I cannot believe that I have
officially been here for two weeks today.
This past week went by in a flash as it was filled with: our first week
of classes, 3 trips to separate beaches, discovering more of my neighborhood,
like the Ouakam market, learning Wolof proverbs from my Papa, borrowing all my
host sister’s clothes and jewelry, continuously bonding with my Toubab friends,
and ending with a day trip to the Island of Gorée yesterday.
My classes have started on a good
note. My brain breathes a sigh of relief
as I walk into my last of four classes, Education and Culture, on Mondays and
Wednesdays, as the other three are completely in French. However, Tuesdays and Thursdays are easier,
with only one class on Tuesdays and two on Thursdays. My parents have insisted that I they help
with my Wolof, French, and any other homework I might have which is what led to
my Papa wandering our house on Wednesday acting out Wolof Proverbs. One in particular: “Dakh sa guanar wakhalé sa
sokhla” which translates into “if you have something bad to say to someone, say
it to the animals around you instead.”
As you can imagine my Papa was walking around the living room pretending
to yell at chickens.
On Thursday a group of us took
advantage of our late classes and went over to the Ouakam Thursday market where
I bought two dresses for $5. It was
basically a giant Goodwill. We even saw
a shirt with a Goodwill tag on it. I
have never seen a market like this, people literally digging through piles of
clothes and then bartering (Waxahale in Wolof) for a good price. It was an eye-opening experience.
On Friday a group of us went to
Ngor beach which is a 5 minute Pirogue (boat) ride from the Island of
Ngor. My friend’s Camilla, Molly and I
met two guys, Moussa and Taco (his name wasn’t really Taco), who told us they
would walk us around the small 2km island, which they did kindly. We had also heard that Akon had a house on
Ngor, so of course we asked them to show us.
Instead we ended up walking through a small surf commune on the island
and unfortunately never found Akon’s house.
Camilla, Molly, and I with our guides
Pirogue
The Surf Commune aka Akon's House
Yesterday we took an excursion to
the Island of Gorée, about a 15 minute ferry ride from downtown Dakar. Of course my camera died the minute we
arrived on the Gorée but it reminded me of a small European Island, very
similar to Murano and Burano in Italy actually.
Gorée is known as one of the busiest slave trading Islands, as it was a
transfer point for the Europeans during the slave trade era. Gorée still has a lot of beautiful old
architecture and monuments but now it is a tourist destination crawling with
very aggressive vendors. My friends and
I were quite literally pulled into a conclave of stalls by a group of women and
asked to buy things that we very overpriced.
We were bombarded with “you are very pretty, I give you the best price,”
or “come see my stall, you’re other friends are looking also.” After escaping that
ordeal we wandered across the island and up to the top where there we a lot of
beautiful paintings and cool embroidery.
I bought a small painting of 4 people dancing, made with paint and
fabric strips. Unfortunately, it was
hazy yesterday so we could barely make out the Dakar skyline in the distance at
the top of the island.
Coming into Gorée
A garden on Gorée
That was my past week in a
nutshell. I am getting to the point
where this place is starting to feel like home.
I am familiar with my neighborhood, I love my new friends and family,
and I am looking forward to what is to come, Inshallah.
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