Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Exciting Things are happening

Today was church, but church here in Senegal is very different from that of church in the states. First of all church lasts for 3 hours compared to the hour that church usually last in the States, but I was told that in South Africa church usually lasts for 2 hours. The way that there church is run is very similar to what a Lutheran Church Service would be like in the states. Although I have been to a Lutheran Church service in the States and could see the similarities between them. When I am at home I call a Evangelical Free Church my home church and we do things very differently, for instance we sing a lot similar to a ELCA church but we do our singing all at one time so our service opens with a half hour of singing and then we go into announcements and our message and then we close with singing. Lutherans tend to take communion every Sunday but at my church we only take it once a month.
    Today after church we went to explore the city of Dakar, which is growing more populated and more modern. They have recently been influenced by western style, which means that there are now big shopping malls, cell phones, and lots of cars. During the day there are lots of venders on the street trying to sell you there stuff which ranges from water, jewelry, clothing, and art. Most people trying to sell you their stuff are so determined to sell it that they will not take no for an answer. Due to the fact that we are American they think that they can get us to buy things, but really they just annoy us into not buying from them, they also think that because we are from America that we do not know the price of things so they raise the price drastically. Venders will follow you for many blocks trying to get you to buy their things and even if you continue to tell them no they think you will change you mind. Selling you things on the street is a big thing in Senegal and is the only source of income for many people in Senegal.
     While downtown we say the President's palace which is ironically white like the White House is.In Senegal it is illegal to walk in front of the Palace and take pictures, but you can stand across the street and take pictures.The army is influenced heavily by the French partly because the French we in control for so long here. The palace is a beautiful monument here in Dakar, you could even say it is picture perfect like out of a movie, which I like to compare the Palace to the show Babar which is about an elephant who is King. The palace shares many similar things traits of other heads of countries. First as I mentioned before the palace is white like President Obama's house. Another thing is that there are two flags that fly about the Palace, one is the flag of the country and the other is a smaller flag that has the initials of the President in this case the President is Makey Sal so it would be MS, and when that is flying it means he is in the Palace. In England when the Queen is in they also raise a flag to show she is there. Although the Palace looks very nice and well kept the area around the palace along with the rest of Senegal is polluted with poverty and distress. The country has not come up with a way to help the citizens of Senegal strive to greatness, which leaves many people sleeping and eating on the street begging for anything they can get their hands on. Even though many people of Senegal have little to eat the people who have plenty are more than happy to share their food with those less fortunate. Which is why Senegal is called the country of Hospitality.

-Julia

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