Well hello all!
I am adjusting quite peacefully here in Dakar. My roommate, Johanna and I moved in with our host family last Friday. It has been an experience! We only live with a mother (mama Sadiou) and her maid Maryam. Maryam speaks a little broken French but mostly she speaks Wolof with Sadiou. We have a decent size house, although half of it has been rented out because our host mother’s husband passed away a couple years ago so she didn’t need the extra room. Mama Sadiou has “adopted” a son named Pape Cham. He is very nice, he doesn’t live with her he lives down the street but he comes by a lot to heck on all of us to make sure we are doing fine!
Ramadan has started and some kids from the program are fasting but you all know me… I love my food too much! Ha! Our host mother is a very devout Muslim, she prays 5 times a day and now she is fasting. She is a sweetheart, she takes care of us and makes sure she can make us feel at home as much as possible. Johanna and I share a room with our own bathroom that has a shower. I have been finding a lot of different insects here, that I have never seen in the states. It’s quite an adventure.
This weekend we (the program) are going to Goree Island which is off the coast of Dakar. It’s an island that has a lot of historical museums and artifacts from the slave trading period. I will take lots of photos and put some up!
Last Sunday we went into downtown Dakar, let me say the closest I can say to describe it would be a mix of the west side of Fresno, T.J-Meixco, and downtown LA. It was an experience for sure! On our way there we were taking a “Car Rapide” which are short buses painted with extravagant art work. We were driving on our way to downtown when all of a sudden a little boy, about 7 years old ran out to cross the street and the Car Rapide hit him! It was so horrible! I was sitting in the front of the bus and saw him run out! He was able to stand up and his mother was there to help him, he turned out to be ok with some bumps, bruises, and scrapes, but it could have been much worse! Remember…. Look BOTH ways when crossing a street!
Children are so tough here, they hardly complain, most of them are taking care of their little siblings, and there are a lot of children on the roads begging for money and food to get through the day. The other day a little baby boy was hanging on to his uncle and he saw me and he started to cry because had never seen white skin before… it was something I had never experienced before, a child being scared of me because I looked different. But then he came around when we offered him some candy! :D That’s what doesn’t change with children… no matter where they are from they all have the love for candy in common!
Love,
Mariah
I am adjusting quite peacefully here in Dakar. My roommate, Johanna and I moved in with our host family last Friday. It has been an experience! We only live with a mother (mama Sadiou) and her maid Maryam. Maryam speaks a little broken French but mostly she speaks Wolof with Sadiou. We have a decent size house, although half of it has been rented out because our host mother’s husband passed away a couple years ago so she didn’t need the extra room. Mama Sadiou has “adopted” a son named Pape Cham. He is very nice, he doesn’t live with her he lives down the street but he comes by a lot to heck on all of us to make sure we are doing fine!
Ramadan has started and some kids from the program are fasting but you all know me… I love my food too much! Ha! Our host mother is a very devout Muslim, she prays 5 times a day and now she is fasting. She is a sweetheart, she takes care of us and makes sure she can make us feel at home as much as possible. Johanna and I share a room with our own bathroom that has a shower. I have been finding a lot of different insects here, that I have never seen in the states. It’s quite an adventure.
This weekend we (the program) are going to Goree Island which is off the coast of Dakar. It’s an island that has a lot of historical museums and artifacts from the slave trading period. I will take lots of photos and put some up!
Last Sunday we went into downtown Dakar, let me say the closest I can say to describe it would be a mix of the west side of Fresno, T.J-Meixco, and downtown LA. It was an experience for sure! On our way there we were taking a “Car Rapide” which are short buses painted with extravagant art work. We were driving on our way to downtown when all of a sudden a little boy, about 7 years old ran out to cross the street and the Car Rapide hit him! It was so horrible! I was sitting in the front of the bus and saw him run out! He was able to stand up and his mother was there to help him, he turned out to be ok with some bumps, bruises, and scrapes, but it could have been much worse! Remember…. Look BOTH ways when crossing a street!
Children are so tough here, they hardly complain, most of them are taking care of their little siblings, and there are a lot of children on the roads begging for money and food to get through the day. The other day a little baby boy was hanging on to his uncle and he saw me and he started to cry because had never seen white skin before… it was something I had never experienced before, a child being scared of me because I looked different. But then he came around when we offered him some candy! :D That’s what doesn’t change with children… no matter where they are from they all have the love for candy in common!
Love,
Mariah
2 comments:
It sounds like you are having quite the adventure! I'm sure it's quite the experience to see such a different view of daily life. Can't wait to hear more!
Stephanie...in the Study Abroad Center :)
i miss you...
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