This picture is a two-for-one explanation. Ngoye and Sylvie are one/two things I love. They are the girls who work at Aby's house, where I live. They are hilarious and extremely helpful with my French... and Wolof. The Second thing here is the plate of food. It is Shwarma. A plate which has beef or chicken in the middle, surrounded by a ring of French Fries, followed by another ring of lettuce and tomatoes, covered in vinaigrette. You then select your toppings and put them into a pita like starch material and devour.
2. or 3. Not sure how this numbering system will work. But I digress. Fanta. Delicious and light. A lovely treat in this heat. :)
3. or 4. Boats. The fishing boats here are so colorful, covered in sayings in Wolof, French and Arabic, most likely praising God.
4. or 5. Car rapides. It is an informal (at least it seems so) form of transport here. A ride costs from 75 cfa to 250 cfa (15ish to 50cents). I have not taken a car rapide yet, because we have used other transport which is the same thing, but only white. All of these vehicles also say "Alxamdulilaay" which means "thanks be to God". Again, I believe that I enjoy these simply because of their paint scheme. They're chaotic looking, but amazing. They remind me of the public transport in Haiti! Tap-taps! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Haiti Check them out. :) 
5. Or something like that. My daily bread, covered in Nutella-like substance which is Senegalese. Instead of hazelnut, it is peanut. I LOVE it. :) Also, in the background is pain chocolat (chocolate bread), which was delicious, but only a once a week/month/ we'll see how often treat. Every morning is the same breakfast. Half a loaf of French bread with Nutella-like substance, juice or water, tea and, of course, my malaria pill!
Hates:
1. Bed bugs. At least that is what I think it looks like. It fell out of my luggage as I was putting things away yesterday. It was dead. Good sign. Also, Colby is donating to my cause a spray to kill and prevent bed bugs. Rather thankful for that. This is, also, a love, because it is my only real proof besides dots on sheets and bites that the bugs actually existed! Therefore... love and hate.
2. Hand-washing all undergarments. It is not so much the act of washing them, as the act of drying. I hate that they have to cover my glorious breeze creating fan in order to properly dry without getting eggs laid on them. Side note: Andrew, one of the other program participants, popped a maggot out of his leg yesterday, the product of an egg on his clothing after washing. Ironing is important as seen by the offspring that came from his thigh. Side note 2: please notice the roll of toilet paper, which I successfully stole from the lavatory in the plane because I had forgotten toilet paper in my packing. Also, please note that I feel no remorse for stealing from the airline company and would gladly do it again.
3. Seeing as this is a picture-version of loves and hates, I decided to post a picture of this massive statue, a testament to the backwards thought-process of President Wade. Rumored to have spent 200 million dollars on the statue, the President thought that this statue would be a better idea than repaving roads, trying to solve hunger issues, addressing the ever increasing problem of power outages, which happen daily now and seem to be worsening. The thing is enormous, and at night it is lit up like a Las Vegas sign, and all through Dakar the glow of the statue is seen. Here's a more in-depth article on the statue. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/senegal/100113/renaissance-monument-wade
4. Now, I know there are no pictures, but in these situations, whipping out a camera would be unadvisable, thus there is no photographic record of this complete and utter hatred that I harbor. One word : sellers. I hate the people who come up on the street, shoving their product in my face, whispering in my ear "I'll give you the Senegalese price : 10,000 cfa (20 dollars)" As I laugh in their face, the price quickly drops, and although I have no need for fake Nina Ricci perfume (which, after smelling some that Hannah bought, I might actually buy it. You get really sick of smelling like sunscreen, deodorant and sweat), he still is convinced that I need this treasure. It takes Fayda (not sure how to translate) to say no...
I'm cutting this short. We have a session on Aids in Africa, so off to class I run.
I love you all, and miss you!
Ba ci kanaam (see you soon)
Kate
Thanks for the pictures! I love the pictures of the bus ad boats.kind of reminds me of the islands we visited on the cruise with grandma. I can't believe you stole the tp. Did we raise you that way? Looks like there is a lot to learn.I'm amazed that you can remember all that you do! We had fun with Kaylee this weekend. She says gandma and gandpa-no r! Maybe dad will post some pictures of her soon. It's been beautiful fall weather-not so hot like your weather. Miss you loads.mom
ReplyDeletehaha... It definately does not suprise me that youstole the tp :-)
ReplyDeleteokay. i love reading these. and i really like it that you put up pictures.
ReplyDeletehere are three things that stuck out the most to me:
1. you have a lot of pink undergarments. i was not aware of this, and it kind of surprises me :)
2. i'm really glad that maggot story involved someone else's leg and not yours. it grosses me out ever so slightly less.. but still a lot.
3. what an awful president... i have nothing else appropriate to say about that.
love you and miss you. cuidate and update again soon please! :)