A day or two ago, we got some new students at the Baobab Center. Now there's 8 K kids, one Beloit girl, 5 girls from Lynfield College in Oregon, and 4 from Wisconsin. One of the Wisconsin kids is a boy! Crazy! Out of all 18 of us, there's only one boy. Andrew is living with Alyssa's family right across the street from me. He's pretty cool, as are all the others.
I kind of feel like I don't have much to say. I've been eating lunch and dinner with my family, as usual. I finally de-haired my legs, and now I feel much more human. I'm looking forward to a weekend and some real sleep. I feel like I haven't had any down time and haven't talked to people from home enough.
I'll try to update when I have more to say, I suppose.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Quick Post
Hopefully I'll add to this after class, but here we go:
I miss home, and I think I'm starting to slide down the W-curve. Youssou told me he wants to go out with me, and I told him I don't want to do anything with anyone for at least another month. Hopefully by then I'll have a better idea of who the people around me are and what I want. We'll see what happens, but for now I don't really want to think about it.
That's been stressing me out a lot this week, especially along with adjusting to the distance with Caleb.
New students arrived recently...I'll talk about that more later.
I miss home, and I think I'm starting to slide down the W-curve. Youssou told me he wants to go out with me, and I told him I don't want to do anything with anyone for at least another month. Hopefully by then I'll have a better idea of who the people around me are and what I want. We'll see what happens, but for now I don't really want to think about it.
That's been stressing me out a lot this week, especially along with adjusting to the distance with Caleb.
New students arrived recently...I'll talk about that more later.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Weekend Number 3
For my third weekend in Dakar, I was hoping to do something different and low-key. But I was in the minority, so we went out clubbing again. Some of the girls hadn't gone dancing with us the last two times, and they really wanted to go. We went to Le Voyageur, the same club we'd been to the last two weekends. I was way, way tired. I danced a little bit with Youssou, and then with this creeper guy who started trying to feel me up after about thirty seconds (at which point I pushed him away), and then this middle-aged guy who was pretty awkward. Then I danced with someone who asked me after a few minutes, "Why aren't you dancing?" After that I danced with Youssou a little more and then sat down to rest. Youssou sat next to me for a while and then I ended up leaning on him to take a nap. He was really sweet all night and didn't even try to make a move on me! All week he's been wonderful, and he's becoming a great friend. I feel like, even with the snafu our first week, I've lucked out with him and my parents.
On Saturday, I slept in late. In the afternoon, I went to Katy's house and we made attaya with her host brother, Amadou (who is in love with Alyssa). Before dinner, Youssou took Alyssa and me to the tailor. This tailor happens to be Mama's sister, so she was very friendly and gave us good prices. I'm really looking forward to seeing how my clothes come out. They ended up being $10 per item, which is awesome for custom-made clothes. When we got back for dinner, Alyssa went home. We sat down to eat, and Mama said, "Where's Alyssa?" I told her she'd gone home to eat dinner, and she said, "That's not nice! Call her and tell her she has to come here!" I did as I was told, and Alyssa came over and we all ate a tasty supper together. Apparently, Mama had cooked it herself. I'm looking forward to learning her tricks.
At night, I went to Boobs's house and hung out with him and Galo and Youssou and Alyssa. We played cards and then played "Je n'ai jamais..." (Never have I ever, aka Ten Fingers). It was challenging to talk about risque stuff in French, since they don't really teach that in French class. Through that game, I decided that Boobs isn't really a good person. He's really into me, but that's just too bad for him.
I've been getting kind of mad at one of the girls on our program. She's going out with this fabulous guy, and she's cheating on him with someone here. I don't want to be seeing this happen and not say anything to her boyfriend, who I know vaguely, but I also don't want to go behind her back or anything. I just hate it when people do nasty things just because they're so pretty they can get away with it. I was complaining to Youssou about it, and he said, "She's not that pretty. You're way more beautiful than her, I swear." Awww. But at least I don't abuse it!
Today was ungodly hot. We had class at 9 in the morning. We met at the Baobab Center and then took a bus tour of Dakar. It was really cool to see all the different neighborhoods, especially now that we're more oriented. Afterwards we were all exhausted. I went home with a mild headache and serious sleepiness, but the power was out and my room was stifling. I failed at napping and didn't have water to take headache drugs and it kind of sucked. Then I ate lunch and opened my room up and got some air flowing. Then suddenly the wind picked up and it looked like we were going to have a tornado (do we even get those here?) and there was sand blowing everywhere and the temp dropped 10 degrees. And then I fell asleep and everything was more normal when I woke back up.
Tomorrow I have class for 6 hours. This doesn't feel like college the way I'm used to it. I am loving it here, though.
Ba suba! (Talk to you soon!)
On Saturday, I slept in late. In the afternoon, I went to Katy's house and we made attaya with her host brother, Amadou (who is in love with Alyssa). Before dinner, Youssou took Alyssa and me to the tailor. This tailor happens to be Mama's sister, so she was very friendly and gave us good prices. I'm really looking forward to seeing how my clothes come out. They ended up being $10 per item, which is awesome for custom-made clothes. When we got back for dinner, Alyssa went home. We sat down to eat, and Mama said, "Where's Alyssa?" I told her she'd gone home to eat dinner, and she said, "That's not nice! Call her and tell her she has to come here!" I did as I was told, and Alyssa came over and we all ate a tasty supper together. Apparently, Mama had cooked it herself. I'm looking forward to learning her tricks.
At night, I went to Boobs's house and hung out with him and Galo and Youssou and Alyssa. We played cards and then played "Je n'ai jamais..." (Never have I ever, aka Ten Fingers). It was challenging to talk about risque stuff in French, since they don't really teach that in French class. Through that game, I decided that Boobs isn't really a good person. He's really into me, but that's just too bad for him.
I've been getting kind of mad at one of the girls on our program. She's going out with this fabulous guy, and she's cheating on him with someone here. I don't want to be seeing this happen and not say anything to her boyfriend, who I know vaguely, but I also don't want to go behind her back or anything. I just hate it when people do nasty things just because they're so pretty they can get away with it. I was complaining to Youssou about it, and he said, "She's not that pretty. You're way more beautiful than her, I swear." Awww. But at least I don't abuse it!
Today was ungodly hot. We had class at 9 in the morning. We met at the Baobab Center and then took a bus tour of Dakar. It was really cool to see all the different neighborhoods, especially now that we're more oriented. Afterwards we were all exhausted. I went home with a mild headache and serious sleepiness, but the power was out and my room was stifling. I failed at napping and didn't have water to take headache drugs and it kind of sucked. Then I ate lunch and opened my room up and got some air flowing. Then suddenly the wind picked up and it looked like we were going to have a tornado (do we even get those here?) and there was sand blowing everywhere and the temp dropped 10 degrees. And then I fell asleep and everything was more normal when I woke back up.
Tomorrow I have class for 6 hours. This doesn't feel like college the way I'm used to it. I am loving it here, though.
Ba suba! (Talk to you soon!)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Long Week
This week has been full of challenges. I'm glad today is Friday. Here's some good stuff:
Youssou, my host brother, came up to me on Tuesday and said "I know you're mad at me because I've been spending all my time with Meredith and Christine. Tonight I'm hanging out with you and we're making tea." We hung out and made tea Tuesday and Wednesday, and then last night we played cards. I taught him and his friends my favorite game (called Palace, Castle, Idiot, or Swedish Meatballs, depending on the person) in French, and we had a lot of fun. Today he gave me 5 meters of fabric that I can take to the tailor soon to make into clothing. I asked Mama about going to the tailor, and she said that her soeur (sister) is a tailor and has 6 shops around town. Or something like that. So either she or Youssou will take me later on this weekend.
I'm worried that I might have caused some host family drama. Elizabeth's host mom asked me where I live, and when I told her, she said "Oh. Watch out for Youssou." Youssou was telling me about how Theresa's and Elizabeth's families (who are related) dislike him. I mentioned that Liz's mom had warned me about him. He told his mom. Mama called me over and said "What happened with your friend's mom?!" And then she told me all about how Africans have too much time and cause problems but people shouldn't be mean like that and so on. The whole time I just stood there saying, "Yes, I understand. I agree. Yes." And that was it.
At the beginning of the week one of the girls on our program got very ill, and we were all really worried about what would happen to her. She's doing a lot better now, but the chances of her getting ill again are way too high for my comfort. We'll see what happens there, I guess.
I talked to Caleb and things are good. Nothing like talking about pressing but depressing subject to make you forget that things were awkward.
Mama wants to cook with me! She asked me what I know how to cook, so I pulled out Mom's cookbook and we went through it together. It was fun trying to translate things that I have no idea how to say in French. Like sour cream. "It's like creme fraiche, only it's not fresh..." Maybe by the time my family comes to visit, I'll be able to cook some local foods. Youssou offered to be a tour guide for us, find my family a villa to live in, come up with trips for us, etc. Seems like it would be really fun, so we'll see how that all unfolds.
I'm getting slightly frustrated with the fact that all our classes are two hours long, and we have anywhere from 2 to 4 of them per day. We end up spending most of the daylight hours in the Baobab Center rather than in the city.
So, overall, things are going really well.
Youssou, my host brother, came up to me on Tuesday and said "I know you're mad at me because I've been spending all my time with Meredith and Christine. Tonight I'm hanging out with you and we're making tea." We hung out and made tea Tuesday and Wednesday, and then last night we played cards. I taught him and his friends my favorite game (called Palace, Castle, Idiot, or Swedish Meatballs, depending on the person) in French, and we had a lot of fun. Today he gave me 5 meters of fabric that I can take to the tailor soon to make into clothing. I asked Mama about going to the tailor, and she said that her soeur (sister) is a tailor and has 6 shops around town. Or something like that. So either she or Youssou will take me later on this weekend.
I'm worried that I might have caused some host family drama. Elizabeth's host mom asked me where I live, and when I told her, she said "Oh. Watch out for Youssou." Youssou was telling me about how Theresa's and Elizabeth's families (who are related) dislike him. I mentioned that Liz's mom had warned me about him. He told his mom. Mama called me over and said "What happened with your friend's mom?!" And then she told me all about how Africans have too much time and cause problems but people shouldn't be mean like that and so on. The whole time I just stood there saying, "Yes, I understand. I agree. Yes." And that was it.
At the beginning of the week one of the girls on our program got very ill, and we were all really worried about what would happen to her. She's doing a lot better now, but the chances of her getting ill again are way too high for my comfort. We'll see what happens there, I guess.
I talked to Caleb and things are good. Nothing like talking about pressing but depressing subject to make you forget that things were awkward.
Mama wants to cook with me! She asked me what I know how to cook, so I pulled out Mom's cookbook and we went through it together. It was fun trying to translate things that I have no idea how to say in French. Like sour cream. "It's like creme fraiche, only it's not fresh..." Maybe by the time my family comes to visit, I'll be able to cook some local foods. Youssou offered to be a tour guide for us, find my family a villa to live in, come up with trips for us, etc. Seems like it would be really fun, so we'll see how that all unfolds.
I'm getting slightly frustrated with the fact that all our classes are two hours long, and we have anywhere from 2 to 4 of them per day. We end up spending most of the daylight hours in the Baobab Center rather than in the city.
So, overall, things are going really well.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tea
One thing I enjoy about Senegalese culture is tea. The tea they make here is called "attaya". It's concentrated green tea with lots of sugar. Here, you don't make tea to drink it, you make it for the process of making it. It makes me happy every time I hear someone say "On va faire du te" ("We're going to make tea"). It takes a couple hours to make attaya. There are three rounds of brewing, and with each one the leaves get more bitter and you add more sugar. There's a whole process of making foam for the tea by pouring watered-down tea back and forth from one cup (shot glass, actually) to another, lifting the glass high up as you do so. The pouring process makes foam, and the more foam you can get, the more skilled you are at making attaya.
It's great to spend a couple hours with friends watching tea brew, chatting, and periodically slurping at hot, delicious tea. The last two nights, Youssou and Alyssa and I have made attaya. It's calming, which has been especially good the last couple days, when I've been pretty stressed out.
(More to come later, I think)
It's great to spend a couple hours with friends watching tea brew, chatting, and periodically slurping at hot, delicious tea. The last two nights, Youssou and Alyssa and I have made attaya. It's calming, which has been especially good the last couple days, when I've been pretty stressed out.
(More to come later, I think)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Some Pictures
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| Us with some famous rapper, apparently. I have no idea who this guy is. |
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| Cool corridor in Goree |
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| Goree from the boat |
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| Friends on the boat |
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| Nothing like an African sunset |
La Deuxieme Semaine (The Second Week)
9/19 at 10 PM
Let me just start this post by saying that it means a lot for me to know that there are people who red my blog and follow my escapades and who really are interested and care about how I'm doing. When I've had a stressful day, it's great to be able to read comments from people who are taking the time to check up on me.
I've had a great weekend, but I'm now exhausted and have a headache. I'm in bed, but I have to wait for my headache drugs to kick in before I can go to sleep. Here are some topics I want to cover: relationship drama, late nights, dancing, concerts, host family, and clothing.
On Friday night, my host brother threw a party for Meredith's host brother, Cire (see-RAY). We met at an apartment for music, food, cake, and drinks before heading out clubbing at Le Voyageur. I spent most of the night dancing with this awesome guy named Ame (ah-MAY). We bantered a lot in French, which always makes me happy. I also love when I find people who speak okay English so they can speak to me in English and I can speak to them in French. It's funny--when I hear a strong French/Wolof accent when someone is speaking to me in English, my first instinct has become to speak to them in French. So anyways, I was dancing with Ame, and he was chasing away anyone else who tried to cut in or dance with me, and we were chatting and he was flirting with me. Here's my favorite part of our dialogue (translated for your convenience):
Ame: Have you ever been in love before?
Me: Yes, I think so. Yes.
Ame: How many men have you been in love with? One? Two?
Me: A hundred.
Ame: A hundred?! Well...I want to be the hundred and first.
I decided against giving him my phone number when he asked, so I said I didn't have a phone and instead gave him my email address. So far I haven't heard from him. I also gave my email to a Congolese guy who I chatted with for a bit. At about 3:30, Katy and I decided to go home and sleep. She slept over with me, and in the morning we headed out for Goree Island, known for its role in the slave-trading days as the Door of No Return.
Goree was beautiful, but also almost unbearably hot. When we were finally allowed to go to the beach, we were greeted with perfect water: refreshingly cool, but not too hard to get into; perfectly clear, so I wasn't constantly afraid I was going to step on something slimy; and very salty so it was easy to float. Alyssa and I found places where there were warm currents, so we hung out in the "jacuzzi" area for a bit. I also bought some gorgeous necklaces from a vendor for a good price--three for about $10. I think they could have sold in the states for well over $20 each, so I'm happy with the price.
Saturday night's plan was to go to a concert by the Baobab Orchestra at a bar named Just For You. One of our guides--or something resembling a guide--Samba, gave us his number and said he'd take us if we called him. We showed up at the Baobab Center when he said to go, and he said he'd be there soon when we called. After more than an hour (during which time I'd been talking to a lovely young man outside the Center), we gave up on him and Sarr, the guy I'd been talking to, offered to take us to the concert. The only catch was that the concert wasn't at Just For You. In fact, the Orchestra wasn't playing that night at all. We ended up at a different bar which had a different concert.
When we got to the Madison, the other bar, Assane Ndiaye's concert hadn't started yet. There was one going on on the second level, though, so we went up to the third level to listen and have drinks while we waited. I asked Sarr about a ring he was wearing on his left pinky, and then Alyssa and Theresa and I talked about the jewelry that we wear. I left my jewelry with Colleen when I stayed with her before I left the states, so I just pointed to the fingers on which I normally wear rings and talked about them. As I was doing so, Sarr nonchalantly slipped his ring onto my left middle finger. I was mid-sentence, so I didn't stop to ask him whether he was giving it to me. Later in the night, I asked if he wanted his ring back, and he looked very hurt. He gave me my least favorite response, "Ca depend a toi" (that depends on you) and said he'd take it back if I didn't like it, so I kept it.
9/20
Now for "relationship" drama. Really it's not, because there is no relationship. But things seem to quickly be falling to pieces. It's frustrating that after putting so much time and energy and emotion into a relationship, it can all end so quickly. I feel like everything I contributed to the relationship was in vain, because I don't feel like I'm getting anything back for it now. I hope it all turns out well, but I guess that the risk of being in a relationship with someone before you've been friends is that you may not be friends when it all ends. So that's where that stands right now.
I've bought a couple kinds of fabric, and soon I'll take them to the tailor to make into clothing. I'm hoping to take Mama with me, because I'm sure she knows a great tailor and can get good prices. Also, she's just a fabulous host mom. When I came home for dinner last night, she took my hand in both of hers and told me how happy she was to see me. She said that she'd missed me over lunch and had hoped I'd be there even though I'd told her I wouldn't make it. Later, when I was sitting at the dinner table, she told her daughters in Wolof that as long as I was sitting at her table ready to eat, she was content. And then I ate all of my dinner! I guess Sunday meals are always the same: bread and coffee for breakfast, Yassa Poulet for lunch, and this oatmeal-ish stuff with sweet peanut sauce for dinner.
Last night, I brought out my Wolof book and my little sister taught me some Wolof and I taught her some English. She leaves for home today, and I'll miss her.
Life here is going well, overall! I'm looking forward to getting more sleep and getting used to all the little things that are challenging me right now. I'm nervous about the upcoming downward trend on the W-curve, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I just would like to avoid the few weeks of being ill and not wanting to be here that seem inherent in study abroad.
Let me just start this post by saying that it means a lot for me to know that there are people who red my blog and follow my escapades and who really are interested and care about how I'm doing. When I've had a stressful day, it's great to be able to read comments from people who are taking the time to check up on me.
I've had a great weekend, but I'm now exhausted and have a headache. I'm in bed, but I have to wait for my headache drugs to kick in before I can go to sleep. Here are some topics I want to cover: relationship drama, late nights, dancing, concerts, host family, and clothing.
On Friday night, my host brother threw a party for Meredith's host brother, Cire (see-RAY). We met at an apartment for music, food, cake, and drinks before heading out clubbing at Le Voyageur. I spent most of the night dancing with this awesome guy named Ame (ah-MAY). We bantered a lot in French, which always makes me happy. I also love when I find people who speak okay English so they can speak to me in English and I can speak to them in French. It's funny--when I hear a strong French/Wolof accent when someone is speaking to me in English, my first instinct has become to speak to them in French. So anyways, I was dancing with Ame, and he was chasing away anyone else who tried to cut in or dance with me, and we were chatting and he was flirting with me. Here's my favorite part of our dialogue (translated for your convenience):
Ame: Have you ever been in love before?
Me: Yes, I think so. Yes.
Ame: How many men have you been in love with? One? Two?
Me: A hundred.
Ame: A hundred?! Well...I want to be the hundred and first.
I decided against giving him my phone number when he asked, so I said I didn't have a phone and instead gave him my email address. So far I haven't heard from him. I also gave my email to a Congolese guy who I chatted with for a bit. At about 3:30, Katy and I decided to go home and sleep. She slept over with me, and in the morning we headed out for Goree Island, known for its role in the slave-trading days as the Door of No Return.
Goree was beautiful, but also almost unbearably hot. When we were finally allowed to go to the beach, we were greeted with perfect water: refreshingly cool, but not too hard to get into; perfectly clear, so I wasn't constantly afraid I was going to step on something slimy; and very salty so it was easy to float. Alyssa and I found places where there were warm currents, so we hung out in the "jacuzzi" area for a bit. I also bought some gorgeous necklaces from a vendor for a good price--three for about $10. I think they could have sold in the states for well over $20 each, so I'm happy with the price.
Saturday night's plan was to go to a concert by the Baobab Orchestra at a bar named Just For You. One of our guides--or something resembling a guide--Samba, gave us his number and said he'd take us if we called him. We showed up at the Baobab Center when he said to go, and he said he'd be there soon when we called. After more than an hour (during which time I'd been talking to a lovely young man outside the Center), we gave up on him and Sarr, the guy I'd been talking to, offered to take us to the concert. The only catch was that the concert wasn't at Just For You. In fact, the Orchestra wasn't playing that night at all. We ended up at a different bar which had a different concert.
When we got to the Madison, the other bar, Assane Ndiaye's concert hadn't started yet. There was one going on on the second level, though, so we went up to the third level to listen and have drinks while we waited. I asked Sarr about a ring he was wearing on his left pinky, and then Alyssa and Theresa and I talked about the jewelry that we wear. I left my jewelry with Colleen when I stayed with her before I left the states, so I just pointed to the fingers on which I normally wear rings and talked about them. As I was doing so, Sarr nonchalantly slipped his ring onto my left middle finger. I was mid-sentence, so I didn't stop to ask him whether he was giving it to me. Later in the night, I asked if he wanted his ring back, and he looked very hurt. He gave me my least favorite response, "Ca depend a toi" (that depends on you) and said he'd take it back if I didn't like it, so I kept it.
9/20
Now for "relationship" drama. Really it's not, because there is no relationship. But things seem to quickly be falling to pieces. It's frustrating that after putting so much time and energy and emotion into a relationship, it can all end so quickly. I feel like everything I contributed to the relationship was in vain, because I don't feel like I'm getting anything back for it now. I hope it all turns out well, but I guess that the risk of being in a relationship with someone before you've been friends is that you may not be friends when it all ends. So that's where that stands right now.
I've bought a couple kinds of fabric, and soon I'll take them to the tailor to make into clothing. I'm hoping to take Mama with me, because I'm sure she knows a great tailor and can get good prices. Also, she's just a fabulous host mom. When I came home for dinner last night, she took my hand in both of hers and told me how happy she was to see me. She said that she'd missed me over lunch and had hoped I'd be there even though I'd told her I wouldn't make it. Later, when I was sitting at the dinner table, she told her daughters in Wolof that as long as I was sitting at her table ready to eat, she was content. And then I ate all of my dinner! I guess Sunday meals are always the same: bread and coffee for breakfast, Yassa Poulet for lunch, and this oatmeal-ish stuff with sweet peanut sauce for dinner.
Last night, I brought out my Wolof book and my little sister taught me some Wolof and I taught her some English. She leaves for home today, and I'll miss her.
Life here is going well, overall! I'm looking forward to getting more sleep and getting used to all the little things that are challenging me right now. I'm nervous about the upcoming downward trend on the W-curve, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I just would like to avoid the few weeks of being ill and not wanting to be here that seem inherent in study abroad.
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