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Published: October 11th 2008
For those who care, I am sorry I have let so much time pass between blogs; I will try to do better in the future.
Ramadan in Senegal ended last week so now I am no longer questioned in the street as to why I am not fasting as I slurp down one of the four 1.5 L water bottles that I consume daily. By the way, I have discovered the secret of the slim Senegalese figure in conjunction with a diet in which peanut oil constitutes its own food group. You see, after downing your ‘an’ (lunch) of rice and fried onions, one must then walk five miles in the blazing equatorial sun. The result: five pounds of water weight gone before you reach your doorstep. For those who feel they need to put in that little extra, try carting a watermelon half the way.
Anyhow though, where was I? Oh yes, the end of Ramadan. I live with a Christian family in Dakar (they make up roughly 8% of the population) and therefore we did not celebrate Korite (the ending feast) in our home. I was invited to a friends house, donned by booboo (pictures available), ate and chatted all day and into the night. In the evening, we all walked along the neighborhood, greeting everyone we met and asking forgiveness of any wrongs that had been committed.
This past Sunday I headed up to the city of St Louis which is in the north of Senegal and near the Mauritian boarder. I will be here for a month taking a class over the development of the Senegal River Valley. Our Beloit/Kalamazoo group has joined forces with Senegalese students for this class. Two days ago we visited a de-salinatization dam as a group and then headed over into neighboring Mauritania. We were unable to cross over the official boarder without visas but I got some cool photos of these gigantic beetles in the gray zone.
My host family in St. Louis is wonderful. I would categorize them as a more typical Senegalese household than the Gomis’ whom I live with in Dakar. They are a large Muslim family and I am still not quite sure who lives in the house with me; people are always coming in and out, in and out. My host mother, Aisatoo, is young and sweet. She has a son, Papa, who is 18 months and a daughter, Miriam, who is 6 years old. Miriam is adorable and has become something of a shadow to me. She just loves playing with My Stuff. I made the mistake of letting her paint my toenails yesterday. Result- lets just say I need to buy polish remover soon. I think she got more polish on my toes than the nail. The food is the best I have ever eaten! Aissatoo hasn’t bought into the oil as its own food group school of thought and I’ve been eating some of the best grilled fish and rice I have ever eaten.
I hope all are well and I promise more timely updates in the future.
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Grandma
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Hi once again. Sounds like you are having a great time. How are your studies going? And did you ever get the polish off your toes? ha I love hearing from you. Love ya