Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
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…
(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…
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