Wedding!

I'm sorry this is delayed! Everything's been crazy and I've been in Dakar for Jackie's birthday but! Here's the wedding post with pictures to follow:

The wedding actually started the night of the 2nd after some family members had arrived. The women all sat on a mat in the courtyard and prepared green beans for the next day (and there weren't really any men around). We also had a whole bunch of local women cooking dinner (cous cous and meat). After the bin-bin exchange went down, I just hung out with everything until dinner was over and I could retreat to my room. Before turning in for the night, however, I received instructions on dressing for the next day from the bride: wear your normal (green) complet until the afternoon then change into your new clothes....

...Luckily for me I've been here long enough to know that I wasn't supposed to come downstairs in my nice clothes (the green complet I wore for swearing in) because in Senegal women ALWAYS have work to do in the morning and everyone would be in casual clothes. I hung out while my hfmom got her hair done and then went upstairs to change. From about 10am until lunch the women sat in plastic chairs under a tent in our courtyard and the men sat on couches under a fan in our salon (typical of Senegal). Right after lunch after I had changed into my new clothes, the bride appeared briefly in a fabulous blue outfit, and I also got to meet Youssou's mom (he's technically my "cousin" that lives with us). Around 3pm, with the men still sitting in the salon, the women started to bring out the gifts for the bride (who was nowhere to be found... I'm pretty sure she was getting her hair done). A traditional singer came and sang praises of my hfamily, especially my parents and Ndaiye Fatou. Then everyone gave their gifts while the singer announced how much/what each person gave. My parents had sent me some fabric so I gave that to my hfmom for Ndiaye Fatou.

Around 5pm the men emerged from underneath the ceiling fan and went to the mosque while everyone else contined to hang around... I think, if the power hadn't cut, there would have been dancing (luckily the power cut).

Afterward the men got back, some prayers were held outside of my house (the only space big enough for everyone to fit). Then I was told to go to the Mayor's office/reception hall for the reception.

The reception, it turns out, is only for young people - mostly her friends. After we were all seated (in plastic chairs of course) and given our plate of fried food and small bottle of Africa Fun! soda, the wedding party entered. First came each of my hostsisters dressed in bright pink gowns escorted by guys (who I've never seen before) in white dress shirts and slacks. Then, finally, Ndiaye Fatou (the bride) came in escorted by her uncle.... yeah.. the groom has NOTHING to do with the wedding on the brides side. She was dressed head to toe in gold with gold things in her hair and glitter on her dress. After the entire party walked around the center table, the party walked around Ndiaye Fatou and her uncle (aka the groom stand in) while raising and lowering their hands. Then we were all invited up to give her a gift (this time I gave money) and take a picture with her. We had about 15 minutes of dancing and then were ushered back to the house. When I say ushered, I really mean it. See, Alan had sent a Yankees hat for Youssou and now Youssou loves me (and wore the hat the whole time). He spent the entire reception making sure I had my food and soda; at the end he personally cleared the way for me to exit and return home. Once at the house, the older family members, who hadn't come to the reception, were still talking and giving gifts. Finally, my hffather gave a serious speech in Wolof... which he then translated to me: "we have to get going, it's late and they're waiting in his village for us to show up." I was then told that the plan for the rest of the night was to drive through the middle of the desert (in the pitch black). At the outside of the groom's village they would be met by the women of the village who would then mock the bride (yep. mock. I had to ask for a clarification) and her inability to find a husband/her attempts to steal a man from their village. They would then party for the next two days at the groom's house. I politely declined going: my host family has been so hospitable to me, I wanted to give them time as an actual family to celebrate.

Overall the wedding was amazing and exhausting. I think I have some pretty good pictures that I'm uploading!

Other than the wedding it's been pretty low key. Like I said I was in Dakar for Jackie's birthday (quarter of a century!) and now I'm really trying to get things moving with the girls' camp... hopefully good news will come this way around Wednesday (keep your fingers crossed). I hear it's been great weather in Chicago and New York, I hope everyone's enjoying spring! We've had a break from the heat so I'm getting some spring here too!

KO

Daily Life

I don't think I've given an actual run down of my general days here in Bambey yet so, because nothing too exciting happened today, I'll go ahead with that.

Every morning I get up around 8 or 9am, depending on what noise (my hfdad starting his car, lots of people talking, mosque calls, drums, music, really anything) is going on outside. After getting out of bed I heat up water to make instant coffee and a bowl of oatmeal which I eat while I read the news online as well as check my email (this isn't the traditional Peace Corps). Finally I get my shower, which has taken a lot of will power recently because the mornings have been a little cold and my water is usually freezing. I pick my outfits based on what I'm doing that day: Senegalese clothes if I have an important meeting, a skirt and t-shirt if I'm spending a lot of time in town, and capris and a tank top if I'm mostly hanging around the compound or just going to friends' houses.

I try to have one thing to do each morning ranging from, going to the post office or another errand or trying to have a meeting with someone. Usually I walk down the main street (the one in front of my house) and stop along the way to greet people. Some of my greetings are really short but others, like with Matar and Awa the peanut women, I stay with a little longer. When it was hotter everything stopped working around 11am as people tried to get home before the heat was too much, but now that it's cooling off people try to get home just before lunch. At my house lunch is served as close to 1:30 as possible, usually Yousso my 12 year old hfcousin is late so we eat when he gets there (but if he's too late we save him a bowl and start without him).

Lunch is almost always ceeb u jeen, or rice and fish. My hfdad usually is out doing something so it's myself, myhf mom, 1 hfsister Awa (senior in high school), 2 girls who live with us to go to high school in Bambey (I think of them as cousins Ndaiye and Miriam, Yousso, and Miss (who's been gone for a while). A large metal bowl in placed in the middle of a mat and we all sit around. Awa, my hfmom, and I sit on the mat but the others use little stools. Everyone but my hfmom and Miss use spoons, Miss and my hfmom using their (right) hand. Ceeb u jeen is fried-ish rice with vegetables (usually carrot, okra, cabbage, manioc, and whatever else is in season) and fish in the center. The fish is always just scaled and de-headed so my hfmom usually rips meat off carefully to leave the bones and puts it in my section of the bowl. I'm still not very good (and I'm kind of lazy) at cutting vegetables with a spoon so, for the most part, Awa (who usually is sitting next to me) or my hfmom put pieces in my section. A few minutes after eating I put my spoon on the mat and we all go through the routine of "you can't be done you haven't eaten!" "no I'm done it was good!" and that's, now, where we leave it (when I first got here it would go on and on and on).

After lunch I go up to my room for a little bit (it's rude to stay at the bowl when you're done eating) and usually send some emails or figure out what I'm going to do for the afternoon. Three days a week I go to tutoring where I sit and talk with my tutor about whatever I'm thinking of, and the rest of the week I either hang around my house or go to another meeting. If I'm hanging around my house about an hour after lunch I go back downstairs and sit and read while someone makes tea. I usually only drink the first round (there are 3 and they get sweeter each time) because I don't really like tea but it would be a big problem if I turned it down.

Around the first evening prayer (5:30ish) I head back up to my room to get work done or study a little for the LSAT in quiet. Around 7pm I'm back downstairs to watch TV. For watching evening TV we all sit on a mat (during the hotter days it was in the courtyard, now it's in a little open hallway sort of thing) and watch usually Citizen Match at 7 on the government TV channel (it's the only one that comes in clear) and Marina (a Mexican soap opera) at 7:30. Usually during commercials Awa (who always has the remote) switches back and forth to another channel that ranges from being almost clear to non-existent that shows another South American (not sure which country) soap opera. My hfmom (and I) like Marina better but the other girls like the other show. Recently power's been cutting around 6pm and coming back on just in time for the news. When there isn't power we all sit there and chat about whatever comes to mind (today the girls explained the test they have to take to pass high school, the other week it was which Senegalese popstars are pretty).

At 8pm the news is on and it's about that time that dinner is brought over, which is served on a large plate not in a bowl. If dinner comes with bread pretty much no one uses utensils, I usually take on but eat with the bread primarily. If it's a rice based dish everyone but my hfmom takes a spoon and we all dig in. My hfdad, when he's not in Dakar, eats by himself - why, I have no idea, but it's one less person to hassle me when I'm done eating. If the meal is really good (beans, spaghetti, dahine) I stay at the plate a long time and no one is bothered when I leave. If it's a bad meal (like today: sauce, barely any rice, and intestines) I scarf down as much as I can, mostly pushing food around to clear a big spot and avoiding any meat or anything that looks solid before getting up to leave. After dinner I tell my hf "see you tomorrow, God willing" and go up to my room.

And that leaves us here - the point of my day where I kind of forget I'm in Africa (until I hear/smell sheep or the power cuts) and I catch up on anything I've missed and just enjoy the miracle of the internet. Around 11pm I brush my teeth (I was showering a 2nd time during the hot part of the day but it's too cold now!) and go to bed. I've gotten pretty good at falling asleep most nights even with whatever noise (drums, people talking, mosque loudspeakers) and don't wake up until the morning call to prayer at 5:30am!

I hope that wasn't too boring, I'm aiming to show a little bit more about my daily life.

Ba suba,
KO