I feel disgusting right now. Sweat, wet animal, mosquito repellent, and the lingering smell of pungent Senegalese food (prepared as a thick stew) permeate my body. It is incredibly hot in my room without any windows, and since the power went out, not even the fan works to provide some relief.
Okay, enough whining. I've been very busy the last couple of days. Tuesday night, I met my host family for the first time. There is the mom (Awe), two daughters (Mona and Sira), and a plethora of sons, nephews, etc. (young men between the ages of 20 and 25) who sleep in the rooms on the top floor. Everybody is very welcoming, and seems willing enough to dumb down his/her french for periods of time to accommodate my minimal understanding. It's much easier to speak with the guys, though. Apparently this is something that is common for American girls to experience within a host family.
The guys spend all of their time at home on the top floor, either on the roof terrace or in one of the rooms. Me, I've been spending most of my time on the terrace as well, especially when the air cools off at night. Usually one of the guys is praying in the corner of the room on a mat while everyone else is either napping, playing on his/her personal computer, or chatting. During the day everyone has class or work. The girls, Sira and Mona, stay home during the day and do chores (including tidying up my room).
Today was the first day Ellen, Lauren, and I ventured downtown. Not going to lie- I was very intimidated at the prospect. Other students who had been there warned that the vendors are obnoxious, manipulative, and give unfair prices to Toubabs (white people). Since I'm still getting used to the Senegalese french accent (good excuse for my difficulties communicating, eh?) I was especially concerned.
Turns out, it wasn't so bad. Most of the vendors were friendly and did not make me feel uncomfortable. Don't be confused, they were persistent, but somehow in a polite way. For example, he would stand quietly behind one of our elbows for about five minutes waiting for use to stop talking before he would interject. When another guy tried pushing perfume on me, I held up my bag with my wraparound skirt I purchased and said in flawless french/wolof, "Sorry, I already used my money up!" He laughed and said, "ok, ok. thats good!" and left. I would've thought that friendly interactions like this would invite more aggressive selling, but it had the opposite effect.
I did feel bad for asking one guy to cut his apparently already reasonable price in half, though. I just assumed he would be ripping me off... Whoops! In the end, he did lower the price because it was Lauren's birthday, and because we look like triplets (refer to the attached pictures, and note the hilarity of that). Also note that Lauren was looking for a bathing suit when our delightful guide Thiaba showed us to a vendor of lingerie. Also included is a picture of Lauren with her scandalous bathing suit choices.
The one thing I am concerned about is the public transportation that has no real pattern or schedule. You have to ask the toll collector on each bus when it passes where it's headed (difficult when he's located on the back of the van- yes you heard me right- he stands on the rear bumper, holding on with one arm). Somehow we'll figure it out, just don't ask how :)
I'm out. Love to you all.
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