4/17
Tessa's visit was lovely! I hope she agrees. We had a bit of a tough time trying to see "real" Senegal in a week-- without too much discomfort. She could've handled more, but I became oddly nervous that she'd hate Senegal. Senegal has sort of become my embarassing crazy uncle (which I don't really have!) who is really a lovely person once you get to know him.
She understood, of course. Everyone had been making her nervous with Africa horror strories anyway. So we stuck around Dakar and Toubab Diallaw and you can ask her yourself if she felt any horror! (Tess, help me out here. The lizard and cockroach don't count!) We had lots of delicious food, heard some live music, became quickly renowned pastry shop patrons, enjoyed the beach, played lots of charades... we did things I didn't know were possible in Senegal, like ORDER PIZZA in an air-conditioned hotel room with an english movie channel and a mini fridge! WHAT?! I couldn't recognize my awesome life. Even when I opened the door to the pastry/ pizza delivery guy who laughed to see that it was US again.
We really felt like we were living it up. Tessa would convert the price tags out loud to euros because it all seemed so cheap to her. Michele and I, however, moaned with guilt about spendng so much. "We're on vacation!" we yelled to perplexed Tess. Michele and I also forced ourselves to submerge in the freezing water, crazily screaming, "Remember how hot it is in Kedougou!" I think those were the only painful parts of the trip, though.
Highlights include accepting an invitation to ataaya on Goree Island. This surprised Tessa as well as the inviters who are used to tourists ignoring them. But I had to show her the senegalese hospitality that defines the country! It's hard to catch in Dakar, with the ripping off and begging hands thrust in your face. But away from that, we happily sat on a mat as our hosts happily prepared the tea. They cooked and poured it back and forth, the daily dance of the ataaya you can see across the country. One had been to Spain so could shoot the Spanish with Tess, and the rest were appropriately pumped about my Pulaar. I asked a guy to give her a Senegalese name and he was visibly honored. He took the task seriously, and after a few minutes of pondering, setted on "Salimatou." Then he played a song from his phone about loving Salimatou. Now that's crazy uncle Senegal.
We also took a pirogue across Lac Rose. It really was pink, and warm as bathwater. We had a good giggle floating in it then getting doused with a bucket of water once we emerged. We almost joined a dance class, but it was too pricey. Personally, I was also having falshbacks of our botched attempt to join a retired broadway dance class a few years back (think Lucille Ball and ballet). So instead we watched and immitated in secret. Better for us all!
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I'm putting nachos on this blog as an honor to Tessa. Also, because we talked about them on her trip, thus intensifying my already dangerous year-long yearning for them. This inspired the following events. Also, Thomas getting cheese in a carepackage (HINT!). That is the bigger half of the nacho battle right there. Which says something as the rest of the battle involved:
-getting corn (OK, this is not at all in the viscinity of hard)
-pounding it.. haha this is how much I love nachos, people! Luckily I was spared most of the pounding once someone kindly reminded me they have machines for this in Kedougou.
-mix cornmeal with flour, baknig powder, salt, water, and oil
-make a dough
-roll the dough on the table with an empty wine bottle (FYI this is because we don't have a rolling pin; not because I'm weird)
-next you're supposed to bake them in the oven, but our oven didn't really work too well. So we fried them!
-procure avocado, tomato, hot pepper, onion, and garlic from the market, and chicken from someone else's package.
-Love life.
It all took about 5 hours. Oh how I miss 2 minute microwaved nachos! But these were INCREDIBLE. OK, the chips were not that awesome, but after a year of dreaming, these had to be the best nachos I've ever had or will have in my life. I took photos. It was a huge platter-- I licked it clean.
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Kittens:
We got 'em! They're the first I've seen in the village. My dad bought them to kill mice. I'm happy because they won't be my responsibility (especially after I leave. i think it's irresponsible to adopt only to abandon), I loathe mice, and they're so cute! The cuter one will be my new best friend. He comes to visit me every morning to mooch off my oatmeal-and-honey breakfast. All it has to eat is the same corn mush the rest of us eat, if you're wondering why he likes oatmeal. Wolof for "cat" is "mous mous" so I named him "mooch mooch." Today Mooch ate a scorpion carcus off my bedroom floor. My young mom/ older sister killed it (scorpion, not kitten) while I was showing her how to make french fries from the floor.
These are a few of my favorite things....
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