What an insane day. Woke up at 6 and took a quick shower (a
bucket shower) and ate breakfast. I had an entire loaf of French bread with a
ton of optional spreads: apricot spread, chocolate spread, cheese, and butter.
So delicious…so French. Then we walked to school which was really nice. We had
our first Wolof lesson at 8:30. Wolof is the native language in Senegal, so
everyone speaks Wolof and French. Nanga def means what’s up and you would
respond Mangifi Rek (I am here only). It makes sense on Wolof, not so much in
English.
After, we had 2 lectures: one was a general overview of Senegalese
history, and the other was about the Senegalese caste system. Yes, there is a
caste system here too. After that we took a trip to Goree Island, which you
have to take a ferry to get to. It is an insanely beautiful island that is only
about 2 miles long and has 1,500 permanent residents. The island is famous
because it was one of the biggest slave trading sights in West Africa. We
toured the slave houses…it felt like a concentration camp. It is so ironic because
the island is so beautiful and has become such a tourist attraction.
After that Ana and I went back to our host family. It was
our host mama’s birthday, so when we got back, lots of her neighbors were
there. In Senegal, the whole neighborhood is family, and everyone has an open
door policy. For dinner, which wasn’t until like 10pm, we ate a TON. More food
that I have ever eaten before. First was a huge salad, fried shrimp, fried egg
roll type things, then amazing chicken, French fries, bread, and then cake and
ice cream. And lots of drinks. My family is Christian, so they do drink unlike
the other 95% of the country that is Muslim and does not. The food never ended.
Everyone prayed before they ate, which was a little awkward. I crossed myself
too to not draw attention. Everyone sang songs all night and it was so much fun
to watch and be a part of. Even though the language barrier is still very
strong, it was such a great night.
No comments:
Post a Comment