Saint Louis

Naka suba si! (Good morning in Wolof). Hope everyone is doing well wherever you all are. I am trying to squeeze in a blog but I have zero free time to sit around and update you all because….drum roll…my parents are coming!!! (They got in at 5:30 this morning so they are napping right now before lunch.) I am sooo stoked to see them and have them in Dakar with me for 5 days! I am very very excited for them to see my new city. Dakar is a big, vibrant, exciting, confusing and fun place. I am happy that they will be able to understand my experience here a little bit better.

So, this week was a typical, packed, fun week. I feel like I am learning a lot and absorbing so much, which is great because I love learning. Maybe I have finally adapted to the pace of life here. Of course as soon as I say that, things are going to change. Dakar is pretty good at throwing me curve balls and I love her for that.

Monday we had three hours of French. I spoke for about a third of that time, in French, and did a presentation on microfinance and women’s empowerment groups in Senegal and Western Africa. After a brief lunch, we had two hours of Wolof. Wolof is getting really fun because we are starting to be able to construct sentences and vaguely express ourselves. Then we headed out to Ouakam for our Senegalese music class. We played our djembes and sang some songs. Then Gaby invited us to stay for a big, communal meal. We made a big, epic salad and Gaby threw some fish and kebabs on the grill. It was fun.

Tuesday was another morning volunteering at Village SOS D’enfants. It was certainly a little easier because the kids were better behaved. Maybe they are getting used to having us toubabs around but they were calmer, at least my kids were. They still cause trouble when the real teacher leaves but my Wolof is coming along and I now know several basic commands like sit down (toogal!). Tuesday afternoon was spent in a seminar discussion class and then History of Islam.

Wednesday morning brought two hours of Senegalese Literature. The series of stories we have been reading are super interesting. Plus after our Spring Break we are going to be taught/have discussion classes primarily with the author. Wednesday afternoon I had a jolly adventure into a neighboring district called Grand Dakar. I went with one of ACI’s night guards to meet a marabout (religious leader here in Senegal.) After he told me my future, I had him make me two protective amulets (each one is called a gris-gris). This was super interesting and part of my research for my Islam final paper. The use of a gris-gris here in Senegal is a fascinating mix of Islam and the local animist religion present before Islam showed up. Wednesday afternoon was two hours of History of Islam where I relayed, in great detail, my adventure in Grand Dakar.

Thursday morning we were supposed to have an HIV/AIDS session with the founder of ACI, Gary, but there was a scheduling conflict. We really never know what to expect so we had two hours of Wolof instead. The afternoon schedule got messed up, too because our professor was gone on a research trip and he didn’t really leave instructions on what to do with us. Nevertheless, we passed a lazy afternoon before having another two hours of History of Islam.

Friday morning we left bright and early once more, as has become our habit. 7:30 am sharp (which means leaving around 8:15) we headed off to Saint Louis which is about 5 hours north of Dakar. Saint Louis was an old trading center during the French colonization and the old capital of all of French West Africa. The ten of us headed out with our History of Islam professor, Babacar Ba on another one of our great program-related weekends away. After an uneventful van ride, we rolled into Saint Louis, had lunch and settled into the hotel. We rode around the city in horse carts for the afternoon and stopped at several sights to learn the history of the town. We saw the colonial part of the city and the local areas. We also learned a lot about the complex problems facing Saint Louis (like over population, crowding, loss of land to the sea, water salinity and overfishing.) Friday night we ate a big meal, chilled at the hotel and played cards.

Saturday we were up bright and early to head off to a big nature reserve about 2 hours north of Saint Louis. It was so awesome. We took this long bumpy dirt path but it was so worth it. About 30 minutes inland on a pirogue (small fishing boat) and we saw literally hundreds of pelicans. They were so pretty, they just floated along by us and then flew around in big flocks. Major “Planet Earth” moment! We also saw a medium sized crocodile with a baby crocodile, some gila monsters and many other species of bird. On the drive we saw some red-footed monkeys plus lots of wild boors. We had a picnic lunch of sandwiches and fruit on the reserve and then headed back into town. After a relaxing afternoon and a big dinner, we had a culture evening of dance and music. The dancer made us all get up and dance with him which was pretty fun. I had another relaxed evening with the toubabs.

Sunday we did most of our academic stuff for the weekend. It was a trip for our History of Islam class, after all. We packed up the bus and stopped at a Koranic (Khuranique/Coranic depending on spelling) school in a city called Pall. We toured the different classes and had a chance to sit down with the director of the school as well as some community leaders. It was very interesting but unfortunately all 9 of us had to wear long skirts that went to our ankles and head scarves. Next we stopped at Pire where there used to be a famous Islamic University that the French burned down, along with a mosque and the library, during the colonial period. The French saw Islam as a potential threat and deemed the town subversive. All three structures are slowly being rebuilt. The mosque has been completed and the daara (or Koranic school) has been functioning for about five years. It is a boarding school, unlike the daara at Pall, and so it only accepts male students until it can furnish lodging for girls. Islam gets pretty tricky because you have to keep the sexes almost completely separated. After an uneventful van ride back into Dakar (we missed most of the big traffic jams) I had a moment to unpack and unwind.

It was a great weekend, we got to visit a new region of the country and learn more about the religious education of Senegal. Most children go to public (French style) school during the week and spend nights and weekends at the daara for many years. Some daaras, like the one in Pire, function like a boarding school for 10 ½ months of constant Islamic education and the children get 1 ½ months of break to spend at home. My parents showed up at 5:30 am, shockingly prompt by Senegalese standards and they are safely installed in my house. This week will be quite the adventure! See y’all next week.