Right after I arrived in Wakam, looking at the 18 photos Mamadou just took of me.
A few of the children at Mamadou's house - they all remembered me!
This is "comme d'habitude" - the usual. Mamadou, moi, et Bouga. Cell phones hold a very important role in society.
Everyone helps out - my friend spilled hot coffee all over my white skirt and the vendor immediately helped try to wash it out
This photo just makes me smile - or maybe I'm just smiling cuz Bouga has hair!
why not take a group photo?
Oh my goodness I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants! This is Mamadou, and he can never cease to crack me up!
Aside from all those normal Senegalese things that have occupied our time, a largely defining part of my life here has been returning to Wakam, the neighborhood in which I lived last year. On Friday, I took a cab from our Hann-Mariste neighborhood over to Wakam. As we got closer and closer, my Wolof conversation with the taxi man started getting garbled as my heart started pounding. As soon as I said "Ici c'est bon" (here is good) I sprinted out of the taxi to my friend Mamadou, my best friend who was waiting for me to arrive. He gave me a big hug, there were some tears shed, then he kept looking at me and touching my face and asking "Oumy Thiam, is it really you?"
We proceeded to walk around, shake hands, "Naka la?!" and everything in between. Hugs and happiness. We visited Mamadou's house, even the youngest of the children remembered me. I giggled as he took a bazillion photos of me on his phone - something he learned from me, taking them from every which angle, etc. Then it was on to my house..which was just around the corner. And guess what, half of my house has been torn down and in its place is an in-progress new two story house! So bizarre! My dad's reaction when I walked in the gate was the best--he gave me kind of an upside down/sideways look and exclaimed "OUMY THIAM!?!" It felt so good to be there. Baby Fa, who was just 3 months old when I left last year was walking and talking. Maty came home from school and I could swear she had grown 6 inches. Unfortunately, about half of my family is staying elsewhere while construction takes place. Nonetheless, it was priceless to return home.
Since then, the past few evenings for me have been spent with my very best of friends in Wakam, meeting extended family, walking around the neighborhood, visiting people, discussing life, and of course lots of laughter. Once again, I cannot find words to describe my contentment with my friends there. And people are truly the richest jewel of Senegal, and of the world.
I giggled at Mamadou's exaggerated imitation of me and my camera. And my other friends have followed suit. At this moment, I am fairly certain that my friend Bouga has no less than 57 photos of me on his cell phone. Its just a very tangible way I can see how I have made an impact on them. I have also been meeting more and more family and getting more hints on clues to how the family tree works, that Go and Baye and half brothers, Bouga is their cousin, and I am related to Mamadou through his aunt and through my mother, or something like that. Each night, I have met uncles, aunts, sisters, brother in laws, nieces, friends, and all of the above. Teranga, hospitality, and the importance of family is reiterated subliminally through every little detail. I made a comment the other day that I was "almost family" and Go insisted that there was no "almost" involved.
Also walking around Wakam, I definitely stick out like a sore thumb. Rarely, if ever, do you see a Toubab walking around as I do in that neighborhood. The other night, as I was walking with Bouga and Go, a girl passed us on the path. After she passed us, Bouga started laughing and when I asked him why he was laughing he said "That girl that just passed us was really confused why a Toubab was speaking Wolof!" They also giggle each time a child or other person calls me Toubab, to which I respond in Wolof, that actually, I am not a Toubab, I am Senegalese, my name is Oumy Thiam, etc. They have fully embraced me as their friend and family and many tears were shed last night as it was goodbye just until the day before we leave for the states.
If for some reason you would like to check out my blog from the previous year to make any connections or to give some more details, you can check it out at amandasenegal2010.blogspot.com
I hope you enjoyed this read!
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