Henri, Music, and Ice Coffee

The week before we left for Kedougou was full of many different activities. On Saturday morning, one of my classmates discovered a small kitten outside her house. The kitten didn't appear to have a mother, so Elsa picked up the kitty and brought him to school. Since our program is mostly girls, Henri quickly won a place in our hearts. Elsa and the others gave him so much unconditional love.

As much as I hate to tell you there is a very unfortunate ending to this tale. Poor little Henri passed away in the third day we got to know him. His size made him defenseless against other outdoor livestock. However, what I can tell you is that he received more love in the last three days of his life than some cats do in their entire existence.

The same week Henri came into our lives we also spent studying kora, African dance, and djembe. All classes were quite enjoyable, but I think my favorite would have to be djembe. As beautiful as the kora sounds, it helped remind me of why I first became a trumpet player. There are only three valves, so there are less combinations to remember. And when a trumpet player is moving from a 3 valve trumpet to a 21-string kora, it requires a lot more thinking than I previously thought.

Hopefully during my next update I will get to dive into our trip to Kedougou. There is so much to tell about what I learned from the village stay there.

Home Sweet Home

I arrived home late Saturday safe and sound from a nine day long excursion in the south eastern region of Senegal known as Kedougou. It was the last long excursion I will be taking before the end of the program. Now I hope I will finally have the time to explore Dakar as well as catch you up on the last few weeks of my life!

Friday Oct 8 (a week before we left for Keougou) we visited the market in HLM with our French professors. Who knew that shopping could be considered class? Anyways, the goal of the exercise was to successfully purchase fabric and design a dress to be made by a tailor To me HLM seemed the market of every Senegalese woman's dreams. It was lined with many vendors with every fabric color or texture you could imagine!

After successfully purchasing our fabric, it was off to the tailor! Little did I know we would be visiting the tailor at my own house! We arrived in Sicap Baobab just as my sister Meissa was making a third batch of beignets (doughnuts)! It was wonderful to snack on beignets as we drew our designs and were measured for our dresses. Since I was overwhelmed with designing and consuming the delicious beignets, I forgot to take a picture of being measured. So instead, I will have to provide you with a picture of two of my professors! :)

And just because I am really excited about it, I will repost the picture of my dress. The day I wore it to school, I was often gawked at because it's not very often you see a Toubab in a full-length African dress with matching fulloir.

On the Road to Kedougou

I apologize for my lack of updates this week. I have been quite busy with many things; anyways, today we are leaving for 9 days to travel to Kedougou. It is about a 10 to 12 hour drive from
Dakar, but hopefully I will finally be able to see the wildlife that I have been wanting to see since the beginning of the trip. As well as I will be having my second village stay; I will be staying with the Pular ethnic minority, so I will have another few days where communication will mostly visual signals and physical actions.

I also wanted to update you on my dress before I left. I picked it up two days ago, and I wore it yesterday. I received many compliments-- "Rafetna!" which is Wolof for "C'est joli!" or "That's nice."

See you next Saturday!

Current Affiars in Dakar

Here is a summary of the current affairs in Dakar as of this weekend. Abdoulaye Wade the president recently appointed his son Karim to be the new minister of energy last week, and has recently called for an emergency audit of Senelec (unpopular company here who causes many power cuts). Senegal beat Mauritus 8-0 Saturday night in a qualifying match for the African cup. The match was here in Dakar, and I saw Mauritus's team get off the plane in the news on Friday. Another story that the president is honoring a promise he made to the Haitian government by welcoming 160 students to Senegal to study. good for Senegal or a political ploy? I have heard Wade called the man of big projects- spends a lot of money while not looking out for the people...and Youssou NDour is playing at the Institute Francais this Thursday and Friday. This was a debate over the communal bowl yesterday; is this really what Senegal needs or another grandiose ploy to show off the uppercrusts of Senegal  to the world rather than what is being discussed in the street?

Sorry I made this post more about current happenings in Dakar rather than what's going on in my life. I went to a market on Friday to buy some fabric, and I am having a dress made. The best part is that it is my African mom, Amy Diop, who is making it. =)

The Birds are Chirping in Saint-Louis

Last Wednesday (ok, it's over a week ago now) we stayed in Saint-Louis, which was the first colonial capital of French West Africa. It remained Senegal's capital until it was moved to Dakar in 1957. Saint-Louis is right on the Senegal River, and the city was lined with beautiful colonial architecture. The river was also lined with some of the most beautifully painted boats.

Thursday we had a group project that we had to complete. The project split us up into groups to research different historical sites around Saint-Louis. Our project took my group to the oldest Catholic church in West Africa, le Cathedrale de Saint-Louis. It had a beautiful interior, even though it was only very simple. The thing I will remember most was the sound of the singing birds inside the cathedral.

This was the view of the Church looking down from the choir loft.

My favorite part of our entire trip was the hotel in which we stayed. We ate acrossed acrossed the street on a dreamy patio overlooking the water. But more importantly, when you would open your room door, you were looking out in a tree. And in the morning, the tree would fill with birds singing their lovely morning song. What a great thing to wake up to!

Even though Saint-Louis had beautifully painted ships, it also was a good remider of the paradox that exists in Senegal. In Saint-Louis, the Senegal River acted as a natural border seperating the affluence and destitution. This is a common thing I see even in Dakar on a daily basis; the people difference between those who have cars and large houses and those who drive a horse-hitched trailer or a person whom I met that sells "Cafe Touba" to support their household.I am not going to lie; I live a very privileged lifestyle here in Dakar (I have wifi, my own room and bed, a fan). Sometimes I feel guilty for having access to such privileges when most Senegalese don't. But, then I remember I still have a little over two months here, and I still have time to get to know the people and be friends with the average Senegalese.

Selfless Love -- Touba and Mouit

After I short stay in Thies last Friday night, we ventured to Touba last Saturday. Touba is an Islamic city, which is home to the largest mosque in Senegal. Next the the mosque rests the tomb of Touba's founder, Chiekh Amadou Baba. According to legend, Chiekh founded Touba when he saw a vision of light while resting under a tree. In Arabic, "tuba" means "felicity" or "bliss" and evokes the images of a sweet afterlife.

Next we travelled to Mouit where we stayed for a few days with a host family. Mouit is a dreamy village surrounded by le Langue de Barberie National Park. I was very nervous because I did not know what to expect from village life. I was greeted with a large family, who was eager to show me their way of life. By Western perceptions it seemed as though you could not accomplish much by drinking tea, eating watermelon, and sitting under a tree for a few days. What I discovered was a whole new approach to life and love.

People in Mouit just genuinely enjoy spending time with each other. They wake up each morning and gather the food they need to eat for just that day, so they have no waste. Most of the day is spent around the preperation of meals since it takes most of the day. The warmest hours of the afternoon are spent under a tree drinking tea and eating watermelon. However, what I will remember most is that even though they did not have much, they were just genuinely happy to be alive.

Mouit, dama la nobb.

I apologize for going a little over a week without updates. Right now I am currently in Saint-Louis and am returning to Dakar tomorrow. We have been traveling around now for nearly a week, and I have much to tell you about the road to Saint-Louis.

Last Friday, we departed Dakar for Thies; on the way, we stopped at le Monastere de Keur Moussa. This was a very important moment for me because it was the first Catholic church I visited since I have been in Senegal. It was simple and quaint, but unfortunately, I mistakenly deleted all my pictures from last Friday, so, I will be suplementing with photos from the internet and photos taken by other friends.

These are images from the monestary, which was very quaint and quiet; quite a contrast from the normal hustle and bustle of Dakar. My favorite part of the monestary was the source of their music. There were djembes along the side of the chapel, and a kora was in the back corner. The liturgical music is provided by the kora and djembe. Unfortunately, we did not stay for a mass; but this visit made a new objective of mine to visit as many Catholic churches in Dakar as I can. After the monestary, we traveled to the town of Thies, where we would be staying for the night. Thies (pronounced "chess") is known for its railway connecting Dakar and Saint-Louis as well as with Niger. Thies is also known for tapestries; it is the home of the Senegalese National Tapestry Museum, where I saw the most beautiful piece of artwork yet. It was of a woman's profile.

Isn't she gorgeous? I will post more later about Touba, Mouit, and Saint-Louis.