Work and Family in Kaolack

February 14, 2008

It felt really good to be back in Kaolack again! Great to see my host family and everyone again. And of course, I returned to find not much work waiting for me. My first afternoon back I simply waited for someone to show up to pick up the books, but they never showed up. So I spent the afternoon reading one of the many books. However, there was good news waiting for me… CNN wants to go a report on my project, so hopefully that will happen before I leave for the States.

A teacher came in to pick up books in the afternoon my second day back. It was wonderful! He brought his son to carry all of them to the car. The trunk and backseat were absolutely filled. The teacher thanked be every 30 seconds in both French and English. He was so ecstatic to have the materials. It was wonderful to see.

I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but the father of my host family in Kaolack is incredibly creepy. My host dad in Baobab, although quite an interesting man, always treated me like a daughter and like one of the family. That is not the case in Kaolack. The father of the Kaolack family spends most of his time in Dakar, but comes back to visit every so often. Like my Dakar host dad, he doesn't have a job. When I first met him during my last visit he was a little too welcoming and rushing to my every need, making me incredibly uncomfortable. He often would say things to try to impress me and invite me to take me out dancing or take me on a tour of the city. I always declined. Once he invited me out dancing and told me not to tell his wife. During this trip to Kaolack, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I flat out and abruptly said no, quite loud actually. He tried to turn it into a joke, but then asked if I could hook him up with one of my friends (3 of my friends have come to spend a couple days in Kaolack with me). I again turned him down. He was very insistent saying that he needed a girlfriend and that he liked young women. I told him that American girls like guys their own age, and that my friends weren't interested in him. This morning, he started talking about how he worked in Toubakouta for a while, which is a tourist destination in Senegal. He talked about having an 18 year old foreign girlfriend while working there. And he told me that the only way to get to know a country is to date someone from that country so that they can show you things. He finally convinced himself that one of my male Senegalese friends is my boyfriend (because of course, why on earth would I reject him if I didn't already have a Senegalese boyfriend?!) and he stopped pestering me to go on dates with him.

Amadou, my 18-year old host brother, took me to visit his school last night. He attends a high school about one block away from our house. The thing that struck me at first were all the goats in the schoolyard. There were at least 25 goats wandering around, and Amadou told me that they're always there. During the day, the goats mingle around the school yard among the students. There is trash and sewage in the schoolyard. The sewage is more off on the sides poured out on the ground, but the trash is everywhere (must like the rest of the city). There is a "cyber café" run by one of the students in the upstairs of one of the buildings, which is where I found out Amadou often escapes to when I thought he was somewhere studying. Maguette (my 10 year old host sister) attends the elementary school next door to the high school. There was a rousing game of football (soccer) going on, but the game stopped abruptly so that everyone could wave at me when one kid spotted me watching them.

My Kaolack host family is incredibly nice. They keep telling me that they refuse to let me return to the States. When I left Kaolack this morning, my host mom/sister almost started crying, and yet she knows I'll be coming back in about a week. We sat outside on a blanket last night together and talked (well, I mostly talked to Amadou since I can communicate with him, but my host mom/sister and little sister kept interrupting to tell me that I need to stay in Kaolack). It was really nice, and did feel like a strange little family. I will miss them all very much. Particularly Amadou who was the only one in the family that I could really communicate well with since he speaks French. He definitely helped me keep my sanity during my time in Kaolack.