Well, it's been an interesting couple of weeks.

I just got back a couple of days ago from a week long trip to the Gambia.  I went with Mari and Oumy, and we stayed with Mari's sister Awa.  She lives in a small apartment, which consists of a bedroom and a living room.  The cooking is done on a single gas burner outside.  There is a communal bathroom for the complex, and by bathroom I mean hole in the ground, and a communal shower, which was also not as clean as what I'm used to here in Guediawaye...

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the geography of West Africa, but the Gambia is situated right in the middle of Senegal.  Senegal was colonized by the French, but the mighty British navy came up the river which runs through Senegal, and claimed about five or ten miles of land on either side, which became the Gambia.  Therefore, the Gambia is English speaking, while Senegal is French speaking.  Fuckin' colonialism...

Actually, it was quite refreshing to be in a place that was English speaking, though I hate to say it.  It was nice to know what was going on some of the time, to be able to understand street signs, commercials, and the FIFA soccer tournament.  (The Gambia qualified, and the whole complex was running around screaming outside whenever the Gambia scored...even if it was at 3:00 in the morning...)  But even the buildings there looked a little more familiar.  Everything seemed a little more European/American.

While there was quite a bit of cultural miscommunication between me and the rest of the family, I must recount to you the most humorus aspect of this trip.

Mari had already started yelling at me the day before we left that I was going to have to get up in the morning so we could leave for Dakar, and she knew I wouldn't get up.  I tried to tell her that I would, but as per usual, my French wasn't cutting it.  (Many a times I have gotten frustrated and begun yelling at her English, which I now feel really bad about...)  

At any rate, the morning came to leave, and I did get up, at 8:30 in the morning.  (Which was rough, since I've been sleeping till 11:00 or 12:00 everyday...)  I went to the bank like planned, after refusing to take a shower even though Mari told me to.  (I didn't want there to be any hold-ups.)  I came back from the bank and I was ready to leave.  However, people here are pretty insistent about eating three meals a day, so we sat down to breakfast.  After breakfast, I was ready to leave, and we hung out at the house for another couple of hours.  Finally at about noon or 12:30, we left.  Halleluya.

No.

We went to a market...for FOUR HOURS.  Yes.  And you all know how much I love to shop...

Finally, as the market trip was nearing a close, I was mentally preparing for the journey that lie ahead of me.  (A taxi to the ferry station, a ferry ride up the river, a taxi ride to the border, walking across the border, two sets of passport control, the Gambian passport control guys hitting on me, a taxi ride to the station, a "car" ride, which is really a van with benches instead of seats and people stacked four to five people across for about four hours, to Dakar, and a taxi ride to Guediawaye.  Yeah.)  Suddenly, I look up, and the sky is a dark gray.  About ten minutes later, that same sky opened up into some type of terrential downpour.  I have never seen anything like it.  BUCKETS of water poured out of the sky.  Being a desert rat, I was in awe.  Well now, we have to walk back to where we had left our baggage...a little further than I anticipated.

So we begin walking, Mari with a plastic bag on her head to keep her hair dry, me holding a plastic bag over my head to keep me dry, though it did nothing.  I started slipping in my flip flops, and all the salespeople who line the streets began laughing at me from under canopies, calling me toubab, and telling me, "This is Africa!"  "Welcome to Africa!"

There really isn't any drainage on the streets, so they flood rather quickly.  I began wading through the water, which was halfway up to my knees, and my flip flops broke.  Taking them off, I continued wading through the brown water.  Also, it's important to note that here, people don't wait to find a trash can to throw something out.  In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a public trash receptacle here.  In the Gambia it's a little better, but not much.  So all the garbage, and as my father pointed out, probably goat shit too, is floating in the street.  We managed to be some of the last people to make it on to the ferry, and I nearly fell once I got on.

In the end, I got shotgun in the van on the way back, though I had to share it with one other person.  Still, I was grateful.  We had to wait three hours for the van to fill up before we could leave, so Mari and I didn't make it back until after morning prayers, probably around 6:00 or 6:30.  A crazy trip indeed.

In other news, it was Mari's birthday on Friday, and I went with her 20-year old niece Mariem to buy here a cake.  We sang "Happy Birthday" in English and French, and even had fattiya.  (These little fried fish balls - they are SO good.)  We're having another party for Mari's nephew Chamsau when he comes to visit from Saint-Louis in a couple of days, because he passed his baccalaureate with flying colors.  That means, another cake.  :)

Miss you all, and I'll try to write something of a little more substance next time.  Oh yeah, I decided not to go to Mali for the sake of research here...hope it works out.

Love,
Sarah

Current Location: Guediawaye, Dakar, Senegal

Really, they do.  The older kids don't have as much of a problem with me, but small children seem to always cry at the sight of me.  Touty says it's because I'm white and they're not used to seeing it.  Babies are repulsed by my freakishly pale skin.

Okay, so I'm a bit melodramatic.  Let me begin by saying that I'm trying to get my ass in gear, so I've uploaded some pictures and videos.  Go to www.snapfish.com and enter my E-Mail (Sarah.Ventre@asu.edu)  The password is: sarahisinafrica.  Then you can look at the pics I've uploaded so far.  There are a few hundred more, but it takes a while to label them and post them.  Keep checking back to it, cause I'll add more as I can.  Happy Mom?  :)

I'll post the YouTube links to the videos I have as soon as I get them uploaded.  I'm not quite technologically advanced enough for all of this...

I actually have loads to say, and I've been thinking a lot about many things.  My research, life in the U.S. as compared to here, perceptions of those I've talked to about the U.S., the politics of race, living as a foreigner - (even for a really brief time,) in another country.  It's been a lot to take in, and I've done a totally crap job at taking notes the last couple weeks.  I'm going to try and get caught up over the next day or two, and write down what I can remember.  But consider this my public confession that I haven't taken notes when I was supposed to, and I am a bad anthropologist.

At the moment I'm trying to label and organize all of my pictures.  Dr. Sunkett says that that's a really good way to remember things later and have records of what I did.  I think he thinks it's pretty important, and it's a lot easier for me to do than to write my observations, so I'm doing it in the name of work.

I can't quite bring myself to write everything I'm thinking right now, for lots of different reasons, one of which being that I'm much more of a verbal person, and I'd rather call everyone and tell them over the phone.  :)  Ha, ha.  But seriously, I think that culture shock might be setting in.  That in combination with the massive language barrier makes it tough, but I'm starting to learn to roll with the punches a little bit.  What's worse is that I feel bad about feeling bad.  I find myself longing for American things, though I'm trying to tell myself that I'm only longing for familiar things.  Don't get me wrong, I'm having an amazing time and learning loads, it's just a big adjustment.

I just got back last night from Saint-Louis, which is in the north.  I visited Mari's sister Nanu and her family.  I really loved Saint-Louis, because it seems to be a big city, with some of the charm of a small town.  Not to mention it's absolutely gorgeous.  I went to three different beaches, and hung out a lot with Mari's 11 year old niece Adama, and 12 year old niece Marietu.  When I was with Sala, their older sister, I went on an all day trip to the beach with her and her friends, and while it was awesome, I got a fairly bad sunburn.  No harm, no foul.  But when I got back to the house, I realized that the kids, and I think even the adults, had never seen a sunburn.  They all thought I was sick, and kept asking me if I was okay, and if everything was alright.  It was kind of hard to explain, but once they realized it was from prolonged sun exposure, they started to look at it and touch it...then I had to explain why that wasn't a good idea either.  :)

I did play Dead Hot Workshop and the Meat Puppets for the kids and Mari, and they totally rocked out.  It was awesome.  That, and I've listened to Akon approximately 15 times per day since I've been here.  It's been a music filled trip in many-a-ways.

At any rate, I'm gonna try and go get something accomplished, but I'll probably fail at that, too.  :)  Write me if you can, and I love you and miss you.  I'll try and post something of more substance later.

-Sarah

Current Location: Guediawaye, Dakar, Senegal

 

Monday, 25 June/Tuesday 26 June 2007

Guediawaye, Senegal

So it's been two weeks, and two really interesting and eventful ones. I'll try to go back later and enter some handwritten notes I took in Casamance – (minimal handwritten notes...) Casamance. That's where we were for about four or five days last week.  Casamance is the southernmost region in Senegal, and it borders Guinea Bissau.  I think for the most part, it's pretty rural, and certainly, the place where we stayed was.  Though I'm much more of a city girl, it was really nice to have fresh air, and to be able to see thousands of stars at night.  We even got a really clear view of the Milky Way.  The village we stayed in was called Koufantine, (I probably just completely butchered that spelling,) and it was really nice.  We stayed in a small complex that was built for toubabs, (foreigners,) and the main caretaker of the place is the cousin of Toutti, the oldest sister who lives here at the house in Guediawaye.  (My sources tell me that if you're really curious, and go to google earth, you can actually look up Guediawaye and see satellite pictures of where I'm staying.  This house will actually show up on the map, but I guess now that I think about it, you wouldn't know what to look for.  You could just look and know that I'm there.  Somewhere.  In that region.  There.)  I'll write more about Casamance, the 12 hour boat ride there and 15 hour boat ride back, and the strange and interesting people we met there, (including one who has a religious philosophy that he calls "elastic family,") when I enter my partial Casamance entry based on my horrible one page of chicken scratch.

At the moment, I'm sitting here with a few family members.  We just got done watching a telenovella overdubbed in French, and now we're watching Senegalese music videos.  It's about 2:15, and I can smell lunch cooking.  I thought it might help to explain a little bit about the family and the house I'm staying in, so that you can have a frame of reference.  The following people live in this house.

Touty - She's the oldest sister, and basically the head of the household.  She's really funny, and she, like all of the other sisters here, is supercool.  All of the Konate women seem to have a certain attitude about them.  They're all really different, but they are all pretty feisty, for lack of a better word, and I certainly would not want to get into it with any of them.

Sibi - (Butchering the spelling again...)  Sibi reminds me a lot of my friend Emily.  She's really calm and quiet, she's always reading, and she's really nice.  Emily actually even looks a little bit like her too.  She's tall and thin and really pretty.  She runs the telecentre here, and although eveyone helps take care of Touty Boondow, I think she acts as the primary caretaker.  (The telecentre is a pay telephone that the public can use out of one of the rooms that faces the street in the house.) She's biologically Touty's half sister, (she's the daughter of Touty's father, and I think his second wife,) but she was named after her father's first wife, and lives here with the family, as a sister.

Mari - My twin.  She and I are incredibly alike.  We have really similar personalities and even some similar habits. Actually, a lot of people say that we look alike too.  We both love to eat, we both go into laughing fits...  She's my new roommate too!  After the other students left, the rooming situation changed for everyone, giving the Konate family a lot more space.  She and I are staying in one of the upstairs rooms now.

Mariam - Biologically, she's the niece of Toutti and her sisters.  She's 17, and is a student.  She's a lot of fun too, and she, along with Mari and Toutti are going to help me learn to dance like a Senegalese person.

Shekh - Shekh is the son of Jibbi, who is Toutti, etc.'s brother.  He's ten, and really sweet.  A lot of the pictures that you'll see were taken by him.  He helped me figure out how to use my camera when I first opened it.  Dr. Sunkett always sympathises with him, since he's the only boy in a house full of women.  His father lives just down the street I think, but he rents a room in a house that doesn't allow kids.  Jibbi takes care of him and sees him all the time, though Shekh lives here.

Har – I probably know Har least of everyone in the family, but she's Touty's daughter, and I think she's about 15.

Penda - Penda is about ten or twelve, and is Touty's younger daughter.  She's been hanging out with me a lot, and she and her delegation taught me a couple of soccer songs.  Pela Gambia for Gambia and Pela Senegal for Senegal.  I'll sing them for you when I get home.  Actually, she and her friends have taught me a lot.  They gave me a Wolof lesson or two, and I play with them in front of the house and across the street sometimes.  She's very protective of me, and she holds my hand when we go out.  :)

Touty Boondow - (I know I spelled Boondow wrong.)  Boondow means little in Wolof, and Touty was named after Touty Bumak, (big Touty.)  Touty Boondow is Touty's niece too, and her mother lives in Italy right now.  She's four, and she tags along with me sometimes too.  She likes to play a game where we tickle each other, and she also likes to repeat everything I say - even when it's in English and she doesn't understand.  She was sitting with me when I was on the phone with my father the other day when suddenly, he heard her say, "Oh God!"

Momseii - Momseii is a hired housekeeper for the family, and she lives here. She's pretty funny and laughs a lot too, and she likes to call my name in a sing-song way.

Astu – Astu is biologically Toutti's half-sister. (Toutti's father had I believe three wives, which is very common here. Astu is the daughter of Toutti's father and his second wife.) She lives here, and was raised in this house with this family. She's really cool too.

Add to that Dr. Sunkett and the toubabs, and boy, you've got a full house! Of course, there are many, MANY other people who come by all the time. The door is almost always open and there are constantly adults and children coming in and out of the house.

Lots has happened, and I've made lots of observations. It's all kind of a lot to take in. I think I told some of you, but one of the many things that's difficult to take in is the number of proposals and near proposals that I've received in the last two weeks. I'd say it's been about four, which is more than I had anticipated. (My plan was to get one new drum, lose two dress sizes, and gain three proposals. Well, while objectives one and three may have been met, my plan to lose weight has been foiled, by the amount of food that's put in front of me all the time. Additionally, the water is treated here, so any hopes of getting a parasite have also been foiled. Fuck. Okay, just kidding. After seeing my colleagues get just a little sick, I'm very, VERY grateful that I'm not.)

At any rate, here are the proposals, in order.

Proposal #1: Ibu, the family tailor. The night he met me he asked Dr. Sunkett how much for Mari Deux. Dr. Sunkett said 500 cows, 200 horses, 200 chickens, 200 of some other animal which I don't know the English translation of, and a house like the president. Ibu said, “No problem.” Dr. Sunkett told me that it was ll in good fun, but that if I had said yes, he would've taken me up on it. About a week and a half later, when we went to his shop to pick some things up, after the others left, he called me back and told me that I could pick out something in his shop as a present. At first, I assumed that I had misunderstood, but alas, after getting Astu to translate, (she speaks fluent English,) I found out that I had not. I told her that I couldn't accept, and she said, “Just look around.” So I did, and I picked out this gorgeous beige top with beautiful embroidery, and long flowy sleeves. Then he gave me the skirt and head wrap to match. I feel kind of bad taking it, but it really is beautiful. Dr. Sunkett laughed and said, “Boy, he's workin' it!

Proposal #2: Jibbi, the brother of Toutti. Mari had told me that she wanted to give Jibbi to me, but little did I know that just a few short days later, he would tell me that he wanted to get married, that he wouldn't mind getting married to an American woman and having her live in the U.S. while he lived in Guediawaye, and then suggest that we get married. Again, I assumed I misunderstood, so he said, “Je voudrais toi.” Literal translation: “I want you.” This was all on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic, late at night on the way to Casamance. When I told the others Yari said, “Well that was romantic. He waited till you were on the boat, all alone...” He's actually very nice and very attractive...very flattering for me.

Proposal #3: Cab driver. Yeah. Seriously. He didn't actually propose, just told me that he wanted to come back to the U.S. with me. I was told that I might get a couple of those offers too...

Proposal #4: A guy that I met at a sabar event, (Senegalese drumming,) a few days ago. I think he was kind of interested in the green card too, but he did keep putting his arm around me and holding my hand.

Aside from those, I did get asked for my phone number and get asked on a couple of dates. The only reason I mention such things, let alone spend so much time writing about them, is because this never EVER happens in the U.S., and while it may be a bit much, it is nice for a change.

Two days ago we went to Goree Island, which is just off the coast of Dakar. It was the point where many of the slaves where shipped out from Africa to the U.S. and the Caribbean. The island itself is small, and absolutely beautiful, but it was a difficult experience to have. On the one hand, it's very touristy, and there are people selling things everywhere, and a really gorgeous beach with probably several thousand children crowded into a small part of the water. On the flip side, it's a really tragic place, and it's hard to be happy when you're there. I shouldn't use the word annoyed, but it was odd to see people living and smiling in such a place. We visited the house of the slaves, in which most people were more somber, but on occasion you did see people smiling. Obviously, they were smiling about something else, or having a private conversation, but having visited multiple Holocaust museums, you're hard pressed to find people talking or whispering, let along smiling. Toutti didn't come with us because she gets so emotional when she goes, and I did feel a little sick walking through it. One thing that especially made an impression on me, was the tour guide telling us the words, “We can forgive, but never forget,” in reference to the slave trade. These are the exact same words that I was taught as a child about the Holocaust. I'm really glad I went, because it's an important part of history, and one that's often neglected in American education. It gave me some new perspective as well. It's really different to read about things than it is to see and experience them, as we all know, and this trip is teaching me that in lots of ways.

After Goree, at night, I went out with Mari and her friend Umi. Umi is a baifall, which is a sect of Islam. Baifall are followers of a man named Shekh Ibrafall, who resisted colonialism. I really like Umi, and I'm hoping to go along with her to some baifall events. The baifall are of particular interest to me in my research, because the have a very strong community which is often referred to as a brotherhood. Umi gave me a wooden bracelet which has pictures of many of the leaders of Senegal on it. She's really nice, and I hope to tag along with her some more.

I've also made friends with the family that lives across the street. They run a sandwich stand late at night, and last night I went and hung out with them while they were running it. They had me over for lunch the other day too, followed by lunch number two at Touty's. (I didn't want to be rude and say no, but I feel like I'm constantly eating here! I had two dinners last night. Do you see why I can't lose weight here – do you see??)

Well, I've said more than enough, as usual. I did find my mosquito net, though I'm getting eaten alive anyway. (This morning I woke up with a mosquito on the INSIDE of the net.) I'm also weaning myself off of bottled water and onto tap water. So far, so good. (Keep your fingers crossed.) I've eaten every combination of fish and rice imaginable, and while as an Arizonan, I have an immense appreciation for fresh fish, it's really different than my usual diet. (The fish is so fresh though, that most of it is caught within twelve hours of you buying it. In Casamance, we even went to the beach where the fishers were in boats reeling it in and throwing it down right on the sand for you to buy. We bought some and cooked it the next day. Amazing!) Also, mangoes are in season, and you can eat as many as you want for next to nothing. We're eating them every day, and they rock. You can't get mangoes like this at home, baby. Additionally, there's a fruit here called mad which has lots of large seeds inside it that you suck on. Most people cut the fruit open, and add salt or sugar. Then they mis it around and suck on the seeds, till the fruit and flavor comes off of them. Touty also makes juice to sell in Dakar, and one of the juices is from the mad fruit. I'm bringing some jus mad back, and I'm smuggling some whole mads back for you to try. :)

Tomorrow night I'm going to a Youssou N'Dour concert with Mari, Jibbi, Benjai, and maybe Touty. (Youssou N'Dour is one of the most famous singers in all of Africa, certainly West Africa, and he's Senegalese. I saw him once in concert in Tucson.) I'm VERY excited about that, and I was told that I could even take my picture with him! Then Thursday Mari and I are going to Saint Louis, which is in the north, to visit one of her sisters. I'm still working out planning a trip to Mali with a guy named Benjai, (fuck the spelling of anything...) and a trip to Gambia with some of the sisters. Evidently, it's a three day train ride to Mali...but is more recommended than a tight and bumpy two day car ride. :) I'm gonna try and go to the embassy in Dakar to get my visas tomorrow.

Wish me luck on getting some actual work done. (I did talk to Dr. Sunkett for a little while today about my project though...I have so much to think about!) Write me if you get a chance. I miss you all, and I love you lots.

-Saraleh

Okay guys,

Sorry this is two weeks late.  I've been bad about taking notes, but even worse about getting online.  Please send me your phone number and I'll try and call.  You all know how much better I do talking...

Miss you all!!

Love,
Sarah

12 June 2007

24 hours in and already I have a shitload to say. Surprised? Of course not. It's me we're talking about...so speaking of which, I am having a great time! I must say, Senegal is nothing like I expected it to be, though I did expect that it would be nothing like I expected, so maybe it's EXACTLY like I expected. :)

Last night when we finally arrived, after loads of problems from Air Maroc, there were a few more minor complications at the airport. For some strange reason, the officer checking passports wouldn't let me through because I didn't have the exact address of the place I was staying. They let Yari through even though he didn't, but alas, I must've seemed suspicious, so my passport was held and I was sent to go find the person who was picking me up and get the address. Seems simple enough. The only problem is that my professor wasn't there to pick me up, and I didn't know who to find. With my broken French, and the broken English of others, I was able to tell the person guarding the door to the outside of the airport that I was looking for Omar Sekh, (the Senegalese name of my professor,) and he located someone named Jibbi, (who turned out to be a brother in the family who lives here,) who was picking me up and gave me the address. After two trips to get a more accurate address, I was finally let through, and there was a mob of people to greet us, and ask for money, while we got a taxi into Gueduwaye, the city I'm living in for the summer.

It was a late night, and surprisingly, I didn't get much sleep. The house I'm staying in is completely open, meaning that many of the windows don't have screens yet, and doors are not yet in places where they will eventually be. I was worried about malarious mosquitos, but I haven't yet found my mosquito net, nor have I looked very hard, so last night and tonight I'm sleeping without one. So far, (knock on wood, kenna hara,) I don't think I've gotten bit yet. I did use some bug spray last night... At any rate, the reason that the house is missing doors and windows is because it's under a lot of renovation, but it's big, and really nice, I think. The second floor, where our rooms are, even has a flush toilet and a showerhead!

This morning I received my Senegalese name, Mari. I'm named after one of the sisters in the family who lives here, because I remind people of her, especially Dr. Sunkett. (I sometimes get called Mari Deux, as in Mari #2/Mari II.) She's super cool, and I really like her. Consequently, I've been following her around all day. We went to the market this morning to get food for the day. (Mari does the cooking in the house.) She bargained her way down in every transaction she made, from fresh fish, to okra, to spices. After we hitched a ride back, I helped Mari prepare lunch, which was actually a very time consuming activity. We made a sort of stew, though I can't remember the name of it at the moment. It was really tasty, and it was actually fun to be able to help put it together. The kitchen has one gas burner, a sink, and one counter, so most of the preparation is done sitting on small stools close to the ground.

After lunch was attiya, the Senegalese tea that Dr. Sunkett is training me to make. Today a guy named Pah made it, but tomorrow, they said it's my turn. We quickly then went with a man who I also can't remember the name of, who is in a family of griots, (those who keep the oral tradition.) We picked up some drums at his house and walked back for a drum lesson upstairs, complete with kids sitting and watching, and an occasional dancer popping up.

Let me preface this next section by saying that I have been using as much French as possible, and today I hung out with mostly Senegalese people...I've been trying to avoid the trap of speaking English to Americans because it's easy. As you are all quite aware, my French is less than adequate, and believe it or not, I actually translated between some people today. Still, it's really hard for me to understand, and it's even harder to respond to things people are saying, particularly if I'm not 100% clear on the meaning. Having said that, the man that taught the drum class asked me on a date, to go to the nightclub tomorrow night. I told him I'd only go if Mari came with me. He finally consented, but made a point of telling me that he liked me, and that I could stay in Senegal and have a family of griots...All Dr. Sunkett had to say was in short, “Told you so.”

There's so much more to tell, but please note that my trivial observations do this no justice. So here are a few things that I've noticed, that are really different from home. 1. There are animals, especially horses and goats everywhere. All up and down the streets, next to and in front of houses...I can hear them right now, at around midnight. 2. If the street isn't paved, the ground is loose sand. 3. There is constantly a myriad of unidentifiable smells. 4. My nose piercing was better received here than by my extended family in Connecticut. 5. There is a mosque two or three doors down from the house, and seven times a day you can hear call to prayer...including once at 5:00 a.m.

Other than that, I got guilt tripped into giving away my CD player, or rather my brother's CD player, but I half expected to give it away anyway...just not quite so early in the trip. I told Dr. Sunkett, and he's gonna help me make sure it doesn't happen again.

My meals today were really yummy, and I appreciate cooking far more now than before – even after just one day. What Mari can do with what she gets at the market is incredible! I helped her a little bit with dinner, and then after dinner I went for a walk with her to a friend's, and to go get ice cream at the convenient store. I'll have to pick up toilet paper tomorrow. It's not something most people use, but I'm more of a whimp than I'd like to admit. Tomorrow we've got another drum lesson, Dr. Sunkett is going to help me arrange for some dance lessons, and I'm going to the nightclub with Mari and the drum teacher. I'm off to bed for now, with a little headache from lack of sleep, and too much French in the brain.

Bon soir mes amis!

Current Location: Gueduwaye, Senegal