Ramadan: Day 5

After leaving for a little over a month, I came back to the village refreshed and ready for Ramadan. Last year, I hated the month-long fasting period because everyone would ask me “Are you fasting?” “You can’t fast, you are not strong enough” “If you fast you must pray with us” etc. This got very frustrating. So, this year I am determined to not let what they say go to my head.

It’s like a social pressure to fast and even if you don’t, you say you are just to avoid criticism from others. The pregnant and lactating mothers still fast, the sick still fast…really you think more infant mortality and sickness would result from Ramadan in the Fuuta. I hear it’s a Senegalese thing; the bullying associated with Ramadan, if anyone has any insight let me know.

I did fast for one day thus far. Woke up at 5:30, had a granola bar, then went promptly back to bed. I did drink water (I know this kind of defeats the purpose), but I still don’t think I’m acclimated enough to living in the desert to go 14 hours without consuming anything. Not eating food is still prettttttty difficult. But, I managed and when the sun went down at Fuutoru I ate two spoonfuls of peanut butter, downed a bunch of Oreos, and inhaled a mango in the span of 10 minutes. Of course, I felt VERY sick afterwards. Really, Ramadan is very bad for your metabolism and overall general health.

I felt like I had accomplished something. I didn’t feel closer with any of my family members who had also spent the whole day fasting. A lot of volunteers have claimed that fasting brings them closer together with their family. They can relate to each other on a level they had previously not been able to reach. Good for those volunteers, I guess.

It did make me appreciate the fact that I have wonderful friends and family who send me food from America. I thought a lot about the people that don’t choose to fast, but do because they are too poor to provide food for their family. I can eat whenever I want (most of the time) and don’t have to worry about starvation because I always have enough money to at least buy a banana. Makes me feel a little guilty that I happened to be born in America and because of my status, I have certain privileges. If I realize these are privileges and if I am aware of other people in the world less fortunate than me that doesn’t make me that bad, right?

English Camps and Mauritanian Friends

Last week, I was a camp counselor at the English camp for high school-ish kids. Most were 18 or 19, but they are still in high school. It was so nice to hear students trying to communicate in English with each other as well as the rest of the counselors. A change from the usual "Are you fine?", "I love you", or some lyric from an Akon song. It was great to work with motivated students excited to learn as much English as possible. I was shocked at how they were willing to participate in everything we, the counselors, had planned for them. For instance, we had a football/frisbee/soccer tournament and EVERYONE was running around participating. If you went to a high school in the U.S. most likely you would find the athletic people playing, while unfortunately, the girls would act too cool to be bothered to play. (Of course, this is not the case with every high school gym, just my own experience.)

We held small group discussions about American politics, gender roles and cross cultural similarities and differences. The first day, we had a brief question and answer session and the first question my group posed was "Can you please tell me a little bit about McDonald's?" OF COURSE I CAN TALK ABOUT FOOD! It has probably been a few years since I ate at McDonalds in the States, but after eating the same dishes for 17 months, a BigMac or a chicken nugget happy meal sounds realllllllllly good. There were also more serious questions about the KKK, the Civil Rights movement, Uncle Sam and his significance, amongst others.

The last day we had a discussion about gender roles in Senegal and gender roles in America. It was a very frustrating experience, but interesting nonetheless. The boys in the discussion were convinced that women could not both work and raise children. The girls, however, said that they could and would. All the girls in the class wanted to get jobs and work to make money for their families. We then explained that women in the US both worked and had families, some decide to stay home, and (gasp!) sometimes it was the men that stayed home while their wives work! This seemed to be earth shattering for these teenage boys. Granted their are cultural differences, the family unit is larger in Senegal, etc. After, we broke into smaller groups and did skits about gender in Senegal and America. The boys that were assigned American women's roles didn't really seem to understand what we were trying to communicate. It consisted of a husband and wife getting ready in the morning. The wife told her husband she was leaving for work and he would have to prepare the kids breakfast. At this suggestion, the husband got VERY angry and started shouting that he got married so his wife could concern herself with preparing meals. It ended with him knocking over a desk and shouting "A house without a woman is hell on earth!" Clearly, we should have also discussed domestic violence with them.....

All in all, it was a great experience though.

In other sad news, Peace Corps Mauritania has been suspended. Meaning that all my friends across the boarder either have to go home, switch to a different country, or re-enlist entirely for another 2 years....some of them may be coming to Senegal, which would be great. A lot of the Mauritanian volunteers were closer to me and my site than the Senegalese volunteers. At least I am in Dakar to say goodbye to them all.

In Dakar

I've been in Dakar for the last week doing a little bit of relaxing, a little bit of work at the English camp, getting a little sick...

It's better that I'm in Dakar and sick as opposed to in my village without meds, AC, cold drinks, and other English speakers to help me get better.

The English camp has been pretty fun thus far. I'm not done until Friday, so I will update everyone on my English teaching abilities.

I unfortunately won't be able to go to Cap Skiring because all the tickets on the boat were already bought. So, Erin and I are going to go to Popenguine or Toubab Diallo. Those are two cities close to Dakar and on the ocean. I hope to get to Cap Skiring eventually. Also, I hear that Cape Verde is very nice. (an island off the coast of Senegal).

P.s. who wants to visit me!? I only have 8 months left!