subject: animals (1/22/03)
i've had an another amazing week. i've been putting the finishing touches on my first art project, and now i'm about to go to the tailor to get my dress made for the tabaski...the sheep festival. on a side note, i found sirpenes, my stuffed sheep, hanging by a rope from the ceiling last nite. so i spent the rest of the evening carrying him on my back in the traditional cloth tying way that the women carry their babies. anyway, i am becoming a bargaining pro. i found this exquisite fabric (green- just like u like mother) but the starting price was 35000 cfas, roughly 50 bucks for 6 meters. i started at 8000. and i walked away with 13000....more or less 20 bucks! my family said i did well. even better than my sisters who just give up and buy at the more expensive price. anyway, i made a couple of sketches for my outfit and will see what the tailor can do. exciting!
anyway, about the animals. last thursday i was walking down my street to the car rapide which is my main form of transportation (i will explain how this car rapide phenomenon works in a moment being that the most interesting parts of my day usually evolve around them) when all of a sudden i felt something nipping at my feet. i looked down and lo and behold, there was a monkey. i veered left, he followed, i faked right, he took the bait. and then i ran. to the amusement of all the neighbors. a monkey!?!?!? the monkey chased me half way down the street until he got bored and stalked off. upon telling my family this story later that evening, they responded nonchalantly with, oh yah, that's the neighbors monkey. i asked if it was strange to have a monkey. they said that this was senegal. anything is possible. my sister then added that this particular monkey was crazy and i should avoid him. point taken. his lil mischeivous smile and sharp teeth are better if seen from a far.
of course, that same day as i was riding into town we were held up by a herd of sheep (do sheeps go in herds) who were crossing the street. pandamonium. sheep aren't very adept at the art of street crossing. and then the next day, there were 10 cows running loose down the busiest street in dakar. i should've had my camera. the clash of big city modern life and rural traditional life is astounding.
yesterday, we had a cultural orientation to explain some of the craziness. i must say it was the best cultural orientation i have ever had. i learned so much..which i will be sharing in later emails. i also met one of the lead children's authors in senegal who just received a huge prize for his work. children's lit is what i've been wanting to do with my life for the last 2 years so i talked to him and i might be able to strike up an internship. snaps!
by the way, my new name is maymuna...given to me by the family. it's may faye for short. it rhymes. i like that.
on to some interesting facts. dakar has virtually no crime. the worst you have to worry about is petty pickpocketing. there are no murders, few robberies, very few abuse claims. i'm still trying to figure out why the crime rate is so low. the senegalese like to attribute it to the strong influence of islam, which creates a very hospitable state. therefore, you always have a place to stay, food to eat, etc, cutting down on the need to steal. also, people don't seek revenge because chances are, one of your family members knows one of the family members of the person you are angry with. we learned yesterday that when you marry, u don't marry a person, you marry their whole family. judging by the amount of visitors we have each day, this is no joke.
anyway, i have sooo much more to say but i must run. no credit left. i will try to write another email this week to finish up.
ps- the wedding was nice, a lil long but nice. and the outfits were amazing!
the nightlife is insane. i didn't get home before 5 am either night, and that was because i left early. sunday is sleep day...and beach day. yaaaaay.
btw, classes are going well.
maya
miss you all
anyway, about the animals. last thursday i was walking down my street to the car rapide which is my main form of transportation (i will explain how this car rapide phenomenon works in a moment being that the most interesting parts of my day usually evolve around them) when all of a sudden i felt something nipping at my feet. i looked down and lo and behold, there was a monkey. i veered left, he followed, i faked right, he took the bait. and then i ran. to the amusement of all the neighbors. a monkey!?!?!? the monkey chased me half way down the street until he got bored and stalked off. upon telling my family this story later that evening, they responded nonchalantly with, oh yah, that's the neighbors monkey. i asked if it was strange to have a monkey. they said that this was senegal. anything is possible. my sister then added that this particular monkey was crazy and i should avoid him. point taken. his lil mischeivous smile and sharp teeth are better if seen from a far.
of course, that same day as i was riding into town we were held up by a herd of sheep (do sheeps go in herds) who were crossing the street. pandamonium. sheep aren't very adept at the art of street crossing. and then the next day, there were 10 cows running loose down the busiest street in dakar. i should've had my camera. the clash of big city modern life and rural traditional life is astounding.
yesterday, we had a cultural orientation to explain some of the craziness. i must say it was the best cultural orientation i have ever had. i learned so much..which i will be sharing in later emails. i also met one of the lead children's authors in senegal who just received a huge prize for his work. children's lit is what i've been wanting to do with my life for the last 2 years so i talked to him and i might be able to strike up an internship. snaps!
by the way, my new name is maymuna...given to me by the family. it's may faye for short. it rhymes. i like that.
on to some interesting facts. dakar has virtually no crime. the worst you have to worry about is petty pickpocketing. there are no murders, few robberies, very few abuse claims. i'm still trying to figure out why the crime rate is so low. the senegalese like to attribute it to the strong influence of islam, which creates a very hospitable state. therefore, you always have a place to stay, food to eat, etc, cutting down on the need to steal. also, people don't seek revenge because chances are, one of your family members knows one of the family members of the person you are angry with. we learned yesterday that when you marry, u don't marry a person, you marry their whole family. judging by the amount of visitors we have each day, this is no joke.
anyway, i have sooo much more to say but i must run. no credit left. i will try to write another email this week to finish up.
ps- the wedding was nice, a lil long but nice. and the outfits were amazing!
the nightlife is insane. i didn't get home before 5 am either night, and that was because i left early. sunday is sleep day...and beach day. yaaaaay.
btw, classes are going well.
maya
miss you all
posted by maya at 6:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home