Bonjour! Maddie here! We are in our last couple days of being in the city of Dakar. This city is unlike any that I have ever been in. For one, it is a very quiet city. It is 10:15 right now and all I can hear in the distance is a few cars but other than that, silence. The second amazing thing is the stars! I can actually see the stars here. You can’t do that in a city in the United States that is 2.5 million people.
I think my favorite part of the city is not the quiet or the stars, but the people. The people here are so friendly, not only to our group, but to each other. In Dakar everyone is outside all the time. They are not outside to go somewhere like in the United States, but are outside just to be outside and talk to one another. I am amazed at how much people communicate here. I love walking by some people and listening to their conversations, even if I can’t understand them. : )
Last night, a few of us got into a taxi by ourselves and went downtown. It was so much fun. I was really nervous about the taxi because, even though we have been taking Wolof lessons, I don’t know it that well. The taxi driver just kept laughing at me and smiling. We had a conversation in the Wolof phrases that we all know and he was so friendly and helped us when we would say lines wrong. Our second driver did the same thing. They are very understanding here. During our downtown excursion we walked by the President’s house. To every single guard and policeman, I smiled and said “Asalaam malekum!” and each of the smiled back and greeted me. I was amazed! You would never find that in the US. They all wanted to stop and talk. Even if you just smile at them, they get a huge grin on their faces. It is so fun to see. Every single person that I greet, they greet back and are so happy!
While we were downtown we stopped by this vendor. We got to talking and getting to know him. He kept saying we were his friends. We all stood there and laughed for a good 15 minutes. We told him he should come to the United States sometime and he said he would love it. The next words out of his mouth were not ones that I was expecting. He gave us a speech about all people. He pointed to his wrist and said, “When you cut here, what color do you see? Red, I see red, too. We are the same people. We speak different languages and have different skin colors, but we are the same people. I don’t know why some people can’t see that.” I got tears in my eyes as I listened to him. It made me think of Goree Island. While we were at the House of Slaves, our group was very quiet and nauseous from listening to the horrific things that happened there. However, that was not how everyone in our tour group acted. We were in a group with some southerners from the United States. During every speech, in every cell, they were making awful and insensitive comments and jokes. I shot them some dirty glares and our tour guide just looked at me kind of sad and then I would smile at him and he would give me a hopeful smile back. I pray that one day those Southerners meet that vendor and get the same speech.
Another thing that I love about Senegal is how much they value family and friendship. When the Senegalese people eat, they eat around one big plate. It forces them to sit together and be a family. I love it when we have a traditional Senegalese meal because it forces us to be a group. We have gotten so much closer through those meals. Today, we had the honor of having a professor of sociology, Dr. Djiby Diakhate, come speak to us about Islam in Senegalese society. To understand Islam in the society he said, “You must understand the society.” He told us a little about the Senegalese society and I just smiled the whole time. He talked about how important family was. He said, “Everyone is a family member.” He told us that when foreigners come to Senegal, they are given a Senegalese name so they feel like they are a member of the family. Next week in Linguere, we are staying with homestays. Peter said that he told the family to treat us like a member of their family. Their response to that was, “Of course! We always do!” It is so refreshing to see and hear.
Last night, a few of us got into a taxi by ourselves and went downtown. It was so much fun. I was really nervous about the taxi because, even though we have been taking Wolof lessons, I don’t know it that well. The taxi driver just kept laughing at me and smiling. We had a conversation in the Wolof phrases that we all know and he was so friendly and helped us when we would say lines wrong. Our second driver did the same thing. They are very understanding here. During our downtown excursion we walked by the President’s house. To every single guard and policeman, I smiled and said “Asalaam malekum!” and each of the smiled back and greeted me. I was amazed! You would never find that in the US. They all wanted to stop and talk. Even if you just smile at them, they get a huge grin on their faces. It is so fun to see. Every single person that I greet, they greet back and are so happy!
While we were downtown we stopped by this vendor. We got to talking and getting to know him. He kept saying we were his friends. We all stood there and laughed for a good 15 minutes. We told him he should come to the United States sometime and he said he would love it. The next words out of his mouth were not ones that I was expecting. He gave us a speech about all people. He pointed to his wrist and said, “When you cut here, what color do you see? Red, I see red, too. We are the same people. We speak different languages and have different skin colors, but we are the same people. I don’t know why some people can’t see that.” I got tears in my eyes as I listened to him. It made me think of Goree Island. While we were at the House of Slaves, our group was very quiet and nauseous from listening to the horrific things that happened there. However, that was not how everyone in our tour group acted. We were in a group with some southerners from the United States. During every speech, in every cell, they were making awful and insensitive comments and jokes. I shot them some dirty glares and our tour guide just looked at me kind of sad and then I would smile at him and he would give me a hopeful smile back. I pray that one day those Southerners meet that vendor and get the same speech.
Another thing that I love about Senegal is how much they value family and friendship. When the Senegalese people eat, they eat around one big plate. It forces them to sit together and be a family. I love it when we have a traditional Senegalese meal because it forces us to be a group. We have gotten so much closer through those meals. Today, we had the honor of having a professor of sociology, Dr. Djiby Diakhate, come speak to us about Islam in Senegalese society. To understand Islam in the society he said, “You must understand the society.” He told us a little about the Senegalese society and I just smiled the whole time. He talked about how important family was. He said, “Everyone is a family member.” He told us that when foreigners come to Senegal, they are given a Senegalese name so they feel like they are a member of the family. Next week in Linguere, we are staying with homestays. Peter said that he told the family to treat us like a member of their family. Their response to that was, “Of course! We always do!” It is so refreshing to see and hear.
Every time I see children together, they are always holding hands. I absolutely love seeing a group of kids walk down the sidewalk holding hands. We went to church this past Sunday and there were two little girls in front of me holding hands throughout the whole service until they went to Sunday school. Kids don’t really bully each other here. When we were on Goree there was a group of little boys on the beach. There was one that was off on his own and the other boys shouted at him to come over to them. The next thing I know, they are all running around and laughing and chasing each other. When they got tired they all came and laid in the sand in a circle and just talked and laughed. It was so funny and sweet. This trip has really made me value my family and friends more than I already did. We can all learn something from the Senegalese.
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