Here's a pic of cooking lessons at my english student's house last month. His mom is a sweetie and was showing me how to make the national plate here: cheb bu dien (rice with fish and vegetables).
There must be 5 million ingredients- everything from concentrated tomato paste to smoked fish to yucca to escargo. It was easy enough playing chef with Birahim's mom, but it's been a month and I still haven't managed to buy all the ingredients and make myself cheb! I have been dancing a good deal, and the gals who teach me decided to braid me up last week- hence the pic of me with braids. It took about 3 hours or so and about 3 dollars worth of "mesh"- it was nice getting my hair off my neck and out of my face- but i didn't count on the added weight! Now, when I try to do the moves where we whip our heads up and down (think of any West African dance you may have seen)
I have an extra 5 lbs to sling around. The ballet has it's first show since I've started dancing with them tomorrow, and I will be happily watching from the sidelines. I haven't even learned all of the moves yet, but they keep telling me I'm going to perform with them! I am not so sure... Otherwise, I've got my materials and outline all set for starting this video project-I'm hoping to start filming on Monday and will surely have some stories to tell after trying to film the craziest outdoor markets in Dakar. As if being a toubab wasn't bad enough, try toubabing it with a video camera and tripod!!
Oh, parting thought: I am almost speaking basic Wolof now... Wahoo!! I can understand maybe half of what people say, which is so much better than before- which is to say, 0! Ba chica nam ('til next time).
