I had a beach weekend! Saturday, it rained all morning, but I really really really wanted to go to the beach. So I put my swimsuit on and waited by the door, thinking very hard that the rain would stop. And finally it did! So, a couple of us went to Yoff Beach, about a 25 minute car rapide ride. It was sooo beautiful there – I wish I had brought my camera to take pictures, but the beach is one of the most common places for petty theft, so I really didn’t want to bring anything too valuable. But I went swimming twice (the waves and current remind me of Florida beaches) and walked up and down the beach. It was so nice to be there and get a break from the craziness of Dakar streets. I really tried to soak it all in.
Saturday night was Reggae night! A large group of us went to a reggae party and danced the night away! Some of Moussou’s friends taught me some really useful reggae dance moves, so I got pretty good by the end of the night.
Sunday was a funny day. As I mentioned earlier, Sunday we generally go visit the extended family in a town 15 minutes away. So we drove there in Mama’s car. Wow, was that an experience! She had to restart the car at least 10 times on the way because the engine would stall or just plain shut down. Sometimes we would stall, and it would take here literally 2 minutes to get the thing started up again. The situation was very comical, but I also found myself wondering whether I was safe in this car.
Sunday night I went to the beach again (I told you it was a beach weekend)! I played tennis on the beach with a good family friend, Markhou. He is a 30 year old guy who loves jazz and is very intelligent. I enjoy hanging out with him, and even though he wants to marry me (like every other Senegalese man) I made it clear that I’m way too young and don’t even know if I ever want to get married. I love telling that to Senegalese men – you should see their face! “You don’t want to get married? What are you gonna do with yourself? How are you going to support yourself?” I think it’s implausible that women here not get married. Marriage is seen a the means of sustaining oneself, of being able to live, eat, clothe oneself. Funny – I wonder if people even marry at all for love here.
This topic brings up another really interesting point here. It seems that everyone an individual does is for the family. Young people marry, not to join two individuals, but to join two families who can gain from one another. People also work, not to support themselves (to buy that IPOD they’ve had their eye on), but to support their families. Often, within a family (even a large family), there will only be one or two individuals working to support the entire family. Our maid is one of two who works in her family – she even has TWO jobs. And yet, when I went over to her house, she had 3 siblings who were just sitting there watching TV. My Wolof teacher works in Dakar and sends his family, who lives 2 hours away, money. He is the main bread-winner in the family, even though he has older siblings and parents. And the extended family we go visit every Sunday has like 10 people living in their house, all of them working age, and only 1 works. A weird system.
A “beachy” weekend
