Senegal, February 2007 - #3

Asalaamalekum!

It's been a month since I've been here in Dakar, so here is the one month
update!

First some general anecdotes:
The weather here has been cool! I am wearing pants and a long-sleeve shirt right now, and very
comfortable. Yesterday there was so much wind that practically everywhere I walked was a sandstorm. I had sand everywhere! Under my nails, in my ears, and between my teeth! Uch.
I'm taking a lot of classes here, because the classes don't require so much work outside of class.
I'm taking African Literature, Gender, African Political Systems (which is very cool, and we will
be observing the elections at the end of February), Islam in Senegal, Wolof, and a Philosophy of Art class at the University. I'm also taking a dance class on the weekends, which is incredibly fun and ridiculously tiring! I will have some killer moves when I get back! One of the guys who organizes the dance class came up to me at the WARC where we take our classes and told me Im a good dancer and I know how to move my "you know what." If that's not a compliment I dont' know what is! So that's the basic news, and now I thought I would give you a few short stories of how I know I'm beginning to assimilate into Senegalise culture.

I got my first handshake-laugh from my host mother, Ouli, the other day when we were talking about Sudoku. Let me explain the handshake-laugh. If you say something that is particularly amusing, or that the person you are talking to really connects too, there will be a long highpitched laugh and an emphatic handshake to let you know that they're right there with you. I have been observing this interaction, which I absolutely love, and been trying to implement it among my friends in the program, but until a week ago I had yet to recieve my own handshake. Then, I was talking to Ouli about how I dont have the patience to do Sudoku on a regular basis, and out came the hand and her adorable and incredibly distinctive cackle! I was so excited to be initiated into the laughter that is constantly going on in our house!!! It is kind of like a high five, but much warmer and it lasts much longer. I encourage all of you to try it!

On another note, I have now survived my first major medical problem in Dakar. I had an allergic
reaction to a malaria medication I bought called Savarine, and got hives all over my body. It was
incredibly unpleasant, and I think my body might still be a little upset with me. But I did get to
go to the doctor here, which was an exciting experience. We took a cab downtown to his office, and walked in to see a old white french man who invited me into his office/exam room which were the same thing. When I told him what happened, he very nonchalantly told me to go sit on the exam table where I watched him squirt something on his hands (no washing, no gloves) and proceed to prepare a shot. I hate shots, so I tried to mentally prepare myself and relax my arms and all of that so it would hurt less, but then he came up to me and told me to get down and turn around, because that shot was not going into my arm! Then, to my great surprise, after I had pulled my skirt down a little so he could give me the shot, he slapped me rather forcefully and when I looked around the shot was over! Then, he cleaned up and told me to be on my way, with a prescription of steroids in hand. It was so laid back and there was no sign of worry on his face even when I showed him my red blotchy stomach and back. Suffice it to say that the meds and the shot did the trick, and I'm back to normal, happy and hive free.

And finally the true way I know that I am really starting to fit in here. As you know, we have sheep behind our house. About a week ago, the sheep started baaing non stop, incredibly loudly and all night long! It was unbearable and I couldn't sleep, and I began wishing terrible things on them, thoughts like "I cant wait until we sacrifice you," or "I hope you make a delicious dinner sometime soon!" I was shocked at myself that I could think such aweful things but I couldn't stop myself. They were incessant! And this was when I was spending all day in my room, sedated with prescription steroids and Benedryl, so there was no escape. Finally after a day or two I asked Ouli why the sheep were being so loud lately, and to my great shock, she told me it was because their mother died! I felt so bad!! And by died, I mean she was killed, and I ate her the next night for dinner! You would think that this would bother me, listening to the cries of the babies as I ate their mother, but again I surprised myself as the delicious tenderness of the meat erased any feeling of guilt I had while eating it. It was so good! We had been eating the father previously who was much tougher, and when I took a bite of the mother it was some of the most delicious mouton I've eaten yet! I think that this is a sign that I have accepted and even embraced a few fundamental culture differences, and although I would like to say I am upset with the way animals are treated here and I feel bad about eating them, I am more glad that I can so thoroughly enjoy Ouli's fantastic cooking and know that the mother mouton was not killed in vain.

I hope you are continuing to get a sense of life here! Every day I discover more, and understand
different nuances of the culture that has some very profound differences from our own! I have been having great conversations about religion and politics with my host mother Ouli, and I had a very interesting conversation with a family friend about the differences between Africa and the West. There is so much going on here, and so much complexity with both the desire to progress and to protect and be proud of a unique culture. It seems strange to me to refer to oneself as
underdeveloped, and to see every day the innumerable problems facing the country and the people here, and yet that is what people do every day. In my philosophy of art class, the professor said, While we are a poor country, our wealth lies in our culture. That is wear the richness is. It's a concept I am just starting to understand, and I'm not sure I will every fully comprehend. But I keep trying...