Some Bits

Lets see. So this weekend:

• I went to the Marche HLM to buy fabric for the holiday Tabaski. I am now a champion bargainer as I obtained my fabric for the local price of 1300cfa- about 3 dollars- per meter. Its a fabric called basain, which is not really cottony at all, and actually kind of feels like wax. But that will go to the tailor, and I'm thinking silver embroidery? Promise I'll put the pictures up when I get it, although that will probably be when I am in Sangalkam, so maybe just soon as possible. I also got some vaux (pronounced wax, and it may be spelled wrong) fabric to be made into a dress (gasp, I know).
• I went to the Sandaga market to get a cassette made into a cd. Here we went on a wild goose chase as one of the people we were with, Samba, decided we shouldnt just let the heckling sellers go. Instead we should follow them all the way to the other side of the market, and then find out that what we want isnt there... even though we never expected it to be. Due to this I was also not allowed to find a nut seller who had salted cashews-which do exist, as I have already had them here.
• Depressing: there was a parapalegic at the HLM market- he didnt even have a stool to sit on. Instead, he was just on the ground next to everyones feet.
• Joel: A young boy with a cateract was asking for money at the bus stop. We all wished you were there with the super thin lenses.
• On the bus, a lad got on with a baby. Seeing that there was absolutely no room to sit down (as if), she promptly ejected said baby into some mans lap. And he was totally cool with it, and so was the baby. Victoria and I equated this to handing of a football- except the football was alive. Its slightly crazy to think of anyone doing this in America- from fear, from the fact that the baby would be wailing, from the person not actually holding onto the baby once it is dropped into their lap.
• At Sandaga there was a man who had something wrong with his legs. So he rolled around on this 2x2 plastic square with wheels. He then decided to come down hill strait at me with a speed that was unbelieveable (litterally, I didnt know he would be able to go that fast). Due to this fact I had two options: get obliterated by this man, and probably end up hurting him. Or jump. So I jumped. Quite surreal.
• Four (maybe five if I understood the Senegalise accent better) people thought I was spanish this weekend. Either I'm a little bit tanner, or I look less out of place. Score.
• I'm up to 9 marriage proposals
• I went to my first soccer game. It was incredibly cheap- about 75 cents to watch two games. Sadly I only got to see about half of each of them, and I only got to see one goal. But the people there were crazy. There was one man who sat ontop of the passageway that led to a stairwell and he would dance, and then lift up his shirt to show an undershirt that said something in walof, and then he would yell at one of the team managers. Supposbly he was a big supporter.
• Here are some real summaries of what the other fellows will be doing:
• Matt: he gets to work with the local agriculture programs in production, harvest, and comericilzation. He also get to check out sal harvesting and trading at this place called Lac Rose-which is a lake that is bright pink from the amount of salt in it. Then he gets to look at the relationship of development of socio cultural elements (music, oral tradition, ect).
  
  Alec- He is working in a local western hospital, and then once a week he is going to this tradition hospital. He also gets to follow ome Red Cross people around. Also, he gets to go with some of the staff on field visits to super rurual villages- I will definitely be tagging along on one of these trips. He gets to research the impact of Rachels program Smiles for Senegal, and helps decide what to do with it in the future (is it worth it?)
  
  Hilary- shes working at a western health clinic too, but also at a Maternity/midwife center. she gets to look at the relationships between healthcare and a devoloping country.
  
  Gaya- will be working in a large elementary school- helping with librarires, computer labs pta, community garden, and classroom participation. She also will try and find out what it is lacking in the education, and try and create a project to fil that gap (ex. drawing class). She will also look at education in a developing country.
  
  Victoria- will work at a NGO called the Program of Devopment of Infants and the Family (translated)- which is basically a childhood center. She gets to do all the preschool activities, and gets to investigate links between early development and local development.
  
  Then Gaya, Victoria, and Hilary will identify all the local womens organizations, and profile them ( membership, leadership, economic activities, ect.). And then they will al be doing the same thing with english speak clubs and such
• My friend Amadou taught me to make tea the Senegalise way last night. So wach out, I am now a master and can make it for all of you.
• Today everyone came over to learn how to make beneighs(sp, they are basically donught holes).
• And currently I am struggling with youtube as I try to put up the videos from this weekend
• Oh and I forgot to put on bug spray before breakfast- three mosquito bites just on my right foot in the span of three minutes. Humph.
• Overall its going swell, I will be glad not to have the talkative walof speaking men outside my window in Sangalkam. I mean, they must be hilarious, because they laugh all the time. But its just not that funny at 1 30.
• Must now go eat dinner. Fabulous. Its 9 by the way.