I had been invited to the "Fete de l'Ouverture de Foyer" at the middle school which is a morning of speeches by officials and then skits and dances by students. I was told it started at 1oam so after much internal debate I finally decided to be a good volunteer and headed over to the school around 10:45. When I arrived at 11am nothing had even started but all of the students were gathered around the school's large sand courtyard just waiting. The principal saw me and invited me into his office where I waited with a few other teachers. Around noon we sat down and all of the guests (a delegation from the mayor's office, the retired principal, and a principal of another middle school) had arrived and we started! The first hour was speeches by all of the principals, retired and serving, present. After the speeches the skits started...and kept going... and going... Most of the skits were done in the same style that Senegalese TV is which, to be nice, I would describe as extremely overacted and lacking clear plot lines (and that's being generous). The skits had to do with AIDs, teen pregnancy, or early/forced marriage. Each skit also had a whole bunch of boys playing older men that sat around and talked most of the skit (which is a pretty accurate portrayal but never seemed to move the plot forward). The average skit lasted half an hour.
At 2pm I decided to try for an escape. I should explain that the school is surrounded by a wall on all sides with a single door on the Northwest corner. I was sitting on the South side of the courtyard so between me and the door were the skits, the entire dj/microphone area, and about 300 students... not to mention that literally everyone would have seen me leave. I asked the teacher next to me if I could go around one of the buildings and sneak to the door but he responded with, "it'll be over soon."
Two hours later I was fairly dehydrated, hungry, and hot (we were sitting under a plastic awning which did block the sun but seemed to trap the heat). The teachers sitting around me were also starting to grumble a little and trying to get the proceedings to move a little faster. FINALLY the second to last group came to perform around 4:15pm and man am I glad I stayed for it. Now, Senegalese culture is a little more casual with stereotyping ethnic groups and nationalities than Americans are, so keep that in mind as I explain the skit. The skit started with an announcer saying something (muffled on the mic) as two students came out dressed in nice Senegalese clothes. The students said they were ethnically Wolofs and gave a nice message encouraging youth. Next a few other students came out dressed like religious people and did a dance and gave an encouraging message. Next another couple came out dressed in slightly ridiculous traditional clothes and the girl had stuffed her skirt as to make her butt seem HUGE. When they announced that they were Jolla (from the Southern part of Senegal) everyone started laughing hysterically. After the Jolla's was a boy with a fake fat stomach in a suit and a young girl - no worries, they were Americans, they were Russians! After the Russians came a boy in a dress shirt and a girl in a cute summer dress and heels - they were French! When a child came up to them to ask them if they had kids they laughed and said they never wanted children.. hilarious! After the French people came 3 students dressed in North African clothing they pretended to speak Arabic and referred to themselves using a mild racial slur. After the North Africans came two boys in karate outfits. They were Chinese and spoke only in fake Chinese (aka "ching chong") which got a HUGE laugh. Then they drank 2 cokes (I'm not really sure about that part) and had a fake martial arts battle. Finally an Akon song started blasting and out came the Americans: 5 students wearing jeans, shiny shirts, and sunglasses. They all danced like a mix of Michael Jackson and Usher then spoke in English about how wonderful Senegal was. After the Americans that group took their bows and we were on to the last performance! Before I get there, let me say that of all the ways the students could have portrayed Americans - I'm actually happy with the way they chose... also I don't dress that that at all here.
The last group was the gymnastics club who did some cool tumbling but at that point I think I was a little delirious so I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have had it happened at during the first two hours not during the fifth hour.
The second the gymnastics club looked like it was wrapping up one of the teachers I work with quickly whisked me away to the teacher's lounge where there were cold sodas and sugary baked/fried goods! I drank my soda and chatted with a few people and was out of there in about 10 minutes. While I was chatting EVERY student had emptied out and the crew was taking down the tents - it had cleared out.
I got back to my house about 6 hours after I had left. I went straight to my room to chug some gatorade to make up for the hours sitting in the heat.
Tonight Senegal played Cameroon in a qualifier game for the African Cup of Nations in 2012. In the last 2 minutes of additional time Senegal scored a goal! The entire city erupted with cheering including my host family screaming loudly! Senegal ended up winning 1-0 so they keep their lead in their group. Games are halfway over so we'll know if they qualify in September I think.
I hope everyone is enjoying watching March Madness Games - if your championship team has been kicked out, feel free to join me in cheering for UNC!
KO
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