The Ins and Outs of Senegal: Day 3

This morning we heard vendors walking up and down the street in Kari and Jonathan’s neighborhood calling out what they’re selling. Some of the items were interesting such as brooms and toilet plungers. A few of the vendors will dress nicely so they can knock on people’s doors, while others will just walk up and down the street.

~Did you know?~

The average annual income here is about $1300. There is a lot of poverty and the cost of living is not very high. From walking on the street we’ve seen even children begging for money. The fruit we bought today cost about $4—that’s more than the average person would make in a day. Despite their situation, the people seem so joyful and happy!

When I meet Kari’s friends she tells them my Senegalese name, Aminata, because they won’t remember my English name. If she doesn’t tell them my name right away, they will ask if I’ve been given a Senegalese name yet.

Friday around 2 in the afternoon is when the Islamic people have their worship service. All the restaurants are closed then but they get really crowded around 3 like in America on Sundays at noon. From the window in our kitchen we watched people dressed in robes carry their prayer mats and beads to the mosques.

Cereal is very expensive. One box of cheerios was about $6. Gas is even more expensive. It’s about $7 or $8 dollars a gallon.

Kari and Jonathan also warned me that I might receive some marriage proposals. They advised that the best response to give is that my dad won’t let me because it is very important to them to have a father’s blessing. I actually received my first proposal today; it was in Wolof so I didn’t realize it at the time. Kari later told me that she told the guy he’d have to talk to Jonathan. But no need for my family and Daniel to worry—I’m not engaged :)

Kari taught me how to make pizza dough since they eat pizza about 3 times a week. It was fun and very educational! We’ll have that for dinner tonight--if the power stays on.

I had my first French lesson this afternoon. It went really well! I plan on doing that twice a week for about an hour. By the time I come home, hopefully I will be much better at French!

This evening we went to the community center to watch the kids do their end-of-the-trimester performance. Kari’s French class showed what she has taught them so far. The kids were precious. I can’t wait to help Kari teach them!