On Sunday, Hawa took me to her mother's "house". Hawa had warned me that her mother lived in a very, very poor area outside of our neighborhood and when you are already living in a neighborhood that doesn't strike you as being that well off, it's hard to imagine that it can get worse. Well it can. Hawa's mother lives in what would be considered the ghetto of Dakar. Now, in the US when we here ghetto we think bums on the side of the road who have piss stains on their clothes who probably haven't been sober since they dropped out of high school or streets scattered with gang members with their gats in the back of their pants ready to bust a nut when territory is crossed or hookers and drug dealers alike shacked up in dumpy old motels or probably some combination of all of that. Well Senegal is a peaceful place so their ghettos are not scattered with the likes of such things that cause us to immediately feel unsafe like if we make a wrong turn our could be at stake. The slums of Dakar I actually found to be more calming than the neighborhood I am in which is constantly in motion with loud speakers leading people in prayer and children screaming. The houses-more like single rooms attached to an open patio- are fairly run down and a little more spread out. When we got out of our car rapide (yes! I finally got to ride in one!) we walked about 7 minutes until we arrived at Hawa's mother's.
When we first got there, we sat outside for bit, Hawa trying to make me sit in one of the two chairs that her mother had but in I have always felt is more custom to let your elders sit in the chairs even if you are a guest. So I took up a spot on the floor mat and they Hawa, Dieynaba, and Hawa's mother all looked at me like I was crazy for sitting on the floor and offering my chair to Hawa's mother instead. Always being offered a seat is another thing that makes me feel uncomfortable here. But what really did it on Sunday when a group of four girls kept hiding behind a corner, peeking around and laughing. This more than anything makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable, like I am a monkey at the zoo or something. They continued this for the entirety of our stay there. God there was one girl inparticular who could just not get enough- she would walk by and I would say bonjour and she'd just start laughing. It was like c'mon girlfriend is this really still amusing after the 12th time?? Oh the woes of being a Toubab.
When we had first arrived at Hawa's mother's, there was a boy around my age making a cage like thing to keep their family sheep (everyone here has sheep-they are everywhere!). He had been working on it for over an hour and a half when it was time to eat lunch. We all went inside, ate a platter of Thieboudienne, me having say "mi haarii" multiple times before they excepted I couldn't eat anymore. After we finished eating lunch inside, we went back outside. I was feeling pretty lame just sitting there not being able to take part in conversation since it was all in Wolof, so I decided to get up and help the kid make the den for the sheep. The women looked at me like I was possessed, "Allison, tu es fatigue, tu es fatigue" ( you are tired)- which I was definitely not, all I had done all day was sit there. So I helped him out for a bit and when we finished we started kicking around and empty 2 liter sprite bottle- playing a little football (soccer). This really took the women by surprise! I'd been playing for just over a minute and Hawa was calling to me "tu es fatigue", I assured her that after a minute of playing "je ne suis pas fatigue" (I am not tired!). After playing for five minutes, she repeated "tu es fatigue", even though I was not I sat down just to appease her. I was stoked to hear that in a few minutes, this boy (Amidou I think is his nam) was going to take me Dieynaba and le petit Abda to the beach!
The beach was about a five minute walk, though a little forest and a walk way filled with garbage (I have been waiting to do a post about the garbage situation here- it'll come soon so i'll spare the trash talk for now). Le mer was absolutely gorgeous!! Unfortunately it is too dangerous to swim in, apparently there is a crazy strong under toe. The beaches of Dakar are a hot spot for lutteurs to get in shape. Lutteurs are wrestlers and aside from football (soccer), la lutte (wrestling) is the most popular sport to watch. It's not like WWE and there are no Hulk Hogans walking around with colorful bandanas and tight undie like garments. The wrestling is more traditional, however, a few years ago they made boxing moves legal in a separate la lutte league. The wrestlers who win matches have a good chance at making a lot of money and those are the wrestlers who hold celebrity status here. The other night I even caught a bit of a reality TV show that follows one of the more popular lutteurs around! Who would have thought, firstly that there'd be reality TV show here and secondly that that they would follow wrestlers?! Anyways, it was funny watching them in training all along the beach and since we couldn't swim, we decided to join in, poking fun at their exercises only a bit ;). I decided to take that opportunity to get some of my first exercise in sic arriving. I started jogging up the shore, Amidou (or at least I'm pretty sure that's his name) following. He kept saying lets head back "tu es fatigue?" but I kept going. I'm guessing that the women here don't do much physical activity, judging not only by everyone continuously asking me if I'm tired after barely exerting energy but also by the fact that I've never seen a girl, not once, out playing football in the many, many football field they have here that are always being played on. I hope that by my being here and continuously telling people "Je ne suis pas fatigue" that the men and women alike who are able to witness my assertion of energy will realize that women can do more than cook and clean but can also play sports and jog- that being born a woman does not mean that I am confined to housework, it's not written in my XX chromosomes.
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