Our guide, Thiaba, has been a delight to talk to while we discover Dakar. Today during lunch, we had a bit of a bizarre argument. We asked whether people ate the goats that many people have. It's common to see five or six goats on the side of the road, tied next to a boutique. She said that the people do not, in fact, have goats. They have sheep. And the sheep is what we were eating for lunch. Skeptical, we insisted "No, you must mean GOAT. A sheep has WOOL." And she said, "No, its a SHEEP! I don't know, maybe in Europe the hair is bigger because it is more humid?" At this we all cracked up laughing. At the end of the discussion, we agreed to disagree.
When we were leaving lunch, we were surprised to find out that Thiaba is 29 years old. She looks like she is the same age as us! I asked her if she was going to marry her boyfriend soon. She replied, "Yes, I will invite you to my wedding!" We thought she meant she would send us an invitation sometime next year or something to that effect, but then she clarified "It will probably be sometime in November." Turns out, we are the first people to know she will be married, other than her fiance. Even her parents have no idea! She will wait until about two weeks before the wedding to tell her friends, too. All of this secrecy is totally normal and expected in Senegalese dating culture. She also promised to help us choose fabric and design formal Senegalese outfits to wear to her wedding. I can't wait!
Ile de Goree- We visited Ile de Goree on Saturday. Here, the buildings are as colorful as the history is rich and moving. It is a tiny island a twenty minute ferry ride from Dakar. There, we visited La Maison des Esclaves (The House of Slaves) a place that historically held slaves right before they were shipped out of Africa. The slaves were held on the ground floor, and the master lived luxuriously with his family on the second floor. It wasn't the biggest holding place for slaves, but it is one of the most well-known. I think it represents the general conditions in which slaves were traded. Between 15-20 slaves would be held in a small room about 8 by 12 feet large. If you look at my picture album, there is a picture of the even smaller room they would pile disobedient slaves in. There is a door called "The Door of No Return" through which each slave would pass when leaving the continent.
On Saturday night was the first time we went out to truly party with the Senegalese. My host brother, Cisco, took us out. We didn't leave for the club until some time after midnight- but when we arrived the place was still totally empty. Cisco tried getting us to move our hips with him, but we weren't too keen on starting the party just yet. When it was about 1:30-2:00am, the party had truly begun. Everyone knew how to swing his/her hips, especially the men! They move like snakes and can pop, lock, and drop it better than any American girl I know (Figure of speech, they didn't do too much "dropping"). Cisco insisted on trying to teach us hopeless Americans how to do the same by "slow dancing", but a better way to describe it would have been to say "grinding", or even "dry humping". Oh yes, what a complicated and sophisticated dance to learn! (Note the sarcasm please) Also, everyone was wearing Western clothes. In fact, the three of us were probably the most modestly dressed women there, in our two inches shorter than knee-length shirts/dresses. When it was about 4am, we headed home: quite early for the Senegalese!
Gotta go meet Lauren's host brother to watch a soccer game.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment