Various Adventures

Hey!

So I have been up to some randomness since I last wrote (which was way too long ago....woops)

I have been taking "intensive" french courses every day and although I still might need just a touch more work, I feel like I have a better grasp at least some of getting around and communicating with people. I have made some really nice friends and had a chance to be downtown every day and do random things. Besides a short bout of food poisoning everything has gone really smoothly. The weather here is unbelievable! it is dry and like 75-80 degrees everyday with not a drop of rain.  I am dreading going back to winter.

My brother, Matteo and I all went to Lac Rose and this Monastery near there where they make syrups, wines, jams, cheeses and jewelry among other things for sale.  It is really interesting because Senegal is a muslim country so it was cool to see what christianity looks like when surrounded by an Islamis majority (as opposed to opposite in America).  The inside of the church was really beautiful as it was painted with African drawing depicted various stories in the bible and african people praising.  The monks there were so nice and they owned and operated a Farm that produced all the fruit and cheese that they sold and ate.

Lac Rose is a lake nearby that is famous because of its Pink hue due to the fact that it is 10 x's saltier than the ocean.  It really did have a pink look to it (especially when the water would ripple from the waves of men on pirogues). I do have to say there is a very fine line between pink and brown lol but I could see what people were talking about it and with the right light and movement of water it definitely looks pink.  We also ate there on the lake which was nice.  We had Yassa Poulet which is this senegalese dish that I really like (and am definitely going to have to figure out how to make when I get back to the states).  It is basically pan fried chicken with this onion sauce that is so delcious. I am pretty sure it is just like mustard, onions, maggi and some spices but idefinitely tastes good. I always get a massive food coma after eating any of the food here.  Probably a combination of MSG in the maggi they use and large amounts of rice but hey, its good so I am not gonna complain.  Here is a picture of Lac Rose in all its pink glory. I don't know how well you can tell but maybe just take my word for it :-)

Most of the contemporary art that is displayed here in Dakar is in private collections and galleries (often times in peoples homes) but there is a national museum here as well.  It is one room and although it is small there is some really inspired works there.  I kept thinking so hard about how much Lauren and Jessica would be inspired by this stuff because they are really into innovative mixed media stuff.  I wanted to take pictures but it just didn't feel right so unfortunately I only took a picture of poster that had some of the works on it.

This one of artist used cloth which was plastered onto the board with really thick layers of paint and twisted into a solid form it created a really cool muscle like 3-d effect. It just became part of the canvas but look really impressive.  There was a lot of portrait work as well that used newspaper and other types of media to achieve different messages. The other thing that struck me right was this photographer that took pictures of African men in western business attire and faces painted tribally. The contrast was really cool and for some reason it just spoke loudly to me. I think it was because on a day to day basis you see SO much combination of african culture and western european and american culture.  There will be a man in a business suit sitting a make shift bench eating a local dish on the street at lunch time.  The way traditional west african culture weaves its way through the modern society is really beautiful and is definitely what makes this country (and especially city) unique.  It was a small exhibit but again it really did leave an effect on me. Art plays a massive role in western (and many other parts of) african society.  A huge amount of people make their living on the production of crafts so when you see these contemporary artists who take their work to the next level it is amazing the amount of talent and inspiration that comes forth.

Tonight we are going for happy hour at a light house that is on the furthest western point in Africa. I'll scream hey- maybe you will hear me :-p Here is what i'll be drinking (it is like a more refreshing version of budlight) Missing my family and friends and definitely thinking about ya!

Teej

First Week

Hey!

Its been an awesome first week and a half or so since I have been here. I have seen a bunch of cool things and met some really nice people (although I still wish I could speak french :-p)

Last week we went to Gorée Island which was so beautiful. It is a French colony which is a part of the city of Dakar and it is about a 15-20 minute ferry from the city.  It is somewhat famed because it is known as an island through which slaves passed a long time ago (although its actual role in the slave trade has been disputed...tourists aren't really supposed to know that though)  The landscape and buildings there are so picturesque it is unbelievable. I wish that so much heart break wasn't associated with the French colonialization of Africa because they actually did bring some really interesting and beautiful things to places like Gorée.

This is what the "port" looked like when I was coming in and where we sat and had beers while waiting to return to Dakar

As you can see the buildings are so colorful and there is so much nice vegetation. It is beautiful. The other side of this island, besides being the picturesque tourist destination that it is, is that it is somewhat or an artists commune.  There are there artists all over the island that just kind of live there and sleep where ever they make a home. (some travel back to dakar but there is definitely a large amount that live there).  This man took us into this weird little shaft about halfway up the hill of the island where they would load supplies (ammo) onto an elevator to the top of the mountain where massive cannons were.  He lived in this cave like thing with 8 artists and a musician.   His art, along with his fellow artists works, was really nice. His home was a bit sketch but it was cool that he lead us into it that we saw the train tracks and stuff. I didn't really get pictures of that sadly but I did get pictures of other peoples homes there. Since it is so warm and dry, 

This was on the back side of the Island - 

There are also a lot of people living on the island in the old homes of the French colonists.  It seems like a lot of the people make livings from their restaurants or from selling art, but there are also churchs, schools, and medical facilities on the island.  It is a really small place and often times tourists destinations like this don't have full communities on them, especially when it is so easy to commute from the city but there is definitely a village within the attraction here. This is a picture of the inside of the school- you can see that they also do laundry there which is why the clothes are hung across the balcony.

I also went to a wedding of one of my brothers friends siblings here. That was really cool. Although it was pretty strange as I wasn't wearing what everyone one else was wearing and I don't speak woolof (one of the native languages here).  It was cool to see how the Senegalese women get so dressed up and to see the how combination of western weddings and west african traditions work together.  All the men are wearing boubou's (which I am definitely getting made while I am here as they do look pretty fly ...) and women really went all out with make up and hair and really gorgeous senegalese dresses.  The people in the main bridal party wore more western style clothing like this (a bridesmaid)

and the men (although they all wore really different style and colors) wore something like this. This is my brothers friend and old landlord and his really cute and exhausted kid Papa. 

It was an awesome experience just being able to meet all these people and see how they get together to celebrate. It is a such a big deal in this society to celebrate marriage and they don't skimp on anything. Everyone looks like a million bucks regardless of what they have and the networks of people who know each other is unbelievable.  These families and huge and so close knit. You can really see and feel how they rely on each other.

Other than that we have just been hanging out and going to the beach. Eating a lot of delicious food and enjoying life.  This weekend we are going to St. Louis which is a french colonial town more inland. I will be sure to post about it asap and put up some pictures on facebook. I also started my french lessons which should help open me up to some more interesting experiences as I attempt to brave daily life in another language....

Till then

T.J.

Bonne Année!

Happy New Year!

This first weekend in Dakar has been awesome. Just flying here and looking at the people around me was such an eye opener, and me being the people watcher that I am, you know I was soaking it all up.  I kind of rolled my eyes when my Intl Business professor told me how African people (and pretty much every culture except Americas) truly care about appearance and dress up when flying or doing pretty much anything out of the ordinary flow of daily life.  I only noticed two other Americans on my entire flight and they also happened to be the only people in sweats.  I love being in a culture where it is appropriate to dress nicely on a daily basis. You could tell that people were coming home from either a European or American vacation and wanted to look as nice as possible when getting off the plane to prove this.  On top of that, people all around the city wear some really beautiful clothes, whether it be more traditional Senegalese style clothing (which always includes really beautiful prints) or just sharp suits for the men.

Whenever I got into Dakar everything went really smoothly at the airport, but I quickly realized that some French lessons are going to be a massive asset here. I am quickly becoming an expert at nodding and smiling following the use of phrases such as "no thank you" "thank you" and "hello how are you" :-) My brother came to get me at the airport but it was night time so I couldn't really see too much of the city as we drove back to his place before dinner.  We dropped my stuff off and went for amazing tapas on a roof top restaurant.  The temperature here is amazing so I pretty much want to be outside as much as possible in order to soak up the sun before I am thrown back into winter.  I'd say it is going to to remain between 70 and 85 degrees pretty much the entire time I am here and it is incredibly dry with a nice breeze coming of the ocean. Way better winter weather than in the states.

My brothers place is awesome especially his garden.  He lives in an apartment owned by this French woman and the garden is a common area between the two places.  It is pretty much exactly what I picture a relatively wealthy French woman to be living in as she does work in Africa.

As you can see it is really a nice place. Across is his landlords house and his apartment is to my right up a really nice stair case.  His place is very cool too. Very european in terms of appliances and what not.

We saw some sites around the city and have begun to plan what we are going to be doing over the next few weeks and it is going to be amazing seeing some of the seaside towns and old colonial cities. One of the more notable things in the city is this is the African Renaissance Monument built by the current leader.  It is a pretty controversial thing due to the fact that it cost (and will continue to cost due to maintenance) millions and millions of dollars to build in a city that lacks a lot of infrastructure, schools, and medical facilities.  It is built from bronze and is currently the tallest statue in the world outside of Asia and the former Soviet Union.  It looks out over the Atlantic ocean and features a man a woman and a baby.  It is truly an amazing statue but it is questionable as to whether it really represents the senegalese people as the woman is relatively scantily clad and the baby seems to be reaching out over the ocean in the direction of America or Europe.  It is definitely an interesting piece of work surrounded with controversy but I can't imagine any major statues in the past did not have similar implications. Here is a picture of the African Renaissance Monument

I spent New Years at a party with Brians landlords with friends which was really nice.  I rang in the New Year with a massive amount of delicious food and what seemed to be an bottomless fountain of French wine and Champagne.  The kids were setting off fireworks as well as neighbors and everyone was really friendly (although again French would have been a huge help when socializing).  Brian, Mattheo and I had some interesting conversations and definitely had a nice time. (Wine + Food + Warm African night is a pretty no fail equation)  

We also went down to a beach bar where we had some beer and watched the sunset before crossing the street to eat that their favorite Crepes restaurant.  That was really nice and it was cool because there were people surfing outside of the bar and it was just a perfect view of the sunset. I forgot what it is like to be on a west coast beach and being able to see the sunset over the ocean. There are surf lessons available there as well so I am thinking I might try and sign up for some of those.  The popular beers here are Gazelle and Flag which are just relatively light beers (flag being the heavier one).  Abby I know you always told me how PBR's always taste different because the beers are brewed by independent breweries. Well it must be the same with flag because everyone that I get is a little bit different and even the bottles of the two that I had yesterday were a different height and color.  They are good though and pretty cheap which is nice. We all know how I love my beer :-)

I love it here so far and I am excited to explore the beaches where my brother lives, see some more of the city including some markets and more bars and restaurants and of course see more of this country.  Later this week we will be meeting with a Senegalese family that he is friends with so I can experience some Senegalese food and just learn more about what it is like here.  

Till next then

Bonne Année!

T.J.

Pre Departure Buzz

Wassup wassup-

Todays is the the day that I depart...

I am actually in Belgium right now on a 5 hour layover so I thought it would be a good opportunity to start this baby up.  There is such a massive amount of craziness going through my head but it feels amazing. I feel so lucky that the past month of my life has been so psycho as it has allowed me to keep my crazy mind free from expectations of what the next month of my life is going to hold.  I am so exhilarated by the idea of being plopped into this awesome and unusual culture and I feel so blessed to be have this opportunity (which is why I am going to try and document as much as possible so next time I am doing this one of you guys will be by my side :-p).

It is definitely going to be an eye opening experience soaking up the different aspects of Senegalese culture and living in a major metropolitan area in such a different part of the world.  Somewhat stepping into my brothers shoes is going to be awesome and hopefully I can find some career inspiration in learning about what he does and why he has been so passionate about Africa for the past 10 years.  

For people who don't know, my bro works for   The Whole Plant Foundation as a project leader.  You can find more info about him and what they do at that link.  Basically he is making loans of about $250 to Africans in need and teaching them how to use that money in a way that will build an economy and a functional society. Its pretty awesome and definitely an important part of the international business world as Africa plays such an integral part in the supply chain.

I hope you guys find what I write interesting and I will try to post as often as I can.  I miss everyone already and wish I could have so many people by my side right now! but yay for the interwebzz allowing me to share my experience in such an efficient way.

See you in Dakar :-)

Teej