Last Friday night (the 2nd) I went to a concert downtown. It was jazz rap, incredible. A four piece jazz band (drums, guitar, bass, keyboard/other percussion) and a rapper. I've been told that they're very popular in France. I guess the guy was very popular about a decade ago, when he was more-or-less a gangster and sang about nightclubs and violence. But since then he has reformed and become a religious Muslim. He still sings a lot of his old music, but his new music has a completely different message. The guy is West African but the band is all French. It was completely packed with people, Senegalese and French, all singing along and dancing.
The first Saturday of every month the owner of the Oceanarium in Dakar throws an outdoor party, so on Saturday night I decided to check it out. It didn't happen last month due to Ramadan, so this was my first experience. It started around 1am and got busier as the night went on. $5 got you in the door with a ticket, a few steps in the door there was a table with an 8 year old passing out cds for free that actually had good music on them. The setting is right on the coast, so it was beautiful. But the temperature was so warm! And of course got hotter as more and more people showed up. The party is known for being a more casual affair, which means the Senegalese women are not completely decked out as they normally are when they go out at night… but they still would've upstaged anyone out for a Saturday night of dancing in the States.
I've gotten to the point where I'm quite fed up with the proposals of Senegalese men. I've been brushing them off for almost two months now, and I'm so sick of it. I can't have a conversation with a guy here without him asking whether or not I'm married and going on from there. This includes relatives of my family, neighbors, men in the neighborhood. But it doesn't stop there. My taxi driver on Friday evening repeatedly told me that he loves me and asked me to marry him. He slowed down the cab and asked me if I wanted to come meet his family instead of going to meet up with my friends. When I refused he requested that he accompany me to hang out with my friends. He promised he would marry me, we could move to America, he would work hard, and then he could buy me a big house. It was such a ridiculous situation, and yet sad, because I know that if I gave that guy the opportunity he would want it in a second. Life here in Senegal is very difficult and I'm seen as an instant ticket to America. Often I have to tell guys that I live here in Senegal now, suggesting that I will not be returning to the States. And then they usually complain, since their "free ticket" doesn't want to leave, and they give up.
I've started teaching my six year old host sister ballet. She saw a commercial for some ballerina Barbie and immediately begged me to teach her because she knows that I dance. So that has been interesting. She has absolutely no patience, but it usually ends up with her "fluttering" around the room on her tip-toes and me telling her that she's doing it just like the ballerina. Because when I actually try to teach her stuff, she copies the motions incorrectly for a little while and then begs me to teach her how to flutter around the room. But it's fun and at least it gets her away from the television for a little while. It's always on now, and the kids are glued to it when they're not at school.
The heat has been uncompromising this month. Which also means the electricity has not been cooperating. When it's really hot outside, everyone tries to turn fans on, and then the electricity gets cut. We've had quite a few days where it has hardly worked at all. I'm very lucky that the school where I study French has a generator. It is supposed to cool down next month, so I'm interested to see how cool it will actually get. It's well over 80 degrees no matter what time of day it is now.
3 comments:
Have you considered wearing a fake wedding ring to detract attention?
Oh yes, and I have. But they don't care. Truly. Unless my fake husband was in the shape of a real man who walked with me everywhere, they don't care whether he's real or not. He's not with me at the point in time when they step in and try their luck at winning my affection, and that's all that matters.
That's so funny, I keep having several people ask me about the states, as in "if you get married invite us" (but they can't afford to come over by any means, so theymust mean I would pay), and various other comments that insinuate they want/hope I will bring them to the states somehow...
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