Journal Entry from 2/21

Two days ago was Mardi Gras and College Damel had a grand party to celebrate. School ended early which became apparent to me only that day; there is always something that I am not aware of here.

Students came dressed in traditional Senegalese dress with makeup and markings on their face – the girls wearing tons of their mother’s jewelry and the boys wearing cotton on their faces where hair will one day grow so that they resembled old men. This is a holiday more for the children than the adults as the older children didn’t even dress up. It was sooo great seeing my students dressed up in these costumes, they were so freaking cute.

Of course I dressed up - one of the teachers loaned me a traditional Senegalese boo boo to wear – a bright orange, plain, long shirt with a long orange skirt to match. She also gave me the fabric to wear on my head as the African women do, however, after seeing myself in the mirror I decided I looked too much like a pumpkin. I wasn’t sure how exactly to put on the skirt so I asked my nice neighbor to help dress me…

The party started in the classrooms where the teachers of each class distributed drinks and treats to the children. I brought chocolate elephants which were a huge hit with the children as well as the staff of the school.

After eating, drinking, and taking photos the kids spilled outside the classrooms for some dancing. There was a DJ and two massive speakers outside in the small space that separates the classrooms. Different from American children, ALL the kids were dancing their heads off – and quite well I might add. The DJ played a combination of African dance music (nearly impossible for a white person to dance to) as well as hip hop, reggae and raggaeton. I definitely had some fun on the dance floor with the kids, no one in the crowd stood still. I was absolutely exhausted after the grand-fete.

Class is more fun everyday as I get to know the students more and more. I am currently teaching them the alphabet. Unbenonst to me, they had never been taught the alphabet. I dream the alphabet song every night –Remember “Now you know you’re A,B,Cs, come on won’t you sing with me.” It’s important to drill everything into the heads of the students during class because they do not study at home. Class becomes an exercise in memorization. With the older children I am working towards learning the colors and body parts. I am gearing up for a big game of Twister.

I finally met up with my friend Niko – he invited me to a Rap concert in Pikine. Pikine is nuts – I was absolutely sure I was going to be hit by a car when walking around the village. Fortunately I had about 6 bodyguards who watched after me making sure that I wasn’t abducted on trampled. Niko works for an NGO that concentrates on cultural events and cultural exchange programs so he is very involved in the music scene in Senegal. As mentioned before, Niko is Suisse so he speaks French. Although I can speak and understand Niko well normally, I managed to have an entire phone conversation with Niko yesterday in which I did not understand a single word. It was classic. He tends to slur a little bit as French people do and this is especially difficult when on the phone.

The concert was tons of fun and the music was good. I found myself extremely tired at around 11 so I cashed out early. Niko will definitely be a good friend here in Senegal.

The Presidential election is this Sunday so things are a bit crazy here. I think this contributed to my experience in Pikine. There is a bit of violence in certain areas but nothing serious. Mostly I see caravans traveling from town to town with loud speakers and posters. Crowds of people gather on the streets to hear speakers and rally for their favorite candidates. My friend Chere has told me that I need to stay at home on both Sunday and Monday (not too difficult because there will be no transportation available.) He also told me that there will not be school on Monday…funny but no one told me this before. Again, I am in the dark; it has become a personal joke now.

BTW- I am unable to find my camera connector so I can’t download my pictures onto my computer just yet. It takes forever to get things done here so buying a new one will take a while and who knows if it will actually work when I get it back to my apartment to plug-in. Pictures on my blog….to come.