Fun updates in bad grammar, yay!!!
Okay, well lets see. This week was pretty crazy. Went to Dakar on Monday with my host mother to get a pair of jeans that actually fits (the ones I brought are more like comfy bagginess, not exactly good for anything but lounging and such), and then ended up having to go back the next day at (woken up at 5:50 am, left at 6:30, got there at 9:25) to fill out visa forms for Gambia and get our visa pictures taken. All of us, except matt, went to this French restaurant/bakery for lunch and it was complete heaven. I had a three cheese quiche and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I may have felt slightly sick from the richness of it all, but it was sick heaven. Then there was a bus ride from 2 to 6 to get back to my town (with no traffic, I think it would take about 30 min, maybbbbe).
So I was going to go to midnight mass on Christmas eve… and then my friend Marcel (christian) comes back, and says that the pastor either didn’t want to come, or couldn’t find transport… so mass was put off until 10am on Christmas day. Then comes a very catholic service, which I was surprised at simply because im used to a very non denominational service. And then there was the pastor. Well, first he made a joke about evolution and how god didn’t make an original fish that then turned into a man. Then there was the laugh at how Muslims believe in a prophet other than just Jesus (but they have the redeeming quality of asking for forgiveness for the new year). “for even though we Christians live love and peace, we need to remember that those are our values. Look at Rwanda. Its 94% Christian, yet they have had the genocide of the century”. Then there was something about a whitey and asian (Taiwan, made me laugh) when he said some stuff in Wolof. Finally, when I met him after the service, he hit on me and asked to go to America with me like every other Senegalise man. Yep, it was epic, and made me miss home quite a bit. At least it’s a good story though. Oh, and the chorus…they have a drum section.. Even the national service had a drum section for the chorus. Silent Night with added beats is just wrong.
Um, lets see, on Christmas day there was a ‘christian’ Christmas party over in sangalkam- first there was this choral concert, but like there was the African drumline, and then all the old fat ladies would bust out dancing once the beat hit. Then it was on to the dance, around 1 am, where I must say, I kill. I finally learnt the ridiculous Senegalese dance moves, and everyone was basically in awe that a toubab/whitey could dance. I probably dance with you know, at least a third of the people there. I decided to help Penda to convince Aida to let her come to the party with us, but shes really kina awkward,/ boringinsh, I thought sprining her from the coop would make her livelier, but sadly, not really at all. Africans are super into the whole make a circle and have people show off in the middle, yep, me= champion.
Then last night was this festival called TamXarit (tam harit), which is the muslim new year. Basically all the kids dress up as opposites- girls as men, guys as girls) and go around playing drums and dancing for money, rice, or couscous at different houses (that’s sounds really bad I know). I was pretty much the money maker for my shock value, as a white person participating, and for my fabulous dance skills which everyone was amazed with (thank you previous night for giving me them).
missing driving- its so nice, fun, and freeing.
So I got home at 1:40am on Christmas eve (went to Sangalkam to visit Marcel and I‘s friends and at least see the church on Christmas eve (im not super religious, its just a family tradition to go to duke for midnight mass, so it was more of missing the family than anything religious. Marcel is my neighbor, fellow christian, and all around good guy that my parents trust), Rachel called me at 2:50 am, but I was lying awake in bed since I suck at sleeping, and then I talked to her for an hour and eventually fell asleep around 4:30am. Then after the party, I got home around 4 am (it took like half an hour to walk home), and fell asleep sometime after that, and was up until about 12ish last night writing stuff. So im pretty dang exhausted to say the least. But on the bright side it was all pretty fun, and it was something different and new and good. Got to talk to the family for like, an hour and a half on Christmas day, which made me super happy. Im having them freeze me peppermint bark chocolate because its basically beyond delicious and can be bought only during the holiday season (even though I make it as a chritmas preasent every year for people, but hey, its different). My host mother bought singing lights to put up in her ‘restaurant’, by singing it means notes that hare much higher than Alvin in the chipmunks, and there arent even words. Thank gosh she finally learned how to turn it down.
Okay, apologies for how everything jumps around. Loveeeeeeeee
Ananda
pictures of tamxarit to follow
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