pictures above of my campus and beach (hopefully they upload!)
Upon my arrival, my host sister wasted no time in hijacking my computer and exploring my small collection of movies. She and my aunt watched the Princess Bride, though I feel any hope of true appreciation of the movie was lost in translation. Since it’s a copied version, we had to do without French subtitles (which really would’ve been helpful) and I acted as head interpreter. My favorite was explaining scenes to them in terms of their own cultural practices and norms (i.e. Indigo Montoya praying to his ancestors for guidance to find the Man in Black using his machete).
My other awesome Princess Bride-related experience came the other day in French class. I realized it halfway through the lesson--I kid you not, my French phonetics teacher has six fingers. Unfortunately, it’s on his left hand… but that’s my right, so I think it still counts :)
Having been warned multiple times we are bound to gain weight here (given the all-starch diet and serious lack of fruit and vegetables), a group of us girls has committed to working out regularly to try to defy this apparently inevitable occurrence. Running along the beach with the sun setting over the ocean and fisherman bringing in their catches for the day in colorfully painted boats certainly does make exercising less of a chore here… but then I saw the Student Activities board. Among the listed opportunities: aerobics class. Clearly, this was not to be missed.
Kate (who happens to be my stepdad’s doctor’s daughter--random) and I went get our work out gear on after class and waited outside the advertised room. When no one came after 15 minutes, we started to lose hope and entertain other work out options, but then we saw this man jog out of another nearby classroom in matching shorts, muscle-T AND coordinating sweat towel around his neck. Bingo.
It ended up being me, Kate, and three other girls from campus (from various parts of West Africa) being led in stretching, step-kicking, jogging in place, and a whole host of other stereotypically ridiculous aerobic exercises by this guy. Let’s be honest—aerobic classes alone are a hoot with all the cheesy countdowns and signature phrases like “now take it back” and “push it! 2-3-4…” Now. Just imagine that in French. I could not BREATHE for the first 10 minutes because I was laughing too hard. His little “Un! Deux! Trois! Et on recule!” to the techno remix playing in the background was just too much. For sure made top 5 highlights of my time here so far, no question. Can’t wait for next class!
Stopped at Elton (gas station) on my way home and found at least six other CIEE students there with shopping lists identical to my own: toilet paper and cookies. TP because, well… most families here just use water out of these little tea pots (now I understand why it’s so taboo in Senegal to use your left hand for eating, social greetings, etc… that hand’s reserved for its own special duty). Cookies because A) dessert doesn’t regularly happen here and B) a lot of families don’t eat dinner until 9:00 or 10:00 at night… no snacks between meals, either. I actually was finally able to locate the family refrigerator only yesterday. Some students still can’t find theirs. So we’ve stocked up on goodies to tie us over. Total gold of a find: vitamin-enriched gluten-free (extra perk?) chocolate teddy graham equivalents! So good.
Of course nothing can compare to the fruit here. I’ve opted for walking to school so I can spend my travel stipend on bananas. So worth it! They are AMAZING here. Hard to describe except by saying they just taste how a real banana should taste. Can’t get enough of them… and just wait til mango season in a couple weeks! Ohhh.
Last tidbit for the day: I have yet to find a garbage can in my house. Truly. I don’t know if there is one. I mean, practically speaking—frustrating. But I asked Awa (my mom) why that is, and she said it’s against their religion to waste (before you judge, it is not against Islam to throw things in the garbage. Rather, it’s important to not be wasteful, and use everything to its full capacity). So everything that can be reused is used. Throwing away food is a rarity because there’s always someone who needs it—be it family members later on, visitors, maids, or kids in the street (common occurrence: kids knocking on doors for leftovers, families happily sharing). And in Senegal they don’t officially recycle per se… everything gets thrown away and taken to landfills, but there people go through and salvage anything that can be reused. In the States, there’s a trash can in every room, every street corner. Of course there are exceptions, but generally from what I’ve seen in Senegal, they’re just not as important to have around.
Yikes! Buy some TP for the rest of your family, especially the food preparers, and send me the bill! Amazing stories, Linds ... I love that you're taking in every experience.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog, so jealous that I didnt think to have one in Malta. but im excited to stay updated on your life. im gonna try and share tidbits of malta when your trip compares to mine. but oh my gosh, I wish I had been in aerobics with you. I laughed out loud just reading it. but im glad youre gonna stay in shape and run on the beach.
ReplyDeletetidbit #1: I got to run in Malta, down on the boardwalk every morning. so beautiful. I had to get up with the sun, so early, but so worth it. I could run all the way down the coast and there were a surprising number of Maltese runners too. Some mornings when it was super windy the tide would be coming in really strong and the waves would come up and splash onto the boarwalk. I may or may not have gotten doused several times. ha so ridiculous if you can imagine it.
tidbit #2: you're gonne be so thrifty by the end of your semester. I wish the U.S. would take in some of these ideas. The Maltese actually recycled a lot too. It was actually cheaper to have wine with meals because you'd have to buy bottles of water too. But you could return the bottles to the store and get about $1 back and they'd send them back to be reused. Random, but I got to try palm wine at the AFrican bar we went to, have you tried it yet?!!
tidbit #3: I bet the fruit is amazing! Malta produces the majority of their own local produce, and even though it was kind of expensive, it was worth it. They had the biggest grapes and the most amazing oranges. like you said- they tasted like what fruit is supposed to taste like. Every morning we could walk a couple of blocks to "produce trucks" which were these little green trucks where local vendors sold the stuff they had picked that morning. But the oranges were my favorite. They were actually called blood oranges, and half the orange was orange and the other half turned into red. ha it looked like our hands were bleeding when we pealed them. kind of gross at first but the oranges were so sweet and delicious.
ok, thats enough for now, im so excited to keep reading. Im thinking about getting skype, so ill keep you updated on that. love and miss you like craxy!!
~love always,
sister deb.
b-e-a-utiful!! I knew the weather was great, but I didn't realize the scenery was going to be THAT pretty! :o)
ReplyDeleteLove your observations, Lindsay... so funny to read! I'm glad you're getting your Princess Bride fix, too :)
ReplyDelete