31/01/09

Hi Everyone,

So today is Saturday, and I’ve successfully finished my first week of classes. I seem to be on track doing all the touristy stuff in Dakar. My environment and agriculture class was canceled on tuesday, leaving me with a whole day free, which I used to go to the beach.

I went with the Papa and his French guests (a couple) to L’Ile de Ngor, a beautiful little island with two beaches. It was sunny and warm, but I didn’t brave the water. I had a bit of an adventure getting there, because I decided last minute to go, so the others had already left. So, I took a taxi, but the taxi driver ignored what Papa told via telephone to drop me off at the pathway to the beach. Instead I found myself in a little town square sitting on a bench next to some sheep. This wouldn’t have been any problem except I had no idea where Papa and the others were waiting for me, since his directions to the taxi driver had been in Wolof. After a few minutes a nice man showed me the way down to the beach were I found the group. Excepting this little hang up, the day went smoothly, with a little walk around the island, lunch at a nice restaurant, and some sun bathing. It reminded me of vacation last summer hanging out on the beach with Nancy, Phoebe, and Sarah. L’Ile de Ngor is definitely a tourist place because the people in the boat over were almost entirely white. I wonder if the Sengalese have a different beach where they go, or if swimming and sunbathing is mostly a western thing. Either way, I won’t know for a while since the Senegalese probably don’t go now since it’s “winter” and all. Also a weekday is probably not prime time for going to the beach since most people would be working.

Even disregarding my canceled class, I don’t spend as much time in class here as I’m used to (no labs to monopolize my schedule!!!). I made a little chart with my class schedule since that seemed easier than trying to write out an explanation. (sorry it's blurry, it uploaded strangely).

So as you can see my program is structured with each class meeting infrequently but for a long time. Most of the professors give us a short break in the middle of class, which is especially nice during the three hour language classes (it helps my head hurt less :) This class load is 12 credits, and I’ll get another four for my internship.

So far I’ve been satisfied with the academic level of our classes, and pleasantly surprised by the quality of the other students. My fellow students are really a participatory, interested, and smart group. I have much to learn from most of them, since for the most part they are anthropology or international studies majors, and have studied international development and culture much more than me. It doesn’t bother me, but sometimes I feel a little behind when the book and movie references start flowing since I haven’t read/seen most of them.

Today at lunch time I helped cook for the first time. I was just sitting near the kitchen when some garlic cloves and a knife appeared in front of me, and just like that, I was helping. I could tell that my host sisters, cousin, and the maid didn’t think I’d done much cooking before because I was the designated peeler (garlic, onions, and potatoes), and when I finished something it was celebrated. I was kind of glad I got the easy jobs, because honestly beyond peeling, many of the tasks are accomplished differently here. The women don’t really use the stovetop like we do (many families don’t have an oven and stove). They cook more things over this big gas burner that’s about floor height. Also, there is a metal like thing they put charcoal in, and then place pots right on top of the charcoal. That seems to be the slow boil method for meat, while the gas burner cooks the veggies, rice, or fish for the upcoming meal.

Everyday my host sisters come home from school at lunchtime to help with the lunch preparation, and dinner prep is also started. For a while I was amazed in the evenings how fast they cooked fairly complicated meals, but now I understand their secret. Our host mom doesn’t seem to cook at all. Today when my host sisters were at school, my cousin Virginie and the maid did the cooking. In the evenings Cathy and Therese (my host sisters) do all the cooking and the dishes. A little different than our house, right mom?

I understand that it’s a different culture, but it doesn’t sit well with my that the men do absolutely nothing around the house. The women spend hours each day preparing what I consider big meals for both lunch and dinner (rice, vegetables, fish, and always some sort of homemade sauce for the fish), and the men do nothing except eat and leave. I think my host brothers and father have ever washed a dish, or a single garment in their lives, even though no one here has a dishwasher or a laundry washing machine. The worst part for me, is that they completely take the women’s work for granted. Often there isn’t even a thank you given to the cooks, and it’s clearly an expectation that the women will do all the household work.

One reason that families can operate this way is that single adults don’t live apart from their families. In many families, there is more than one adult female to help with the work, and because the men never live in a household without women they don’t have to learn how to manage the house. Also, aside from helping other families with household work (maid or laundress) women usually don’t work outside of the home, so they are able to manage the household upkeep.

As far as the work itself, the biggest difference is the amount of time it takes to accomplish the same task. For example, all the laundry is done by hand, so on Wednesdays there is a laundress who come to the house and spends hours (I went to class so I don’t know what time she left) doing everyone’s laundry. But, each person has to wash their own socks and undergarments, and I’ve definitely decided that the washing machine is my new favorite appliance. I’m working on being more patient, but doing laundry by hand is mind numbing work. Since the cooking and household chores take so much time, it is harder to spend time with the women of the house, and I was glad to be included in their work today.