6.28.08

Went downtown with Kay today hoping to get to the seed store. Lunch ended up being a bit late so by the time we made it there it was closed. Casino (a real live super market) was however OPEN! Our eyes were tortured beyond all imagining as we walked through a shelf maze filled with any food your heart could desire. Of course it pales next to any mediocre American grocery store, but it’s the best selection in all of Senegal. I looked through package after package of cheese imagining having some on a cracker. Maybe even with a piece of salami. Then I walked over to the ice-cream section just to look at the mint chip. Later I found myself hugging a bag of potato chips. Finally at breaking point, we forced ourselves to leave settling on some yogurt and a soda. Amuma xalis!! (I don’t have money) We made our way to this hotel by the place d’independence for coffee on the roof. It was my first time taking in the sites of my city from above. It was beautiful to see the ocean on three sides and look down on all the other buildings downtown. The roof had an old, nasty pool that even had an underwater window looking into the bar downstairs. I couldn’t decide if it was awesome or tacky. I imagine at one point many a great party was had atop that roof. Being the only two people up there, Kay and I began belting out musicals and trying not to choke on the strawberry yogurt we had bought. The fun ended in the creation of the world’s best handshake…..the “slit it”. I’ll have to show you sometime. 

6.26.08

Not really having any one specific thing to write about, all I can really offer are GLIMPSES into a few random experiences. Today I worked at Hospital Fann. While I was throwing away some bad tomato plants I came across this fellow here:

 

I had previously found some large and rather ornate, uninhabited shells and had wondered what the missing occupant might have looked like. I thought perhaps a snail, but judging by the size of the shell it seemed improbable. The shells I had found looked like something one ought to find on the beach. The only difference being the lightness of weight and feel of fragility. Finally seeing an occupied shell, I was slightly surprised by the sheer magnitude of it’s tenant! A snail the size of which I have never seen. Apparently he likes tomatoes. Not having the heart to play the part of big, bad wolf and blow his house down, I opted to give him a change of scenery. Apparently I’m not a good Baykat (farmer) when I choose to let my enemies live. I admired his spiral house. It was beautiful.

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On another note, I’ve been finding my relationship with the public transport here to be as bumpy a ride as the transport itself. There are days when swinging elbows and hugging strangers is not something I want to do, and there are days when I LIVE FOR IT! Take today for example. I walked out to the stop and my bus (#29) met me there immediately as if the timing had been prearranged. It was completely fess na (full) so I squeezed in a small crack between two other flattened people and grabbed whatever I could find so as not to fall out of the unclose-able door. After a few shoves and accidental “feel ups” I was secure. While we climbed the overpass, I hung my body out of the bus to feel the cool wind and gaze down upon my home. Dark clouds hung in the sky like marionettes, provoking my desire to experience the rain they withheld. Looking down, I saw the beauty of life’s kinetic energy: hundreds of people going about their morning business. I felt like a kid watching an anthill, wondering about the intricacies of each life story. I WASN’T  thinking how lucky they were that they weren’t crammed in #29 with elbows in their ribs, I WASN’T thinking ‘get me out of this death trap!’, I WASN’T thinking about how the guy next to me needed to invest in some deodorant. NO. I was thinking how lucky I am to share this life with them, in this place, at this moment. Now, not all transport experiences are filled with such realizations. Many have been quite painful, literally. Like when you can’t squeeze in all the way but the driver seems to think that if he continues to push the “door closed” button, slamming the door into your shoulder over and over again, that maybe, just maybe he’ll shave a bit of you off so the door can close. However, like I learned today, there are times when a crazy bus ride is exactly what you need.

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Because we just recently slaughtered one of our lambs, Dinners have consisted of a lot of meat, which my withering away body gladly and joyously consumes. (Allow me to interject that said lamb was slaughtered just outside my bedroom. Quite the occasion I must say). I’ve been learning (ndank ndank) that Senegalese sure do find creative ways to eat everything their lamb has to offer.  SO the other night, I’m called to reer (dinner) at the surprisingly early 10pm. As I enter the kitchen, I see delicious looking rice on top of which lies a huge hunk of meat. My stomach danced eagerly when I sat down, so I grabbed a spoon to begin. Then my sister Mameisha used her spoon to flip over what I thought was a delicious hunk of yapp (meat) to reveal its true form…..the head of the lamb. I’ve learned to take everything in stride and not flinch at anything, ever. I ate mostly rice because every time I scraped some flesh off of the skull with my spoon, the giant exposed eyeball would look at me as if to say “remember when I was alive and how you used to pet me when you came home from work? Remember? Remember?” My sister quickly ended that day dream when she turned her spoon upside down and jammed it into the eye socket popping the eye out violently. She looked up almost apologetically and asked me if I wanted it. Without breaking eye contact with the eyeball, I declined saying I was full and that this time I would let her enjoy. She smiled and threw it into her mouth as if it were a grape. She made a loud “Mmmmm” sound as she chewed and I excused myself to my room where I ate a handful of cornflakes. 

6.21.08

How is NOTHING so easy to do?

Humored sleep, over-stimulated taste buds served as the dance floor to recently received Oreos, hung transatlantic window over brightly colored death couch. My Productivity gauge seems to be broken. Does familiar music serve as a plane ticket home? A trip to visit your sorely missed bud normal? It was the shortest flight I ever took and they served Kool-aid and M&Ms. Thanks music, the next one is on me!

16 June 2008

What can only be described as “The Nothing” visited today. If any of you remember the movie “The Neverending Story” you will know exactly what I mean. The morning started as most do, with a quick bus ride and long walk to my garden in the heat. When I got there, I started watering, pulling weeds, transplanting etc and then went on a short walk with my counterpart, Seyrene, to check on a banana grove next to the garden. As I ducked under huge banana leaves the temperature seemed to drop dramatically. Then a cold and strong wind made the banana leaves dance frantically. When I came out of the grove I looked up and saw it. Hanging low in the sky were the dark and daunting clouds swallowing everything in their path. Seyrene looked up and said, “Taw bi, mungi new” (the rain, it comes).  By the time we walked back to the office, it was dark and the rain came down in cold sheets. The energy that the rain brought was exhilarating. Being the first rain of Dakar, a few of us just stood there looking up at the sky letting the drops crash on our faces. One of my coworkers even raised his hands to the sky and began singing praises to allah in Arabic. The contrasting green of the garden and trees with the black sky was so calming. I felt as though I needed to write a poem. Sorry, I didn’t. The rain hung out for 20 minutes or so then flew away just as quickly as it had come. I’m assured the nothing will become an unwanted guest after awhile, but I feel as though we could become great friends. I mean, who doesn’t like a visitor who turns brown to green!?

2 June 2008

I took a short 2-day trip down south to Mbour where a small group of us got together to celebrate our friend Chris’ birthday. The trip should have been quite easy but was fraught with many a jafe jafe (problem). First of all, I woke up late Saturday morning. Way to start the day. My mom told me the previous night that she thought there were cars going to Mbour across from our house and that I could just catch one of them; so, I headed for the area where all the cars were. When I arrived I saw none of the cars I was looking for, instead, I saw numerous “Alhums” (essentially mini buses). I decided to try my luck anyway and began asking around to see which ones were going to Mbour. No one seemed to be able to answer my question until, just before I lost hope, some one informed me that I would need to go to Thies first then to Mbour. This seemed odd to me because Thies was in a completely different direction, but my lost patience made the choice for me. I hopped on the bus slightly frustrated and found a seat. It was practically empty, another slap to the face because this meant I would have to wait for it to fill up before we left. Time passed and the bus slowly filled but everything started getting on my nerves: the Jaaykats shoving their useless wares through my window in an attempt to get the toubab to buy, the begger boy who walked up and down the aisle of the bus singing at the top of his lungs his prayers whilst jingling change signaling his desire for more, the crying baby two seats behind. Finally the bus starts moving and I exhale deeply. While driving we stop numerous times and I get angry with myself for not going to a different garage to take a car straight to Mbour. I probably added an extra 2 hours to my travel time this way. Just as the stress starts to bubble up to my throat, something big and hairy falls into my lap. I jump thinking some rabid animal is about to attack when I realize what it is. The woman in front of me had begun dozing off and when her head bobbed backwards her wig flew off at me. I pick it up and awkwardly hand it back to her while her small child giggles. I can’t help but grin and I quickly realize how foolish all of my stresses had been. It’s all part of the experience.

 The weekend in Mbour was a lot of fun. We ate tons of food because Chris has been living in a village with no current or running water and he was wasting away! He said all he eats for dinner is fish bones because there never seems to be any meat on the fish. He shared this hilarious story about how one day he was really craving some real food so he biked for 2 hours into Mbour and went to a restaurant. He sat down and started eating the bread they served and noticed there were two containers of sauce on the table. He started putting the mustard on his bread and was freaking out because it was so good. Then he tried the other sauce, which he wasn’t quite sure what it was. He said it was INCREDIBLE, and he continued eating it feeling as if he should know what it was. He was about to ask the waiter when it dawned on him…….he had been eating Mayonnaise. His amazing sauce was Mayonnaise! We all laughed at him and told him how disgusting that was. Then we started talking about how all of our cravings have changed so much since living in Senegal. We all ended up giving the mayo a try AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! It’s strange the way Senegal changes you. 

Here is a pic of us LOVING the mayo

Lastly, I wanted to share some videos that I just got online. They are back from when I was living with my family in Thienba. The first is my brother Matar explaining to me how he makes Tea. The last video is of my Niece and Nephews singing a song to me. So cute.