Goree Island

Today we went to Goree Island for the day. We took the ferry to the island from the port of Dakar. It was really crowded and lots of fun. When we arrived, we were given a short tour of the main "downtown" area by one of the local curators of the museum. Some background history . . .

Goree (pronounced Gor-ay, Im not able to add the correct accent over the first "e" on this keyboard) was a launching point for many of the Atlantic slave trade ships bound for the Caribbean Islands from the 1400's to the early 1700's. The island now has two museums dedicated to illustrate the awful conditions and treatments that the slaves endured during their "stay" at Goree and during their departure to the West. After the slave trade, the island was used for "legitimate commerce", such as peanuts, peanut oil, ivory, and millet.
An interesting social experiment that happened on the island was the development of a new social class called the Signares, from the Portugese word "Senhora". These were people of mixed backgrounds, mainly those of European men and West Africa women who were brought to the island to become slaves. This social class enjoyed having a greater voice in society than the Africans, but not quite as much as the Europeans. The women are often pictured wearing rich european fashions with elaborate hair styles. They were also able to own land, ships, and property. This is interesting to me because in my past experiences I had found that people of mixed backgrounds were often placed in categories located at the bottom of the soical pyramid and given little to no rights at all. I wonder what had become of the people who are decended from the signares and how they view themselves within modern day society . . .

We visited Le Maison des Esclaves, which was a sad and powerful place. The courtyard leads into different cell rooms on the ground level, and two sets of stairs that lead dramatically up to the second floor where the slave masters lived. The slaves would be loaded onto the boat directly from the maison through the “Door of No Return”. Although the restoration of the site was quite dramatic, it was really effective at showing how scary it must have been for the Africans. The cells were incredibly small with no obvious ventalation for the amount of people that they literally stuffed into the small rooms. I felt uneasy the whole time that I was there just thinking about the cruelty that had happened and all the souls who had passed through those doors never to return to their home. The statistics showed that although the Maison Des Esclaves was only able to hold around 200-250 people at a time, over six million people died at this location died before even setting foot on a boat. They died from starvation, dehidration, disease, sickness, miscarrages (young African girls were often obligated to sleep with the slaves masters), and from lack of general sanitation. It is crazy to think that a number comparable of the atrocities of the Holocaust in Germany happened right in the rooms that I stood in at Goree. I was talking about the restoration of the location site with a friend, and how strange that would have been for a Senegalese person to be restoring a place with such a strong role in the history of their people, but not necessarily a positive one. of course, it was a job that someone had to do, but I wonder how the workers must have felt in that situation, if they felt any sort of moral dilemma of preserving something that destroyed so many people's lives. I do think that it is important to keep for educational purposes, but I just wonder about how the locals feel about it, apart from the fact that it gathers money.

After lunch we went to the Musee des Femmes (Women's Musem), which was basically a tribute to women in higher education and who have made important political, literary, economic, and social contributions. It was great to see all the photos and hear the tour guide tell us about the exhibits in her passionate style. She had really clear French, which was great because sometimes the accents from around here are kind of hard to understand. After that museum we went to a larger historical museum that was on the end of the island. There was so much more information and cool displays, but by then it was 4:30 and we had been going going going all day long. I was very interested in the topics, and tried to take my time so that I could stay inside the cool building and out of the heat.

Although the day was filled with museums and short lectures, I took a lot away from it not just through direct observation but also from reflecting on the information later on my own time. Its a lot to wrap your mind around, let alone live and act in a society that was and is part of such a story. In class this week we have discussed the history of Senegal in several different contexts, going so much deeper into it than any history class that I have ever had. I feel like Im a sponge, and Im trying to soak up as much as I can during every minute of every day. This blog allows me to wring out my thoughts a bit and try to have them make sense.

pictures from the weekend

So, Here are some photos from my trip so far. I haven't quite figured out how to correctly format them so they look good on the page, but Im sure I will learn that as I go.



1.) Yassa au Poulet, which is what we ate on Sunday. It looks so good in the photo, I could almost smell it now!

2.) The group of us sitting around at the table receiving advice on how to "ball" the rice in our hands and scoop it into our mouths.


3.) Katherine and I out in the yard looking at the trees and flowers. They are all so pretty and smell wonderful!


4.) The tree in the backyard has these pretty yellow flowers, and I picked one to put it in my hair. They are all over the place here in Dakar.


5.) Katherine and I decided to climb the tree to get a closer look a some bird's nests, and then decided to rest. I have no idea what I am looking at, but I have the weirdest face in this picture.


That's all for now! Hopefully soon I will have more to post!

First Day of Classes, Downtown Market

Today was my first day of classes at the Cheikh Anta Diop University. We started off the day with meeting the director of the school and the teachers who would be working with us throughout the program. They were all very cordial and excited to see and hear what we knew about Senegal and Wolof.

A little history . . .

France colonized Senegal in the 1800’s, along with much of West Africa. When Senegal gained it’s independence in 1960, the two political leaders had different ideas about how the country should be run. This guy named Senghor developed the Negritude movement, which emphasized that the people of Africa and Europe should embrace their cultural differences and live in a world of tolerance, leaving behind the “messiness” of colonization. Now, I personally think that would be a little hard to forget all the things that colonization did to Africa in general, but that’s my opinion. Cheikh Anta wanted to get rid of the French language because it was the language of the colonizers. The national language would then be one of the many ethnic groups in the area. This same process worked in Tanzania, Malaysia, and Indonesia with great success. However, Senghor won out and became the first president, preserving the French language, while Cheikh Anta established a school instead. His school is the one that I am attending while in Senegal.

So, the nationaI language here is officially French, but the more recognized one is Wolof. Basically, all official government business and policy stuff is done in French, but everything else happens in Wolof. In our Wolof section this morning, we went around the room introducing ourselves and saying simple greetings.

Salaamallekuum (hello)

-Mallekuumsalaam (hello response)

Nanga def? (how are you?)

Maangi fi rekk/Jamm rekk (Im doing well)

No tudu? (what is your first name?)

Adriane la tudu

No Sante? (what is your last name?)

-Bolliger lo sante

*It was quite entertaining to hear the Senegalese conversation partners try to say my name. im thinking about changing it to something Senegalese . . .

Fo joggey? (where are you from?)

Amerique la joggey

So, there is a sampling of what I will be speaking on a day-to-day basis in the classroom and in the markets.

We went out into downtown Dakar today to visit the markets and shops. The public transportation system has lots of options, including a public bus and the “Car Rapides”. They are these fantastically bright colored buses with no windows or back doors. They pull up, and “attendants” who hang onto the back of the bus to help the passengers in. When they pound on the back of the bus, this signals the driver at the front that everyone is in and he can take –off. Its all very hot and crowded, but very exciting. The market is a very lively place with so much activity going on all the time that it is sometimes overwhelming. Our conversation partner speaks Wolof, so she was bartering with the stall people to help us get the best price for our things. I didn’t buy anything today because I wanted to see what was available. There are so many stalls full of clothes, shoes, jewelry, fabrics, paintings, statues, keychains, etc. The list goes on and on. Plus, I think I have only seen one traffic light since I arrive, so there are taxis and mopeds and scooters driving by all the time. It was definitely exciting, and I think I will go back later this week to check it out again.

Sunday Meal, Conversation Partners

The last of our group arrived this morning . . . at 5:oo AM. Apparently I was the only one that heard the door, so I ran to open it and was happy to see friends from Eugene. I stayed up with them for about an hour and shared some breakfast before going back to bed. There is a rooster somewhere near the apartment complex that hangs out in the bushes with a goat. Im not quite sure who they belong to, but they are there all the time. Im seriously considering killing the rooster and eating it because he kept crowing every fifteen minutes for about 4 hours. Yep, I wonder if there are any special Senegalese dishes that feature rooster . . . ;-)

In the afternoon I went to meet our conversation partners for the trip. There are four students studying at the local University here in Senegal. They are specializing in English, History, and Geography, which is great because there are tons of things to talk about. We speak French and a little english with them for now, and soon we will start wolof lessons. Its nice because I am able to converse with all of them easily, thanks to my background in french. I think I will be placed with a partner who does not speak much english, which will probably be better for my language progress. They are really cool, and we will be placed in groups tomorrow so that they can take us around the city. We had a traditional Senegalese meal called Yassa au Poulet, which is chicken, olives, onions, carrots, and spicy sauce served over white rice. There were six or seven people around each low coffee table, and we ate with our hands (always the right hand!), balling up the rice and scooping it into our mouths. Mangoes were cubed and served as dessert. It was soooo good, and I can't wait to learn the recipes so that I can make it for all my friends and family back home.

After our meal, we drank sweet minty Ataya Tea, which is always taken after the meal, and aids digestion. We also walked around the house and the grounds to look at the different types of trees and flowers. Everything is beautiful and wonderful. Im so happy with our location, just outside the hustle and bustle of the the downtown area. Prof. Dennis Galvan took us on a small tour of the local area and showed us where the good markets, stalls, and pharmacies are. When we were standing outside the local corner store, I heard what sounded like drum beats and horns. I looked up the road, and there was a military marching band followed by a "colorguard" (all males) that were holding tall torches. I guess the procession was the tail-end of some kind of music festival. I was just excited to see some form of marching band!

After my first shower tonight, I feel so good, and now we are sitting around our living room table coloring pictures to put up in our blank walls in our apartment. My roommates are great, and we are all excited for school to start tomorrow and take our first steps into downtown life with our new companions. More to come soon!

Traveling, Airports, First Night in Dakar

Hello everyone -
Well, I have finally made it to Dakar. Good Lord, it was a long flight, but I finally resting in my bed. I left PDX at 8:55 Friday morning nd arrived in Senegal late Saturday night at around 9:30. All those time zone changes can really mess you up. The break down was PDX-Philadelphia-Paris-Madrid-Dakar, with a few hours of layover in between for sanity's purpose. It was fun, and I definetly have a better sense of the world's airports. My favorite was by far the Madrid airport because of it's funky colorful modern design. Check out the links below for a picture of the inside of the building. Note that the support beams are different colored all the way down the main terminal.
http://www.airport-int.com/images/companies/338/imat13.jpg
http://www.koalie.net/Walks/20060504-06_Madrid/20060504120032.jpg
It was fun and exciting to hear so mny languages throughout the various stops. Spanish, Italian, Portugese, Arabic, French, Wolof, and of course, English.

I arrived in Dakar and made it through the mob of people that were exiting the plane. Customs was a breeze because they didn't really care what I was bringing into the country. I just got a big red stamp on my passport. Somehow, I do not think it will be as easy getting back into the US with all my newfound goodies. Out on the street there were over a hundred taxi drivers and "baggage boys" to help you with your luggage . . . for a price. When I saw Prof. Galvan waving his arms from the crowd, I got very excited and ran towards him It is so comforting to see someone familiar, especially after traveling for so long. He and his counterpart took me back to my apartment and showed me around the grounds a bit. My room is jokingly referred to as the "closet" in the apartment because it smaller than the rest, but it is plenty big enough for me. I have a bed and a desk and a small window with shutters that I can open at night. I also received a mosquito net as a gift.

Galvan then told me that the rest of the group was downtown at a bar listening to some local musicians raise money for a grade-school in downtown Dakar. For some reason, the past thirty hours of flying/traveling did not catch up with me, and I dropped my bags off, changed into some clean clothes, and headed down to the club to meet the people from my Study Abroad group. Everyone was really nice, and it was great to know that there are people with me in the program who are as excited and clueless as I am. Galvan knows the area well, and made sure to point out some key locations to us on our walk home.

The jetlag has not caught up to me yet, but tomorrow might be a different story. We meet our conversation partners tomorrow who will be our local "buddy" contacts to help practice the local language and customs, as well as hang out and travel around the city with. Im pretty excited because we also get to have our first real Senegalese meal tomorrow. Hurray for new adventures!