Journal entry from 2/11/07

I spoke with my mother yesterday and apparently I have forgotten to write about a lot of interesting stuff. I am so engulfed in this culture that I don’t even really notice when things are strange.

First of all, my village is far from starving…in the literal sense. Food for the Senegalese is a very important part of their life and they eat a ton of it. As a guest in people’s house I am constantly pestered to “mange,” “mange” – this means “eat, eat.” I hear these words in my sleep now.

The Senegalese do not drink during the meal as they don’t want their stomachs to fill up. They do not speak much during a meal, their concentration on one thing…eating. They eat quickly and a lot at once. I have absolutely no idea how these people remain so skinny considering the amount of food that they intake everyday. However, the Senegalese never eat dessert. Adults rarely eat sugar for that matter except in their coffee. Unlike the adults, kids relish their bon-bons and chocolates that they buy at the local boutique.

Speaking of coffee, I finally succumbed to buy a water heater but my first attempt at making coffee failed miserably. Every time I plugged in my water heater the electricity turned off. I have no idea how I am going to rectify this problem but hopefully Bamba will think of something.

Senegal is a very communal place. In my apartment building everyone keeps their door open (with a lace curtain like material hanging in the place of a door.) People are in and out of one another’s apartments as if it was their own. I haven’t really gotten used to this concept as I relish my privacy. Even though I almost always have a guest, I keep my apartment door closed and the door to my balcony wide open. It’s nice to have the natural sunlight.

In regards to having guests…people just “drop by” in Senegal. Everyone from my mentor to Bamba to my students. My students have taken to dropping by often…

In addition, everyday on my way home from school I am accompanied by about 5-10 students – my entourage. They insist on carrying my backpack and anything else I might be holding. I am not used to being surrounded by children but I am really enjoying their company and their innocence. It is also nice to walk around Grand-Yoff and know people everywhere I go. I hear children saying “Miss Brooke” and/or “Teacher” while walking around almost everyday.

I finally got around to going to a “boite” (nightclub) on Friday night. I had a great time dancing until 4 in the morning. We went for pizza afterwards; It was just like New York. We went to the beach all day on Saturday. It was a private beach about one half an hour from my apartment. I spent the entire day under the umbrella reading. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to spend my time.