Friends, Family and Fun on Goree Island

This was by far our best weekend yet! On Saturday we went to the American ambassador's house, which is presently unoccupied because a new ambassador has yet to be assigned here, so the house is being used by the American embassy for various events. It was a potluck, which was so great because we got a taste of familiar food from home! The Senegalese don't really understand the concept of "potluck," so it was funny to them when I explained that the guests were bringing the food and it was not offered by the hosts.

At the end of the party a couple of break dancers who were hired showed up as we were leaving and we went back in. Noah ended up dancing with them and has decided that he wants to start taking classes with one of the guys.

On Saturday night I attempted to go out dancing to a salsa club downtown, but at 2:30 am when the owner kept telling us that it was still early and the people would be coming, we decided to head home. There was a great live band playing Senegalese style salsa, but not many folks with whom to dance. We'll try again next week! It's great having a roommate because I can leave Noah with someone he knows and likes and don't need a babysitter, plus places don't get started until 1 or 2 in the morning, so he is sound asleep by that time (the problem is I usually am, too!). I found out that there is a French guy here who teaches Cuban salsa and even Rueda, maybe I'll give it a try!

On Sunday we headed to Goree Island with our friend, Almamy. I found out about a capoeira (Brazilian martial arts done to singing and drumming) group on the island that practices Sunday afternoons, so we wanted to check it out for Noah. Also, it was my first time to the island. Noah had been there a few weeks earlier with his dad.

We took a taxi downtown to the port (about 1/2 hour from our house). We thought there may be extra ferries running because it was the day of the Dakar to Goree swim, but when we got there, we were early and had to wait an hour or so for the 4:00 boat.

Once we got on the boat, we saw one Senegalese with a bidimbou (a Brazilian instrument played for capoeira). Our friend asked if he was going to the class and he said that he was and he would show us where to go. The boat ride was great, but the sun was beating down hard!

It took about 20 minutes to get to the island. It is beautiful when you first see it. All of the building are painted in earth tones of reds and yellows.

As the boat was docking, our friend, who we were with, saw one of his spiritual leaders, from the Bifal sect of Islam, standing on the dock. He quickly got some coins to give him and asked me to take a picture of him with this man. As I took the picture, all of the people around started yelling at me to stop. I felt terrible that perhaps I had violated something sacred to these people. When Almamy (our friend) got up and came toward us, the people around me suddenly started apologizing (all of this is happening in French and Wolof) to me. They said that they thought I was just a tourist and did not realize that I was taking a picture for Almamy and now it was no problem at all! I felt much better!

From left-Tarang, 18, the youngest son of Fode's parents, Bifal, a drummer and dancer and our friend, Almamy

As we left the dock and started walking down towards the beach where everyone was swimming, we heard someone shouting, "Buba, Buba!" (Noah's middle name that he uses here-pronounced Booba) Noah followed the voice and spotted his father's youngest brother, Tarang, waving at him. Noah took off running!

We knew that three or four of Noah's uncles and many of his dad's friends live and perform on the island, but we didn't think it would be this easy to find them! They were so happy to see us (especially Noah) and they took us on a speed tour of the island, as we made our way to the top for the capoeira class.

A bunch of adorable kids teasing and playing with us as we passed.

This is the area where the artists stay and where Noah's dad lived when he was young. There are both visual artists (sculptors and painters) as well as musicians and dancers. The man in the picture has the same name as Noah's dad, Fode, and they played kora together on Goree when they were young boys.

There are many old remnants and reminders of the tumultuous history of Goree's past. It's other name is "The Door of No Return," because this is where many slaves passed through or were held on their way to the New World.

The exciting and hot moment of discovering capoeira in Africa!

Noah playing with the teacher. He studied with one Brazilian master who spent time on the island and then traveled to Brazil to refine his craft.

Another unexpected success of the day was the arrangement of kora lessons for Noah. His uncle, Tarang, will come to our house every Saturday and spend the weekend with us in order to give Noah kora lessons. His uncles gifted him with this kora to take home in preparation for his first lesson this coming Saturday. (Noah is also taking jazz piano lessons twice a week and African drumming lessons once a week at school)
This picture was taken after a great Senegalese meal of Yassa Poulet (grilled chicken and onion sauce) at a restaurant on the beach at sunset. We were waiting in line to get on the ferry home. The moon was almost full and shining on the water behind us.

The ferry ride home was packed! We had to stand the whole way. The capoeira group happened to be on the ferry as well and sang Brazilian songs the whole ride back. Of course, everyone joined in! Noah entertained the crowd on the top deck with his dancing and "kora playing."
When we arrived, the group made a rhoda (a circle) and started playing. Noah eagerly joined in, but this was no class, this was the real deal!!

Noah getting his nose checked and massaged after getting a slight kick. It's all fun and games...

He was back in the circle for more after no time and a powerful ending to an amazing day!

Peace in the World-by Noah

One of Noah's favorite past times. The kids here are REALLy good! You can find these old games on many neighborhood streets. It's about 5 cents to play and you get 5 balls.

Noah on the soccer field at school

One of our many outdoor housecats

Here are some of the traditional foods we eat at home:

Chebu Jenne-Red sauce on rice with potatoes, carrots and fish
Mafe-Peanut sauce on rice with potaotes, carrots, cabbage and chicken
Yassa-Onion sauce on rice or couscous with fish
Chou-A different onion sauce on rice with chicken or fish
"The Happy Meal"-grilled chicken or fish with homemade french fries, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and onion sauce

Every night when we put our leftovers and dishes from any meal outside in the back to be cleaned the next day, the cats scream and whine about who gets to eat the food.

Here in Africa people don't have a lot of money so when it rains really hard the streets get all messed up because the roads are not too good and they don't have any drainage systems. There is a lot of trash on the streets and yesterday when we were coming back home with our friend, Amy, we saw workers finally trying to clean up all the garbage. It was the first we saw garbage trucks here. We saw 10 big yellow garbage trucks blocking the whole street and it was hard to get passed them. People don't use garbage cans here, they just throw it on the ground.
Every morning people are up early sweeping the garbage into piles in front of their house or shop. Some people take big piles of garbage and burn it on the ground, but I would think it would start a big fire, but it doesn't.
One time I saw this pile of garbage burning and nobody was paying attention to it.

My School:

At ISD (International School of Dakar) our soccer field is the second biggest piece of grass in all of Senegal. The only thing to do at recess is play soccer. It is very different than the soccer at home because you just get a soccer ball from somebody and play a pick up game.

If we are bad, we get sent to the PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE.

We work in workbooks in all subjects. For math, the first week, we learned how to count by 2's and my teacher made up a saying and it goes like this, "2, 4, 6, 8, 3rd graders are really great! 8, 6, 4, 2, I can do math, so can you!"
I was thinking, "This is like kindergarten math!" And one day in math, my teacher, Ms. Deanna, was giving my classmates easy math and when I raised my hand to go up to the board, this is the math she gave me, "63+52+98." I didn't know what to do because it was complicated and she wanted me to do it in my head.I said the answer was 211 but I just guessed.

I like PE because we get to do swimming on Mondays. On Thursdays we have all sports like hockey, soccer, racing and baseball.

THE END

YA'LL HAVE A GOOD DAY! I MISS YOU ALL!
YOUR FRIEND,

NOAH

In The Shadow of The Sun

A view of Dakar from Goree Island

Two kinds of life, two situations: anyone who finds himself for the first time in an American supermarket, one of those gigantic, unending malls, will be struck by the richness and variety of the goods assembled there, by the presence of every conceivable object that man has ever invented and produced, and subsequently transported, stowed and piled up, all of which results in the customer not having to think about anything-the thinking was done for him earlier, and now he has everything ready and at hand.

The world of the average African is different indeed. It is a lean world, of the very simplest, most elementary sort, reduced to several objects: a single shirt, a single bowl, a handful of grain, a sip of water. Its richness and diversity are expressed not in a material, concrete, palpable and visible form, but in the symbolic values and meanings that the African imparts to the most mundane things, imperceptible to the uninitiated on account of their utter ordinariness...Africa is a thousand situations, varied, distinct, even contradictory...But much of the underlying variety, this mosaic-this shimmering collage of pebbles, bones, shells, bits of wood, pieces of tine and leaves-has remained. The more closely we stare at it, the better we see how the bits and pieces of this tableau change place, shape, and hue, giving rise to a spectacle staggering in its mutability, richness, pulse of color.

The title of this posting is borrowed from a book called The Shadow of The Sun, which my brother, Daniel, gave me, by Ryzard Kapuscinski. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in learning more about the various countries and people on the African continent. It is beautifully written, incredibly insightful and engaging. This book has captured many of the thoughts and feelings that I have been experiencing since we arrived, particularly concerning the richness of culture and lack of resources that the people here deal with on a daily basis.

It has been difficult for both Noah and I to adjust to the level of poverty that surrounds us everywhere, but especially with those people in our neighborhood, who are becoming our good friends. Directly across the street from us is an extremely fancy 3 story building with four balconies, beautiful glass walls and a complete sidewalk lined with flowers and trees. This may not sound like anything special, but I assumed this was an apartment building and I recently learned that this belongs to a single, rather small family. On our same street, are single level structures that are barely half built, with piles of concrete, sand and rocks in front and a family of 10 or more are living there plus their chickens, goats and sheep.

We were having dinner last night with some new friends, Amy and Jonathan, a couple who both work at the school and live in the school housing, which is in one of the most high-end neighborhoods here in Dakar, where the Club Med is as well. It was strange to be in their apartment, which is totally western, with large, plush couches and a full-size fridge. This is not common here except in the internationally community and with the Senegalese elite. Jonathan made a really great point that helped me assimilate part of my recent conflict. He said first that he would prefer to live where we live, in our neighborhood and house, (yeah, right!) mixing with the locals and learning to speak Wolof. He also said that the difficulty comes when we are living as the locals do, but simultaneously working in a western environment. Making that shift each day back and forth has been rather stressful at times. Noah and I have discussed moving into a more "western" style living situation, but once the rainy season ends, which should be soon, we think we will be happy to stay put.

Some common challenges we face regularly include, but are not limited to: Forced blackouts that occur each night usually between 7 and 10 p.m. but can last up to ten hours. It's happening more and more each day now that all of the foreigners are returning from their holidays and using a great deal of electricity for AC and other appliances. Usually it happens when we are preparing dinner or getting reading for bed. It is extremely warm right now, damp and humid, during the rainy season and we rely on our fans to stay somewhat comfortable. With no fans, it is not easy to sleep and last night we were up late waiting to cool down, only to be woken again at 2:30 am when the electricity went out again. The water also gets turned off periodically, so we have lots of water saved in big bottles and buckets in case this happens. And in this heat, we shower at least twice a day!

Many interesting varieties of bugs and lizards that visit regularly, some are familiar and others have become a whole new education in entomology. Particularly interesting are the wriggly ones that we thought were worms, coming with the rain, only to learn that they are tiny baby snakes that hope to someday make it to adulthood. Thank goodness for Abdoulaye, our roommate, who usually takes over for us in these situations!

Although we lack many of the comforts of home, there is another facet to our life here that tends to overshadow the difficulties. The taranga or hospitality and warmth of the Senegalese people is so overwhelming at times, it catches me off-guard. When I was sick, everyone came to visit, bringing whatever homemade remedies they had to share. Noah and I are finally becoming accustomed to the long, extended Wolof greetings and shaking everyone's hand each time you pass someone you know. If you see someone you know who is with many other people you do not know, it is considered rude if you do not greet and shake everyone's hand. It can take a long time to make your way down the road to the "boutique" to buy a bottle of water or a phone card as you say "naangadef" and ask about the family in at least five different ways!


Papa Mesa's family (he is the director of the ballet and lives across the street from us) has somewhat adopted Noah and I. I often go over there in the evenings and sit in the courtyard on the mats with the women. They give me Wolof lessons, play with my hair, rub lime on my mosquito bites, teach me to cook Senegalese style and talk about things that are not for the men's ears-"girl stuff!"

Because I am a toubab, (a white person) I am welcome into some aspects the men's world, like hanging out, making tea, watching Youssouf Koumbassa videos or even better are the Senegalese music videos. Here, the men and women live very separate lives. Day and night, the men and women have very specific roles and spend most of their time within their gender groups. Women take care of the food, water and children. Men, either work or hang out making tea.

These are the people in our neighborhood...

The local possy, including some of the dancers and drummers in the ballet directed by Mesa Thoubou.
Noah playing football (soccer) on our street. Our house is down the road on the right (not in the photo)
Making eggs on our portable single burner stove. This is the central area in our house. The section behind me has an open roof (it's great to watch the colors of the sky and the moonshine is beautiful) and in front of me the roof is closed.

Momadou, who is 13, is a "can child" like the ones we see all over Dakar. The parents have sent their children to the city from the villages to receive a Muslim education from the Marabout teachers. What often happens though, is that the Marabout uses the children to make money. He sends the kids out on the street with a can from morning to night to beg for money and then he collects the money from the kids. Susan, who lived in this house last year, "adopted" Momadou and we have continued to care for him. Noah takes the most care of him, giving him clean clothes to wear, taking his clothes to get them washed, inviting him to eat with us and mostly playing with him. They have become good friends. Noah has a lot to learn from him, as well! He is a great soccer player and really good at house work. He has taught Noah how to sweep and mop up the rain water that likes to collect on the livingroom floor after a big rain. Once the bucket is filled with water, they bring it to the courtyard here, which is the indoor/outdoor part of our house, (there is no roof covering this part of the house) pour it down the drain and wring out the rags.
This is Oumar, who works in the photo shop at the corner of our street. He is also the "brother" (your cousin is called your brother) of the lead drummer in the local ballet. It's hard to find someone who is not related to someone else you know here!
Here, Noah is getting two passport photos that he needed for school. Notice the lovely sunset backdrop...
This is Ibou, who Noah and I fell in love with instantly upon arrival. He would come over every day and play with Noah morning, noon and night. After two weeks, his mom came over to get us and tell us that Ibou was leaving to go stay with his dad because his mom is pregnant again and not feeling well and cannot care for Ibou for a while. We were so sad! Noah quickly ran home, grabbed a t-shirt and a yo-yo to give to Ibou for his trip and we walked them to the road to get a taxi. He had 2 small plastic bags filled with everything he owns-his clothes and a few small toys. Noah has gone to the telecenter (where people make phonecalls) with his mom to speak to Ibou sometimes.

Our neighborhood, Cite' Asecna, in the town of Oukam, in the city of Dakar, is about a 1/2 hour drive from downtown Dakar. Initially, I thought it would be better to live closer to downtown for all of the markets, French bakeries, clubs and action. But after one trip downtown, it was a little too action-packed to be livable! It's tough to walk alone downtown because there is no end to the people who are trying to sell you anything and everything, or those who want to "help" out.
The traffic is horrendous and the fumes make it impossible to breath in a taxi with no AC and the windows rolled all the way down. Thank you, Elsu, for giving us the advice to take a couple of bandanas and some lavender oil. We use these all the time in the taxis to cover our faces so we don't have to breath the awful exhaust. The markets are amazing, busy and crowded, filled with the most beautiful fabrics, fruits and veggies and African arts and crafts. It's a nice place to visit, get what we need and go home to our calm and peaceful neighborhood.
This past weekend, we went downtown with our tailor (and friend) to find similar fabric to a dress he is copying for me. We also found a ton of other beautiful fabric and we are having fun getting clothes made.
Where we live is about a 20 minute walk to the beach and the lighthouse, which is on a hill and apparently the 2nd highest point in Senegal. It's not too high, so Senegal must be pretty flat! The beach is quite rocky during the rainy season, but we are told that the sand comes back when the weather calms down.
We are finally getting settled enough to be able to start thinking about taking some trips out of town. There are many beautiful islands and beaches for snorkeling and rock-climbing that we plan on checking out soon!