What a Week[end]!

The stadium following the grand combat..insane!
The masses leaving the stadium
Yekini the champion!
My view of the stade
Supporting Yekini at the big combat - Senegalese wrestling at the national stadium. He won!
People everywhere following the parade
Firefighters - the crowd loved them a lot!
I think I saw every type of military vehicle used in Senegal
50 years of freedom
A school or neighborhood marching in the parade
Band marching towards the presidential stand
There were military EVERYWHERE
Seeing the 3rd president of Senegal - President Wade
La Statue de la Renaissance Africaine on its inaugural evening - April 3
Me on the Pont de Faidherbe
Carlou D - look at those eyes
Carlou D concert our last evening in Saint Louis..we're kinda best friends with his Kora player, Edouard
Reminiscent of its colonial past, the premiere capital of West Africa has a ton of colonial architecture
Muhamed, Michelle, me, and Khadim - the new friends we made at the market after working on our project
Looking at the Pont de Faidherbe over the Senegal River from near our hotel on the island at night
L'ecole des otages a Saint Louis - doing a school project with Phillepe and Michelle, here they are interviewing the director's sons
Pont de Faidherbe a Saint Louis
Family photo before I had to left..Ce Sil and me in the front, Back: Maimouna (my aunt/other mom), Grandma, Marie, Marie's mom (my aunt/sister), and Anta, my sister/caretaker
Shaking hands with every single child after school was dismissed
Ibrahim and Marie - little brother and sister
Making ceebu jen with my little sisters and little brother, Ce Sil, Ibrahim, and Marie (and me)
Me and my host grandma
Dance party for the American students
Jumping for joy at the birdies!
Bird counting in the Langue de la Barbarie
My sister is an eco guard and counts the birds down the river a few times a week to monitor them and the state of the environment in the park
Grand Mosque
Grand Mosque in Touba

Wow. I'm still here in Senegal, I promise. Now to catch you up on what I have been up to, and still get around to working on some homework. We left Dakar last Friday and stayed the evening at the very nice hotel in Theis. The next day, we visited the Grand Mosque in Touba on our way to Mouit, our village home for the next 3 days. I spent the next three days in Mouit with a wonderful family of grandmas, aunts, and little brothers and sisters. My oldest sister is an eco gaurd at the park so I got to go on plenty of boat rides and visit the ocean waves! The people of the village had a dance party for us on our last evening. We then spent the next 4 days in Saint Louis, a city at the northern border of Senegal, that was the first capital of West Africa. Hints of the colonized past could be seen everywhere! Still a city but a bit quieter than Dakar, nice for a change. Had to come back eventually though, and arrived back in Dakar on Saturday evening. I went on a walk with my friend Ndiarka and my sister Mata to see the Statue de la Renaissance Africaine not far from my house. Having been in the process of construction for 8 years, it was finally opened the day prior to Senegal's 50th anniversary of independance. So obviously the next day was just that, the Fourth of April, like our Fourth of July. Special though because it was a 50 year celebration!! I went to a big military and school parade in the morning, where I saw the president and so many military men! That afternoon I had lunch with my family and hung out with my mom while working on homework in the living room. Late afternoon Ndiarka and I went to the national stadium to watch La Lutte - Senegalese wrestling in person! It was crazy, my wrestler won! Returning to my neighborhood by both an ndienge ndiaye and bus, I went to a big dance party with my friend Mamadou. Finally it was time to sleep and now I have been sitting at a gas station/convience store/fast food place all day working on this blog and attempting some homework. Big prepartions are in store for me this week to get ready for my ISP!

My village stay was so incredible. My family was so welcoming and hospitable, characteristic of so many Senegalese! My sister braided my hair and took me on several tours of the park. I prepared ceebu jen with my sisters and danced my heart out at the dance party the villagers held for us. I got to take my first warm shower in two months, by way of bucket bath. I got another tattoo--henna on my left hand. I made new friends hanging out in the park and was down right very content the whole time.

4 days in Saint Louis was fun. Worked on a project with Michelle and Phillepe on a primary school that was originally to teach the sons of the chiefs French by the colonizing powers. Visited the market a lot and bought lots of gifts! Saint Louis is definitely a city but also more low key than Dakar, which I enjoyed. I love the hustle and bustle of the city but I know that I am a small town girl at heart. We stayed in a beautiful hotel on the main island in the middle of the Senegal river. One evening my friend from the village came to the city to visit and we had a great discussion about all things concerning life. Incredible. To get to the mainland, one had to cross the Pont de Faidherbe, a very old and large tressel bridge, named for the first governor of the city. Our last evening in Saint Louis, Rachel, Becca and I hiked to the other side of the island to see Carlou D. A fairly large name in Senegalese music, we know the Kora player from lessons at SIT. After a long bus ride on Saturday in a ton of traffic, we made it home to Dakar.

Sunday was Senegal's 50th Anniversary of Independance. I went to a big military and school parade, waved at the president, and passed as a professional photographer and got to stand at the road side, fairly near the presidential viewing stand for the parade. After what seemed like forever of marching and tanks and trucks, everyone scattered everywhere. Lunch and chilled at home for awhile (lunch is served very late - 3pm on Sundays) then left for the national stadium to watch some wrestling live in person. This is the biggest sport in Senegal. Sporting my Yekini t-shirt, I either got smiles or negative cries. The stadium was so energetic. So much prepartion for so little bit of fighting. Saw Akon, a national hero circle the stadium and some fireworks. As the fighting climaxed and Yekini beat his opposition Tyson to the ground, the crowd literally went wild and we went running out of the stadium! Crazy and insane, just the way I like it. Back in Wakam, I went with Mamadou to hang out and chat with his friends on the street, who are always nice and friendly. Then we went over the to big dance party that was going on and then finally I made it back home and to bed!!!

Happy 50th Anniversary Senegal!