Weekend updates

Bonjour, tout le monde!

So it's been a nice, fairly busy, yet still relaxing weekend. Friday night, we went to watch Aziz play soccer versus some American embassy kids. While watching, we met some students from the Suffolk University program, and one of them actually is a student from Pomona, so it was so lovely being able to swap stories about professors, mutual friends, Sagehen drama, and other general Claremont information. It's nice knowing there is someone else in this far-away country who has heard of a tiny school called Pitzer.

After the game, Bobby and I met Rodline and Ryan for dinner - originally wanting to go to this Ethiopian restaurant we had heard about and gotten very excited for. Unfortunately, we walked there and it was closed, so we went to the French Insititute instead, which is such a wonderful consolation prize because we LOVE the French Institute and its delicious foods.

On Saturday I went to the zoo with Shannon, Rodline, Bobby, and Aziz. That was an experience in itself, because I had never even been to a zoo before in my life! We saw some cute monkeys and gorillas, and Aziz got to see his favorite animal, the lion. One thing that was so frustrating to me about the whole zoo experience, was actually all the events leading up to getting there. I was supposed to meet everyone there around 2 or 3, but then Maman told me I should wait and have lunch before I left, so she kept telling me, "Lunch is almost ready, go sit down to wait," but I waited for about an hour before lunch really was ready, and the whole time I was thinking, "I am going to be so late to meet them!" Then when I finally was able to leave, there was terrible traffic in the taxi, and I was just so frustrated, watching the minutes tick by, knowing that I couldn't do anything.

It was a good lesson in radical acceptance, and it made me realize that I have very little control over the rest of the universe. What a frustrating realization to come to, but a liberating one as well. I cannot control when lunch is ready, or how slowly it takes to prepare it, or the horrible traffic jams in Dakar that can be blamed on Abdoulaye Wade's not spending money wisely and not improving traffic circulation. But the thing is, there is no use in blaming anyone or resenting all of these things I can't control. If I learned anything this weekend, it's that I simply have to go with the flow, or I will be very bitter and angry trying to fight against the flow.

On Saturday night, we went out to this night club called Voyageur, which was actually SO FUN. It was Ladies' Night, which means all of us girls got in free, which is actually a really lovely concept. Furthermore, had we not gotten in for free, I think it would have been a more expensive, upscale club... definitely the nicest, classiest one we've been to so far. Without making TOO much of a generalization here, I really feel strongly that the nicer the club, the less sketchy and obnoxious the patrons. At all the other bars and nightclubs we've gone to, there have been some very presumptuous, touchy-feely Senegalese people that made most of us pretty uncomfortable as women. However, at this club, we were mostly left alone, and we just had fun dancing and not having to fend off any unwanted sexual advances.

On Sunday I went with Ryan, Rodline, and Shannon to Marche Sandaga, which is ALWAYS an experience, and the four of us deserve credit just for making it out alive with our sanity (mostly) intact. It is the busiest, loudest, most bustling market, where people are constantly yelling at you ("My sister! What would you like to buy? I have a good price for you! Come to my factory!") and following you and touching you and invading your personal space. It is also the place where it is the most likely to be pickpocketed, as Ryan almost experienced for herself a few times ago when we went, and someone tried but failed to rob her. All in all, an incredibly high-stress type of environment. However, at the end of the day, all four of us walked away with glorious, well-bargained sundresses that we were all very happy with.

My goal for the marketplace was to buy a dress (success) and also an "upukay" which is the traditional Senegalese fan that all the women carry, that actually does wonders for dealing with the sweltering heat and cooling off sweat. My Maman told me not to pay any more than 200 francs (about 40 cents American) for one. However, when I finally found someone who was selling them, he started off the bidding at 5000 francs (10 dollars American)!!! I said, "No way, Jose!" and he acted like he was very generously lowering the price by offering it at 1000 francs (2 dollars American). I could barely get him to go any lower, but finally he agreed to sell it to me for 400 francs, which is maddeningly expensive for such an item, and the haggling back and forth lasted about 10 minutes, and I still didn't get a satisfying price. I told him I knew that he was giving me the toubab price, and he gave me a schpiel about how Senegalese people don't look at commerce that way, and that the price for whites and blacks is the same because all people are equal. (BALONEY!!!) When I got home and told Maman and Khady that I paid 400 francs for the upukay, they were equally mad and frustrated. And this is exactly why we were warned not to make purchases without a Senegalese person nearby.

Anyway, we ended the day at the market by stopping at Nice Cream, which is this fabulous ice cream store with a flavor called "Obama" (chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies). It is epic how people in this country are so obsessed with Barack Obama, that they name an ice cream flavor after him. It was delicious, and I felt very patriotic consuming it!!

Speaking of Barack Obama, as a side note, there is one Car Rapide that I see EVERYWHERE and ALL THE TIME. My goal is to capture it with my camera one time when I see it stopped, because it is my favorite Car Rapide, and I always feel like my day is complete when I see it. What is so special about it is that on the back of it, it says "BARACK OBAMA," painted in big, colorful block letters. Then above that, on each of the back windows, are two bumper stickers depicting the Senegalese flag, but where the star usually is in the center, is actually a marijuana leaf. The combination of the love for President Obama as well as marijuana just makes me laugh, and I love seeing that particular Car Rapide trundling down the street. I was lucky enough to ride in it once when it stopped outside my house, but I wasn't quick enough to take a picture. Hopefully next time!

Last night I went with Ndeye Thioune to a wedding of somebody in Maman's family. Maman is sick and wasn't able to go, and Khady is 9 months pregnant (!!!!!!) and not able to easily go out, so me and Ndeye Thioune went as representatives of the family. It was fun, and watching everybody dance to the tam-tams (a type of traditional drum) was INCREDIBLE. It is just one mass of flailing and writhing limbs... it's like people go crazy and become possessed by some sort of spirit when the tam-tam starts playing. The best part of the wedding, though, actually happened before, when I put on my boubou, the same one that I wore for Korite, and went upstairs to show Maman, and she started saying over and over, so excitedly, "Sama doom," which, in Wolof, means "My child." She is just SO adorable and loving, and has really, truly welcomed me into her home like an actual child of hers. I really did luck out!

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering what happened with the Hospital today, I went back to talk to them and was told by the secretary that Monday is the doctor's busy day and he wouldn't be able to talk to me, and that next time I should call in advance. I asked her, "Didn't my professor call you on Friday, and you told him I should come in on Monday? Isn't that calling in advance?" and she said "I'm just the secretary. You should call the doctor yourself." So long story short, I am so over this fruitless waiting. They don't take me seriously because I don't speak fluent French, and I am not in med school.

Waly told me about another internship opportunity called Ecole De La Rue, which is a school for street-children and even street-adults who are looking to learn some English or French. The one downside is that it is all the way downtown, whereas the Hospital is so close to school so it is so convenient to walk to. But I cannot put all my eggs in one basket, especially a basket that has rejected me 5 days in a row now. So I will try to pursue another internship elsewhere, and maybe my skills and dedication will be valued by another organization that has a niche for me.

Anyway, this entry is long enough. Enjoy the photos of me and the lion, and Aziz and the lion (his favorite animal).