Bonjour Kaolack

Today was the day that we would all be leaving for our internships throughout Senegal. We were to be at the WARC at 7:00am so I set my alarm for 6:00am, although I didn't end up getting out of bed until about 6:20am. I wanted to get up a little early because I had to finish packing the clothes that I had washed last night, but unfortunately they had not dried over night so I had to put them in plastic bags. Finishing the packing took me a little longer than I thought, although I also woke up 20 minutes later than I planned, so I was not quite ready until 6:45/6:50. I was a little worried that I would be the only one late but I was zipping my bags up Brittany called to see if I had left yet as she and Jack were also still in Mermoz. I brought my bags downstairs and my mom helped me out the door. When I walked out Brittany was also in the process of bringing out her bags with her host mom watching and Jack was ready with his large hiking bag. The three of us waved goodbye to our moms and began walking to the main road to find a taxi.

As we were walking with our suitcases and bags a taxi honked at us from behind as he knew we could not be walking that far with all of the luggage we had. We greeted him and negotiated 1000CFA for the ride to the WARC, which I think was too much because we usually pay 600CFA. We had a lot of bags so I was skeptical from the beginning about the possibility of everything being able to fit in this small taxi. When the taxi driver opened his trunk there was a large tire in there so I knew at that point that we would have to take two taxis. We were able to make it work as he fit Jack’s large hiking bag in the front seat with his backpack and our two suitcases in the trunk with the tire. Our suitcases were hanging out of the trunk a considerable amount, more than I would ever feel comfortable doing on my own, but the taxi driver assured us that it would be fine. During the entire ride to WARC I was looking at our bags through the back window because they looked like they would go tumbling out the back if we hit any small bump on the way. We made it there without any problems which was astonishing to me, so I was fine with paying the extra 400CFA in the end because I would have gladly paid for another taxi.

We were not late at all as they were still preparing the bus for us when we arrived and other students were also still on their way. Some of the student’s families came to the WARC to send them off which I thought was very kind of them being that it was 7am in the morning. There was only 12 out of the 14 participants in the program who met at the WARC because two in our group were staying of in Dakar for their internships. When everyone had arrived we loaded our luggage by order of who was getting dropped off last to who was getting dropped off first and we were off. The trip would last two days as about half the group would get dropped off today and the rest would get dropped off tomorrow. The last person to get dropped off was Courtney, who would be in Saint Louis for her internship, which is located at the north west corner of the country. She would have the opportunity to see a large portion of the country in the next two days, however she would also be in the bus for the next two days. We hadn't been driving for any longer than 15 minutes when we heard a pop and we realized there was a problem with the front left tire. The driver pulled over to the side of the road and we exited the bus so that he could could change the tire. When he finished he returned to Mermoz, where we had started our day earlier that morning to replace the spare tire that we were now using because it wasn't safe to drive without one. We were then finally ready to leave Dakar.

The first stop was the village of Sessene, the location of AGRECOL, the organization for which Brigid would be working. Waly and Marie got out with Brigid to introduce her to the supervisor and so that she could take a look around the site, while the rest of us stayed in the bus. When they returned we continued in the bus further into the village to drop her off at her host family with her luggage. Unfortunately while on an unpaved path the front left tire, the same which had been replaced earlier in the trip, got stuck very deep in the mud, immobilizing the bus. Waly immediately realized the severity of the situation and asked us all to descend from the bus. Over the next two hours we tried a number of different strategies to get the bus out of the mud through sheer manpower. When we started off I was impressed by how many of the people from the village came out to help. There was a group of kids who also emerged and stood watching us work on the bus for some time too. We began by digging the mud out from around the front tire hoping that this would allow the wheels to rotate and get the bus started. Then a large group of us tried lifting the bus from out of the mud by rocking it from side to side, but when we would lift from one side the other side would just sink deeper into the mud. Then they tried sticking large sticks and branches under the wheels but above the mud to try to create little runways for the wheels so that there was something to create traction, which I thought was pretty innovative. However, after many valiant attempts by the men in the community we realized that we would not prevail and that a tracker was necessary.

Everyone who had come out to aide us in our efforts as well as all those who had come to watch the spectacle dispersed back into the community and we returned to the bus to wait for the tracker. Although many of us had wished he had requested the tracker from the beginning I enjoyed experiencing the support of this community as getting this bus out of the mud had truly turn into a community effort. Many of the men appeared to be more dedicated to the task  of removing the bus from the mud than the students were and it was our bus that we needed and were depending on for our trip. Some of the students thought that the villagers weren't doing it the right way, but they felt that we students did not have a place to say anything. I thought was an interesting dynamic because Waly was leading the charge and we were all quite comfortable with him at this point as he had been our go to guy for MSID since the we arrived here. Finally the tracker arrived and successfully pulled the bus out from the mud. We clapped as we were all happy to able to be on our way again. In reality Brigid's host family was only a few steps away from her host organization, however we took the long way with the designated road because we were in the bus.

After dropping Brigid off we continued to the city of Fatick to drop off Amanda, which was about 30min away. We stopped at her host organization first as well so that she could meet her supervisor, but she quickly returned to the bus because her supervisor was not present. We then went to drop her off at her house which was just a few steps away down the road. I was next to get dropped off but we stopped to eat at a restaurant in Kaolack before we headed to the Chamber of Commerce to meet the Director. Waly, Maria and I waited in the lobby area for about 20 minutes until the Director, Monsieur Thiam was ready to meet with us. When we walked into his office it was pretty nice as there was a conference table in the middle and a leather couch as well as a set of leather chairs to the right of his desk where we sat with him to talk about the internship. Waly began with providing a general outline of the MSID program; how I had been studying Micro-finance during the first 7 weeks in Dakar and how this internship was the second stage of the program. He explained that we had reached out to the Chamber of Commerce in Thies, but they retracted their offer and the Chamber of Commerce in Kaolack was the one who responded positively to our request. My placement in general was very last minute as we had just finalized the details last week, which was in part due to my change of mind after Waly had found me an internship in Dakar. Monsieur Thiam then asked me for my reasoning for wanting to work with the Chamber of Commerce and I explained that I wanted to know more about the role that the Chamber of Commerce plays in the management of the Agricultural production, which is vital to Senegal’s economy. Monsieur Thiam was noticeably a very busy man as he had two phones which he answered three times during our meeting, although each time he apologized and was very respectful of our presence. Overall the meeting went well as I left even more excited and ready for my internship.

Afterwards we headed to APROFES where another student Krishna will be working, the both of us will be in Kaolack for our internships. After she went to go speak with her supervisor Waly returned to the bus to retrieve me because supervisor and the director of APROFES was going my host mom. She was very kind and welcoming. She explained that I would be staying in the APROFES hotel for the first few nights because there was still someone in my room in her home and the ceiling fan was not working either. We returned to the bus and they dropped me off at the APROFES hotel which was literally just around the corner. Waly and Marie helped me with my bags to my room, gave me hugs goodbye and wished me a good stay in Kaolack. The hotel I was in actually serves as a training center for Senegalese women for a majority of the time during the year. APROFES hosts forums and conferences there to train, education and support Senegalese women with their business affairs in the villages and cities throughout the country. My mom explained that sometimes women will stay at the hotel for up to two weeks to participate and benefit from their training programs. The organization also has an office in Thies.

APROFES hotel room

Essential mosquito net

I didn't know that bathroom was there behind the curtain for the first day

At around 8:45pm I was greeted by my host brother, Amadou, who came to get me and show me the way to the house for dinner at 9:00pm. It only took about 10 minutes although I couldn't quite see where we were going because it was so dark. When we arrived the house was quite large. We sat down inside and relaxed as we waited for dinner to be served. While we were sitting Amadou played me a Notorious B.I.G. & Tupac, Runnin' (Dying to Live). He brought out his computer and we looked at the lyrics for the song as he played it on his phone. After each verse he would pause the song on his phone and he would read the lyrics to me to make sure his pronunciation was correct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL-j8cVo2b8
He pretty much read every verse word for word and would also ask me to explain any words that he didn't understand, which was a good exercise for me as well because I could practice my French. He asked me what Teflon was? Who was Frank White? What was Swayze? And he asked me to explain what the course meant by "Why am I fighting to live, if I'm just living to fight?" I thought it was funny how my host brother in Senegal was learning the English language through the words of Biggie Smalls and Tupac. I definitely approved of it. 

After my mom called me into the room adjacent to the living room for dinner I sat down to eat with her and another older woman named Louise. I remembered from my earlier visit to APROFES as she was working in the room next to my host mom’s office. So far I am sure that Louise as well as my host brother Amadou live in the house however I am unsure of who else lives in the house as we have numerous visitors who stop by the house and sit in the living room throughout the day. After Dinner I returned to the hotel to sleep. I was initially sleeping in the larger bed in the middle of the room without the mosquito net because it was cooler as it was directly under the fan. However I got bit all over my body within the first hour despite the fact that I had a cover over me so I moved in the bed in the corner with the mosquito net. I learned my lesson quickly, the mosquito situation here in Kaolack, and just insects in general is very serious.

Au Revoir Dakar

Tomorrow I am headed to the city of Kaolack for the internship phase of the MSID program. I will be there for 6 weeks working with the Chamber of Commerce and I'll be staying with the family of the supervisor of an NGO for whom another MSID student will be working. Kaolack is about 4 hours south from  the city of Dakar and it is the 5th largest city in Senegal with a population of 170,000. After Dakar, which has a population of 2,000,000, the populations of the largest cities in the country drop off dramatically. We actually stopped in Kaolack there for lunch on our way to Toubacouta for the group trip and I remember it being the busiest city that we passed through. I am more excited than anything about all of the elements of this upcoming experience such as being on my own in a new city and having an internship in French. I am really looking forward to being completely immersed in the Senegalese culture here, which I don’t think I was able to fully do in Dakar. 

Our French teacher explained it well in the fact that the MSID program as well as the relationships between the students in the program served as a crutch for all of us. It was a crutch in terms of our language abilities, because we were able to speak English with one another although all of our classes were in French. It also served as a cultural crutch because when we had problems in Dakar, whether it was the food, relations with our families, lack of freedom to do what we wanted or anything to do with the fact that life in Dakar was not the same as life in states, we were able to complain to one another. Everyone always had someone who could listen to their troubles, relate in someway to their complaints and empathize with their feelings. Upon arrival we all immediately had 13 friends in the city of Dakar whom we knew and could call or text when we wanted company or needed someone to accompany us to a restaurant, a beach or anywhere else in the city. I am glad to have had the chance to meet some very kind and amazing people, and along with the MSID staff, we serve as a support system for one another.

Although many of us also had a similar sentiment regarding the necessity of the support system. Personally I felt that I was not immersing myself in the Senegalese culture as much as I wanted and a few others, towards the end of the program, felt like they were suffocated by the presence of the WARC. For me I was consistently aware of my limited time in this country as I have heard so much about the speed at which study abroad programs go by because everything is a new experience. From the start I wanted to use as much of my time in Senegal to get to know the people and culture here. I felt like I was doing this to the best of my ability in Dakar, but at times I felt like this was not the case. I presented my opinion of mine to Brittany during our last day. Brittany pointed out that it was not necessarily my situation in the American program which hindered the level of my immersion, but perhaps the lack of my initiative to separate myself from those in the program which was the problem. She referenced Mirabel who had become very involved in dancing as she went to dance class almost every day of the week. Out of class many of us did not see her because she was spending time with her Senegalese friends from her dance class. Brittany proposed that she had successfully avoided the American bubble within Senegal and any dependence on the support system. In retrospect I had used the support system, referred to it and depended on it at times it during my time here in Dakar just as mostly everyone else had. The part of me that thought that I did not need it was ready for the challenge of experiencing Kaolack on my own, which is the reason why I am so excited for the internship phase.

Nevertheless, I have had such a great time in this city and I am truly sad about leaving, although I know that I will be returning for the final week of the program. During these seven weeks I have realized how amazing of a city Dakar is as well as the people who live here. Never have I had so much time to myself to just think and reflect while simultaneously enjoying my place of living. I have had so many wonderful experiences here whether it be the bustling market place of HLM, the beautiful beaches of Mamelle, Ngor and Mermoz, or weekend trips to the Petite Cote. Dakar has provided me with nothing but great memories and peace of mind during my first time in the country of Senegal on the continent Africa. Many of the natives however speak about the western influence in Dakar, as they explain that Dakar is not all that Senegal has to offer and in no way does in fully encompass the Senegalese experience. The western influence and the international element of the city is most evident in the nightlife here, which is very exciting as there is always a new club to check out. Although many of the most popular clubs in Dakar are filled with Americans and Europeans and many have made me feel like I was back in New York because they often play a mix of American and Senegalese music.

I think that contrast between the phrases "Time is money" and "Time is people" accurately describe my experiences in New York versus my experiences here in Dakar. I believe the phrase "Time is money" truly governs my life in New York because I am constantly on the move and if I am resting I usually have something which I should be doing or working on. Here oftentimes I would sit out on the steps with Yousou, Gallo, Brittany and Jack as well as other young men from the community and talk about whatever was on our minds. There was no rush to go anywhere or do anything, we would just sit and appreciate each others company. Even when we did have somewhere to go there was never any rush and everyone would always take their time. This was a frustrating for some because it fundamental cultural difference which affected our everyday lives here in Senegal. Professor Sene described the difference between the American and Senegalese frame of mind well, as he explained that the Senegalese perceive Americans as being slaves of time.

Here in Dakar I have also had an enriching and fulfilling experience with my host family who welcomed me with open arms and have been loving throughout my time here. Although in the grand scheme of things I only spent a short amount of time with them, I truly felt like they they consider me a part of their family, which was a different experience than other students who expressed feeling like they were just tenants in their households. Oftentimes when I returned home from school my little sisters, Mag and Nogaye, would run to the door and greet me with hugs. My host dad, Papa Seck was always very concerned with my security as he would always remind me to lock my door in the home and to also to be careful in the nighttime because of the bandits. My host mom, Mama Fatou is a very compassionate women and I could tell that she truly cared about my happiness and well being. She seemed filled with love and she would often call me "Mon cheri". 

Not only did I have a very positive experience host family, but I also enjoyed the area of town in which I stayed. In Mermoz there was a true sense community among the locals as everyone seemed to know everyone. People would sit out on their front steps and talk for hours, greeting anyone and everyone who passed by. The tailor who made edits to my outfit for Tabaski after I bought it at HLM would always wave and smile to me when I was on my way to school in the morning. Additionally the first time I went to the barber shop Gallo’s brother went in with me and introduced me to the barber. The two young men who worked at the shop just next to my house were always very kind and interested in my studies at the WARC. One of them started greeting me as "Chris the Senegalese", claiming that I was no longer American. My host mom told me the same thing when I explained that I was able to get my Tabaski outfit for 6000CFA ($12), declaring that because of my bargaining abilities I was now a Senegalese. Additionally I made two valuable friendships with Gallo and Yousou, who lived in the houses across the street from me. I really appreciated them throughout my time in Dakar and they were two of the main reasons that I had such a good time in this city.

Many of the families who live in Mermoz are well off compared to the average Senegalese family, which was evident in the grandeur of their homes. This was an aspect of our stay in Dakar that our Wolof professor Sidy was not entirely happy with. He believed that for us to get a true sense of the Senegalese culture we should be staying in not so well off neighborhoods, as the majority of Senegal did not experience the level of wealth and comfort which was present in Mermoz. However I understood that the program placed us in these families and in these areas of town because they are believed to be the most safe. I think that for the most part this turned out to be the case because I don’t think the safety of anyone in our program was compromised during our time with our host-families. If anything I heard more complaints about people's families being overprotective and not allowing them enough freedom rather than people having issues with safety. One girls in our group who lived in Baobab did have her wallet and phone stolen from her room but that was the only instance that I know of in which their was a breach of security. However another group of students from the other program,CIE, were not as fortunate as I heard that they were robbed  by three people late at night on the walk back to Baobab from Mermoz.

The families of the students on my street, Jack and Brittany, have had many study abroad students stay with them over the years. This was the same case in my household as my mom showed me picture albums of all of the members of her family and all the people who had stayed in the home with her throughout the years. A large percentage of them were Japanese and she explained that after the student stayed with her, the mom and dad would come as well. She likes to say how she is a mom of all races as she has had opened her home to many visitors over the last 20 years. I enjoyed also looking at the pictures because I got a small sense of the history of the Mama Fatou Sylla and the Seck family. I saw my host brother, who left for Germany the day I arrived and my host sister, who left for Paris later during the week, as babies with students who were studying abroad in Dakar at the time. It reminded me of myself with Nogaye whose 2nd birthday we celebrated just a few weeks before. I thought about how Mama Fatou remembered many of the student's names and she had only good things to say about them. I hoped that just in 10 years she would have only good things to say about me as well.

Tabaski! Le Mouton (Lamb)!

Today my little sister woke me up bright and early at 9:00 am to bring me downstairs and show me the lamb that I am to help kill later in the day. The reason for the death of this lamb is the Muslim celebration of Tabaski, a very important holiday for the Muslims who live in Senegal. I'm not sure of the extent to which this holiday is celebrated by all Muslims or by West-Africans, but I know that it is a big deal in this country as 90% of the people here are Muslim. However, the other 10% who are Christian and of other religions also celebrate Tabaski with their Muslim neighbors because of the strong sense of community which is an important element of the Senegalese culture. 

Since mid-September there have been numerous commercials advertising giveaways for lambs and lotteries for the purpose of buying a lamb with the money won. Additionally, since the beginning of October I have seen thousands of lambs standing outside all over Dakar waiting to be purchased. This Tabaski-Season has reminded me so much of the Christmas season in the states when American consumerism is at its peak and there are nothing but advertisements about buying presents for your loved ones on the television. There are billboards everywhere in Dakar advertising lambs for sale and two for one deals. Tabaski also reminds me of Christmas because although each celebration has its foundation in religion, commercialism has worked its way into the holiday. From my personal experiences I feel that Tabaski retains its religious significance more than Christmas. However, on the other hand I think that they both serve to bring friends and families together equally to show their love for each other. I am not that religious so the religious aspect of Christmas has never been that appealing and being with my family is really what's important to me. 

Although everyone seems to enjoy the Tabaski celebration it seems to a be a lot of work for each person in the household and there is undoubtedly an significant element of stress which accompanies the holiday. I say this because of my conversations with my neighbors and my own family, my host mom especially. For the last few days leading up to Tabaski my mom has been very stressed and tired from all of the preparation for the holiday, whether it be finding a lamb or getting the different things around the house ready for the celebration like cleaning the rug we will all be sitting on to eat. This also reminded me of Christmas because we often have Christmas at my home in Sacramento and in the few days before my mom has to run around to the different stores, clean the house and cook the food all at the same time because she wants Christmas to be a good time for everyone.

In addition to the element of stress which comes with the preparation for Tabaski, the lambs are very expensive which can place a tremendous amount of pressure on the men of the family who are expected to buy the lamb. Tabaski is a country wide celebration and there is such a high expectation for each family to have a lamb so when a man is unable to provide a lamb for his family, which is an important part of the religious celebration, I would think he would fell as though he did not fulfill his role.

I was sitting downstairs eating breakfast when my family returned home from the Mosque for morning prayer. There was a man sitting in the courtyard who my host dad later told me was a professional butcher in he community. Amadou, my host brother, brought in the first lamb and I realized it was time to begin the sacrificing of the lambs. Our family had 3 lambs total. One for my mom and dad, one for Dior, Ngioudou and their 2 daughters and the other for Amadou and his Dad. Amadou gave me the first lamb to watch, and he brought over the second lamb to the faucet. The third lamb was still tied up under the stairs as it was the last to be killed. Then my host brother grabbed the lamb by the legs and turned it over on its back. Amadou and the other butcher helped hold the legs and the body down while my brother held the lambs neck and proceeded to cut its throat. It was the firs time I had ever seen an animal killed in front of me and it was very sad to see. There was a lot of blood and Amadou looked away at some point as he was very close to the lamb. After allowing all of the blood to drain out from the lambs neck and body, my brother and the butcher wasted no time with sacrificing the other two lambs. They dragged the body of the first lamb to the middle of the courtyard and preceded to perform the exact same thing procedure with the other two lambs.

My brother Amadou with the lamb

The sacrifice of the lamb 

The reason that I wanted to be present for the sacrificing of the lambs is because I knew that it was the most important element of the Tabaski celebration, a holiday which is essential to the Senegalese culture. Although watching and participating in the sacrificing of the lambs is not something which my previous experiences and upbringing would not necessarily lead me to enjoy, I wanted to experience it for the mere purpose of experiencing something that was unique to the culture of this country. It is also something I will always remember as I was still eating breakfast when they brought in the lambs and killed the first one. After all of the lambs had been sacrificed we began skinning and gutting each of them. Although I didn't actually kill the lamb like my sister had told me earlier in the day, I did get the chance to help my older brother skin the lamb for his family which was a first time experience for me. I didn't use the knife at any time but I held the lamb so that he could get the right angle when cutting it.

The skinning of the lamb

After we cut the lamb I spoke with my host brother about the celebration of Tabaski to clarify some of the things I had been wondering about. He explained that Tabaski was in fact a holiday that all Muslims celebrated across the globe, however many do it on different days and at different times as many people in Dakar actually celebrated Tabaski yesterday instead of today. He said that in the United States many celebrate Tabaski during the nighttime however here in Dakar everyone begins the celebration during the day. I also asked him about the necessity of a lamb and what people think of those men and families who cannot afford a lamb. He said that if someone is not able to afford a lamb it is not a problem. He explained that the sole purpose of the lamb is to serve as a representation of the situation of Abraham who was commanded by God to offer his son Ishmael as a sacrifice. However, as Abraham was about to sacrifice his Isaac, he saw a lamb who he sacrificed instead. 

My brother asked me if I had ever seen an animal killed before and I told him I had not, which surprised him very much. He explained that from a very young age kids in Senegal see the killing of animals because of the Tabaski celebration. I knew this was true as my little sister whose 2nd birthday we just celebrated last week watched the killing of the lambs. None of the adults were concerned with covering her eyes or taking her into another room which I thought they would do. She didn't cry at all during the sacrifice but she was a little scared when the butcher was cutting the lamb up after because he kept hitting the bones with his knife. My brother also mentioned that for him and many other Muslims it is the act of killing a lamb with your hands and actually seeing it die which is important. He explained how he prayed over the animal with the knife before killing, which I got a glimpse of but at the time it seemed like he did it very quickly. This is why he disproves of machines killing animals because he believes that they don't demonstrate respect for the life. I thought this was an interesting point, because at the time all that was on my mind was how they were just butchering the lamb. I did not fully understand the religious significance of the sacrifice and the importance of killing an animal with ones hands as a means of showing respect for its life. 

While the butcher was finishing cutting the lambs and separating the different parts of the lamb's bodies my sister brought over the livers of the lambs for us to snack on. I was a little hesitant to try it because we had literally just killed the lamb that the liver came from no more than an hour before. I didn't know how safe it was but it looked cooked and I figured that we were eating it first because it was the part of the lamb that could be cooked the fastest. Throughout the morning different young boys came to our house and ask for donations of meat. They had little buckets and they would take whatever part of the lamb the family gave them. I talked to Yousou about this after and he said that the boys were orphans from different parts of Senegal who ask for meat from families during Tabaski. Their families are in the rural villages of the country as many of them live in Dakar to just sit on the streets and beg for money daily,

My family snacking on the liver while the butcher finishes his work

After snacking the rest of the Tabaski holiday was very relaxed. My family just hung out around the house and throughout the day we had different visitors like family friends, cousins and people from the neighborhood. My mom and sister prepared dishes of lamb and rice for us to take to the different households of family friends who I think we unable to buy lambs themselves. I went with my little sister Mag and accompanied her to the different houses because I had no idea where I was going and they didn't want her walking around the neighborhood alone. 

Before dinner some of the other students came by my house and we sat outside to talk about experiences so far that day. Many of us did not expect Tabaski to be what it had been up until that point. In terms of my own expectations I thought that there would be a point, right after the sacrifice of the lamb I assumed, when everyone in my family would get dressed up in their traditional clothes. I had heard from Yousou later in the day that it was around 7pm when everyone would put on their clothes, but that was not the case in my household so I was a little confused. At about 8pm my mom asked why I had not changed into my Tabaski clothes and I said that I was waiting for her and the rest of the family to change into their clothes. She laughed and said that I should change into my outfit so that I could go walk around to my different friends households to see their outfits and show them mine. 

So I changed and left my house to walk to Lydia's, who lives around the corner from me, and coincidentally at the same moment I left my house I saw that Lydia, Mec and Amanda were walking towards my house. We were all very excited to see everyone else in their Tabaski outfits because it had been something we all had talked about for the longest time. Everyone in program bought cloth for their outfits and had them custom made for about $30-$40 total so there was a lot of anticipation to see the outfits that every had made. We first checked see if Brittany was home and she was not so we went over to Jack's house and he was home.

Me, Amanda, Mec, Lydia, Jack (Left to Right)

After we left Jack's house we went to meet Katie and Shawny at Katie's house. Katie's host family probably has the nicest house of all of the host families of MSID students. The entire house is indoor and there are two rooms which have air conditioning. Although by US standards this would not be a special thing, here in Dakar air conditioning is very rare as well as houses that are entirely indoor. Many of our homes have courtyards which are a part of the house or staircases which are outdoors. Also most of our families just have fans in all the rooms. We walked into Katie's house and sat upstairs in what I think was the living room. Her host mom brought out drinks and snacks for us. While at Katie's house her host mom pulled me aside and asked me to take a picture with Katie's host sister, which I thought was very funny. She was very nice although it was a little awkward because after meeting them her mom asked me and told me at the same time, "You guys are friends now, okay?".  I told them where I was from and that my internship for the second part of the program would be Theis. They said that their Dad has a home in Theis that he returns to every weekend so we should keep in touch. Although I wasn't really interested in her sister like I'm pretty sure her mom wanted me to be they were all very nice so I was happy to give them my number. Katie also said that they want to me to come have dinner with them this week.

Katie, Shawny, Lydia, me, Amanda (left to right)

Katie's sister and I

After taking pictures at Katie's house we went to the homes of Brigid, Krishna and Courtney to meet their families, show them our outfits and take pictures. This aspect of Tabaski reminded me a lot of Halloween a little bit because we went to each household to show off our outfits and at each house the family brought out snacks or drinks. It was a lot fun meeting the different families of the MSID students, because I had not met the families of Katie, Brigid, Krishna or Courtney before. I think that the families also really enjoyed seeing us in our outfits because they got really excited each time we entered one of the houses. Overall I really enjoyed the Tabaski holiday and it was nice getting a chance to experience and participate in a celebration which is such a big part of the Senegalese culture.