the week so far

So Ryan and I just got back from the Mercredi Marché (= "Wednesday marketplace") which is a market that sort of reminds me of one huge American thrift store. That's where all the ironically funny American tee shirts come from, and lots of other cheap fashion from the States that is either donated or secondhand. I bought a belt for 500 francs (~1 USD), but the coolest part for me was simply being there and seeing another form of a market here, and how everyday Senegalese people purchase their clothes. Every experience I have opens my eyes to something new and different and interesting, and I am so thankful for it.

In other news, yesterday was our last class for "Senegal Today," so Professor Seck took us out for a beer after (well, more litterally, during) class. He took us to his favorite bar at around 4:30 in the afternoon (our class normally ends at 6 PM), and it was already hopping. It was a really cool, relaxed bar where everyone comes to hang out after work. The bar's community is regular and tight-knit, so we met so many patrons that our teacher knows. Everyone kept coming over to our table to chat with him, so naturally we all had to go through the 5-minute Senegalese greeting of "ça va? ça va! Et la famille, ça va? Oui oui, ça va. Et le travail, ça va? ça va, etc etc." One thing I really liked about this bar, though, was the amount of interracial mixing in the community. We met a Swiss woman who married a Senegalese intellectual, and the two of them live here with their gorgeous mixed-race child. Senegalese people were sitting at the same table as Lebanese, with white people sprinkled throughout.

Professor Seck pointed out all of this interracial mixing to us and said it is actually just a microcosm of Senegal. Except for the gawking over white people, races live together in extreme harmony, as do religions. Christians and Muslims celebrate their holidays together, and Senegal practices a culture of extreme respect for one another, despite differences.

Alright, that was just a quick entry but I have to run, so I can go work on my Timothy Leary French presentation.

Back to Massachusetts in: 18 days!!