It has been raining very very very hard most nights which creates extreme flooding all over the city. This is a big deal for a number of reasons. For one, the flooding in the streets creates traffic like you would NOT believe. One of our professors said a normally 15 minute ride took him 4 hours!!!! Anyway, the flooding was really apparent in the Malian market because there were pretty much lakes in the middle of the roads and it was really hard to get around. There was also a ton of garbage everywhere, but that's true for most of the city. It can smell pretty bad when it's 90 something degrees and steamy.
We wound up wandering to the major market a few blocks away. In this market there are thousands of stands with vendors who harassed us to no end. First of all, we were the only white people for miles. Second of all, we were clearly wide-eyed and eager- very touristy. It can be pretty intimidatingwhen men are surrounding you and following you and in your face trying to get you to buy things. It's exhausting because even when you finally want to buy something you have to bargain. The market seems to go on for miles, but it's funny because after a while it's all the exact same stuff. A lot of really gorgeous fabric for making clothes, belts, "designer" perfumes, Senegalese paraphernalia, jewelry, food, etc. Another part of our activity was to buy a gift that we would later exchange to someone in the group. SIT gave us 1000 CFA for it so we didn't spend our own money but we had to bargain them down to 1000 on whatever we were buying. For my gift I bought a Senegalese flag-designed sweat band (green, yellow, red, with a green star). It came with an arm band which I kept for myself- shh don't tell! It's SO sweet and I'm going to wear it everyday. The whole day was really intense but if you know me, then you know that shopping is my favorite past time, so... I was loving every minute of it. I saw so many things I want to buy but I couldn't get too excited too quickly. I'm excited for my host mom to take me so I don't get ripped off.
The other thing I noticed while downtown was how many homeless people there are. People are just laying in the street, where they live. There are quite a few crippled and disabled people who I do not understand how they survive here. Also, as I said, we were the only white people there, and as you may know, the Senegalese LOVE pointing that out. "Toubab" was the word of the day. Toubab means "whitey" and the little kids especially love calling out "HEY TOUBAB" when you pass them and then they crack up hysterically and point at you. It's pretty funny actually and I recently learned that I can come back at them with "Wolofo!" but that does not nearly have the same sting. Oh well.
It's also becoming much more apparent how male dominated the culture is. For instance, last night, after dinner our waiter brought some complimentary glasses of whiskey to the table as a thank you for buying so much alcohol and a gesture of friendship. HOWEVER, he only gave it to the 3 boys. On the one hand, it was very offending to see the men receive a gift right in front of us that we all should have gotten, but on the other hand it was to no fault of the waiter, it's just the culture. Also in the market, none of the women vendors approached us, it was always men. There is going to be a lot more of that to come but it's already pretty apparent. Another girl got yelled at for smoking a cigarette. It's hard to balance wanting to stand up for ourselves as women while respecting their cultural differences.
People are starting to get sick which is a little frightening because it's just a question of who's next and when it will be me, but I'm prepared! My host mom is a nurse so I am not too worried. They told us that when students are sick, their host parents literally do not leave them alone and want to be by their side 24/7 to take care of them, even while we're just sleeping. That's some serious attention. The only thing I'm a little worried about for the homestay is that as you probably know, I get full REALLY quickly and can never eat too much at a time. I do not want to come across rude by not eating a lot, and also the Senegalese constantly nag you to eat more- it's like a Jewish mother times ten. Luckily, most meals will be taken from a communal plate with our hands- so I think I can fool them.
That's all for now- big day tomorrow. I have some pictures which I will try to put up either tonight or tomorrow. Good night!
