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.

Dinner with Ahmat

Friday all of the teaching fellows had dinner at Ahmat's house.

Ahmat works in administration at SABS and is also a relative of the Kanes. When the Kanes had their large Ndougou and invited several friends and families, the other teacher fellows and I sat listening to Ahmat as he detailed how we are all "persons" no matter what our color or religion or origin. It was a very interesting and passionate discussion.

Afterwards he told us that we must come to his house and have dinner before Ramadan was over. As Saturday marked the last day of Ramadan, our time to come over was running up.

Camille and I went to Amadou's house to break fast first and meet up with the boys. CP time prevailed and we unfortunately arrived after the sun went down.

Then Amadou accompanied us to Ahmat's house which was only about five minutes away.

We found Ahmat in the open outside speace of the front of house next to his little baby girl. A mat and a mattress sit invitingly on the floor and that's where we spent the next hours of our time. It was very comfortable. In the distance we could hear chanting and goats bleeting.

"You must only speak in French," Ahmat told us. "You know English very well already so you must speak French."

He was right. So I spoke my next sentence in very broken but understandable French.

"Je veux trouve un homme de Senegal et parle Francais toujours!" I announced. (I want to find a Senegalese man and speak French always.)

"Oh," Ahmat said. "You want to marry a Senegalese man?"

"Peut-etre." I replied.

"Do you want to be the first or the second or third wife? he asked me."

I frowned. "Le premier et le finalement!!!!"

"Well you know here in Senegal a man can have more than one wife."

"One, two, three, four wives." Amadou added.

"But not five." Ahmat finished. "If I make more money I may take a second wife. And have more babies. I may take an English wife."

"Why would you take an English wife when you have a wife that can speak English?" Ahmat's wife questioned coming up behind him. She sat in the chair across from him and positioned the baby in her lap so that they both were staring at him.

"Ahhh...."

We continued talking for several hours before the food finally came. And when it came, it was quite a feast. Beef and theib with onions and olives. As usual it was served in a large silver dish that we all ate from either with our hands or spoons. We dug in.

"Please, eat." Ahmat said. "You are not guests here. You must eat more."

Amadou and Ahmat kept dropping beef in front of us despite our protests that we were full. When we truly could eat no more Ahmat's brother served us small glasses of very strong tea.

Then we laid out on the mattresses and struggled not to fall asleep. I informed Ahmat about "the itis," much to the disapproval of my colleagues but it was clearly what was steadily overtaking us.

But finally, we were able to stand and leave the house. We went straight to sleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

The Last Days of Ramadan

It's here, it's finally here!

The last days of Ramadan. I thought this time would never come. It feels so...bittersweet. There's a sense of accomplishment that I have made is so far in fasting (Well I did cheat a few days) and a sense of excitement. Not only will I be able to eat and drink when I want (whoo!!!) and there will be so many more available activites. People tend not to go out as much during Ramadan because everyone must be on their best behaviours. Some restaurants and other businesses even close for a month in recognition of the month. In addition if they were like me, they were so hungry during the day they conserved their energy by sleeping and sitting around the house. It's hot outside and the last thing one wants to do is break fast because they unnecessarily exerted themselves to much.

I was participating in Ramadan to fully immerse myself in the Senegalese experience. But now that it's over, I find that as a Christian Ramadan has given me the confidence to do my own spirtual fasting for a long period of time. In fact I plan to do one for a week sometime soon.

Because Ramadan is dependent on the lunar calender, it ends depending on when the moon can be seen. Tonight everyone will look outside and if a credible person says they see the moon then the fast is over. If not, the fast will last for one more day.

Then it's Kourite. We celebrate the end of Ramadan. It's like Easter they tell me, except that we're not celebrating the ressurrection of Jesus...so perhaps maybe not so much like Easter. Either way I will find out soon. Hopefully, the moon will reveal itself tonight.

J'ai Faim!!!!!!

In case you are wondering "J'ai faim" is French for I am hungry.

Ramadan for those who do not know, is the month of fasting in the Islamic religion. The idea is to become more disciplined and spirtual as you abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset. Now as a Christian I have never participated or celebrated Ramadan but since I am in Senegal which is a majority Muslim country I have decided to fast. Why not ascribe to the cultural traditions while I am here and besides, there is no food to eat in the house really until the breaking of the fast which is also called Ndougou.

At the Kane's house they keep the table set for Ramadan every day, somethingi I was not initally aware of and I accidently ate from the table and used cups from it my first day because I was hungry...another mistake but now that I know better I will do better.

After the sun goes down (thank God) we eat at the table to break the fast. It is not dinner, just a bit of food before the meal. The usual food for this is bread, varying bread spreads, dates, tea and water. We've had soups and fruits generally as well at the Kane's house. The actually dinner is not at a table. It is in the living room at a very low table that we all sit around on small stools. Each meal has been different. The first meal I had here was chicken and couscous which was served in a very large silver pan that we all ate from. You eat from the food in front of you traditionally with your hands. Tear a piece of chicken and a handful of couscous, then squeeze it together in a ball and eat it. You should not touch your mouth with your hands so what I did was raise the portion over my head and drop it in. It actually ended up being a bit messy. The meals are generally very communal which is not my style but "nio ko bokk," we are all in it together.

The official meal of Senegal is thiebou dieun-- fish and rice cooked in palm oil. It's very good although when the fish was served it still had the head on it and that freaked me out a bit. I got over it and dug in. Not everything is sanitary here, sometimes there are flies and they may land on the food but in the end you simply realize that you're hungry and the flies cannot eat it all.

The fasting gets easier they say, so that you could see a full table of food and not want any of it. This is what they tell me but I am not so sure. It gets so hot here and you really just want a refreshing taste of cool water but you can't if you're fasting...sometimes my stomach grumbles and I get so angry.

I can't wait until Eid-al-fitr, that's when they eat. It's not that I dislike Ramadan, I think it takes much strength and dsicipline to complete such a fast but it's hard to abstain from food for so long during the day. The first meal is around 5:30 in the morning which means we have about four hours before we need to get up again. Usually I find I can't go back to sleep. I lay on my back watching the sun rise in the window. Various birds chirp outside the window, feet shuffle and then I hear the steady bang of a hammer.

I like to listen to the sounds; and think about God and life and what the day will bring. Enjoying the morning is the most relaxing feeling. Perhaps that is what Ramadan is truly about.