First a couple of clarifications:
1) The man who passed away was not my language trainer. There were two trainers at the site named Lamine. Lamine the Safety and Security Trainer was the one involved in the accident. Lamine the language trainer is the one I spend every waking moment with.
2) The crazy beach weekend is this coming weekend, not the past.
That said, I did take a bike ride to the coast to check out our beach site last weekend. The beach is 25 miles from Dakar, and on Sunday two other guys and I decided to do the round trip in a day. So we packed a couple backpacks full of water and cliff bars and set out at 7 a.m. to beat the sun. The ride there was pretty easy, mostly downhill cause we were going toward the ocean. Got there around 9 - no prob Bob. We spent the day on the beach, got some good lunch of fresh seafood and rice. Had a beer, devoured a watermelon, talked to a few locals and left around 3:00 to be sure we'd be home by dusk.
The ride home was not so easy. Mostly uphill, into a headwind, and after already biking 25 miles and a day in the sun. Ouch. It took us about 3 and a half hours, almost double the trip there. Uncle Dan, if you're reading this, I hope you're proud. It's about 44 miles farther than I had ever biked in a day (the second farthest being the 6-mile loop at French park that I did when I was 7).
Last weekend was also Korite on Saturday. Korite is the holiday marking the end of the month of fasting in Islam, known as Ramadan.
African hospitality continues to impress me:
One of the customs for Korite is to buy new fabric and have a tailor make you new clothes for the day. Then you spend the day with your family eating well, going to the mosque to pray, and visitng other familes to apologize for any wrong-doing you may have done to them and to generally wish them peace.
A friend of mine, whose family I had met once, heard that the majority of my family had gone out of town for the holiday to visit their extended family and so immediately invited me to spend it with them (it turned out that at least 10 people were still at my house, because my family is larger than I can keep track of). Anyway, my friend's family had also heard that I hadn't had the chance to have any clothes made for Korite. When I walked her home on Saturday night they handed me some clothes and I gathered that they were lending them to me to wear the next day.
So on the next afternoon I put on the outfit. It is called a Grand Boubou and is the fanciest of Senegalese outfits. A pair of pants and large shirt that reaches almost to the ground made of the same fabric. I visited my friend's family but brought a change of clothes so I could leave the outfit with them. But as I left they chased me to the door and insisted that I take the clothes as a gift.
Basically, a family I had only met once gave me the Senegalese version of a nice suit, just to be nice.
Sorry if this anecdote was too long, let me know if I should be more brief. I'll try to post again soon about thiiiis weekend's Beach Trip with everyone.
Leave comments galore,
Love Andy
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9 comments:
I hope our runs around Calhoun conditioned you for your lil' bike ride. I couldn't help but feel like the "clarifications" in your post were directed at me...haha...I want to see a picture of you in your Grand Boubou outfit!
oooo new outfits!!
Do not be brief. I want to hear everything. It sounds amazing. I should have had you read a book called You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers before you left. Your trip would have brought that book to life in your mind. Miss you, hope your having a fantastic time. Oh, and you are such the gentleman, walking your friend home. You always did that in Paris too. Miss you boo
andy i miss you! life there sounds so interesting.. ps kathleen told me about the left hand deal (it was the same in niger) and i was horrified haha -- funny how much we take little things -- like TP -- for granted! everything is going well in NYC -- ill write you all about stuff in a letter. keep the updates coming, its so nice to read them -- it really helps to feel more connected. i get an email like once every month and a half from nanc and its hard! also -- when do you find out where youre going to be stationed? when does your training end? and how are the other peace corps volunteers? cool kids? btw ryan is coming to party in NYC this weekend -- we will have a drink in your honor =) email me at ctuluca@gmail.com!
Andy, glad to hear you're doing well. The whole experience sounds amazing. Am looking forward to hearing all about your adventures!!
Jen
Like I said in my email - Keep em coming! It's hard to really visualize what life is like for you - the more details the better - it helps paint the picture. Dad told me to look at your city on Google Earth - i just downloaded it and i think EVERYONE should. Helps build the picture! I miss you tons and i'll keep sending packages for you!
You are amazing. and Dan may not be impressed by I am. that's a good bike ride even without the hills. Nice to know you're staying in shape.ha ha.
I am impressed with a 42 mile bike ride when you haven't been doing it. What kind of bike did you ride? Is it yours? Tell me the story of the bike!!
Also, how's about some pic's of this journey?
I'll read the rest of your blog, but, tell us how you are able to get access to the internet, and can you upload stuff (pic's, word doc's, etc.)
Tell us about your friends? Are they American, African nationals....
Love to hear more. Stay safe!!
Dan
Hi Andy!!
I love reading your blogs...it helps me live vicariously through you... :) The people there sound amazing and I'm glad that you found a wonderful family to surrond yourself with. I'm sorry about your loss so soon into your trip.
Can you post pictures on this thing? That would be awesome!!
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