Sokone and Toubab Dialao!

pirogues about to go to Ngor Island

Sorry for such a long break between posts, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Here’s an account of two little trips I have taken since I last posted. Enjoy and please comment!
Sokone
We left for Sokone, a little town near the Gambian border, last Monday to work with the Cheikh Anta Diop University students on their “vacances citoyens.” Every year they go to rural towns and work in health clinics, teach computer skills and plant trees. After much waiting around on the first day (everyone keeps telling me that there is no concept of waiting in Africa, but it’s difficult to be patient), on our second day, we got up at 5am to eat with the students who were fasting for Ramadan and left at 7am to drive to the forest. The forest has very few trees, but the ground was covered in wild mint plants, which smelled amazing. We planted palm tree seeds. The boys dug the holes and the girls planted the seeds. This was a tiny demonstration of how gendered everything is in Senegal. Jobs are specifically tasks for men or women and most of the work falls to women. The relationships between genders are also really interesting. The women are very strong and like to argue, but they also allow the men to order them around, even the ones that are their peers at the university. After we finished planting, all 30 of us drove back on one tiny bus and sang and danced to Waka Waka, the official song of the 2010 World Cup that everyone here absolutely loves but only knows the chorus to. To see Shakira perform it, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0
On the second day (Wednesday), we went to another forest and planted eucalyptus seedlings. It started raining halfway through the planting (it’s rainy season here) but we just kept planting, because being rained on was so much better than sweating in the sun. Wednesday is market day in Sokone, so after planting we went to the center of town to the market. They sell food, clothes, shoes, electronics, everything needed for Senegalese life. It’s nothing like farmer’s markets in Seattle. We bought cashews, the specialty of Sokone, and they were amazing, probably the best I have ever eaten. Everything I eat in Senegal is the best or the worst, all extremes, the best rice, coca cola and nutella. The worst meat, yogurt and French bread, I think it’s because I am so excited and overwhelmed to be here that my sense of taste is heightened too. Or my extreme emotions lead me to exaggeration.

a vendor at the market in Sokone

    Also on Wednesday there was a soccer game between the UCAD students and the kids of Sokone. We went to the game, but I got bored so Kiki and I kicked around a soccer ball with a bunch of little boys. They were all much better players than me ☺ One of them had on a pair of flip flops that were way too big and came off every time he kicked the ball. But, instead of playing barefoot, he put them back on each time after he kicked the ball. After the game, we broke fast. My new favorite thing to drink is a packet of powdered milk mixed with cocoa mix dissolved in hot water. I think I had three cups today. Senegalese people drink a bunch of powdered milk and sugar during Ramadan, I’m going to be diabetic by the time I come home. After break fast I was sitting in the room all of the girls share and one of the Senegalese students took some of my toilet paper to wipe off her shirt. It was sitting on top of my mattress. Sharing is a part of life here. If something is sitting out in the open, you are free to use it and maybe return it if you feel like it. I really love the idea of sharing and everyone helping each other, but my toilet paper is my own and I feel sort of uncomfortable with people using it. Saying that, I think my time in Sokone has taught me as much about Senegalese culture as my time with my homestay family and wandering Dakar.
    On Thursday, there was a big dance party. About eight women from a nearby village were playing gourds and a plastic container as drums and singing. They danced and so did we and all of the African students who weren’t abstaining for Ramadan. After the women left to prepare the break fast a group of guys played drums and sang. Two guys performed some of what I can only guess was traditional Senegalese dance. There was some break dancing added in, though, as well as some fire swallowing. We danced to the drums after they performed and that was really fun. I danced in the middle of the circle, which was totally embarrassing. All of the university students were really good dancers. The beat to the music is really fast here, so I just jump around, but they were actually coordinated.
    For our last day we went to the river to plant mangroves. They are really beautiful with their dark green leaves and their skinny trunks sticking out of the water. Waly, our teacher, told us that the fish hide in the mangroves and lay their eggs there, so the fishermen cut off the tops of the trees so the fish can’t hide. Because of this the mangroves have become sparse and they are having to replant them. They’re easy to plant, though, because they produce a seedpod that grows after being stuck upright in the sand. When we got to the river the tide was to high, though, so we couldn’t plant. We went back to Sokone and spent our last afternoon there wandering around the town.

a little boy by the river in Sokone

planting a eucalyptus tree

goat friends in Sokone


coconut and bananas for sale at the market in Sokone

Toubab Dialao
For our very short break, we went to Toubab Dialao, a tiny town on the beach south of Dakar. The trip there was about two very bumpy hours by taxi. When we got there it was raining, but we immediately ran down to the beach, which was literally down the steps from the little house that we were staying in. The water was warm and there were very few people on the beach, it was a perfect place to chill for a bit. Toubab Dialao is a Baye Faal community. The Baye Faal are Senegalese Rastafarians and in Toubab Dialao they sit around and play guitar and drums all day long. The place where we stayed was several little houses with walls embedded with seashells and grass roofs. They look like the homes of surfing hobbits. So, we spent a day and a half swimming, eating calamari and lying in the sun. It was a pretty perfect way to end the French pre-session.
More soon! Much love ☺