If you couldn't tell by my blog title, this weekend saw the first of many laundry sessions. We were told that we might be able to hire someone for very little money to do our clothes for us but when it turned out that it would actually cost around $1 per article of clothing we all re-evaluated that decision and just did it ourselves. Oh yes, I filled a bucket full of soapy water and another one full of clean water and washed my clothes in it and then hung them up to dry! I'm not really sure if I did it correctly and I'm not sure if my clothes are actually clean, but I will have mastered how to survive without the spin cycle by the time I get back home!
I do not have more pictures just yet but before I forget things I would like a make a few observations about life in Dakar and what I have seen...
Feet: Everyone's feet are dirty ALL THE TIME! I constantly have dirt and sand on my feet everyday. Because the roads are covered in sand and debris it is impossible to maintain any sort of feet cleanliness. And it is too hot to wear tennis shoes, therefore we walk around and sandals and just hope that sand and a little dirt are the ONLY things we get on our feet!
Organization: There is no real concept of time/order here, let me explain. People kind of run on their own time, especially when it is the weekend. If you accept an invitation to go to someone's house for lunch you can expect to be gone anywhere from 4-8 hours. The pace of my life is totally devoid of any consistency here and you kind of just have to relax and realize that you really don't have anywhere you need to be so just chill. Also, lines of any sort do not exist! That means no lines to get on or off a boat, no lines at the grocery store, nothing! I'm pretty sure the only reason I am able to pay for anything at the store is because people will let girls ahead of them, the fact that I'm white though works against me half the time and gives people the license to "cut".
Animals: Ok, this is less a general observation than a short anecdote. Within two days I saw both a cow and chickens get slaughtered right in front of me. The cow's death was a total coinidence, right place at the wrong time sort of thing. My friend and I were on an adventure, aka lost for an hour, and we had wandered onto a busy street. We happened to see a large canopy over the sidewalk with a couple cows standing and tied up to posts. We then saw about 6-8 people huddled over a cow that was subdued and hog-tied on the ground. At the exact moment we walked by they cut the cow's throat, spilling blood EVERYWHERE (there was no bucket anywhere to catch the blood and it just went into the street/sidewalk). We had to briskly run along because my friend is obsessed with animals and almost threw up/started crying. Let me reiterate that we were on a popular street midday on the weekend! The second incidence came when one of our senegalese conversation partners decided to teach us how to cook senegalese cuisine, which included coming up with a list of ingredients and going to the market to purchase them. And at this market is where I saw the chickens being slaughtered over a whole in the ground which is what held the blood. We, quite literally, picked out three live chickens and witnessed their demise. When we returned after they had been plucked, I was handed the plastic bag holding our chickens which were not warm but steaming hot! Ok I now know where my food comes from, I do not need to see it anymore! Mama, I should just let you know that there was NO concept of food handling safety when we prepared the senegalese meal and, yes, later on it did give me a stomach ache, but no food poisoning yet, yay!
More pictures to come and more stories from Senegal to follow! Since this Friday is the 4th of July we are thinking of inviting our Senegalese counterparts over for BBQ and exposing them to "traditional" American food; I am all for making Sloppy Joe's and watching them attempt to eat them just as they have been doing to us!
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1 comment:
wow, melanie! we are so close, yet so far away. it sounds like you're experiencing some of the same things, but it sounds pretty different too! i can't wait to compare notes when we both get home--take care and be safe. we both know by now that street vendor food can be killer!
loooove ya!
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