So this may or may not be my last post in Senegal, depending on wheteher anything super epic happens in the next 24 hours or so...and whether or not we have power/internet access tomorrow.
This week has really beena blur of packing, lasts (among them, a last trip to N'Ice Cream, where we purchased the largest supersize-aptly named, the American Cone-to say our last farewell), and last minute shopping. Fortunately, after making some crucial wardrobe decisions (do I need this tattered t-shirt at home?), it appears that my one suitcase will, in fact, be able to fit all of my belongings (including all Senegalese purchases)...with a little effort. Packing up my room was bizarre...all of the kids have been in my room "helping" me (by which I mean talking and distracting me, and attempting to pilfer things when my back was turned), and to be honest, it was kind of sad (and embarrassing...my room is filthy, not necessarily because of my own habits, but because, unliek the Senegalese, I seem to have attracted an inordinate amount of bugs, which have promptly crawled into all of my suitcases and drawers to die among my possessions). So sorry Mom and Dad, but there's a good chance that I'll eb bringing home a few dead coackroaches with my clothes (hey, at least they're dead...probably).
Last night, I learned how to make fish, frites, and yassa, my family's favorite special occasion meal. Shopping through consumption took almost 5 and ahalf hours, which was ridiculous, and mostly a result of the inefficiency of those around me...but I suppose when in Senegal, do as the non-toubabs do.
It surprisingly easy to make yassa-a few kilos of chipped onions, a few cloves of garlic, crushed pepper, piment, vinegar, salt/seasonings as needed, a green pepper and green onions, and you're good to go! It mostly took forever because
a) we have a tiny gas burner that can cook like one french fry ata time, and
b) there are 23 mouths to feed.
In America, I imagien that this could be an easy, time-saving, impressive ethnic dish.
Today, we did a last market day,a nd got our hands hennaed...despite some smudging (because despite being in Senegal for 4 months, I have not developed the Senegalese virtue of endless patience) it looks pretty decent. And even if I'm just saying that to convince myself I don't look like a giant tool (a la hair braiding episode), it comes off in a week or two. And cost about two dollars. So no worries; except that the henna man insisted on doing a design on my feet for free, which I'm sorry to say, looks ever so slightly like a piece of the male anatomy, rather than the flower that he insisted it was intended to be. Whoops. But I've added a little lime juice to the ink and it's almost gone.
Tomorrow I am meetign up with one of my mentor teachers from my teaching internship to visit her and her family for lunch...should be interesting to see another Senegalese family in their own home. And it will be a nice opportunity to say goodbye.
Other than that...I'll be distributing host family gifts tomorrow, and attending our mandatory "reintegration session" at the university, and then it's off to the airport to come home! At the very least I'll be back for a nostalgic wrap-up post once I'm back stateside, so until then, fanaanal ak jamm.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
May 9
So I have officially entered my last week in Senegal-and sorry to say there is very little that is exciting to report. This weekend, a bunch of us went out to Thai food and a Moroccan hookah bar to celebrate our last Saturday night out (and we brought along two random Nigerian guys that take classes with us at the University)...it was a fun night, except that the music selection at the Moroccan place consisted of a boy band covering a plethora of songs originally sung by female vocalists, that should NEVER ever be covered by anyone...among them Rihanna's S&M and Shakira's Waka Waka. It was horrific. But the Moroccan owners were super friendly to me, probably because they thought I was Moroccan...on a related note, I've now been stopped in front of the Moroccan embassy a total of 4 times by Arabic-speaking mistaken individuals.
This week...we will be spending every available moment at the beach, doing last-minute shopping at markets, and I will be learning how to cook ceebujen with Tabara and Aminata on Wednesday (if they aren't too horrified by my lack of cooking abilities and abandon the attempt). I'm sorry I don't have more fun things to tell you, it's mostly just nostalgia-filled everyday activities (ie-"oh sad, this is the last time I'll be doing laundry by hand!"). But I promise to write once more before I leave to wrap things up.
Ba beneen yoon.
This week...we will be spending every available moment at the beach, doing last-minute shopping at markets, and I will be learning how to cook ceebujen with Tabara and Aminata on Wednesday (if they aren't too horrified by my lack of cooking abilities and abandon the attempt). I'm sorry I don't have more fun things to tell you, it's mostly just nostalgia-filled everyday activities (ie-"oh sad, this is the last time I'll be doing laundry by hand!"). But I promise to write once more before I leave to wrap things up.
Ba beneen yoon.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
May 4
So since it's finals week, I've been pretty busy...but just doing boring things that you don't want to hear about. However, I figured I could take this opportunity to fill you in on a fun new creation that the Adventure Wednesday crew has come up with.
As you know, every Wednesday, because we don't have much class, we've been busting out the Lonely Planet and going to spots that looked interesting. And recently, we have added a new dimension to these adventures, to make them more adventurous; street food! And we've created a comprehensive mechanism for describing the establishments that we've been frequenting.
Now the LP can be great, but often has misleading articles about the sites mentioned. The problem is, one can never tell how legitimate the places really are until you go there. So, we have created the Shack Food Legit Scale, and theoretically would love to pass it on to Lonely so that they could not send their readers to sketchy, sketchy places without their knowledge.
So first things first; these "food shacks" are a fairly recent phenomenon in the Dakar area. They have sprung up in past years with the increase in federally funded construction projects, as workers need fast, filling, cheap food during their short breaks from their projects. As a result, opportunistic women have set up tents or shacks on the sides of roads and median strips to fill this need. Traditional Senegalese dishes, among them mafe, ceebujen, yassa, and thiou are served on a daily basis, in large bowls, cheaply to these workers...and now also to the curious toubabs who are running low on lunch stipend money.
So here's how our scoring system works:
Walls (concrete, wood, or metal) are worth 2 points each. Even if it's a shared wall (ex, a tent leaned up against a building, thereby using one of its walls), it counts.
Tent sides (canvas, fabric, etc) are 1 point each.
Any sort of roof, fabric or more solid, is one point...because let's face it, unless it's the rainy season, who needs a roof anyways? My friend Amy's host family's house doesn't even have a roof.
Doors with hinges are 2 points each.
Doors that are a flap of fabric or streamers are worth one point (but if you just have to move one of the tent "walls" of fabric to get in, it's 0 points added).
A table is worth 1 point.
Benches are worth 1 point...total, not each.
If there are chairs instead of benches, the establishment gets 2 points.
So, as you can see, these places can range anywhere from 1 to 14 points. Those closer to the "1" end are called food benches, those in the middle are food tents, and those on the higher end are food shacks. Any establishment earnign a score of 7 or above can officially be called "legit." Otherwise, it's basically just a bench in an open space near a construction site that has food.
Prices range from about 400-600 CFA (about 80 cents to a dollar and 20 cents USD). And portions can usually be enough to feed 2.
Ok so that's all I've got for today...off for an Adventure Wednesday to Village des Arts and, obviously, tent/bench/shack food. Ba ci kanam.
As you know, every Wednesday, because we don't have much class, we've been busting out the Lonely Planet and going to spots that looked interesting. And recently, we have added a new dimension to these adventures, to make them more adventurous; street food! And we've created a comprehensive mechanism for describing the establishments that we've been frequenting.
Now the LP can be great, but often has misleading articles about the sites mentioned. The problem is, one can never tell how legitimate the places really are until you go there. So, we have created the Shack Food Legit Scale, and theoretically would love to pass it on to Lonely so that they could not send their readers to sketchy, sketchy places without their knowledge.
So first things first; these "food shacks" are a fairly recent phenomenon in the Dakar area. They have sprung up in past years with the increase in federally funded construction projects, as workers need fast, filling, cheap food during their short breaks from their projects. As a result, opportunistic women have set up tents or shacks on the sides of roads and median strips to fill this need. Traditional Senegalese dishes, among them mafe, ceebujen, yassa, and thiou are served on a daily basis, in large bowls, cheaply to these workers...and now also to the curious toubabs who are running low on lunch stipend money.
So here's how our scoring system works:
Walls (concrete, wood, or metal) are worth 2 points each. Even if it's a shared wall (ex, a tent leaned up against a building, thereby using one of its walls), it counts.
Tent sides (canvas, fabric, etc) are 1 point each.
Any sort of roof, fabric or more solid, is one point...because let's face it, unless it's the rainy season, who needs a roof anyways? My friend Amy's host family's house doesn't even have a roof.
Doors with hinges are 2 points each.
Doors that are a flap of fabric or streamers are worth one point (but if you just have to move one of the tent "walls" of fabric to get in, it's 0 points added).
A table is worth 1 point.
Benches are worth 1 point...total, not each.
If there are chairs instead of benches, the establishment gets 2 points.
So, as you can see, these places can range anywhere from 1 to 14 points. Those closer to the "1" end are called food benches, those in the middle are food tents, and those on the higher end are food shacks. Any establishment earnign a score of 7 or above can officially be called "legit." Otherwise, it's basically just a bench in an open space near a construction site that has food.
Prices range from about 400-600 CFA (about 80 cents to a dollar and 20 cents USD). And portions can usually be enough to feed 2.
Ok so that's all I've got for today...off for an Adventure Wednesday to Village des Arts and, obviously, tent/bench/shack food. Ba ci kanam.
Monday, May 2, 2011
May 2
Verrrry little exciting going on here right now, so I'll be brief (especially since way more exciting things are currently happening on your end...among them the death of Osama bin laden, and don't let us forget the birth of Mariah Carey's twins).
Cooking this weekend for Amy's host family was a great success...and I'm pretty sure I consumed more veggies than oil for the first time in any meal in the past 4 months. Also we ate mangoes imported from the Casamance region, which were probably the best things I have ever tasted.
I'm really going to miss the fruit here.
Friday was actually a pretty cool day-my Islam teacher took our class on a field trip to several religiously significant locations around the greater Dakar area, including several cemeteries and mosques. It was really interesting (and we needed to wear head coverings at every destination); it was mostly good to see these places from more of n insider's perspective.
And then our Music and Dance teacher brought in a traditional dancer and drummer (both of which we were forced to try...it wasn't pretty), s it was just a culturally packed day.
Beyond that, just had a normal weekend, and have officially started my last week of classes and interning.
Only 12 more days until I come back home to take a hot bath and eat things not soaked in palm oil...and not get followed to school by a man who literally stopped his motorcycle (which was heading in the opposite direction) and abandoned it on the side of the road so he could follow me better.
As much as I love it here, I am definitely ready for a break.
So until more exciting things happens, mangiy dem!
Cooking this weekend for Amy's host family was a great success...and I'm pretty sure I consumed more veggies than oil for the first time in any meal in the past 4 months. Also we ate mangoes imported from the Casamance region, which were probably the best things I have ever tasted.
I'm really going to miss the fruit here.
Friday was actually a pretty cool day-my Islam teacher took our class on a field trip to several religiously significant locations around the greater Dakar area, including several cemeteries and mosques. It was really interesting (and we needed to wear head coverings at every destination); it was mostly good to see these places from more of n insider's perspective.
And then our Music and Dance teacher brought in a traditional dancer and drummer (both of which we were forced to try...it wasn't pretty), s it was just a culturally packed day.
Beyond that, just had a normal weekend, and have officially started my last week of classes and interning.
Only 12 more days until I come back home to take a hot bath and eat things not soaked in palm oil...and not get followed to school by a man who literally stopped his motorcycle (which was heading in the opposite direction) and abandoned it on the side of the road so he could follow me better.
As much as I love it here, I am definitely ready for a break.
So until more exciting things happens, mangiy dem!
Friday, April 29, 2011
April 29
Baal maa, I know that I really haven't been postign much of substance...or really much at all, this week. It's been kind of low key, and as we're getting to the end, we're not really doing anything terribly exciting-just sort of wrapping up classes and starting to prepare for our departure.
However, on my way to the university for my Wolof final exam on Wednesday (which I completed and passed, yay) I did have a great Senegalese encounter. So usually I walk to school, and Ouakam is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from WARC...I take the Corniche, along the water, both for the view and to avoid harassment (I have two long-term stalking relationships along Rue Cheikh Anta Diop-one with a construction worker, and one with a wood vendor, both of whom are named Alioune). And it's normally pretty effective-I just have to deal with the catcalls of cars whizzing by, but traffic moves so quickly that nothing is ever really an issue.
Until Wednesday. When a new creep (also named Alioune...maybe that's like the "John Doe" equivalent of the alias given to all sketchy Senegalese men) decided to follow me all the way from Ouakam to Fann. Talking the entire time. I don't think I've ever had a conversation that long with anybody (Mom and Dad, yiou can attest to this, given that our phone convos usually last for about 12 minutes max). And the worst part is the nature of the conversation. It started out innocently enough, with the usual come-ons, and casual information swapping (although this was pretty one-sided; I was a little miffed that my quiet morning walk was ruined), until things took a sudden turn when Alious proclaimed, out of nowhere, trhat homosexuality should be neither tolerated nor legalized, as it is unnatural and disgusting.
Wait, what.
So because I had already mentioned several times that I preferred to walk alone, and he continued to follow me, I decided why not get some French practice in and get into a pointless debate in which neither of us will ever see the other's point of view? I explained the US' current policies, and explained the biological nature of hetero-and homosexuality, and he kept repeating that he hated it because it was weird. We went through the usual arguments, and when it seemed that that particular topic was exhausted, I hioped maybe he'd leave, but no, wait! There's more!
Next he announces, again, out of nowhere, that the Jews are trying to take over the US government, and then, maybe, the world. To whih I replied that I was Jewish and I was pretty sure that if some conspiracy existed, I had mysteriously been left out of the loop.
Apparently sarcasm doesn't translate well ebcause he replied, Oh, well that's just because you're a woman.
Thankfully, at this point I arrived at the gates of the university and said I had to leave, and disagreed with everything he said. And then, as I turned to leave, he said I didn't understand anything, kicked my shoe off of my foot, and walked briskly away.
Definitely one of the most bizarre interactions I've ever had in my lifetime. You guys I think I'm starting to be ready to come home to America with crazy people that I know how to handle...and an active police force that I can call upon if necessary.
This weekend, my friend Amy and I are cooking a stir-fry for her host family (I can't do it for mine because:
1) we have no cooking utensils other than a big pan and an open fire, and I might kill myself,
2) the children would undoubtably hate it, and
3) there are just wayyyy too many people to feed).
Oh but one more exciting thing! I walked in the door yesterday coming home from class and Mohammed turned,a nd when he saw me, instead of theowing a rock at me like he is apt to do, he yelled "Jessica! Sama xarir (my friend)!" Everyone was shocked, and started laughing and clapping. And then Mohammed and I played soccer in the hallway until the power went out.
So I feel like my work here is done.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Ba beneen yoon.
However, on my way to the university for my Wolof final exam on Wednesday (which I completed and passed, yay) I did have a great Senegalese encounter. So usually I walk to school, and Ouakam is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from WARC...I take the Corniche, along the water, both for the view and to avoid harassment (I have two long-term stalking relationships along Rue Cheikh Anta Diop-one with a construction worker, and one with a wood vendor, both of whom are named Alioune). And it's normally pretty effective-I just have to deal with the catcalls of cars whizzing by, but traffic moves so quickly that nothing is ever really an issue.
Until Wednesday. When a new creep (also named Alioune...maybe that's like the "John Doe" equivalent of the alias given to all sketchy Senegalese men) decided to follow me all the way from Ouakam to Fann. Talking the entire time. I don't think I've ever had a conversation that long with anybody (Mom and Dad, yiou can attest to this, given that our phone convos usually last for about 12 minutes max). And the worst part is the nature of the conversation. It started out innocently enough, with the usual come-ons, and casual information swapping (although this was pretty one-sided; I was a little miffed that my quiet morning walk was ruined), until things took a sudden turn when Alious proclaimed, out of nowhere, trhat homosexuality should be neither tolerated nor legalized, as it is unnatural and disgusting.
Wait, what.
So because I had already mentioned several times that I preferred to walk alone, and he continued to follow me, I decided why not get some French practice in and get into a pointless debate in which neither of us will ever see the other's point of view? I explained the US' current policies, and explained the biological nature of hetero-and homosexuality, and he kept repeating that he hated it because it was weird. We went through the usual arguments, and when it seemed that that particular topic was exhausted, I hioped maybe he'd leave, but no, wait! There's more!
Next he announces, again, out of nowhere, that the Jews are trying to take over the US government, and then, maybe, the world. To whih I replied that I was Jewish and I was pretty sure that if some conspiracy existed, I had mysteriously been left out of the loop.
Apparently sarcasm doesn't translate well ebcause he replied, Oh, well that's just because you're a woman.
Thankfully, at this point I arrived at the gates of the university and said I had to leave, and disagreed with everything he said. And then, as I turned to leave, he said I didn't understand anything, kicked my shoe off of my foot, and walked briskly away.
Definitely one of the most bizarre interactions I've ever had in my lifetime. You guys I think I'm starting to be ready to come home to America with crazy people that I know how to handle...and an active police force that I can call upon if necessary.
This weekend, my friend Amy and I are cooking a stir-fry for her host family (I can't do it for mine because:
1) we have no cooking utensils other than a big pan and an open fire, and I might kill myself,
2) the children would undoubtably hate it, and
3) there are just wayyyy too many people to feed).
Oh but one more exciting thing! I walked in the door yesterday coming home from class and Mohammed turned,a nd when he saw me, instead of theowing a rock at me like he is apt to do, he yelled "Jessica! Sama xarir (my friend)!" Everyone was shocked, and started laughing and clapping. And then Mohammed and I played soccer in the hallway until the power went out.
So I feel like my work here is done.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Ba beneen yoon.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
April 26
So I didn't have the most thrilling weekend of my life ever, but lots of funny little mildly entertaining things happened so I suppose I'll post about them today.
First things first; had a Very Senegalese Easter this weekend. Which consisted of eating couscous with raisins, vegetables, and chicken, salad, and ngalax (the awesome peanut butter lax that only get served on special occasions) until I wanted to die. And drinking bissap/pain de singe (baobab fruit) juice, which apparently is the world's best alcohol mixer...because I didn't even realize that all the old, large Senegalese ladies in their boubous were boozing until, at the end of the day/meal, they tried to stand up and were just tottering about the courtyard and slurring their wolof. Non-Muslim Senegalese are all about partying apparently.
After I got back to my own host family that night, I got to do the one thing I've always, always wanted to do, but have never had the opportunity for: to be a sweet older sister. Tabara, my 17 year old host sister, had a secret date with a boy at the Renaissance Monument, but she couldn't tell the fam or they wouldn't let her go. So naturally, I step in and say I want to go for a walk, and bring Aminata and Tabara along. So Aminata and I leave Tabara with her boy for roughly an hour and we just hang out around all the other couples at the statue (sooo out of place, being loud and just generally disturbing the romantic mood around us) before we retrieve her to go home. I'm really going to miss those two the most, they've really made me feel like a part of the family...even if it's just taking advantage of my presence and using me as an excuse to do rebellious things.
Yesterday, we had Easter Monday off (because of the hangovers) and so did a beach day...and on the way, we saw a cab pull over to drop off its passenger, and when he got out, he went to the trunk, presumably to retrieve his baggage...which turned out to be a bound and gagged live goat. Locked up in the trunk of a taxi cab. Coming from lord knows where. And the most bizarre part of the incident was that neither I nor the three friends I was with realized that that is, in fact, not a normal thing until about 5 minutes later. Yikes. I'm starting to think I'm becoming a terrible person and might do things that are WILDLY inappropriate when I get home. Like stuff living beings in the trunks of cars. Or dangle my children over the fire. No big deal.
Anyways, the beach was fantastic...it's in Mamelles, where lots of toubabs live, and is a little more hidden (you have to walk past several trash dumps to get to the ocean), but once there, you're practically harassment free...and the French Air Force likes to hang out there and play sports, so it's really a win-win.
While laying on the sand, we noticed that there were some cool-looking caves up on the hillside in the rocks by the water...and a few of the more daring went off to explore. Clearly I stayed behind. They came back very quickly though, and when we asked why, they explained to us that, while they were climbing, some Senegalese men they had met before told them to turn back, because the caves were a really sweet spot, so great in fact that the drug dealers of West Africa have been using them as their storage places for several years! Mostly heroine, but apparently some other stuff too...making it probably not the best idea ever to go up there. So because of their thwarted plans, to deal with their boredom, hey threw me in the freezing cold ocean water instead. Stupid drug dealers.
That's about all I've got...Passover ends tonight so my family can finally start giving me breakfast again (Alhamdilulahi) tomorrow. Ba beneen yoon.
First things first; had a Very Senegalese Easter this weekend. Which consisted of eating couscous with raisins, vegetables, and chicken, salad, and ngalax (the awesome peanut butter lax that only get served on special occasions) until I wanted to die. And drinking bissap/pain de singe (baobab fruit) juice, which apparently is the world's best alcohol mixer...because I didn't even realize that all the old, large Senegalese ladies in their boubous were boozing until, at the end of the day/meal, they tried to stand up and were just tottering about the courtyard and slurring their wolof. Non-Muslim Senegalese are all about partying apparently.
After I got back to my own host family that night, I got to do the one thing I've always, always wanted to do, but have never had the opportunity for: to be a sweet older sister. Tabara, my 17 year old host sister, had a secret date with a boy at the Renaissance Monument, but she couldn't tell the fam or they wouldn't let her go. So naturally, I step in and say I want to go for a walk, and bring Aminata and Tabara along. So Aminata and I leave Tabara with her boy for roughly an hour and we just hang out around all the other couples at the statue (sooo out of place, being loud and just generally disturbing the romantic mood around us) before we retrieve her to go home. I'm really going to miss those two the most, they've really made me feel like a part of the family...even if it's just taking advantage of my presence and using me as an excuse to do rebellious things.
Yesterday, we had Easter Monday off (because of the hangovers) and so did a beach day...and on the way, we saw a cab pull over to drop off its passenger, and when he got out, he went to the trunk, presumably to retrieve his baggage...which turned out to be a bound and gagged live goat. Locked up in the trunk of a taxi cab. Coming from lord knows where. And the most bizarre part of the incident was that neither I nor the three friends I was with realized that that is, in fact, not a normal thing until about 5 minutes later. Yikes. I'm starting to think I'm becoming a terrible person and might do things that are WILDLY inappropriate when I get home. Like stuff living beings in the trunks of cars. Or dangle my children over the fire. No big deal.
Anyways, the beach was fantastic...it's in Mamelles, where lots of toubabs live, and is a little more hidden (you have to walk past several trash dumps to get to the ocean), but once there, you're practically harassment free...and the French Air Force likes to hang out there and play sports, so it's really a win-win.
While laying on the sand, we noticed that there were some cool-looking caves up on the hillside in the rocks by the water...and a few of the more daring went off to explore. Clearly I stayed behind. They came back very quickly though, and when we asked why, they explained to us that, while they were climbing, some Senegalese men they had met before told them to turn back, because the caves were a really sweet spot, so great in fact that the drug dealers of West Africa have been using them as their storage places for several years! Mostly heroine, but apparently some other stuff too...making it probably not the best idea ever to go up there. So because of their thwarted plans, to deal with their boredom, hey threw me in the freezing cold ocean water instead. Stupid drug dealers.
That's about all I've got...Passover ends tonight so my family can finally start giving me breakfast again (Alhamdilulahi) tomorrow. Ba beneen yoon.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
April 19
Ok so since I posted yesterday, there's really not much new, but since it's Passover I thought I'd offer this little nugget of a post.
Keturah and I found the Seder last night! Turns out the Israeli ambassador lives like 10 minutes away from the university...which didn't stop us from getting lost, mind you, but still. We literally ased 7 different people if they recognized the address, and got pointed in about 6 different directions. When we finally did make it, it turned out we weren't on the special official guest list...probably because we're not important foreign dignitaries, nor do we have any degree of Senegalese security clearance. Sooo we got questioned by an Israeli guard outside of the residence for about 20 minutes proving our identities as Jews/Americans/students, but when he was satisfied that we weren't terrorists (which was questionnable that he even would be, since I had zero form of ID on me because since "the incident" I'm paranoid about getting mugged and subsequently stranded in Dakar forever), we were allowed to enter...it was awkward at first, since everybody seemed to know at least a good portion of the guests and we were the underdressed randos, but then we found Irit (thank you so much for the connection Uncle Fred-I owe you one!) and she introduced us to a few people, and when we sat down to dinner, we actually met a really adorable young couple that worked at the UN...and this random lady who worked for Bank of America (and talked to us about her friend's awesome NGO, 10,000 Girls, which you should check out if you have the time), so everything was wayyy less awkward than it had the potential to be. And the Seder itself was super laid-back (led by the ambassador himself, who is really nice), and everybody got to read a portion (thank goodness I wasn't the youngest and didn't have to do the 4 Questions)...and obvi the food was bomb. And self-serve so obviously Keturah and I, being college students, went to town on it.
By the way, the house was this enormous mansion, with-get this- A BACKYARD WITH GRASS AND A GIANT ROPE SWING HANGING FROM A BAOBAB. Basically; paradise. For Jews only. In...Senegal.
Still don't know where to buy matzah, but my family does know not to serve me bread...although I think they're confused and believe me to be fasting completely during the day (which I am clearly not doing, not only because that's not the custom, but because I would eb incapable even if it was), but I'm pretty sure they're still giving me dinner. If not I'll steal it from Muhammed.
That's all for now, talk to you all soon! Ba ci kanam.
Keturah and I found the Seder last night! Turns out the Israeli ambassador lives like 10 minutes away from the university...which didn't stop us from getting lost, mind you, but still. We literally ased 7 different people if they recognized the address, and got pointed in about 6 different directions. When we finally did make it, it turned out we weren't on the special official guest list...probably because we're not important foreign dignitaries, nor do we have any degree of Senegalese security clearance. Sooo we got questioned by an Israeli guard outside of the residence for about 20 minutes proving our identities as Jews/Americans/students, but when he was satisfied that we weren't terrorists (which was questionnable that he even would be, since I had zero form of ID on me because since "the incident" I'm paranoid about getting mugged and subsequently stranded in Dakar forever), we were allowed to enter...it was awkward at first, since everybody seemed to know at least a good portion of the guests and we were the underdressed randos, but then we found Irit (thank you so much for the connection Uncle Fred-I owe you one!) and she introduced us to a few people, and when we sat down to dinner, we actually met a really adorable young couple that worked at the UN...and this random lady who worked for Bank of America (and talked to us about her friend's awesome NGO, 10,000 Girls, which you should check out if you have the time), so everything was wayyy less awkward than it had the potential to be. And the Seder itself was super laid-back (led by the ambassador himself, who is really nice), and everybody got to read a portion (thank goodness I wasn't the youngest and didn't have to do the 4 Questions)...and obvi the food was bomb. And self-serve so obviously Keturah and I, being college students, went to town on it.
By the way, the house was this enormous mansion, with-get this- A BACKYARD WITH GRASS AND A GIANT ROPE SWING HANGING FROM A BAOBAB. Basically; paradise. For Jews only. In...Senegal.
Still don't know where to buy matzah, but my family does know not to serve me bread...although I think they're confused and believe me to be fasting completely during the day (which I am clearly not doing, not only because that's not the custom, but because I would eb incapable even if it was), but I'm pretty sure they're still giving me dinner. If not I'll steal it from Muhammed.
That's all for now, talk to you all soon! Ba ci kanam.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)