yes. it was only one day this week where i was able to manage not to reset the alarm and make it on time to work. that was wednesday...and i didn't have a choice...i was going to dakar.
today was like all the rest. slowly melted into ten minutes past the hour when i should be more than half way to the office. i took breakfast at lena's little stand and sipped my coffee in a causal jaunt through the maze of stairs and salutations that one must navigate before getting up to work. And inspite of being assigned a report translation and village portrait and meeting my other supervisor and all those other things...all I can really remember solidly is the most amazing blue-bird with hot-pink cheeks flying by me reminding me that i am so so free.
vendredi 22 octobre 2010
confused tea.
i wandered off alone. first time. what used to be rare form has become my true being. and i suddenly found myself laughing and smiling and saying hello to each and every person i encountered. when what they were saying stopped making sense, my mouth would bust forth with a giggle and my shoulders would give a shrug...as if to say "yes it is true i have no idea what you are saying, but i like you and what you may or may not be saying, nonetheless."
eventually i came across a group of faces and greeted them proper. one lady looked at me and said something that sounded hostile. i stopped without reason to understand further. the others repeated what she said in french. she asked if i drank tea. culturally this an invitation, but to me at this moment it is only a question of habit. of course i replied yes, i do in fact drink tea. and the lady looked at me when they finished translating my response, got up, yelled something in wolof, and pointed to the chair. not knowing what was going on, i just sat down. and for the next few hours i drank tea made conversation learned names and made a promise to return that saturday for lunch.
when the big day rolled around i was nervously tossing and turning. there are so many things one must do to demonstrate appreciation to your hosts. i needed to wear my finest clothes, bring a gift of sorts, arrive slightly late...remember my wolof greetings, remember where their house was exactly, etc...
on my way i purchased some tea and sugar, perfect gifts around these parts. when i arrived i knocked and knocked on the door hoping that one this was their house and twp that they were serious about the invitation whilst beginning to second guess my understanding of what was actually said during the conversation. suddenly david opened the door and led me to the others, all of whom i greeted properly and were delighted with my charming gift.
soon like royalty they ushered me into the sitting room where the placed the fan to blow directly at me and only me. a few chosen others were allowed to enter the room and have conversation while sofia, my new best friend, began to make lunch. they were so delighted and surprised that i showed up and they kept telling me so. they asked questions about my being unmarried and if i was considering taking up a senegalese husband. i deflected these questions but i knew they were not entirely gone and i would have to revisit them again. and again. and soon.
i was given many photos to look at and express approval over and heard many stories of their family. when the food came it was obvious that much care had gone in to the preparation and that it was a very special meal. most of us ate with spoons but two of the sisters ate with their hands. all the choices bits were passed my direction and i found myself eating more and more as i felt bad for refusing the most prized morsels. when this was just not a possibility anymore i stepped up and away from the bowl expressing how the delicious food had filled me full. they offered me orange soda which i drank and water which i also drank and then more tea which i could not refuse.
the conversation commenced again and morphed itself into ousamane's free flow rap demonstrations and then again into group dancing. other guests came and went. another round of exhaustion set in along with a power outage forcing us all to collapse onto the couches or cool floor tiles. hours, hours, hours had passed and my lunch date was soon evolving into dinner invitations. i had used up every word and grammar construction that had ever crossed my path in these two foreign languages and my head began to hurt from so much thinking.
i thought it was time to head home. after much resistance, they said to stop by anytime and hopefully that it would be in 45 minutes for dinner...or the next day...but that it was not necessary to call or make a date. it felt freeing to have such lax etiquette concerning relationships and i made good on my word, i stopped by unannounced and passed another set of hours. they made good on their's, the welcomed me like they had been expecting me for days. which, to find out later, was not so far from the truth.
eventually i came across a group of faces and greeted them proper. one lady looked at me and said something that sounded hostile. i stopped without reason to understand further. the others repeated what she said in french. she asked if i drank tea. culturally this an invitation, but to me at this moment it is only a question of habit. of course i replied yes, i do in fact drink tea. and the lady looked at me when they finished translating my response, got up, yelled something in wolof, and pointed to the chair. not knowing what was going on, i just sat down. and for the next few hours i drank tea made conversation learned names and made a promise to return that saturday for lunch.
when the big day rolled around i was nervously tossing and turning. there are so many things one must do to demonstrate appreciation to your hosts. i needed to wear my finest clothes, bring a gift of sorts, arrive slightly late...remember my wolof greetings, remember where their house was exactly, etc...
on my way i purchased some tea and sugar, perfect gifts around these parts. when i arrived i knocked and knocked on the door hoping that one this was their house and twp that they were serious about the invitation whilst beginning to second guess my understanding of what was actually said during the conversation. suddenly david opened the door and led me to the others, all of whom i greeted properly and were delighted with my charming gift.
soon like royalty they ushered me into the sitting room where the placed the fan to blow directly at me and only me. a few chosen others were allowed to enter the room and have conversation while sofia, my new best friend, began to make lunch. they were so delighted and surprised that i showed up and they kept telling me so. they asked questions about my being unmarried and if i was considering taking up a senegalese husband. i deflected these questions but i knew they were not entirely gone and i would have to revisit them again. and again. and soon.
i was given many photos to look at and express approval over and heard many stories of their family. when the food came it was obvious that much care had gone in to the preparation and that it was a very special meal. most of us ate with spoons but two of the sisters ate with their hands. all the choices bits were passed my direction and i found myself eating more and more as i felt bad for refusing the most prized morsels. when this was just not a possibility anymore i stepped up and away from the bowl expressing how the delicious food had filled me full. they offered me orange soda which i drank and water which i also drank and then more tea which i could not refuse.
the conversation commenced again and morphed itself into ousamane's free flow rap demonstrations and then again into group dancing. other guests came and went. another round of exhaustion set in along with a power outage forcing us all to collapse onto the couches or cool floor tiles. hours, hours, hours had passed and my lunch date was soon evolving into dinner invitations. i had used up every word and grammar construction that had ever crossed my path in these two foreign languages and my head began to hurt from so much thinking.
i thought it was time to head home. after much resistance, they said to stop by anytime and hopefully that it would be in 45 minutes for dinner...or the next day...but that it was not necessary to call or make a date. it felt freeing to have such lax etiquette concerning relationships and i made good on my word, i stopped by unannounced and passed another set of hours. they made good on their's, the welcomed me like they had been expecting me for days. which, to find out later, was not so far from the truth.
vendredi 15 octobre 2010
finding.s
a pack of wild greyhounds
dance without beats
tri-level shovel pulley
spiderscorpionsmash
insects
litter
scorpions!scare
charcoal in food?
swallowed bone
night breeze~
islamic prayers
heatdreams
multiple wives
truth is truth and not truth
breasts
clickyes
fishpuree
senegalesename
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