Goree Island and Learning to Cook

The past few days have been chock full of activity as we are approaching our last week in Dakar. Saturday was the group trip to Goree Island. We took two hours in the morning to give us some background knowledge on the history and significance of the island. By noon we were at the docks where we all took a ferry (really just a boat, think tour boat size) from the mouth of Dakar to the island. It took about twenty minutes and the views of the city were great. The departure point was in the middle of the industrial sect of Dakar; lots of pirougs and big ships were around, it almost felt like Duluth (minus the pirougs). Everyone in my family had told me in advance how beautiful Goree is, and how similar it is to Saint-Louis with the architecture; they were right about the former, we’ll see about the latter. My first impression of the island from the ferry was how much it looked like some tropical beach island. All of the buildings are brightly colored and in the classic colonial style. Palm trees are all over the place, as are patches of tropical flowers. Straight off the boat we headed to the History Museum located right on the water and housed in an old slave house. To be honest the museum itself wasn’t that interesting. It was focused on the early prehistoric beginnings of Senegal, was all in French, and only had pottery and some arrowhead artifacts. However, the views of the ocean left nothing to be desired, and we also had a fairly good visual of the island and beach. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant on the beach and headed over to the Museum of Women. This was also in an old slave house and had a lot of traditional Senegalese objects. A tour guide brought us through and explained the role of women in Senegalese life, something that was very inspiring for all 10 of us girls. Right across the street from the museum was the famous House of Slaves. This was the most moving and powerful place on the island for me. It was so surreal for me to actually be there, especially after having done a huge project in my French class at the UW on a painting of this house. The house itself was not very large, but the number of people who have gone through it on their way to be sold as slaves in the Americas is astounding. It was horrifying to hear about how they were treated and to see where they were kept. The “door of no return” or “porte de sans retour” while very touristy, still struck a note in me. Looking out at the waves crashing against the rocks (back in the 1700-1800’s there was a long dock out to sea that the ships would dock at, now they have been broken down) one can only imagine how desolate a slave would feel looking out at the vast ocean. This took up most of our afternoon, so by the time we finished we had only a little free time on the island. I went for a swim, but I’m hoping to go back another time to explore more of the island as there is a large portion that we never got to see.

As though my long day did not tire me out enough, I decided to make use of the music scene in Dakar and went out Saturday night. A couple of the other girls wanted to do the same as me so we met up with Moussa and Mactar, the brothers of two of the girls, and their friends and went to a reggae concert. It ended up being just down the street from my house which was super convenient so I was able to leave whenever I wanted and not have to worry about being accompanied home! (It’s these little pockets of independence that become so precious when you are a girl at night). I had a blast with the girls and our Senegalese friends. The concert was outside in a basketball court so it was nice and cool and there was a lot of space. We danced like crazy so that by the time I crashed in bed I was completely beat.

Sunday was a lazy day with one exception. I woke up mid morning and made pancakes for everyone! I brought our Michigan maple syrup for the family and then made the pancakes from a mix I got right before I left. It was definitely a hit. I’m not really sure what to tell them to do with all of the syrup however, so if anyone has any great ideas, please pass them forward! My cousin Sally then came over to bring me to the market to buy more fabric, this time a more traditional African pattern. I’m pretty pumped for it, it may even become my Tabaski outfit…we’ll see how well my design turns out. The rest of the day was spent at my sister Sals’ house. I lounged around with the family and played with Abdoul Aziz and the baby. Doesn’t get a whole lot better for a Sunday.

Today the Baobab Center organized a hands-on day. We spent 4 hours preparing ceeb jen (pronounced chey-bu jenn and translating to rice and fish, the national dish of Senegal). I had no idea there was so much work behind it! Now I understand why servants are so common, food preparation alone is half the day. After eating, we then started to learn the process of making ataaya, the tea that is so popular here. So much harder than it looks, pouring the cups (or what look like shot glasses) back and forth to create the perfect amount of foam is quite the feat. I hope to learn how to do it like a pro by the end of the year, I’m totally hooked on it. After that experience the group went downtown to an art gallery to view a new collection by a Senegalese artist. His paintings were amazing. Very African themed, he used lots of bright colors and utilized great texturing techniques to create these oil paintings that I loved. We then ate dinner at the French Cultural Center. This place is super sweet, a weird little fusion of Western and African ideas. They have a large outside stage for cool concerts that they put on, and have a great restaurant (Katie, I am bringing you there when you come to visit, it is a little haven of “normal” food), all surrounded by well kept tropical gardens. Only now have I had time to relax and get ready for my totally scheduled rest of the week.

I can’t believe I am starting actual school in less than a week, inshallah!

SIDE NOTES:

At the request of my mother, and apparently others reading my blog, I have been asked to comment on the dress code here. With the pictures I have posted you have seen the range of what people wear over here. Surprisingly enough, from the waist up, anything is really fair game for women. I would even venture to say that young women wear more scanty tops than in the US. The knee rule definitely does apply here though. I have not seen a single woman wear something above the knee unless they are going out at night (and even then it is not common). I went running for the first time yesterday and wore a pair of long soccer shorts that hit right above the knees. I think half the looks I got from people was because they were a little "risque" (the other reason being that NO girls do sports of any kind). Traditional outfits and western style clothing are equally worn. Older women seem to tend to wear traditional clothing more often (my yaay only wears African style clothing) and for the majority of time wear a headscarf that matches. I believe that the headscarf is really more an accessory and fashion statement than a religious deference. In the picture of my family the women are wearing a longer shawl type thing (I don't remember the name of it). This is what they all must wear to cover their heads when they pray and I took the picture right after their Ramadan prayers. It is pretty rare to see women wearing the full shawl all the time, but the headscarf is common. As white Christians, we girls stand out if only because we don't dress as nicely as everyone else on a regular basis! As for men, dress is similar. There are equal numbers of people who wear western as traditional clothing, with older men tending to wear traditional style more often. I was so excited however last week when I ran into my papa as he was returning from a game of petank (the African equivalent to bocce ball); he was wearing the bright red University of Wisconsin t-shirt that I gave him, with matching red windpants, and a red hat!...He would of fit right in at any Badger football game he was so decked out in red! I will say that it is required for both men and women to cover their heads when they go to the mosque. Men wear a mini hat while women wear this shawl thing and both sexes are pretty well covered in the traditional outfits. I feel as though things are rather relaxed and don't feel very restricted by any means as to what I can wear. An interesting aspect of life that I have observed but hadn't realized other people would be interested in knowing more about. Please let this be an example of how I am always willing to share insight on random parts of Senegalese life, just give me a topic and I will definitely address it!