idealists unite!

SO, I have been quite a busy chica this last month. Employed, fairly social, trying to be socially engaged, and all the rest... I helped throw this video together as part of the Idealist.org conference last weekend. Enjoy!

of fetes and fortunes

So, as many of you have figured out by now, I am back in the States. After a few wild going away fetes (see pics below), I said goodbye to my friends, students, teachers, and neighbors and went out, however exhaustedly, with a bang.

The first party was laid-back and beautiful. Through a friend, I rented a boat to take us to a small island off the coast of Dakar, which is a national bird-park and generally fun place to spend a day in the semi-wilderness. When we hopped off the boat, our group of 10 Americans/Senegalese/friends from Reunion Island were the only folks there. We kicked off our shoes and bouldered around the gorgeous, jagged rock formations that overlooked a brilliantly turquoise lagoon on the one side and the crashing ocean waves on the other. A huge habitat of black cormorants blinked back from an opposing cliff.

It felt so much like Las Tijeretas, a stunning harbor in San Cristobal, Galapagos, where we used to go snorkeling with the sea lions, every kind of fish imaginable, and the occasional turtle or ray. Around lunch, we assembled the picnic sandwich materials I’d brought and fed the whole group. (Unfortunately, none of us brought a camera, and so you’ll just have to picture the beauty of the place)

Back on the mainland, we went to the French Cultural Center for one last event- a screening of the film Bamako. (A West African film that’s getting a lot of attention right now, a sort of imaginary trial of the world bank that takes place in the filmmaker’s house). Unfortunately, I was so exhausted by the time we sat down in the theater that I could barely follow the lofty academic French of the movie, and was fighting back sleep after the first hour.


Well, the second party was much more traditionally Senegalese- we did the typical stuff: renting enough chairs so that everyone could sit, making sure everyone gets served (soft) drinks, playing Mbalax music, serving tons of food, providing a place for dance (and prayer), and generally tiring ourselves out so much that we were ready to collapse by the end!!! It was a huge hit, though, and turned out to be a great way to thank everyone for all the stuff they did for us throughout the year. I’m not sure I would EVER do it again, hehehe, but it was well worth the effort this time.

Let’s see, after all of the partying, there was the inevitable last-minute souvenir buying, everything from necklaces to djembes. The trip back included a half-day layover in France. After the last time, I had vowed to leave the airport, albeit armed with my video camera, laptop, hard drive, ipod, and every other heavy, expensive, or irreplaceable thing I could have possibly carried on my back through the streets and public transit systems of Paris. But, despite these difficulties, and the sleet, Paris was amazing. I walked around near the river, through the dream-like aisles of Notre Dame Cathedral, with all of the tiny white candles being lit and a mass going on in the inner chamber. I made my way through public gardens and into a café for the obligatory cappuccino and pain au chocolate (so delicious).

When I returned to the US, I stayed with Aziz’s family and went almost everywhere a Chinatown bus can take a gal. It was another (though colder) adventure, in itself, visiting my friends and relatives over the next two weeks.

Back home, I am starting work at an NPO downtown (commuting from the burbs where my folks are, at the moment). I suppose my travels have come to an end, temporarily, or perhaps they are just beginning, which is more what I like to think.

Before I left for the Galapagos, I went to an art exhibit, where I received a fortune cookie. The succinct four – word fortune within commanded me to “build identity through travel.” Though the exhibit was fairly shoddy, and the fortune cookie meant to be ironic, I like to think that I’ve lived up to its mildly mocking mandate.

Hope you’ve all enjoyed the travels with me this far… I’m not yet sure what I’ll be adding to the site in the months ahead, but I hope to keep the spirit of the journey alive in some way, whether that’s through posting the occasional travel memoir or creating new and interesting adventures for myself, which I then get to share with all you lovely people.

Peace..............
Jackie

cold... very cold

yes.

fetes!

holidays and homecomings

So I’ve officially turned in the final draft of my video about life in Dakar! I was a bit exhausted, but otherwise happy and healthy and gearing up for the less than 10 days that are about to fly by- before I leave Senegal! It is hard to believe- I keep bringing it up just to remind myself and others that I’m actually going, which doesn’t seem at all to be the case…

  (Me making salad on Christmas)

The last two weeks have been interesting as ever, punctuated by Christmas at the First International Baptist Church of Dakar and Tabaski mouton-slaying fest at Dr. N’s house (see pics). We made it to a surprising number of holiday parties – I decorated Christmas cookies twice!- this on top of the obligatory house visits to wish people happiness and health in the new year/Tabaski.

  (Aziz contemplates mouton, contemplating their last moments)

Tabaski, for the uninitiated, is a huge Muslim holiday, commemorating the story of Abraham (Ibrahim) being willing to sacrifice his only (and very hard to conceive) son because God tells him to-to test his faith. They climb up the mountain, poor kid is about to get slaughtered, and then at the last moment God says, “just kidding,” so they go and slay a sheep (wasn’t it a ram?) instead- happily ever after.

 
Hope I didn’t butcher (pardon the pun) the story too badly, but anyways, the idea is that everyone (or at least men who are heads of households) who has faith in God must kill a mouton, which people do in their courtyards/outside, and then everyone cuts up, barbeques and eats sheep all day. You are also supposed to ask people to pardon you for your sins, and they pardon you, etc. So much to tell about Tabaski, but suffice it to say, it was an interesting cultural experience. I stuck to chopping up the potatoes and salad, while Aziz helped Dr. N’s boys slice up mouton.

 
We celebrated New Year’s overlooking the ocean outside Dakar, which sounds idyllic, but was actually fairly so-so. Not because of any lack of effort on the part of our hosts, etc., who showed up wearing full suits, but rather because of the general Senegalese-ness of the party- which meant that it didn’t start until two-thirty, (so much for new years countdowns!), lasted until 5, and was pretty much like most house parties we’d been to in the last year, etc, etc.

  
What else? There’s so much to say about every hour of life here... little of this makes it to paper- or computer. For instance, Friday, after I left the meeting where I dropped off my final video, I stopped by the French Cultural Center nearby. There I ran into a few filmmakers whom I had met when we stayed with Ken and Liz, the professors. We chatted about their projects and upcoming visit to the US. Then I had an hour long conversation with two fair trade craft vendors who want me to visit their village- don’t think I’ll have time- sadness. All this before hanging out with my friend who makes birds out of garbage (see previous post…recycled birds). Saturday I spent the morning hula hopping and teaching a friend yoga on the beach, then going with Pape’s (Aziz’s drum teacher’s) family, who tour around as a drum troupe, to a crazy Senegalese soiree. Sunday I gave my last English lesson, was catching up on emails and internet searches, and invited a friend over for Indian food.

  
(hangin out with Pape, making drums)

Aziz and I are planning a final, fourish day, trip to either Sine Saloum delta or The Gambia (We wanted to go to Cassamance, but have heard that it is too dangerous at the moment). More stories and lots of reflections on life here to come… Let me know if y’all want anything in particular from Senegal, and I’ll try to hunt it down…see many of you very soon…