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.