This past weekend a group of us planned to meet up in the city of Touba, which is the most religious city in all of Senegal as it is the holy city of Mouridism. From the south it was Amanda (Fatick), Marcos (Sokone), Krishna (Kaolack) and I (Kaolack) who were planning to take the trip. However the night before Amanda and Marcos came to Kaolack to meet up with me because I am closer to Touba and it was easier for them to come to Kaolack the night before so that we could take the trip to Touba together in the morning. They arrived in Kaolack Saturday night and they initially they were not going to come have dinner with me and my family as they met up at a restaurant in the city. However, I told them that my sisters were preparing a grand feast for them and they would be sad if they didn't come. Then when I told my mom and my sister Xadit that that my friends may be eating at a restaurant instead of coming to have dinner with us, they insisted that I tell Amanda and Marcos to come eat with us. They eventually came, although I think they still ate dinner at the restaurant, they also ate again with me and my family so I was pleased. I probably would have done the same.
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| Everyone at the table outside |
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| Poulet (Chicken) et Frites and my host dad getting ready to jump in |
It was a delicious meal and I could tell that my sister put a lot of preparation into the meal so I was glad that Amanda and Marcos came for dinner and that my family was able to host them. We had glasses of soda afterwards as well as watermelon with bananas and apples, which I also enjoyed. It was definitely one of the best meals I've had in Kaolack and I knew that it was because my sisters, Raki, Djelia and Xadit, wanted to make a good impression on my friends. The Senegalese are very hospitable and they always very warm and welcoming to new guests, at least those have been my experiences. I could tell that my family really enjoyed having Marcos and Amanda over and I was happy that they got to meet some other students from the program, as they know Krishna and really like already. I also think Amanda and Marcos enjoyed the meal as I remember Amanda saying it was better than what they had at the restaurant.
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| My beautiful sister Djelia! |
After dinner we went up to the roof with my brother Amadou and his friends to have tea. He always makes amazing tea and I still want to learn how to make it but I think the lessons are coming soon. We talked on the roof and Marcos and Amadou connected over music that they overheard being played really loudly at the house next-door to us. Amanda asked if it was a party and joked that she wanted to go check it out but Amadou explained that it was probably just someone playing loud music. Connecting over music happens often with me and the Senegalese because they listen to a lot of American music. However this time the music was in Portuguese, but Amadou still knew some of the words, he just didn't know what they meant. So Amadou asked Marcos what the song was saying, as he does with me often, but in regards to American music (such as the lyrics to Drake songs). Marcos didn't know how to explain in French that the song was about sex so Amadou asked me. Marcos and Amanda acted surprised because they doubted my abilities to explain something in French better than Marcos. I used an anecdote that Amadou used before when he was trying to explain the same thing to me in English and he knew got it immediately, and we laughed about that.
After tea Amanda, Marcos and I went to a bar, The Blue Bird, to have a few drinks before meeting Amadou and his friends at a nightclub close to our house. I had yet to go to a nightclub in Kaolack and I was pretty excited to check it out but I was probably more excited to go out with my siblings because I hadn't had the opportunity to do that yet either. We ended up not making it to the nightclub that night because we stayed at the bar having a conversation about the development of Senegal and Africa in general. The conversation mostly revolved around the magnitude of the impact of slavery and colonization on the Senegalese and larger African economies, and how much one can take that history into consideration when discussing the current state of Senegal. It was an interesting conversation, and I am definitely planning on looking more into for one of the research papers that we have to complete for MSID.
The next morning we planned to wake up and leave by 8 for Touba, but we ended up leaving around 9:30. We called Krishna to walk over to my house so that we could depart together and when she arrived we were off. We took a taxi to the garage where we all bought breakfast sandwiches before boarding the sept-place for Touba. Krishna was the only one who didn't get a sandwich, understandably because she was nervous about her stomach being able to handle it. She had been sick in Kaolack a few times just as I had been. I was nervous a bit too but my hunger trumped my fear of what could happen from the street sandwich, and I ended up being fine. When we were getting our sandwiches a group of young Senegalese boys surrounded Krishna and I asking for money, which usually happens when we're all together in a group, because they know we're Americans. Usually I don't give them money and I justify my rationality (or rather comfort myself) with the idea that no amount of money I give them will help their economic situation. However lately I have found myself feeling guilty about my American privilege and how I likely have more opportunity and financial stability than many of them will have in their lifetime (makes me just as uncomfortable to type that). So I gave them 2 of them 50 CFA which is no more than 10 cents together in retrospect. It wasn't really anything but it was the only change I had on me at the time other than larger bills.
We boarded the sept-place which cost each of us 2500 CFA, about $5. We waited in the car for a while though because we had to wait for the sept-place to fill up, as they don't leave until they have 7 confirmed passengers. Once the car was full we began the journey to Touba. The ride on the sept-place was a little rough and at many points during the journey the road reminded me of the road between Fatick and Kaolack. The road between Fatick and Kaolack is known to be one of the worst roads in Senegal, which is unfortunate because it is used by many since they are two of the main cities in the country. Additionally Kaolack is a major city for shipping and transportation (there a are a lot of large trucks always passing through the city) so this makes the poor state of the road an even bigger problem for the country. The road to Touba had a lot of pot-holes at the beginning although it wasn't nearly as severe as Fatick-Kaolack. The drive overall was about two hours.
When we arrived we called Courtney and she told us to meet her and the rest of the group at the Grand Mosque. So I asked someone on the street to point us in the direction of the Grand Mosque. Asking for directions from the Senegalese always works for me and they're always very willing to help out and oftentimes they'll go out of their way to take you all the way to the place. He pointed straight down to street to a large mosque which you could see from and distant but it didn't look like it was walking distance. So he stopped one of the truck taxis on the street and helped us board it. He asked for some money after for his help so I gave him 50 CFA. The ride to the Grand Mosque was also only 50 CFA for each of us, but they cramped a lot of people into the back of that small pickup truck. I ended up stepping over a lot of people when I exited.
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| The view of the Grand Mosque from the taxi truck |
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| Amanda, Krishna, Marcos in the back of the taxi truck |
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| The group outside of the Grand Mosque (Krishna, Katie, Sadaga, Marcos, Amanda, Jack, Eura, Courtney) *left to right* |
Afterwards Katie, Sadaga, Krishna, Marcos, Amanda and I went on a tour of the Mosque. Everyone who came from up north had already gone and they said it was very beautiful and Eura strongly recommended going inside to check things out. Initially I thought this wasn't allowed because when I went with my brother to 2pm prayer in Kaolack he prayed outside because I wasn't allowed to go in the mosque. On the street there was a guy who kept trying to talk with us when we first arrived because he was the the "Deputy" of the Mosque. Basically he kept explaining that he had the authority to give us tours of the Mosque, but at the time I thought he was lying due to my experience with my brother, apparently not though. So we walked up to the entrance gates of the Mosque grounds and Sadaga instructed us all to take off our shoes because you're not supposed to wear them on the premise. We all did so and then entered the gates. As we were taking pictures one guy saw Amanda and Marcos about to take a picture together and he yelled at them to stop because men and women are not allowed to take pictures together. Little did I know this guy would be my personal tour guide at the Grand Mosque. Although I never actually asked him to be my tour guide, he turned out to be helpful. Another guy, who seemed more official also emerged and he guided Katie, her host sister Sadaga and Krishna throughout the Grand Mosque.
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| Grand Mosque Grounds |
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| Culturally acceptable photo |
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| Hi Mom! |
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| Interior of the Grand Mosque |
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| Our little tour group |
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| Cool view (thanks to my tour guide) |
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| My tour guide |
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| My tour guide and I |
I don't really know how the guy ended up being my personal tour guide. I kind of was just really friendly to him from the start and he was following me answering different questions for me so I kind of just accepted that he was my tour guide in the end. He explained to me the origins of the different parts of the Grand Mosque and what countries were responsible for the influence. He explained that the door he stood in front of was made of wood from Pakistan and that the architecture was mainly French. The original model of the tile was Moroccan however it currently being replaced by a new Italian design. Additionally there is a lot of Belgium tapestry hanging all over the Grand Mosque.
I ended up paying him 500 CFA, which by his face, he was not satisfied with. Although the other tour guide said that they weren't doing these tours for money and that if we wanted to give them 0 CFA, that was an option. However the way that they treated us in the end after we each gave them 500 CFA, was not reflective of their initial statement. It reflected more of an expectation that we would pay them a lot since we were Americans. Sadaga explained to me afterwards though that none of the money we gave them actually goes to the Mosque or the people who run it because they are not allowed to accept money from the public. So perhaps they were an independent group of designated tour guides? I really don't know and now that I think about it and I don't know if any of the things my personal tour guide told me regarding the Grand Mosque are true, but that they sounded legitimate But oh well, it was an absolutely beautiful Mosque regardless of the information I learned from the tour guide and I am glad I had the opportunity to see it.
After the tour finished we met back up with Eura, Jack and Courtney thinking we would be going to somewhere to spend some more time with them, however unfortunately their bus back to Louga was leaving early than expected so they had to leave us. We said our goodbyes although we would be seeing them all next weekend since we are all going to meet up in Saint Louis.
The five of us who went on the tour decided to get some food at a nearby restaurant, the same one Eura, Jack and Courtney had been to earlier. The food was very good and very affordable I got a burger for 1500 CFA. I hadn't had a burger since being in Dakar and I was really craving some American food of some sort. After dinner we went downstairs to pay for our meal. While we were paying Amanda went outside of the restaurant to go smoke a cigarette. As soon as she lit the cigarette their were a whole host of Senegalese men yelling at her to stop. She put out the cigarette in a hurry and the restaurant manager asked her to give it to him, but she just put it away somewhere in the cigarette box. Afterwards Sadaga spent some time talking to one of the Senegalese men about the situation, while about seven or eight people stood watching, but it was in Wolof so I couldn't quite understand. I walked up and asked her what was going on and she said that the man recommended that Amanda go to prison because smoking cigarettes was illegal in Touba. I wasn't surprised by this fact since alcohol is also prohibited in the city as well and the only way to get a drink is to leave Touba and go to a neighboring town. I laughed at first because I thought there was no way that going to prison was a possibility. I talked to the guy and apologized and said that we were clearly Americans and didn't know the rules here in Touba, but it didn't seem like that was a viable excuse for him. He said that each cigarette that the person is carrying merits a fine of 6000 CFA ($12) and reiterated his point she should go to the prison. At this point the only thing for us to do was to leave the area because so much attention was on us and quickly walked away to catch a taxi truck back to the garage to return to our respective cities... And with that our time in the holy city of Touba was over. It seems oddly appropriate that our time there as Americans nearly ended with a trip prison.
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