I hope that you are all doing well. I've been having a crazy week, mainly wonderful but like always, a few stranger things too!
This past weekend I went to Tobab Dialow, three hours south of Dakar. It was a wonderful time. We were on the beach and stayed in a very quirky fun hotel. There we had a very relaxing weekend where we could get down to the beach, do a little body surfing and have a nice time. Had I known how relaxing it was supposed to be I would have brought a book, so instead I spent a lot of time talking, shocking, I know. I ended up taking a batik lesson while I was there and we had a big dance event which included doing the limbo and attempting the splits. I actually ended up doing pretty well in both! So it was great and hopefully my fall break will be just as interesting as this weekend was!
So talking about my fall break, last week I sent out an email to some of you saying that we were going to be staying in this great house and how excited I was about it. Well, we had also invited a bunch of other CIEE students and some of them decided, because their trip to the Casamance (very dangerous, in the south) was canceled, they would rent out the house for themselves. So, that was a bumber because we were going to share the house with some of my friends' host brothers and they can't afford to stay any where than there (they were going to stay for free since they knew the owner). Anyways, so we have been scrambling around this week trying to find a place that will take four tobabs (white/foreigners) for a good price and will be accessible to get to. We seem to have a place but we won't know anything about it really until we get there! Next week will just be a surprise!
Another 'excursion' type thing I did this past week was I went to the post office in town to pick up a package from mom! This trip should not have been exciting. I went with my friend Matt (who will also be on my trip for fall break) and we got a taxi for a decent price and went on our way. Of course, when you get there you have to talk to fifteen different people, have to pay to different 'officials', they open your package, filled out a few more pieces of paper, and we were on our merry way. Well, not so fast, we had to get the taxi back to school. We finally got a taxi to pull over to let us in, while he was pulling over he was able to bump into a motorbike, we negotiated a price and got in. He backed out and hit another taxi. We were in the taxi for only a minute when he pulled over and jumped out with a water bottle. Saying something in Wolof he left. He ran to the other side of the road and, didn't pee onto the wall but into the bottle. (Since then I have realized that this is normal procedure for taxi men) and we continued on our way. We drove for 15 minutes and then I realized he was taking us to the wrong part of town. This time, using our wonderfully atrocious Wolof skills, we named many more landmarks and we finally made our way to the campus with twenty minutes left before class! Gosh, the things I will do to get a terrific package!
So a few general things I have noted since I have come here but have forgotten (or have not had the time) to share! The first one is a little out of the ordinary and something that everyone on this trip has noticed. So, people in Senegal burp, spit, cough, pick their nose and women will put their hands in their shirts and fix up their boobs. No one sees any of these things as gross or abnormal to do anywhere and over anyone. However, the few times that someone lets a little toot out I have never seen people here laugh so hard and they make fun of the tooter for about ten minutes. It really cracks me up and people of all ages have been on both sides which is pretty amusing.
Another thing that I have noticed is the many ways that I have caused cancer to me since I have gotten here. The biggest one is plastic. So everyone in the USA now knows the harmful effects of BPA. BPA is even worse if you put hot things in your plastic. Well, every morning and some nights I will have my tea from my five year old plastic mug. There are two ceramic mugs in our house but those are left for special occasions and special people - I got to use on the first few days I was around!
Dakar, for being a Muslim country, has a lot of dogs all over the street. There are dogs everywhere you could ever look. I don't think of myself as someone that is scared of dogs, but street dogs have always scared me. The way I walk to school there are quite a few dogs that always look a little menacing but they never really move very much so I try to keep myself together. However, the other day I was going on my early morning run with Elizabeth, and we got on a side road where there were about five dogs and no people. I have us start walking to not bother them and to not draw too much attention to us. One of the dogs though comes toward us and luckily, thank you Tanzania; I picked up four rocks at my feet and threw one his direction. He left us alone. Let's just say from now on I'm staying on the busy roads for running and not doing the pretty streets!
A few Saturdays ago I went out. Yes, it was my first, and really only, time out since I have been here. I went out for a wonderful dinner with a few friends. The whole time while we were walking to the restaurant I was saying how excited I was that I would be getting food without bones! (I spend a lot of time here pulling fish, chicken, and anything else I eat bones out of my mouth and food) I received my delicious plate of coconut chick. I had probably the best coconut sauce I've ever had. I took my first bit of chicken. Boom. Bone. The whole thing was full of bones. I guess people here need the bones. Note: to those of you who want to make me food when I get home, please, no ribs for a couple weeks!! After the classy dinner, we went to a tiny shack bar where we got the cheapest beer I've seen since I've been here. It was a nice place to meet up and hang out with a larger group of people before figuring out where we wanted to go dancing. At midnight, the little bar closed and we all went on our separate ways. I went over to a friend's house where I was told we were going to make a quick turnaround go out to a club in the main part of the city. Two hours later, we are still hanging out at her place with no sign of us leaving. Finally, at 2:30 am, we head out to the club. We get there and the four of us CIEE girls decide now we can finally get our groove on! So we get out there and after about five minutes of crazy, fun dancing. We were swarmed by about 20 Senegalese men that would not go away. As I described this last bit to mom I believe my phrase was 'like flies around poop' she thought that was pretty gross. But let's just say the whole thing was pretty gross.
A few host family stories to end this off. Mom wanted a family tree, so this is my basic drawing for the time being. The reason for the wacky placement of Baba is I'm not sure his relation to the family still!
So my friend Elizabeth has a wonderful and very dynamic family. Last week she wanted to show her love for them and decided to make brownies to get some brownie points with them. So, silly her, invited me to help. Well, I was useless until we got to eat them. Everyone decided that they loved her ten times more than they already did and now I wish I could cook! The funny thing will Elizabeth, and many other students' families is that the boys that are about the same age as us always just walk around in their towels. Elizabeth, gets flustered very easily, and one time her brother came into the living room with her there in only his little boxers and asked her why she was so red in the face. She didn't catch on but asked me if she was burnt later, I told her she may want to work on blushing around handsome men! They are a kick and even speak great English.
I have still been letting my brothers play games on my phone while I'm around and supervising. Bebe Cher has a good time at it but Mohammed is very intense and does incredibly well in the games. Finally, when Mohammed got 100 points in the game instead of just running around my room and saying how awesome he is, he ran around my room praising god. All I heard for the next five minutes was Alhamdulillah and other phrases of thank you God for the wonderful score I just got on this game. Cracked me up a little bit but interesting to know how much he cares about his god.
A not so good Mohammed story is about us going out. So, we usually go out every other night and visit someone other student and their family. And when I say this I mean I go visit the family and this is the time where the boys go out into the public garden and have fun. That night, Bebe Cher actually came over to the house with me and Mohammed went out by himself. At the time we had decided to go home, Bebe Cher and I go out and try to find him. We try calling his phone, nothing. After about ten minutes of looking around the area and not finding him Bebe Cher says that we may as well go home. So we do. Fanta looks annoyed when I went to bed but it wasn't until I fall asleep that Mohammed came home. All I heard for the next few minutes was his crying and his mom yelling and hitting him with her belt. As Bebe Cher described it to me yesterday "elle a frappe bien" - those of you that don't speak French, literally she beat him well. Hopefully he will always come home on time now.
The next story actually mostly takes place at school but is my little brothers’ fault. They have, on a few occasions, run around my room yelling 'data koi' and they would not tell me what it means other than it is a joke. A few days later, I asked my Wolof professor what it means and as soon as I said it she gave the look that kids get right before the belt comes out. I explained that it was my two little brothers (she is starting to realize how crazy those two are) and she just shook her head and told me that I should beat them. She then told me that it means 'a woman's sexual organs' interesting and I called them out yesterday when they tried to use it. I think they are realizing I might be a little smarter than they give me credit for.
At home I have been watching a lot of the soccer matches with my brothers and Baba. Baba, who I am bonding with a lot more these days, turned and asked me where the label 'Heineken' originates from. I said I believe it is from German and he looked confused that it wasn't from the USA. When he didn't ask any more questions I asked him if he knew it was for beer. He looked shocked and after a few minutes he asked if I had ever drank, I responded honestly and said yes. He said that he heard they taste good but that he could never have one because he is Muslim. The interesting part was right after that Bebe Cher turned around and asked me if I was converting to Islam, I believe I said no a little too quickly.
The last story I have for today is from the women in my family. The women in my family continue to tell me that I am becoming more 'touti', which means thinner in some translation or another - which is supposed to be a very bad thing. So when my mom saw me running one time she rolled her eyes and told me that I need to watch out because if I keep getting smaller it will look like the cooking in the house isn't good. We will see, supposedly this trip is supposed to add five to ten pounds on girls, hopefully that won't include me!
Well, I best be off to get some homework done. Lots of love and please keep me up to date with all of your lives. I miss you all!
Yendul ak jamm,
Katie
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