Gemin - Mouth

Today for lunch, we ate Tiébou Dienn. traditionally, meals are eaten from one large bowl shared by anyway from as little as three people to up to around eighteen. i ate with six others. they brought the food out and peering over into the bowl, i saw a thick base of oily brown rice, a large piece of blackened fish, an eggplant, carrot, bitter tomato, hot pepper (which they called the Saddam Hussein pepper), lime and casava. the catch is all of this is served whole. and there are no utensils so you have to use your hands. and at that, you can only use your right hand. this was all told to us before hand (no pun intended) and honestly made me a little uncomfortable at the time. but once we had begun eating, it was incredible.

it's the complete opposite of ettiquette in the US though there definitely is a very rigid method involved. first, you scoop up a handful of rice, squeezing it and rolling it around in your hand until it's a ball. then if you want, break off a piece of something else in the bowl and eat it all in one bite. no napkins, no water. who says you can't play with your food?

the meal was incredible and afterwards i had the best juices i've had in my life. all freshly squeezed and iced. there were maybe 9 different kinds, my favorite of which were the guava, bissap and the baobab (yes, juice from the tree). it was the senegalese equivalent of a fine wine tasting as we sampled each juice, being surprised by flavors we had never known existed.

the girls wore serong type things to keep their clothes from being dirtied whereas we guys just had brown rice all over us. after it was done and we had thanked our hosts, everyone left with an oily orange-tinted stain around their mouths, a right hand that smelled like fish, and showing a little bit of a smile in that we were finally here.

Mangi fi rekk - I'm Fine

I arrived in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday August 24th at 5 AM. I stepped out of the airport and was greeted by a wall of humidity, the smell of gasoline and the sun starting to peek out over the horizon. there had been about 25 people from my program on my flight so we met up with someone from the program who took us to our home for orientation. we're staying in Mermoz, one of the wealthier neighborhoods in dakar. it's a decent cab ride from downtown dakar but is near some beautiful beaches. after arriving, me and a few of the guys (there's only 9 guys, compared to over 40 girls) went down the block to see what looked like some kind of festival. it was still only around 6 am so we were the only tourists out at the time. as we walked through the crowd, it seemed to follow us. i asked a man what was happening here and he explained in french (with a thick senegalese accent) that the hundreds of people were here to listen to their 'guide', their 'marabout' speak. to them he is more than a pastor, he is a messiah. each of them had an picture of him hanging around their neck in worship and out of respect. as this man explained to us his beliefs and how he came to be one of his disciples, kids peeked in between our shoulders and everyone watched us as we nodded along. afterwards we went on a long walk around the neighborhood. it was surprising to see how many people are out at that time. everyone rises early to pray. We walked along a cliff which stood above a beach where are the fisherman had docked their wooden boats and a beautiful mosque with two large towers. it felt like india again. i couldn't seem to get away from the stickyness. there was litter and dirt everywhere. there were children begging. but everyone is incredibly nice and welcoming. it's part of senegalese culture to greet everyone you pass (a hard concept to understand for a new yorker who doesn't even like to make eye contact.) we began our wolof classes yesterday, learning the greetings one needs to know in order to get by. It's a really interesting language with influences from a lot of different languages. On my walk to and from campus, I'll say to people Asalaamaleekum, Nanga Def? (Hello/Peace be with you, how are you? ). the language sounds like nothing else but is a lot of fun to use.

Some phrases in Wolof:
Jamm rekk, Alxaamdulilaay. (Peace only, praise god) = (yes, i did sleep well)

Mangi Fi Rekk. (I'm doing well)

Jurejuf (Thank you)
Bo Ko Nokk (You're welcome)

For the past few days the power's been out. this has meant that there's been no AC or fans. i've been going to bed sticky and waking up sweaty (but it has made the cold showers incredibly enjoyable). luckily yesterday the electricity was restored and everyone slept in this morning. by slept in, i mean getting up at 7.30. partly because of the jet lag and partly because of the heat, i've been getting up at around 5.30. my first morning here i went on a jog with my two roommates. we ran up to to the top of the cliff overlooking the beach and the mosque. i couldn't believe i was actually here. and still can't. it really is a beautiful country.

p.s. when the power kept cutting in and out it sent a power surge through my laptop, frying the motherboard. no cell phone, no laptop, no hot water. in spite of all that, or maybe as a result of it, i love it here.