Well, it was both an excellent and a horrible weekend. Friday night, Moussou and I decided to make spaghetti, which was very exciting for me because it was vegetarian and familiar! We had fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, and cheese, and we made the sauce ourselves! The only thing missing was whole wheat pasta, but all in all, it was a very satisfying meal.
Saturday, a bunch of us decided to go to the Ile de la Madeleine, or, “Ile des Serpeants” (Snake Island), as it’s more commonly referred to here in Senegal. The island is not far off the coast of Dakar, and is an uninhabited wildlife refuge (mainly for birds). This is where the good and the bad of my weekend comes in though. I speak the best French, so I was put in charge of organizing the boat ride from the mainland to the island. I put my bag down with my 8 other friends and asked them to watch it while I went and took care of the logistics. So, 15 minutes later we all got on the boat and set off. The view was really pretty so I reached into my bag to grab my camera, but it wasn’t there! I made the boat turn around, thinking I might have dropped it on the ground somewhere, but it was nowhere to be found. Somehow, despite my 8 friends charged with watching my bag, my camera was stolen. Now, I did put insurance on it, so I should get a new camera for free, but the bigger issue is the fact that I no longer have a camera for my Senegal trip. I may be able to snag some pictures here and there from my friends, but in general, expect less pictures up on my blog. Sorry.
Anyway, though, the island was incredibly beautiful, and entirely uninhabited. I swam in this little lagoon, looked at the fish under the water (dad you would have been in heaven), and explored the rocky terrain. Also, I floated for like 30 minutes, watching an eagle soar in the sky. I usually can’t float (as you know mom), but here the water is so salty that floating is a piece of cake. The island was so peaceful and naturally beautiful. And it smelled so good, like nature!!
Afterwards, on a whim, I decided to go sing in a gospel choir with my friend, Joy. She is a music major at school, as well as a devout Christian, and had sought out this choir so that she could keep singing while she was here. Well, as soon as I heard gospel music, I was in! But unfortunately, the choir wasn’t that good – nothing compared to my experience last fall at school. The song selection is average, the musicians are average, and I kind of feel like the singers are a tad bit off key. But it was still nice to belt it out – it had been so long!
That night, there was a music concert right in Mermoz, two minutes away from where I live. So Moussou and I went to check it out. I was definitely the only white person there, but it was still fun. There was some good, and not so good, hip hop. But the funniest thing was the comedy section, which of course was in Wolof. I couldn’t understand anything, but what I did notice was that a) comedians seem to make impressions of people a lot, especially women. Though I didn’t know what they were saying, I could hear the change in their tones of voice, and their efforts to sound like women, probably nagging housewives, and b) comedians seem to incorporate music and dance a lot into their routines. In what I saw, there was a lot of beatboxing, and homosexual-seeming dancing. I don’t know, this is just what I gathered.
Sunday, I went over to a good friend of mine’s house. His name is Makha and I met him when we went to Goree Island a month ago with the group. I’ve hung out with him a lot, both with my friends or sister, and with his friends. At this point, I trust him completely. He is a very intelligent and nice person, and he hasn’t even hit on me or asked for my hand in marriage! Anyway, so this is the third time I’ve been to his house, and I really, I mean REALLY, love his family. They are all so welcoming and interested in me, and there are about 6 little kids running around the house that are all in love with me, or at least the fact that I’m white. They all gather around me and pet me and hold my hand and speak Wolof to me. It’s actually very educational. And Makha’s siblings are all interested in talking to me. Just yesterday I had an hour-long conversation with his older brother. And it was great!
So anyway, I went over there yesterday and ate lunch with them. And I brought presents for the kids – bracelets for the girls and balls for the boys. And, of course, candy! I love having these kids around. The little baby fell asleep in my arms for an hour, and then when she woke up, I got to play with her a lot. She is so precious! And I am in love with Makha’s little cousin, Mohammed. He is a 2 year old trouble-maker with a great personality. And he is so intelligent and funny. We have a really good relationship even though he can’t speak a word of French. After lunch, Makha and I (and a few of his friends) took little Mohammed to the beach. Apparently, though, he had seen a documentary on crocodiles a few days before, and so he thought there were crocodiles in the ocean. Consequently, he didn’t want to go in the water once he got there. But eventually, we convinced him, and he went in the water with me. But I had to hold him the entire time (which of course I secretly loved). You could tell he was really scared because he was suctioned on to me, but I think he was having fun too, because I was jumping up and down with him and riding the waves a little.
We left the beach and went back to Makha’s house for barbecued corn, which I love!! You can buy it on the streets here for 15 cents, and it’s a vegetable!
This morning, I went to the police station to make a report of my stolen camera. It too a few hours, but at least now it’s over with, and I can fax it to Best Buy, and hope that they will in fact give me a new camera…
The best and the worst
