As classes really start up and I begin to have some actual homework, my blog posts have become a bit less frequent. I have been in Senegal for over three weeks now. In some ways, I feel like I have been here forever, but in others, I feel like I just arrived. Communication is obviously the biggest challenge for me. It's interesting because since I've been here, I have had to switch my language base from English to French. As I learn Wolof, both inside and outside of class, I must resort back to French when I do not understand or need to ask a question. It's a different way for me of refining my French, as while I do not hear it all the time around me, I am dependent on my French skills to learn another language. While I'm struggling a little to gain a basic knowledge of Wolof, my French has already become a bit more natural than when I arrived. Although, as my host uncle reminds me, it would be even better if my friends and I didn't speak English together outside of school. However, I am valuing my sanity more than my language skills at this moment.
This weekend was definitely a good way of restoring a bit of sanity in a city and country that causes one to go a bit insane. My program in Dakar arranged a weekend away in Toubab Diallo, a fishing community a couple hours away from Dakar, for the students and staff of my program. We left on Saturday morning in two air-conditioned buses that, as a friend remarked, were the nicest place she'd been in since the plane to Dakar. This was the first time that I have left Dakar, so I particularly enjoyed the drive. While some of the time is spent on highways, much of it is also spent crossing through crowded, bumpy streets full of people and goats. I particularly loved seeing the baobabs that seemed to sprout up everywhere once you nleave the city. It is all very pretty and green at the moment, something I didn't expect after three weeks in Dakar.
I know I said this in the last post about Goree, but Toubab Diallo is seriously one of the prettiest places I've been. The village itself would shock most Americans - it's basically homes that look like a series of little boxes, often with walls around them. But people are friendly, and the children who shout "toubab!" when we walk by seem less malevolent than those of Dakar. My favorite was one little girl who followed us a certain distance and when we stopped to say hello, she solemnly studied me, then pointed to her eyes. After a few seconds, I placed the sunglasses that were on my head over my eyes a bit uncertainly, hoping that she wouldn't demand to have them after. But she simply said "oui," smiled, and trotted off.
Our hotel was really, as my host siblings like to say with distorted American accents, cool. Toubab Diallo is known for being an artist community, and the place we stayed was basically a work of art. It was spaced into two little sections - one right on the ocean, and another a bit farther back that includes workshops, and a couple of areas for performing music or dance. The stone buildings were all distinctive, decorated with patterns of tiles and shells and topped with thatched roofs. The whole area was surrounded by gardens, sculptures, and little seating areas that included hammocks.
My group of seven girls was lucky, as we had a room that had a bathroom, loft, and a direct view of the ocean.
As part of our stay in the hotel, we could choose to take either a dance, drum, or batik class. I chose to create a batik. We were given squares of fabric, stencils, and pencils and were told to create a design. After we had outlined this, we painted in the areas with hot wax. The fabric was then dyed (mine was red) and hung to dry. After it dried, everywhere that was wax was white, and the rest was red. Then we added another layer of wax and and dyed it a new color. When it was all finished, the areas that were coated with wax the second time were the only areas that remained red, and the rest was a dark green. There was really no way to mess the process up - everyone's batik ended up looking really good at the end.
On Saturday evening, we saw a music and dance performance - with participation - and after we simply sat outside by the ocean.
The waves were pretty rough during the weekend we were there, and there were a lot of rocks, so while the water was really nice and warm, it was hard to stay out too long.
Sunday was mostly a beach and reading day, and when we returned, I think everyone felt a lot more relaxed and a little more sunburned.
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