goat, on the roof of a house. He was upset that he wasn't included in the conversation and kicked around a can while we were there.

Today we went downtown again and we bargained hardcore for fabric. I'm so excited. I bought 6 meters for Tabaskie (the next holiday coming up), but I have yet to take it to a tailor. Then I bought two more pagnes for the house. Although I may have the tailor make a skirt out of one for the States. Oh, and on a side note, the prices were awesome! I got 6 meters for 16 dollars and both pagnes for about 8 dollars. We then went to the same place I went last year to buy the table sets and got some tapestries! They were so much fun to negotiate with, but they were totally ripping us off. For two cloths, they wanted about 110 dollars... I simply said I was leaving.. and he was quick to negotiate the price further. I basically told him I only had 20 cfa and he was noooott happy with me. But the guy who sold me my fabric was there and he said: "These are my people. Give her good price." So, he said that we had a deal (it sounds a lot simpler when I type it.. but this was at least 30-40 minutes of going back and forth). I ended up having three 5000 bills and three 2000 bills, so I told him that I'd give him 21000 for being a nice guy and he screamed "Kee suma harit la!!" which means "You are my friend" in Wolof. Then we gave each other a big hug and he tried to sell me other things. The truth of the matter was that he cleaned me out.

After having fun in Sandoga, we walked for hours around downtown Dakar.

Here is my day in pictures:

Biggest Church in Dakar

National Assembly

Main and Largest Hospital in Dakar

Gouvernement de Senegal

The White House

ICE CREAM!

Katie inside of N'Ice Cream

I don't know how I feel about downtown. It really bugs me that I can't orient myself. Nothing makes sense and there aren't any addresses. Although, I love how vivacious it is. It makes New York look calm, that's for sure. When we were done with Ice Cream, we found a CarRapide to take us to the Baobab Center and Thiaba (our guide) had it out with the guy taking our money. No idea what it was about but it was entertaining. We arrived at the Baobab Center and we started our History of Islam class. I felt bad for the professor because we were all beat from our morning excursions. He did a good job at keeping us engaged though, I'll give him that. He asked once again whether we have Muslim boyfriends and told us all the crazy and complicated aspects of Islam. He says Christians have it easy, and based on the lesson today, I can't say I disagree with him.

Well... until next time. I hope life outside of Senegal is as exciting and marvelous as mine.

"Balma Mebenan" - Forgive me, Until next time

Today, we went downtown for the first time. We took the bus to Independence Square and then we walked around a bit. Where we live is so quiet compared to downtown. The second you get out of the bus, there's people everywhere trying to sell you something... "madame! madame! madame!" We went to the Marché de Kermel, where I bargained for the first time! I actually didn't get anything, but I  helped another girl bargain. It actually was tons of fun because the market wasn't too intense and you could joke with the vendors. Oh yeah.. when we were walking around, we saw a Curves! Wouldn't have ever expected that here. We then split up and I got to go with Awa to Sandoga and get another pagne (wrap-around thingy that all the women wear here around the house). In the process, we had pizza and Fantas for lunch. It tasted sooo good. When we were buying the pagnes, Katie and I were given Senegalese names! Her name is Fatou, named after the vendor's mother and I'm Mariama, after his grandmother. We were pretty excited about that. We then met the others at the bus stop where we sat for at least an hour watching some guy try to change the tire on his car. We all wanted to teach him "righty tighty, lefty loosey" and that he needed to "jack up his car" before he took off the tire, but we didn't know how to say that in French, nor do I think he would enjoy taking advice from four young girls. So instead, we sat there laughing and trying to figure out how to say it in French. We got on the bus and there was basically no room to breathe. When we got off I felt as if I needed to take 3 showers because I was sweating up against so many people. Another fun fact: the Senegalese hardly sweat... it's so annoying because normally I'm sitting in a puddle of my own sweat all the time! Anyways, the Wolof phrase today is "Balma Mebenan" because there were a lot of beggars in the downtown area, which is very interesting because the New York Times article said recently that begging is illegal. We got back to the Baobab Center and had our first class taught by my TonTon (my uncle). He was about an hour late for class and he just prefaced the course so it was nothing big, BUT I understood everything he said. The course is called St. Louis - River Valley and I'm so excited. In a month I get to spend 15 days outside St. Louis in a rural village where they don't speak French or English, so I'll be forced to use Wolof. Until then, we are going to learn about the people and how the river valley is important to their daily lives.

All in all, every day I feel more and more like a local and I know that I'll have my lows and highs, but for right now I feel lucky to have this opportunity and want to live every moment to its fullest.

Paul Bunyan

Today we learned about the education system in Senegal...so fascinating. Basically, the thesis was that because the educational system was inherited from France, it has not adapted to the Senegalese reality and therefore it makes it very hard for the Senegalese to succeed in their own society. The main problem is that the language of instruction is French. Senegal alone has about 25 spoken languages, so you can see why this is a problem. Not only are classes in French, but the textbooks are French so Senegalese children may learn that their ancestors have blue eyes. Due to this skewed system, the current educational system is dominated by strikes. This makes it hard for students to get the hours necessary to attend school and pass their tests which allow them to move on to the next level of schooling. In 2008, primary schools had 80 days of strike and teachers only taught 200 hours out of the 730 hours they were supposed to teach. Also, there is a limit on failing, so you have to "rebirth." This basically means that you can pay (illegally) to change your age to 5 years younger so you can retake all the tests. A recent study showed that 34% of children repeat 6th grade. Now, you'd think that the government would implement some reforms, however most of their budget goes to the military. Since 2004, 40% of the government's budget goes to education and in 2004 the Ministry's budget was 235 billion cfa. So, as you can see, education is not highly valued. Because it isn't highly valued, there are numerous other problems such as lack of materials, electricity, teachers, etc. In 2000, on average, three pupils in primary shared one reading book and in some places the student to teacher ratio was 1/180. In addition, in 2005, 81% of primary schools had no electricity, 45% had no toilets, 71% had no fences, and 59% had no running water. These numbers don't even take into account the abandoned and Koranic schools. Schools are most likely abandoned due to flooding and violence; Koranic schools are popular because parents would like to send their children to primary school but don't have the money, so many Koranic schools will take children in and heavily teach them Islam, but they have to beg in the streets as payment (forgive me if that's convoluted). If you can believe, this is about half of what we learned today... I won't even go into the negative effect of SAPs on the educational system and how the Senegalese have to assimilate themselves into French society/culture in order to succeed. I'll save that for another day... which I'm sure y'all are thrilled about :).

(Sorry if that was depressing)... So you might guess that we went to visit some school after our lecture. We visited L'empire des enfants and L'ecole de la rue... both are schools for street children. In general, they take kids off the street and teach them basic skills so that they may return to their families and go to elementary school. In L'empire des enfants, there were about 30 boys that were mostly from the surrounding countries of Senegal... I met two boys from Guinea. Most of the children didn't know any French, so we had to use our one class of Wolof. Turns out I'm pretty good at Wolof. The professor complimented me on my Wolof and told me I should come back and teach there during my stay (totally going to happen). We taught them some English phrases and they showed us their Taekwondo and circus skills. It was awesome! I also got invited to come back and teach the kids how to make friendship bracelets which would be uber interesting. I knew their was a reason why I don't have kids in my family and brought so much embroidery floss.
We then went to L'ecole de la rue where we went to one of the poorest districts in Dakar. It was basically a whole district of cardboard boxes. The school is basically in one of those storage crates that go on the back of trucks or on trains. They had one chalk board and a couple benches, but no paper and nothing to write with. We then walked around the district and met a lot of people. There were two kids that held my hand: one was named "Modumbai" and the other Astou. Astou said she was 11, but I think she was about 8 or 9. She really wanted my rings and my necklace. I tried to tell her they were mine, but she wasn't satisfied. Overall, the experience made me feel incredibly guilty; however, it was very eye-opening. Everyone should experience that once in their life time.
So we then had some time for lunch and I went to Katie's house. It was really nice to eat with another family. They taught us how to make Attaya, which is Senegalese Tea.. then we were late for class... but it worked out though because the Baobab Center is on Africa time.

Sorry, I wrote so much.
A bientot!

La Plage de Ngor!

I slept in.. and it was wonderful. I won't even tell you how late I slept. It's funny though because my family will knock on my door to give me breakfast about 10 minutes after I wake up. I have no idea how they know.
We then had lunch soon after that and it was white rice with spicy chou (cabbage) drizzled on top. My mom calls me "mon oiseau" because I eat like a bird. My mom was also very concerned that I didn't drink my coffee this morning. I tried to explain to her that I only like it when I have to wake up early, but really wanted to tell her that that isn't coffee. It's mostly milk and sugar.
Then we decided to visit the beach. One of the only safe beaches in Dakar is Ngor beach. You can either go to Ngor Island or stay on the mainland. We decided that we didn't want to pay $1 each for the boat over...lol. Instead we paid just over 2 dollars for an umbrella. There were so many people there, and soo many safety violations. It just shows that there are no rules in Senegal. The host brothers in our program took us, so we weren't harassed as much. Surprisingly they were incredibly protective. We went in the water and it's impossible to walk three steps without a Senegalese trying to talk to you or touch you. We played Frisbee and soccer with the Senegalese and then it started to thunderstorm. Erika and I huddled under the umbrella while everyone else swam. Do you see what I mean?
After the rain slowed down, we decided to swim half way to the island. The water was so warm and it was nice to get away from the thousands of people. To rest, we climbed on some random boat with no one on it. When we were swimming back, we saw a perfect full rainbow over Dakar and it was absolutely stunning. Also, to the right of us, you could see the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful. When we got back to shore, we got to experience some stereotypical African behavior. All of a sudden, two guys with machetes were running across the beach looking like they were going to butcher each other. They ran straight through our tent, so we decided to boogie on out of there. No big deal.
We walked about a mile to find a cab and while doing so, I almost got run over by a car. Right before the car hit me, Boobs (that's what he likes to be called) grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. All the host brothers then joined together around the car and yelled at the driver for almost hitting me. They probably yelled at his for 10 minutes, it was hilarious.
On the way home, we got to see our wonderful monument that cost 25 million dollars to build (and I currently haven't had electricity for 30 mins). It was all lit up in cheesy neon lights, towering over the city.
I got home and promptly had dinner which was this greenish muck with yogurt drizzled on top. Surprisingly it was really good, so I ate a lot of it.

I thought I'd share with you some interesting things about Senegalese culture.
1) Toubab: All Caucasians are referred to as Toubabs here because everyone is associated with a group here. There are eight main ethnic groups here and you can tell which one you belong to by their last name. That is why a lot of times, people will approach each other by asking their last name, instead of their first name. So by calling us Toubab, they're putting us in a group. During colonial times, toubab was a french word associated with medications, so the colonized started referred to whites as Toubabs because the colonists would always carry first aid kits in case anything happened to them while they were in Africa. I find this incredibly hilarious because I feel as if I've brought enough medication for everyone is Dakar. So, all in all, I'm whole-heartedly a Toubab.
2) Le Pays de Teranga: Senegal is referred to as the Pays de Teranga, which means the country of hospitality. They believe it is their duty to bring strangers into their home and care for them. They do this because they believe that the gesture will be reciprocated if their children were to travel to your home. It is unfortunate that recently Teranga is negatively perceived by the younger generation because some believe that Teranga immobilizes the population. 
3) Kersa & Fayda: The Senegalese believe that there needs to be a balance between Kersa and Fayda. Kersa is timidity or shyness and Fayda is your ego. They say you can't have too much Kersa because people are more likely to take advantage of you and if you have too much Fayda than you're too cocky and no one with want to approach you.

That's all for now. I have much more to share at another time.
Bissou! Toubab Alyssa

Dinner sucked.

Yup, dinner sucked. Although, it was the first unsatisfying meal I've had here, so I'm not too worried. It was a thick soup consistency called "Gaa Laa." Daba said there was peanut butter, coos coos, milk, grains, water, and something called "greves". Artis, Paul, Rubert and I couldn't finish it, so some of us put it down the toilet and others just put it back in the pot. Sounds horrible, I know, but it was really bad. Maybe if there wasn't so much of it, I would have been fine, but I just couldn't finish it. So the four of us went to Caesar's to find alternative food, which we thought would be hamburgers, but what turned out to be a bun, egg, french fries, and mayo with a little bit of beef. I think it was karma for putting my original dinner back in the pot. On a side note though, Caesar's was totally hoppin' with tons and tons of adolescents for Korite I assume. It reminded me of Homecoming or Prom, only girls and boys are rarely seen together here. Also, the wall of Caesar's read "Kentucky Fried Chicken"... kinda facetious.
So I got home around 10:30pm and was planning to go out dancing, but I fell asleep. I woke up to Daba giving me breakfast, which is always the same: bread and coffee. She was very concerned about having my windows open for air. It stormed for most of the day, so I stepped out of my door into 4 inches of water. Our courtyard was flooded for most of the day. The rain was nice though because there was a nice breeze and I got to use my blanket while in bed. I slept and read all morning, then Moostaf woke me up for lunch and they all laughed at me for sleeping. I couldn't really tell you what my lunch was... but it was interesting. The grandson's really like to watch the Disney channel so we watched that for awhile and then went out exploring. I found the grocery store and visited a couple other houses in the program. Turns out I have a pretty nice house compared to the rest of the group. The trade-off is that they have more kids their age to hang out with.
So tonight we had eggs on top of noodles and watched the Disney Channel/ The Simpson's with my brothers. Moostaf talked to me for awhile and I found out that he likes to play basketball and he's Malian. He really likes the Pistons as well! He would also read than watch TV and he doesn't like Eminem... which is wonderful. He told me that everywhere in Dakar is 1000 franc...which would be impossible for a Toubab (all Caucasians are referred as this... I will tell you why later). I'll try it though.
So then Harris called and he invited me dancing a la Voyageur.. and it was amazing! It would have been perfect if Senegalese boys left me alone, but thank god Harris was there to shoo them off. I learned some useful Wolof words that came in handy tonight:
Saay Saay = Sketch Ball
Baa Naa = Leave me alone
Surprisingly they worked!
Anyways, to sleep, to sleep. I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow.
A tout a l'heure!

First Impressions

Naka nga def?
Wow! What an experience! So far, Senegal is wonderful. I got here on Monday and it's been overwhelming to say the least.. but in a good way.
The first night, I stayed in an apartment just around the corner from the Baobab Center, where I'm taking classes. They started us out slow with some general orientations and neighborhood visits. I got a phone which was exciting. Then we got dropped off with our families. My host mom's name is Daba Diallo (mama for me) and she's really welcoming. Her and her husband are retired, so all they do is sit around all day... like most people here. She has a maid named Awa and a guardian who both live with us.. I think. Her two grandson's live with us and they're both referred to as "Moostaf." Then there are tons of people who move in and out of the house to sometimes eat dinner with us and sometimes not. One of them is my Prof at the Baobab Center, so that's kind of intimidating. Anyways, it was Ramadan so we ate dinner late and we all sat around a bowl on the living room floor.
My room is small by American standards, but quaint nonetheless. I have a closet and a mosquito net, with a key to my room. So, all in all, things are going well.
I've been able to find myself around the neighborhood and find some American chocolate... which is always an essential. Today is the end of Ramadan, so I have no school. There's actually a law in Senegal that states no one can work on Korite (today). So, everyone is out in the streets celebrating and chanting. Everyone is sharing food and gifts, it's just a wonderful aura to be around. Tonight I walked around with the children to ask for money and to say hi to everyone in the neighborhood. It's kinda like Halloween where the children dress up and go from house to house. We saw this wonderful a cappella group, as Americans would say, who were going from house to house and they made us dance with them. I also got dressed up in my Senegalese attire... which is purple of course. Mama made me model it for everyone and took some pictures and laughed at my inability to wrap a scarf around my head.
Anyways, tonight there are tons of people in the house and we're going to celebrate in the streets.
Time for dinner!
Bon Korite!