If you’re reading this, it means
that I was finally able to get internet at the Training Center in Thies and was
able to upload both of my latest blog posts.
Since internet is so rare and time at the Training Center is much better
served by hanging out with friends or going to the market, my friends and I
have decided to type up our blog posts during the slow hours at our host
communities. I’m currently sitting in my
friend Emelie’s room, typing and sweating.
Sweating may become my new talent; I could almost win awards for how
much I sweat these days. I wake up
glistening and it only gets better from there!
I am coming to the end of a
10-day stint in my host community, and I am worlds away from the borderline
depression I felt after my first home stay.
At this point, I’m picking up language so quickly that I am able to
communicate not like a 3 year old, but at the same level as my 5 year old
sister. Small steps, but I think that
two years of language acquisition in two weeks is pretty darn good! I’ve also integrated much more into my host
community and family, so I feel like I’m a part on everything that goes on in
this village. My integration came at the
best time since this week we had three big celebrations- a baptism, Tabaski,
and a wedding.
BAPTISM
Baptisms in Senegal are a
village-wide affair with mounds of food, fancy clothes, and musicians and
dancing. A fellow Peace Corps Trainee’s
family had a baptism last weekend and all the Peace Corps Trainees were
invited. After being gussied up in my
‘fancy outfit’ (more about that later), I was sent across the street with my
friends to greet the baptismal family and eat.
We had some wonderful (bouillie) yogurt and grain mixture that was
deliciously filling, probably just because it was something different in our
diets). The entire village was there, as
well as another 80-100 people that we’d never met before. All the older men were dressed in their
religious outfits and sitting together under one tree. The hostess and all the visiting younger women
sat together under another tree (where we were plopped down as well), looking
like a flock of brightly colored birds with their festive clothing. More women
were sitting near the cooking area, and then there were ten women cooking in
the back of the compound. It was such a
sight to see enormous pots over open flame tended by women in their bright
clothes. How they didn’t topple over
from the combined heat of the day and the fire is beyond me, I was barely able
to stay upright in my plastic chair (a spot of great importance) in the shade!
We’d heard rumors of dancing
later that evening, but it was still early afternoon and we had exhausted our
language skills and were more than a little drained from being introduced to
over 100 people… so we escaped to another Peace Corps Trainee’s room. We bought a liter of Fanta and sat in the
sweltering heat, away from the curious eyes of all the visitors, with our
skirts pulled up above our knees. How
scandalous!
When hiding out in our friend's
room, we 'accidentally' missed the highlight of the event- dancing to the
drums. Our host sisters started teasing
us about not making it to such an important cultural event, but little did we
know that it was just the beginning of trend for the week.
Kerr Sadaro events: 1
Erin's attendance: 0
TABASKI
Tabaski was also this week. A universal Muslim celebration (though it’s
called different names in different countries), the entire country took
Wednesday and Thursday off to celebrate and preparations started days before. One of the requirements for the holiday is
the killing of rams; so the city streets, cars, and family compounds were
filled with the bleating of rams on the days leading up to Tabaski, and then
suddenly the entire population was gone.
I didn't help with the slaughtering of the rams (typically a man's job),
but many of my friends did.
The women also spent an entire
week preparing for the festivities. My
sisters went to Thies multiple times for fake nails and fancy hairdos with fake
hair. The hairstyles ranged according to
age; younger girls had tight corn-rows and older women had cornrows with
extensions to make long, natural-looking braids or fake hair added and fluffed
up into styles reminiscent of the 1980s.
An interesting side note, wealth distribution could be publically
observed based on the quality and quantity of hair extensions. Girls that could only afford a few extensions
had unnatural, amateurish styles. Those
with more money looked to be natural long-haired beauties. My family was obsessed with braiding my hair,
and it became a family affair. Luckily,
one of my host sisters is the best hair-braider in the village and I was sat
down by her and several other sisters for a multi-hour ordeal. At one point, three pairs of hands were braiding
my short locks into tight braids... and it still took over five hours. When finished, my host family looked slightly
baffled that my hairdo, which looked so good on them, looked horrendous on me. But, I was not allowed to take the braids out
for over a week so the entire village was able to see how 'toubab' hair does
not lend itself well to Senegalese style.
Once the food was bought and all
of us ladies gussied up, we started the day of cooking, eating, and
celebrating. The women of my host family
sat me down in their circle and we started food preparation, in a sense much
different from any of the cooking I've done in the United States. Even the more affluent rural families (such
as my host family) cook in a detached building over a wood fire, without
electricity, counters, sharp utensils, etc.
For the Tabaski feast, I took turns pounding the pepper balls into dust
in an enormous mortar and pestle. When
my family realized that I could actually do this simple task, I was upgraded to
peeling onions and potatoes. When it
became obvious that I could do this well, they tried to upgrade me to dicing
onions. While I'm very good at this in
the United States, I've not practiced chopping onions while holding them in my
hands. After a valiant, though flailing
attempt, my family realized my limitations and I was demoted to peeling onions
once more.
The meals we ate on Tabaski (and
the next five days) were variations of fresh (and later not so fresh) sheep,
onions, and potatoes. On Tabaski, it was
also tradition to drink pop or cold fizzy drinks with the fancy lunch. When I visited families throughout the rest
of the day, I was handed cups of Fanta in the families' best glassware. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to
dishes and making tea.
That evening, we all got gussied
up and went house to house. The adults
chatted with one another, and the children did a version of trick-or-treating,
where they would come up to us in their freshly braided hair and best clothes
to receive small change or hard candies.
To continue with the theme of
missing cultural events, another dance was held that night. Our host families desperately wanted us to
go, telling us that the dancing would happen 'just a little later' that night. We should have caught on when our families
asked if we wanted to take some naps before the party. All excited from the pop, evening of being
dressed up, and all the new sights, we naively responded that we wouldn't nap
but would spend the evening resting with another host family that had a
television. After hours of Chinese
martial arts movies dubbed into French, we decided the party must have been
cancelled. Storm clouds were
threatening overhead and it was 11:30, the latest we had stayed up in a long
time! After crawling into bed, I was
woken by the start of the drums at 12:30.
Another event missed!
Kerr Sadaro cultural events: 2
Erin: 0
WEDDING
One of my older host sisters was
marrying a man from the village next door the day after Tabaski. She had invited me the day before, and I was
excited to actually make a village event.
The entire day, my sister got gussied up, people I didn't know came and
went, extra food was served (there were actually 4 different lunches that day),
and people kept getting in and out of cars.
I decided my best plan of action
was to stay close to my host parents since they would tell me when to get
dressed and when to leave for the wedding.
More and more people piled into cars while others got out at our
house. Before I knew it, it was dinner
time and all my younger sisters were returning from the wedding! One of them asked me why I didn't go and I
told her that I hadn't known when it was and no one had told me when to
go. I continued that I'd stayed close to
my host parents; sure they would tell me what action to take. My teenage sister responded that parents of
the bride sometimes don't actually go to the wedding! Augh!
Another event missed!
Kerr Sadaro cultural events: 3
Erin: 0
SOCCER
As school was starting up the
Monday after Tabaski, all the village soccer teams were finishing their season
with championship games. Luckily, Kerr
Sadaro has two 'fields' or dirt with makeshift goals, so several games were
held near us. The group of us Peace
Corps Trainees happened upon one game and it was simultaneously familiar to
sporting events in the U.S. and outstandingly different. The field was deep sand without clearly
marked sidelines, so occasionally players would run headlong into the
spectators standing along the sides (there were no stands to sit in) or into
the adjoining house after a stray ball.
The teenage girls stood in one crowded area, wearing the fancy new
clothes made for Tabaski and waving jerseys of the teams they supported. As the players ferociously played, the girls
danced traditional African danced to alternating Senegalese and American
blaring music.
All of us loved watching the
spectacle (and a spectacle it truly was) and promised to find out when our
village's final game was. Hampered by
our limited language skills, we didn't learn that our game was the next day...
during the time we had our evening language class. After returning from class, my 20 and 22 year
old brothers were changing from their sweat-soaked soccer jerseys and demanded
where I'd been. They'd had so many great
plays, it was the end of the season, and I hadn't been there!?!?
Kerr Sadaro events: 4
Erin: 0
To top this off, there was
another dance party (the last during the break before school started) and my
brothers were adamant that I make this one.
As it was the night before our language exam, my fellow Peace Corps
friends and I stayed up until almost midnight studying and waiting for the darn
party. Finally giving up on the
situation, we called it a night and went to bed. Sure enough, at 1am the party started and I
missed that one too!
Kerr Sadaro events: 5
Erin: 0
Wish me luck on making any future
events, I don't seem to have too good of a track record!
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