Korite!

Korite has come and gone. It was a day filled with food, beautiful colorful outfits and glasses of bissap and more bissap. The memories inspired by it will last after all of that is gone.

In the morning everyone went to the mosque for service. Afterwards it was back to the house for some pourridge with yogurt, my first breakfast food in Senegal and a very filling meal. Because I didn't go to the mosque in the morning, I had extra time to prepare for the day. Masake allowed me to borrow one of her dresses for the day and I wore my very expensive and fly (if I do say so myself) tresses.

Though we were all dressed up, Masake and Rugi's outfits outdid us all. They had their outfits specially made for the day and they were gorgeous.

The boys came over with Amadou for lunch, our first lunch in Senegal and afterwards we lounged around in our dress clothes until Masake decided it was time to make the visiting rounds. After everyone eats, the day is typically filled with visits to friends and families. When they greet they say to each other in Wolof:

Forgive me, I forgive you. May God forgive us both, in turn.

Our first stop was at the house of two of Masake's cousins They are two girls, 23 and 25, who we will be very good friends with in the near future...language permitting. Camille will be their neighbor and I will be living not too fa from all of them. Three men came in to visit a little bit after we came and we learned that they too leave nearby. I hope to see more of them as well. :)

That was the only visit that worked out for the evening. At the subsequent visits no one was home, most likely off making their rounds.

So, we headed to the Radisson Blu and got a few sodas. The view from the outside is beautiful. True to its name the structure is highlighted by blue lights at night. You can see blue lights glowing softly beneath the pool and around the corners of the patio area. If you walk to the edge of the enclosure you can watch the ocean rhythmically move in and out surrounded by the city and its lights. In the distance is the lighthouse we ventured to not so long ago, its light rolling in a circle.

It is the kind of place I can see my father wanting to stay when my parents come to visit me, but I think I will probably put them in a place a bit more traditional...

Once we left the Radisson, we went to the most western point of Africa and found everything closed. Then it was off to downtown for pizza.

Korite was fun and thankfully it also comes with a 2 day haedus from the school. As much as I say I love those kids, teaching is hard and mentally strenuous.

The holiday made me realize just how much I can't wait to move into my homestay. As much as I love living with the Kanes in Almadies, it seems to me that more people live in Mamel and Ouakam and I want to be where the action is. I just hope when that time does come, it will be all that I hope for and then some.