Sunday and Monday: My Aunt's Birthday

What to say about Sunday and Monday? Perhaps I'll try to make this entry short because I'm a bit tired and am laying in my day ready for sleep to overcome me.

Sunday was an interesting day that I quite enjoyed. I'm sure my parents will be glad to here that I went to church for the first time in 4 years (well perhaps even longer) haha. I must supplement that statement by saying that it wasn't for religious reasons but rather a strong motivation to leave the house and experience the outside world. Plus I wanted to see if Senegalese catholicism was much different than Catholicism in the USA as I've known and grown up with. Since my cousin Gizele and I both woke up late we had to attend the children's mass so I must say, it wasn't a fair comparison. The walk to the church was a challenging one. Before I left for Senegal I bought some Sketchers outdoor shoes to help with my lack of shoe variety but unfortunately by the time we reached the church my feet were covered with blisters and aching terribly. I remedied this situation by taking my shoes off during church... :). I must say though, I definitely have problems sitting in one spot for too long, especially when I can't understand a word that the priest is saying. He did teach the kids a song which I've recorded to memory “Jesus est mon ami, tous les jours...”

Going to the children's mass was a pleasant surprise because I was entertained by the doings of the youngest children who flirted with each other the way only kids know how. There was this adorable adorable girl who was standing to my right accompanied by her mother. She had ABC beads in her hair and had the most gorgeous smile. Every now and then she'd catch me day dreaming or goofing off and she'd giggle and I'd wave. As for my cousin Gizele who was sitting next to me. Well, to be quite honest, she doesn't talk much at all. If I sit still and don't say a word, we will sit in silence for long periods of time. Sometimes she'll randomly ask me a question or point out something “Quelle heure est-t-il?” for example, or “that's my school.” Sometimes I get the feeling that she's done this so many times she must have lost her tongue somewhere in the process lol. Either way, I'm pretty determined to make an impression with my family so whenever I can I tell jokes to Gizele and try to make her laugh, hopefully she'll come around but I'm thinking it's just her personality.

Also, Sunday was my Aunt's birthday and I had the chance to meet her because she came over to celebrate. My aunt as far as I can tell, is quite the party. She carries joy around with her in her eyes and on her lips. When I first introduced myself she was very excited to meet me and made me feel very welcomed. Of course, since my family is catholic, they chose to celebrate my aunt's birthday with a bottle of wine which they split between the two of them (did I mention Yaye owns a liquor store? lol). They did give me a small amount of wine and Angelique my sister also had some as well. I warned them that I didn't drink wine that much and that there was a grave chance that at first sip my face would contort into all sorts of odd expressions, and of course they laughed when it did so. Fortunately, the bissap juice that I have been drinking non-stop since my stay in Senegal was wonderful company to the wine and I filled half my glass with it. After that the wine was more like spiked bissap and it tasted pretty good :). We sat around and talked for a bit which was relatively nice but after awhile my but got sore and my mind started wandering. Eventually I asked my mom if I could visit Rosie again and she said of course so I grabbed some stuff and went on my way. Half-way to Rosie's house there was a group of CIEE students in the street, Rosie among them. They were sharing stories of their new families and of course I joined in. We all went for a walk around Sacre Coeur looking for a Cyber Cafe but when we finally decided to ask for directions we were told they were closed. We never did find that cyber cafe...it's one of my goals because I'm determined to have at least 1 hour of internet during the weekend lol. After our walk, Rosie came back with me to my house and met my aunt. While we were out I had bought some cookies for her as a present and when I gave them to her she was very happy because they happened to be her favorite—score :)! Rosie also shared the pineapple juice she had originally bought herself and that happened to be my Yaye's fav juice—double score! So we all just sat together and talked and watched Bébé wolf which was this weird TV show with children. At one point they asked the children to fake laugh and cry in to the microphone and then they just asked them trivia questions. Who knows with Senegalese TV lol. There was an awkward point, at least for me, because whenever my aunt met Rosie and asked for her name, she made a racist joke lol. She basically grabbed a fork and was like oh I thought your name was going to be...and dropped the fork. I'm not sure if anyone reading this gets that...but imagine the sound of a fork and go from there. I didn't really laugh at the joke but more at the awkwardness of the situation. I also apologized to Rosie but she was just laughing along with me. She didn't know if we got it so she did it again. Oh Senegalese people...they think all asians come from China and make name jokes...just like Americans.

On another note lol, my aunt loves cooking and I got to watch her prepare dinner. We had some leftovers remade but they were still pretty delicious—including the french fries my Yaye made lol. I heard a lot of vegetarian jokes throughout dinner, but quickly put those to an end after I won an arm wrestling match with my aunt. Ok I kind of cheated because she wasn't ready and was buckled in laughter, but still, I won! When my aunt finally got ready to return home, we walked her to the taxi and on the way I decided to do a little dance---a little something called the twist. If you know me well you know it isn't odd for me to start randomly dancing or singing. They saw me and started laughing and when I told them it was the twist I got it half way out of my mouth when Yaye and my aunt both yelled in unison “THE TWIST!” and started dancing it and singing the song. It was pretty funny we had quite a laugh and showed our moves off to the security guard outside. After that long long day I retired to my room, did some yoga, and fell asleep early in preparation for the first day of classes.

Monday was less eventful day filled with ups and downs, I'll do my best to summarize it below:

The day started off with Yaye and I chatting over some breakfast when the doorbell rang. Mind you, it was probably around 7:45am-8am when this happened. Yaye got up thinking it was Fatou who had returned from a visit with her family for the weekend, but it was actually a customer. She talked to him in wolof for awhile and then came back, retrieved a bottle of alcohol, and gave it to the customer. When she came back she told me that he was muslim and she tried to convince him that it was too early but he insisted heavily. She also told me he asked for a plastic bottle so that he could hide it in his pocket. Apparently Yaye knows everyone's secrets when it comes to that kind of stuff. She told me that she remembers every single one of her clients, and many of them are muslim. I can attest to that as she gets much business throughout the day and with a 95% population of muslims not all of them can be catholics. Yaye says that sometimes customers pretend they don't know her when she sees them in the streets but she remembers every single one. What an interesting place to have that profession—selling alcohol.

Today was also the first day of classes. Wolof was fun as I have a pretty awesome professor—plus learning languages has just always been fun for me. The Public health teacher didn't show because he forgot it was the first day of classes...fail. I'm hoping that class doesn't turn out to be a joke because the syllabus looked awesome. Either way, my class had an extra hour added to our lunch so a bunch of us headed to the bookstore. I looked around a bit but didn't really see anything I liked...plus everything was terribly expensive. Afterwards the group decided to have lunch but since it was a larger group it didn't really decide a good place to eat so we ended up following this one guy who took us to a bakery that only served bread. I was hungry and thirsty (I had forgotten my water bottle at home) and immediately opted for something else. A bunch of us went to go look for sandwiches but I didn't find anything I could eat so I decided to return to CIEE and try to get something there. There was no chef today, however, so I was stuck without food and a roaring stomach. I found Rosie a bit later and she was waiting on a friend to go out to lunch so I ended up chilling with them trying to fill out applications to stave off my hunger. It only made it worse lol and I probably got a bit grumpy because my internet on my lap-top wouldn't work (whoops). Either way, the internship director Gamu worked a little magic for me with the pub next door who made me a vegetarian sandwich for 4 bucks. It wasn't the bees knees or anything but it was better than air and stomach acid that's for sure! I also accompanied it with bissap juice (no surprise lol) and a cookie from the next door bakery. The cookie was lack luster just incase you were wondering. My advanced french II class was relatively boring because my instructor talks fast and confused the whole class several times but surprisingly my phonetics class was terribly interesting because the instructor was so lively. He was really into the subject and explaining the importance of phonetics that I was drawn into it as well (Alex, can you imagine me taking another phonetics class after the first nightmare lol? Oh I know love, but with this professor I'm sure it will be just fine!)

After class Tasha came to visit Sacre Coeur (she lives in Wakam) and we went to Rosie's house for lunch although I didn't eat anything (I WOULD HAVE IF IT WAS VEG BELIEVE ME). We talked politics over a bowl and I found it quite interesting listening to the girls perspectives about the whole political situation that is currently unraveling around us. Which by the way, is absolutely enthralling. Every day I come home and my mom is watching the news on TV shaking her head at the new scandal Wade has cooked up. I'm sincerely hoping he won't find a way to get himself elected and that the opposing candidates will be better for Senegal in all ways. This country deserves a time out from old ass politicians like Wade—he's about 85, that's like 10 generations passed, you'd think he'd let go of the power but he's attached to it quite like a fly is to fly paper. Dinner was wonderful as I had spaghetti, eggs in tomato sauce, rice with onion sauce, radishes, cucumbers, and baby tomatoes (the kind that you pop in your mouth and juice explodes everywhere). My sister Angelique also brought home dessert for me which was just lovely, honey sicks of some sort, very good! And yes, I'm going to get fat here. Sorry Waseem lol, more for you to love. Did I mention I did yoga yesterday? Not today...today I'm sleeping until 10am. Goodnight everyone!  

Welp in my rush to finish blogging yesterday, I forgot to mention an important detail. Friday was the day the families came to pick us up from the hotel. I'd like you to try to imagine a scene similar to that of a pet shop. About 50 puppies lined the sidewalk waiting eagerly for a family to come by, pick them up, and take them home. All of us were nervous as hell and as the number of us dwindled down, nerves turned to excitement. I was picked up towards the beginning and I have to admit, I probably was the most nervous. At one point, there was this older senegalese woman who came on to the scene like a wind of laughter and colors. She was wearing a bright turquoise and purple traditional dress with a purple head wrap. She was in fact, a very vibrant woman and greeted everyone with loud laughter. When everyone first saw her all of the girls, including me, giggled and smiled wondering who's mother she'd be. Then Alain, the housing director, said, “Marissa, votre mama est ici.” Everyone burst into laughter because they thought we were such a good match. She gave me a big hug and helped me put my suit cases into the taxi.

I thought the ride home was going to be a long one, but it actually took less than 5 min. My home is on the outskirts of Sacre Coeur, the borderline between Sacre Coeur 3 and Mermoz. A little farther from the other students, but nonetheless, perfect walking distance from the school. I have to say, with respect of course, that I wasn't expecting the house that I came home to. It is...well, rather huge. On the outside it is a pale white building three floors high if you count the terrace and on the inside the floors are covered with tile. The walls are mostly white with some chipping paint here and there, but all in all, it is probably on the higher end of senegalese households. My room is on the second floor where I have a bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a table to put my belongings. I also have a giant white mosquito net with holes in it... :), I'm sure it is going to prove to be most effective.

My family also happens to be quiet found of animals as Yaye owns 2 dogs. One is called Chocolat and the other Jacquier, we also have 4 goats who make noises all night long. They have become my sporadic alarm clocks that inspire laughter. Two of the goats are pregnant, so maybe I'll get to see some baby goats by May! Yaye says that if they are born while I'm here she'll name them after me :) and well, that's always a treat.

When I finally got to talking to Yaye, the conversation started out very slowly as I was quite timid. I had forgotten pretty much everything they had shared with us in the family orientation but as soon as I asked about the family she got excited and showed me pictures of her immediate and extended family. Yaye has 4 sons and 3 girls. One of her sons is married to a german lady, and one of her daughters is married to a Frenchman. Another son who's name is Edward, just recently got married and I met him and his wife today. She is also pregnant!!! (also being...her and the goats lol). Despite how much I wanted to touch her belly and talk about her pregnancy, it is taboo to do so in Senegalese culture, at least we were told so. So I'll have to suppress my American tendencies to spoil and interrogate pregnant women for now. Yaye also has 4 grand children and I believe I'll have the fortune to meet 3 of them.

After sharing pictures of our families, (I only had one picture of my family that I had taken at the airport—and my senegalese family was thrilled to see my father wearing a cowboy hat—way to be tejano dad), our attention was turned to the television set to watch the news. If you don't already know, it is a very important political time for Senegal as the elections are being held in February. Democracy is still a relatively new concept here in Senegal, as the country was socialist until 2000 when the youth movement elected Wade and the democratic party. Friday was the day the candidates were announced by the council and the entire country was tuning in to see whether or not Wade (the current president) would be approved as a candidate. I recommend researching this in order to understand the situation in its entirety because there is plenty of history to be covered here, but nevertheless, allow me to attempt to explain the circumstances that currently worry the Senegalese people. It's quite a scandal actually. The majority of Senegalese people, including my family and everyone I've met so far, believe that Wade has been in office for too long and that he is too old to run again. Nevertheless, there is a council (who happened to be appointed by Wade) that chooses candidates approved to run “based upon a list of criteria” although the public is unaware of that criteria.

On friday, my family and I were watching the news in order to find out whether or not Wade had been approved as a candidate because if he is approved there is a good chance that he will be “elected” president. Let me explain it to you how Yaye explained it to me, if his candidacy is approved despite the wishes of the Senegalese people, it means that he stole his way into gaining approval by bribing the council. Since Wade is a millionaire, it will be easy for him to buy the electorate by paying citizens to vote for him (at the very least). If Wade becomes president, “democracy” in Senegal won't exactly be democratic and Senegal will be faced with an individual who has manipulated democratic processes into a sort of dictatorship.

So, needless to say, my entire family was glued to the TV and my cousin was listening to the radio. When the news finally came, my family reacted with sounds of anguish. They discussed among themselves in Wolof so I didn't really understand what was going on but I figured by the general sentiment of the room. All I could think was...damn. My mom stayed up watching the TV last night, as there was live footage of the protests, and I tried my best to accompany her. I eventually retired to the room where I listened to music until I fell asleep.

Saturday morning, I awoke to the realization that I had forgotten my shampoo and conditioner in the Taxi. Luckily, I had travel size soaps in my suitcase so I went ahead and took a very cold shower. The bathroom here is set up quite curiously if I may add. It is probably about 5 feet in length and 3 or 4 ft in width...or if you're looking for an english translation...tiny as hell lol. Just about the size to fit a toilet. The shower is actually hooked to the wall and falls just in front of the toilet, so I'm basically taking a shower standing next to a toilet. Yes, it is an awkward situation since I'm not used to getting water everywhere but I actually find it quite ingenious...what a way to save space!

After my shower I went down stairs to have breakfast and Yaye and Gizele were there to greet me. Breakfast was bread, oranges, and chocolate with tea. I should take time to mention here, that not all Senegalese families eat around the bowl. For example, my family is catholic and does not eat around the bowl, they're eating habits are more westernized as they use plates, forks, and spoons. After breakfast Gizele took me to buy some shampoo and upon my return we watched an American movie together (Honey 2 dubbed in French) and talked about school, languages, and life. I enjoyed talking to Gizele although she is terribly soft-spoken—she wants to be an engineer like her uncles and can speak 4 or 5 languages including spanish. I still haven't met Angelique because she's been bedridden and ill for the past couple of days, but I'm hoping to have a conversation with her because Yaye told me today she works with Human Rights and Women's Rights. I laughed at the similarities. Really Alain (housing director)? Could you have been more right on? Two words—you rock.

Later on in the day I decided to venture on my own into Sacre Coeur 3 to see if I could find where my friend Rosie was living. I remembered what her neighborhood looked like since they had showed us on the tour of Sacre Coeur and I was determined to visit her since she lost her phone and is excommunicated from the world. I walked for about 5 min and got to an alley I recognized. I saw a shop keeper and stopped to greet (always greet before you ask anything!!) and then asked whether or not he knew where the American was staying. After a brief description he confirmed it being Rosie and he told me she was staying to the house on the left of his store. I knocked on the door and Rosie's sister came to the door. I said hello and asked if Rosie was in and she said yes (at the same time Rosie walked out) and we exchanged hellos and excitement :). Rosie showed me around her home and introduced me to her family—2 brothers and 2 sisters I believe. They were all very hospitable and loving and Rosie's mom (who was a very sweet sweet woman) said I was always welcomed to come see her baby (rosie hehe). The family invited me to have lunch with them and I sat around the bowl. Rosie's family did eat around the bowl but with a slight variation, the usage of spoons. I was hesitant to eat first, since I had just had lunch at my house, but I didn't want to be rude since they were gracious enough to offer. Also, I'm pretty sure none of it was vegetarian, but I did eat a bit of the rice and carrots to be polite. Afterwards I thanked them and mentioned that I was vegetarian and already had had lunch. We had a pleasant conversation and after lunch Rosie's brother made tea touba which was delicious—best I've had yet, while we watched the incredibles dubbed in French (Monsieur Incroyable buahaha..) Rosie and I also took turns trying to make the tea, which consists of transferring the tea rapidly from one small glass into another in order to mix properly and gather foam--the more foam, the better the tea--and needless to say, we failed and spilled the tea lol.

Rosie came to visit my house when we had finished eating and on our way home we ran in to Mackee who happened to be one of the 7 guys in the program. I invited him to my home as well and when we arrived my mom greeted them happily and gave them a tour of my home. They were impressed by the size just as much as I was. Edward (my brother) and Serene (his pregnant wife) were sitting on the couch when we arrived and I introduced myself and my friends. We all watched french comedians after that and drank Bissap juice together.

I think this blog may be running a bit long so I think I'll cut it off here for now. I'll end it by saying I really enjoyed my day because I had the fortune of meeting Rosie's family and Edward and Serene—all who were very kind to me.

I hope you guys are doing well and not missing me too much! I'm having such a wonderful time here in Senegal :).

(this is covering Friday and Saturday; Since I don't have Wi-fi at my house I got a bit behind. So I'll just start again tomorrow although today (monday) was my first day of school :) )

Atlantic Ocean and "Eating around the bowl"

Hi everyone! Hope all is well back in the USA. Several things to report on since my last blog post...

I wanted to announce that I placed into Advanced French 2!! Wooot! I'm very excited about that fact because I was able to sign up for as many French classes as I wanted too. I have a couple of my friends in that class as well so it happened to work out very well.

As of now I'm trying to get over a stomach problem. It can best be explained as follows:

Yesterday half of the CIEE students and I took a trip to the Baoba center (a cultural center here in Dakar) and we had the opportunity to learn a lot about Senegalese culture including how to “eat around the bowl.” It happened to be the first time I tried “eating around the bowl” and I found it to be quite challenging. Although eating around the bowl may sound like an easy task, there are actually several rules/techniques that should be followed in order to have an enjoyable eating experience. These were all explained to us before we actually sat down to eat and just in case sometime in the future a Senegalese family offers you a place around the bowl, here are some things you should keep in mind:

1. The bowl is usually placed on a mat on the floor; avoid walking on the mat with your shoes on.
2. Wash you hands before eating (a bowl of water will usually be provided)
3. Use only your right hand for eating
4. Wait until he host gives the signal to start eating
5. Eat from a pie-shaped area right in front of you, starting from the outside and working in towards the center of the bowl. This is your territory. Don't invade other people's territory!
6. Don't go right for the meat, fish or vegetables; begin with asimple handful of rice, then help yourself to what yourself to what's in the middle on the second handful.
7. Don't smell food before putting it in your mouth. This gives the impression that you expected it to be rotten.
8. Don't say how good the food is after the first bite. It's as though you did not expect it to be. Wiat until you have almost finished to compliment the cook.
9. If a vegetable is in your pie-shape, take a piece and push it towards the center of the bowl for others to eat.
10. Don't stare at people while they're eating
11. If someone comes in while you are eating, invite them to join you.
12. Lick all the rice off your hand before washing up with soap and water.
13. Get up and leave the bowl when you have finished.
14. Don't step over people lying on the mat or step over the bowl.

If you follow all of these rules, I'm sure your Senegalese host will be utterly impressed by your knowledge of Senegalese eating. Nevertheless, I'd suggest practicing a bit before attending a dinner as it is quite difficult to remember all of these rules at once when you're trying to remember how to say “The food is delicious and I'm full” in wolof at the same time. Leaving the bowl is quite a process, and it is necessary to master how to do so before a meal unless you plan on eating all day lol.

After you have been eating for awhile and start feeling full, you announce your intention to leave the bowl by saying that the food is delicious. The host will then try to convince you to eat more, and will say something like “Mange Mange or Lekkal waay.” If you want to leave the bowl, you will say “I'm full” in Wolof, (Suurnaa/Doyna). Saying “Doyna” is very important because it is the polite way to leave the bowl. Also, if you do not announce you are full, the senegalese host will continue to insist you eat no matter how much you've already eaten. Thus, it is very important to not take a Senegalese host seriously in this matter, and to stop when full. Otherwise, they will keep insisting and you will keep eating and in the words of our host director “You'll die” lol. Let's avoid that outcome.

As for my personal experience, I was hesitant to eat around the bowl at first because there was a huge fish torso in the middle of the bowl. I asked if I could eat the dish, and the guy assured me other than the fish the dish was vegetarian. At this point I'm pretty sure there had to be some kind of chicken or beef bouillon in the rice because my insides are tearing each other apart like mexican luchadores. I also woke up with a bit of a sore throat this morning so I'm hoping I'm not catching something serious. I have to admit though, I'm pretty glad these seem to be the only side effects of my meal because another girl in my room is suffering from vomiting and diarrhea from something she ate earlier that day and my whole room has been worried sick.

I suppose something a bit more lighthearted should follow that bit of information. 

On Wed, I actually had the wonderful opportunity to see the Atlantic ocean from the Dakar coastline...and it was magnificent. I was definitely taken aback by two things:

1. The scene, as it was very beautiful.
2. The fact there were no women on the beach, only men, and that everyone (and when I say everyone I mean everyone) on the beach happened to be exercising.

This of course, has a lot to do with something I mentioned in an earlier post, but I'll mention it again just in case you forgot-- a women is looked down upon if she goes out too much, especially at night. Just for the record, this is the main problem I face with Senegalese culture. The blatant inequality between women and men, and how it is accepted as tradition. I understand that it is important to not judge, and that all belief systems have some sense of logic working behind them that it is important to try to understand, but I will not compromise my own belief in saying that I agree with the lack of women's rights in Senegal. Don't get me wrong, women are well respected here, but there are a lot of liberties that are not afforded to them simply because they are women and they are expected to be modest and pious. I have no problem with a society that wants its youth to be pious and modest, that makes perfect sense; however, it becomes a problem when only women are held to this standard and men are allowed to act and dress however they wish (generalization). If Senegal held the same standards for men as it did for women, I would have no problem with the value of piousness. I'm just saying, it's a double standard because it takes two to tango. There are several other things related to this topic that bother me, so you might be reading a lot about those in other blogs but for now I'll move on.

The beach itself was unlike any other beach I've seen because the shoreline was covered with black cobblestones. The water was terribly cold too but apparently warmer than the pacific (as I was informed by USA northerners). I dipped my feet in and after they numbed, the feeling became rather pleasant. The group I came with only stayed for a moment and on our way back, Rosie, Tasha, and I walked through an artist's village. There was a german girl there and since we were curious about what she was doing amongst all the artists we stopped and talked to them. The german girl turned out to be a german architect who was constructing a building for the artists. Eventually the conversation switched back and forth between a sales pitch, and an introduction to the history of the Mouride brotherhood (Amadou Bamaba happened to be the prophet they were following). One artist who was sporting some dreadlocks, told us a couple of stories about the prophet and showed us pictures of him and his descendants. Afterwards he walked us back to the CIEE study center and we promised we'd come by on a Sunday when the village would be active with artists trying to sell their paintings.

I apologize for the lack of detail in the last paragraph, but I was getting tired of writing lol. Have a nice day everyone!

Visiting my neighborhood and the French Placement test

Welp, yesterday I didn't have time to blog although for good reason as I was trying to study for the French placement test. I'm going to attempt to cover the events of both days in this one blog as well as some extra thoughts so sorry for the long posts! Either way, don't quit halfway! I believe you can make it all the way through!

So I discovered that dairy actually DOES mess my stomach up. For those of you that didn't know, I was vegan in the states for about 7 months and decided to convert to vegetarianism to make my time here a lot easier. Before I left, I decided I would transition in to vegetarianism although I wasn't too happy about the idea. The first thing I ate was a grilled cheese sandwich from cafe brazil, and I'll admit it even though it is an embarrassing 1st world problem, I cried. Foolish I know, but having a mental block against something that you hadn't eating for 7 months causes awkward unnecessary reactions--such as crying. The next day I didn't have any stomach problems so I ate the rest of the cheese sandwich and found that I didn't have a reaction to that either. Thus I decided that I would continue being vegan until I came to Dakar. It seemed practical as I didn't have a reaction, well I'll be the first to say I was wrong.

Eating Dairy in Senegal is like swallowing knives. Adjusting to vegetarianism here has been quite an uncomfortable experience and I hope that the stomach aches will be over soon. I'm thinking it is mainly the cheese, as I ate a bag of cheeto-like chips that really buckled me over. Haven't had any serious side-effects, just terrible stomach pain. A girl here has liken to the idea of calling me Cheetos because of it. I think that is a terrible nickname since I don't even like Cheetos lol I sincerely hope it doesn't stick. Either way the girl, Laura, is pretty nice so I don't really care lol.

ANYWAYS,  I'm sure you don't want to here about my stomach problems, although they have been the conversational topic of choice here in my room (I suppose you can imagine why) lol. So I'll go on to some other aspect of my stay...let's see. 

Yesterday I found out who my family was and where I will be living. I haven't met my family yet, but I know there names! I have a mama named "Yaye" which conveniently means mom in Wolof (the way it is pronounced not the way it is spelled), an older sister (28) named Angelique, a cousin Gizele (20), a father named Benjamin, and a house maid named Fatou (24). Apparently fatou is very nice as the house director said I will make friends with her quickly. I also have many brothers and sisters that are currently studying abroad and the house director, Alain, said that they may visit sometime during my stay. I am very excited to meet my family and I hope that I can make a good impression on them. I want to spend a lot of time getting to know them.

So an unfortunate fact that I found out during orientation, was that it is very difficult to meet and become friends with Senegalese women. Apparently, women don't leave the house much here because that kind of behavior isn't acceptable for a young woman. Thus, I shouldn't be surprised if my future Senegalese cousin and sister don't want to go anywhere. It is a bit of a shame, seeing that I won't be to keen to staying in the house all the time (nor do I agree with it...) but I'll have to take some sacrifices in order to get to know them. Perhaps they will go shopping with me or take me around Sacre-Coeur.

Oh, that's right, the neighborhood that I'll be living in is called Sacre-Coeur  (Sacred Heart) and it is a much busier place than either Wakan or Mermoz (which is where my hotel is located). I went on a tour of it yesterday with all the other students who are living there (which was a lot of fun). It is very business-like at the center, and takes on a residential feel when you go on the outskirts. There are fruit stands at the edge of Sacre-Coeur where one can buy bananas, oranges, peanuts and etc. I think I'm going to like this neighborhood a lot although I heard a lot of good things about Wakan so I'm going to have to go visit! Mermoz is pretty beautiful too, I accidentally took a wrong turn earlier today and wandered in to a square in front of the local Mosque. There was so much life in the streets--including a goat chillin' in front of a store--that I couldn't help but look like a tourist. There was even a nice Senegalese guy who said hi to me in English (which caught me off guard lol). I didn't wander off too far though as I was alone and I didn't want to get too lost. I backtracked and eventually I made it back to my hotel where I ran into a group of girls talking to our guard. He was a younger Senegalese guy probably around 23ish, and I joined the conversation for a bit too. He was pretty nice and I tried to get him to show off his dance moves but he said he wouldn't dance without music lol...lame. Either way, he was nice enough to buy the girls and I some local tea called "Tea Touba" which is apparently a Senegalese classic. It was quite interesting lol. The best way to describe it is a mix between café and thé--or an expresso shot with a bunch of sugar---ending with a licorice taste. Odd I know lol, which is why we all shared one cup. Probably an acquired taste if anything. 

Earlier on today I took the french placement test which was lame if anything. I didn't do as well as I hoped as I failed to really understand a passage that was testing our reading comprehension skills. Urgh. Either way, I hope I place in to Advanced...I really do. Otherwise I'm going to try to argue my case. I also had my first couple of lessons in Wolof today and I didn't exactly catch on too quickly. We learned about greetings and how to say our names. Greetings are extremely important in Senegalese culture and there is a million ways to introduce yourself/ask how a person is so I'm trying to learn as many greetings as possible.

That's all I can really think about as I feel this blog has drawn out to long already. 

For now,

Marissa laa tudd, Maangi sant Ocampo.

Song: Don Mclean - Vincent (Starry Starry Night)

Saturday and Sunday: The days that blended into one.

Since I've been moving non-stop since Saturday morning I haven't had time to post my musings. Thus, Saturday became Sunday and Sunday a part of Saturday. A six hour time difference took a significant chunk of time away from my existence, which is fine I'll get it back when I return, but for now I'm still trying to adjust to this new-found concept of "jet-lag."

Postings from Saturday and Sunday will be mixed together here.

Saturday-- Jan. 21, 2012

What. A. Morning.

I must say I did not imagine that my attempts to catch my flight this morning could have been any more troubled. I can either interpret the events of this morning as the start of an adventure or a reflection of my disorganization....

My condition at the moment is rather zombie-like as I am quite exhausted. Only now that I am sitting in my gate, Gate E5, do I feel the adrenaline leave my body and the color return to my cheeks. I am relieved that I am here, that I am safe, and that I will be boarding the plane to Washington and then, finally, to Dakar within the next 2 hours. I almost lost that chance.

I awoke this morning around 7AM and took, what I have been told by students that have already arrived, my last hot shower. I had only managed about an hour of sleep last night and I almost fell asleep standing. The plan, was to be done packing/last min details by 7:45AM when the family, Waseem, and I would head over to the airport. I imagined the morning would flow rather smoothly and that my departure would be a memorable goodbye scene, the kind accompanied by profound inspiring music (Such as, “Postcards From Italy” by Beirut or “Blue Spotted Tail” by the Fleet Foxes). Clearly I was setting myself up for failure lol.

What actually happened was a combination of misfortunate events/coincidences that led to chaos.

The first, was that Waseem overslept.

The second, was that I realized all of my Bras from the Bra research project (which by the way went extremely well!) were still in his car.

And thirdly and most importantly, I had left my yellow fever card in his car (the very card I need to board the plane, without it I am not allowed to enter the country).

I didn't realize this last one until I was heating up my breakfast in the microwave and my mom walked by and casually said, “Do you have all your documents?” At first this was an obvious yes, I may have even rolled my eyes (sorry mom) but then I realized my yellow card wasn't in my bag (thank you mom!).

Naturally, I panicked. Before coming to the conclusion that it had to be in Waseem's car I searched all over the house, previous back-packs, pretty much anywhere and everywhere. My family joined in the search as well, which I was/am thankful for, but we couldn't find it anywhere. I called Waseem several times but he didn't answer. Finally, after getting through his house phone and talking to his very confused mother, I ended up getting a hold of Waseem. At this point I was terribly stressed and upset so Waseem got the bad end of the stick. My flight was at 10AM, and I was running late to check in. We both took our cars and met up at a Mcdonalds where we exchanged the documents and glances. I'm still pretty upset over exactly how our “goodbye” played out. A drive-by goodbye. I sped home and the entire family hopped in a car in the direction of DFW airport. My mom and I hustled into the terminal, and as I handed over my itinerary I realized—my flight was at 11:30AM—not 10AM. All the rush for nothing, I could have said goodbye after all...oh how disappointing is that moment when it hits.

Even though the airplane goodbye was not how I had imagined it, my family and I enjoyed some quality time and everyone gave me thoughtful advice and of course, I love yous :). Rather than Beirut or Fleet Foxes, my dad was playing the Mexican Hat dance on his phone...oddly I still felt inspired lol.

I am ending this part of the day on the plane, I have the window seat as always...which only means my bladder is sure to be more active than normal. Ah the excitement!

Sunday: Jan 22, 2012

Currently it is 8:19PM in Senegal, which means it is 3PM in the States-- when I think of the time difference I think about how silly it is that by the time my day is semi-over, Waseem's day is just beginning. We chatted a bit on skype today and it was lovely to hear his voice. I would go on and on about how much I miss Waseem, but the travel and the jetlag have kept my mind preoccupied as we had both predicted it would.

The flights to Dakar weren't as bad as I had originally expected them to me. The first was around 4 hours, the second around 7. I particularly enjoyed the second flight as there were several other CIEE students taking the flight with me, and because I happened to meet Silimbo d'adane who was a Senegalese musician. According to his business card, he is a Master Drum Player that had been living in Wash D.C. for over 10 years. He was heading back to Dakar to visit his second wife and family for a vacation. Of course, since Silimbo was originally sitting next to Madeline, another CIEE student, I discovered most of this information snooping in on the conversation. Since they were speaking in French, I don't consider it eavesdropping, I consider it a nifty way to practice comprehension skills :). 

After awhile the two stopped talking, and I decided I'd look out the airplane window. I wish I could adequately describe exactly what I saw, but honestly I believe there are no words for that kind of beauty. I wish, truly, that I could have taken a picture, it's a shame that the scene is now only a memory Looking though the small plastic window revealed billions of stars. They blanketed the night sky in an array of patterns. I had never seen so many stars, so close, and so brilliantly bright. For lack of a better word, I was quite literally "star-struck." Since I am a relatively weird person, I decided I would try to share this moment with the people around me so naturally I tapped Madeline and Silimbo on the shoulder and told them they had to look at the stars. At first they didn't understand, but I offered my window for Silimbo to view the stars and he (who by the way was the tallest man I've ever seen, about twice my size) squeezed his way into my seat. He was taken back by the sight as well and he immediately started talking about the greatness of God. The comment that, how could something so beautiful exist without someone as great as God to create it. I just nodded and smiled, although I'm pretty sure he knew it was slightly in-genuine because he kept asking if I understood. Even though I said yes, I don't think he was convinced lol.

So then I started having a conversation with him in French and I found out he had a bit of a thing for Madeline. Perhaps searching for a third wife? Very possible. He basically had given her his number/address/email/etc. and told her to get in contact with him. All things considered he was a very generous man because he offered to pay for all her meals (and mine too) and said that we wouldn't have to spend a cent of our money in Senegal. He also invited us and all of the CIEE program to his home and said he wanted to feed us. This was a point he made several times. Apparently the man is very well-off because his mother is a famous dancer and his father is a famous actor, he of course a famous musician. Both madeline and I expressed our gratitude, but it was really Madeline who deserves credit because he was really pushing her for some kind of response--she was very calm and collected throughout the entire 7 hour flight.

When we landed we went straight to orientation as it was 7am in Dakar. Orientation today really just consisted of eating food (WHICH IS JUST FINE BY ME!!). Since I'm vegetarian on this trip, I'm eating a lot of food I wouldn't normally eat in the States, it still trips me up a bit but I'm coming to terms with it. We had some baguettes and nutella for breakfast, which was delicious, but lunch and dinner was lack luster--for me anyways because I'm vegetarian. I am catching up on my vegetables that's for sure since I had salad for both lunch and dinner. No complaints on my part though, I think it's very kind of them to be understanding.

I met a lot of interesting and really cool people that are on the program with me and I am hoping to get to know people better as time goes on. I also met some students who have been here for a semester already so it was interesting to hear their stories :). 

One last thing before I go...a little bit about my first impressions of Senegal:

Senegal reminds me a lot of Mexico, there is a mix between modern and rural here that is unmistakable.

For example, 

a horse dragging a cart next to the road filled with taxis. 

makeshift shelters next to modern-style homes. 

People dressed in traditional wear and others dressed in more "Western" style clothing. 

There is A LOT of sand everywhere, surprisingly. There was a raging sandstorm in Dakar before we arrived, and we're still catching the aftereffects-- such as the chilly and gritty wind. I can't really say I enjoy the feeling of sand stinging my eyes or grinding in between my teeth, but it is something I'm going to have to get use to, or at the very least, learn how to protect myself against.

My favorite thing about Dakar so far, is the singing. Throughout the day Muslim men face mecca and begin reciting prayers. When I first heard sone senegalese men sing aloud I was a bit surprised until I put it into context. The men sing beautifully here. Large, full volume, deep voices that skip across notes. It is beautiful.

January 20, 2012, Friday: The Last Day Home

Disclaimer: Everyone is invited to read this blog. These are my thoughts and my emotions. As I have invited many different kinds of people to follow my blog, from family to friends to professors, I ask for understanding and open-mindedness towards the topics that I discuss and in the way that I choose to discuss them. How can a blog be good if it does not reflect me, who I am, and every aspect of experience--all good and bad? Anything other is just not juicy. Anyways...

First I suppose, I should thank you for reading my blog, my very first post, and in a way, joining me on this journey.

Today is my last day in America, until that is, May 20th, 2012. I aboard the plane headed to Dakar, Senegal 10AM January 21st. I have been awaiting this date for quite some time now and as it approaches, now merely hours away...I can't help but feel excitement--an excitement that has kept me from dreaming.

Friday's agenda is as follows:
1. Meet James and pick up a hikers backpack
2. Buy 220V converter
3. Make copies of all important documents (Never can be too cautious can you?)
4. Pack, oh yes, haven't done that yet...
5. Last min trip to Walmart. (I'm assuming I'm going to forget something important, a bright assumption if you know me well)
6. Participate in a Bra research in which I will be paid $100.00 (A surprise despite my lack of boobage; taking Waseem along in case it happens to be a creep with a camera; Spending money for Senegal no doubt, I know you all will understand)

I found myself quite fortunate yesterday, as I ran into several of my friends at SMU and got many hugs and warm thoughts. All those warm thoughts will carry me on to the plane and ease my nerves. Four months...it is the longest period of time I have been away from my friends, family, and Waseem. Yet I know it will be four months filled with memories too colorful to forget. I will miss everyone, dearly, truly, and whole-heartedly, but the time has come to spread my wings (figuratively of course) and to see the continent that has been calling--Africa--a country I have always imagined in bright colors...oranges, greens, reds, and yellows.

So much to say, so little time to say it.

I decided I would provide a quick explanation of the title of my blog "Pressed Memories." I believe blogs are wonderful things in that they allow you to share the memories that you make to others all over the world. This blog, in that regard, reminds me of the times when I took up an interest in botany. I captured each day and its significance with a single flower or leaf, which I would bring home and press in my journal. Not all of them pressed beautifully, some even rotted, but nevertheless, they were my memories of the time and the beauty of each day--not to mention my failure at being a botanist. Similarly, this blog will hold the memories, on display for all of you and for myself.

Off to bed now, sweet dreams everyone.

Music:
"Big Girls Don't Cry" by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVBvy2cc0Io

Quote:
"What has before been so abstract to me is now a reality, and I'm quickly learning this is the benefit of doing research in the field. Books can only help you understand a concept, especially a political concept, to a limit. Dripping the sweat makes it real." -Abhit

http://blog.undergradresearch.northwestern.edu/abhit/