23/02/09

Hi,

Last Saturday, the day after I went to the markets with Papa, a group of people from MSID, including myself went to an english club meeting at the local university.  It is called L’Univerisite Cheikh Anta Diop, and has 60,000 students in a university that was built for around 15,000 students.  We visited one of the dorm rooms, and it had one bed, and a mattress on the floor, as well as a tiny bathroom with a shower.  The Senegalese students told us that it would have been a single originally, but now there are four people living there.  Seeing how much space they had made the housing shortage at Penn State look very minor. 

The meeting of the english club was actually a debate on the topic of marriage.  After a socializing period, a panel of students presented arguments for and against marriage.  The primary pro-marriage argument was that marriage is a holy institution created by God, and God directs that people get married.  The con-marriage panel was two young women who argued that marriage makes women at best like maids, and if you’re not lucky like slaves.  For them, marriage is viewed as an obstacle to having a career, traveling, and generally being able to make choices about how they would like to spend their lives.  

It was interesting to me that these women viewed avoiding marriage as the means by which they would be able to achieve their goals.  It seemed to be commonly accepted that it is a wife’s responsibility to take care of all of the housework, children, and to a large extent her husband.  No one (except a few of our group who spoke) proposed a modification to the gender roles, but rather it was generally accepted that women have to choose between getting married and being able to direct their own lives and have fulfilling careers.  While there are some married women who work, it seems that it is out of economic necessity, and that the wife staying home with the children is the optimal state.

While there were some people, including a few men, who were “against” marriage, a large majority of the room was “for” marriage.  Several women spoke in favor of marriage, and one one woman in particular stuck out to me, because she said that she was for marriage because God desires that women have children, and to have children one has to get married first.  I’m not familiar enough with the Koran to know whether it directly instructs people to get married and have children or not, but whether it’s in the Koran or not, marriage as a religious practice is a value commonly and strongly felt by the Senegalese.  Even amongst the young, well educated Senegalese we we talking with, religion seemed to be the most common motivator for marriage, along with the general opinion that one cannot be happy without being married.  

In addition to the feminist stance, one other main opinion against marriage seemed to be that too many women are materialistic, and get married for economic reasons, so some of the men there didn’t want to get married and then have their wife leave them for a richer man.  This was rebutted, or generalized somewhat by the argument that there are many motivations for marriage, other than love, for both men and women, and these often create problems.  Some people felt that if a couple married for love that the husband wouldn’t want to mistreat or overwork his wife, so this wouldn’t be a problem.  In general, many people felt that too many people get married for reasons other than love, and this was not good for the future success of the couple.

For me, this debate was very interesting, since I think a debate on marriage in the US would have gone very differently.  The women around me were asking we which side I was on, and I said I was for marriage, but I disagreed with much of what was being said on “my” side.  While I don’t consider myself a feminist, many of the arguments were obviously sexist, and it irritated me that they were so widely accepted, even by the females. Gender roles are very different here in Senegal, and I’m not here to crusade for feminism, but I was surprised to hear such a majority of university students express these opinions.  From the arguments presented I would probably should have said I was against marriage, because really I’m “for” marriage but not for any of the reasons they presented.

While I was interested in the content of the debate, it was mainly set up in this format to give the students a chance to practice English.  There were probably over a hundred people there, and I was impressed to see such high participation in a club meeting on a Saturday afternoon.  I think the Senegalese have much more incentive to study English than US students have to study any language, and that is why so many students come to practice, and so many have achieved such a high proficiency.  Everyone who spoke was understandable, and many students were very good with only a few mistakes, and this debate was only for the freshman and sophomores, so these were not the upper level English students.

After the debate we toured the university some (this is when we went into a dorm), and talked with some of the students more.  Apparently the English club hold a forum like this every other Saturday, so I hope to go back since it was an interesting insight into Senegalese culture, as well as a chance to meet more Senegalese students.  

Love,

Mel

21/02/09

Greetings all,

Yesterday, I went with Papa downtown for the first time (finally!) to a market and several other places.  We took the public bus which goes right by our house since our quartier (neighborhood) is close to a big road.  As far as I can tell so far it’s a fixed price to take the bus anywhere (150 CFA, which is 30 cents), and it doesn’t even matter which bus you take since all of them go downtown, as long as you get on going the right direction.  When we got off the bus the first place we went was the headquarters for the Catholic charity ministries and schools in Dakar.  Papa had a meeting there since he volunteers for the Catholic Church and the sisters there.  I also learned that this is where he used to work as an accountant.  He is a well known there since he worked there for over 30 years, and it was fun going around meeting everyone.  Also, as we were leaving this man offered to take us up on the roof so I could see Dakar.  It was a gorgeous view since the building is really tall, and looks right onto La Place D'Indépendance.  I was impressed by how large Dakar is, and how much of the city is surrounded by water.  

After seeing where Papa worked we went to not one, but two markets in downtown Dakar.  The Marché Kermel is in this open sided round building, kind of like a really big pavilion.  It was mostly fish and vegetables, with some stalls selling touristy stuff outside.  I didn’t buy anything at Kermel, because I didn’t really see anything that I wanted.  When we got the Marché Sandaga, Kermel seemed really small by comparison.  The Marché Sandaga isn’t all under the same roof, but rather it spans several square blocks where there are small boutiques along both sides of the streets.  And, in between some shops there are little passageways leading to more rows of shops behind those right on the street.  

We walked through a large area with food, and it seemed like we passed at least a hundred stall selling onions.  I don’t know how anyone decides which stand to buy from, except maybe one day you just pick one and anyways go back there.  It was much the same thing with all of the other items for sale, in that there was an entire streets of shops selling cloth purses, leather jewelry, and tourist magnets.  I saw all kinds of food, electronics, make-up, perfume, hair supplies, pre-made clothes, belts, purses, shoes, hardware supplies, fabric, and even tailors right there in the market who would sew clothes for you.  

The Marché Sandaga was overwhelmingly large, and I had no idea where to start.  It would be very easy to get lost there, and I have no idea how people keep track of where to buy things.  Merchandise seemed to be grouped somewhat by type, but not entirely.  All of the vendors are trying to get you to come into their shop, and if you stop to look at anything, even just for a second, the vendor starts trying to sell you anything and everything they have.  Since it was my first time to the market I decided it was easier just to keep walking and not stop anywhere, so I didn’t buy anything at Sandaga either.  Sometime I want to go back to Sandaga to get some things, but I know enough to have a specific list, or I’ll spend all day there and still not get what I need.

Love,

Mel

19/02/09

Hi,

Last Tuesday (Feb 17), I went with my environment class to La Parc Nationale des Iles de la Madeleine.  It is a national park with two islands (clarification for the non French speakers), but one is really small, and basically just a big rock.  These islands are off the coast of Dakar, and preserved as a national park to conserve local animal and plant species.  There are a lot of migratory birds that use the island, and also native species that reproduce there.  We saw several different species of birds, and the bird colonies were quite large.  We were able to get quite close to some birds because this is their nesting period, and the females won’t leave the nest.  They build their nests in the crevices of rocks, and if the guide hadn’t shown us, I would have walked right by the nesting birds. 

 

We also saw several different plant species, and although the island isn’t large there were two main ecosystem types.  The baobab trees on this island were much shorter, and the roots were exposed and growing up out of the ground.  Our guide said this was an adaptation because of the wind, and high salinity of the soil, which makes sense, but I was surprised that baobabs could look so different.  Also, we saw some succulent plants that kind of looked like cacti, but I don’t remember what they’re called.  I’ve learned that remembering foreign names is a lot harder because you have to learn how to pronounce the name in addition to remembering whose has that name.  Whether it’s places, plants or people, names are definitely a challenge here.

I had a good time at Les Iles de la Madeleine, and it was nice to spend some time outside.  I got a little sunburnt since I forgot to reapply sunscreen, but it’s already fading to tan.  I would consider going back to this park, since there is a nice place to swim, but it’s expensive to get in, which is probably why we only saw toubabs there.  

Love,

Mel

17/02/09

Hi all,

Last Saturday, Danielle and I took on the challenge of preparing American food for our family.  We wanted to give the women of our family a day off, so we made both lunch and dinner.  For lunchtime, we decided to to a brunch since the Senegalese don’t really eat breakfast food much, a typical breakfast is bread with butter and jam, or chocolate spread (healthy, right...).  So, we made a fruit salad, omelets, and french toast.  For dinner we made spaghetti with chicken strips, homemade sauce, and a salad.  

In order to buy food, first we went to the Marché Tilene with our host sister Kanjo (nickname for Therese, fyi).  It wasn’t exactly open air, but in a big warehouse like building.  Everything from carrots, cucumbers, onions, garlic, and parsley to all types of fish, beef, and shrimp are sitting out on wooden stands.  There were also many different types of grains, beans, and spices that you could measure out in any quantity.  Also, we bought fruit for our fruit salad outside in a row of fruit vendors.  We got grapes, oranges, apples, and bananas.  

All of our purchases included some haggling over price (especially the fruit), but I got the impression that people don’t haggle over food as much as other stuff.  Since food is something that is a regular purchase, the price seems to be more set, although my sister Kanjo told me that prices of certain vegetables and fruits do go up during the winter when they’re not in season.   

After going to the Marché Tilene, the supermarket (which is called Casino), and this little corner boutique in our neighborhood, we finally had all the ingredients we needed.  The cooking itself went pretty well.  Although our family has a stove, only one burner works, so we used that one in addition to a separate gas tank and burner.  For lunch Danielle was in charge of the omelettes, and I made the french toast (which we had to explain was not actually French).  I think my french toast came out well, although the only bread I could find was thinner than ideal.  Sliced sandwich bread like in the States is pretty rare here because everyone eats bagettes, so the only sliced loaf bread we found was sliced thinly.  

The act of Danielle and I cooking was very interesting to the women in our family.  We wanted to give them a day off, but everyone stayed home to watch us cook, which kind of defeated the point, but that was their choice.  Kanjo, Virginie, Anne Marie, and even Mama to some extent gathered around the door to the kitchen to watch how we were making things, which turned out to be helpful when we needed a pot or couldn’t get the stove to light.  At one point a neighbor came over to get something, and when she saw we were cooking she decided to come back when it was done to try the American food we were making.  And, sure enough as we were cleaning up brunch she was back to try some of the leftovers.  It was quite the spectacle, complete with pictures and everything (on Danielle’s camera, so I can’t put any up...).  

By the time we got to dinner, our family had adjusted to the idea of us cooking some more, so they relaxed some and left us alone more.  For dinner, I was in charge of the chicken, since Danielle didn’t want to tackle cutting the meat off the bird since it still had feet and a head.  After I sawed off the feet and head it looked much more normal and wasn’t too hard from there.  While I was cutting up the chicken, Danielle made sauce for the spaghetti and a vinaigrette salad dressing.  Then we just washed veggies and lettuce for the salad and boiled some pasta, and voila, an American-Italian meal (which was fitting since both Danielle and I are part Italian).    

In general, our family seemed really happy that we cooked for them, and they told us that we were the first foreign students they’ve had who tried to cook anything.  I don’t understand this because MSID told us that we should try at least one meal, but I guess a lot of students don’t listen to these instructions.  All in all, although we spent the whole day shopping, cooking or sleeping, I was satisfied with our work.  Making food for 10 people every day is a lot of work, and I admire the time and energy the women in our house put into food preparation.  Excepting one incident where we tried to cook over a plastic pot, which was silver and looked metal, I think Danielle and I proved ourselves fairly competent in the kitchen, which is good since next year I’ll actually be responsible for cooking for myself on a regular basis.  And, in case you were wondering nothing really bad happened to the pot.  It turned a little black on the bottom, but Cathy saved it before it melted, and aside from a little excitement and embarrassment all ended well.  

Love,

Mel