These photos may jump around a bit!
First of all - a night out at Faro Beach with everyone...
Me with Aimée and Jeanick
Jacques my housemate
The ladies...Me, Jeni and Jasmien
And now Saint Louis ----for the last time! How sad it felt to cross that bridge not knowing when I would be back to see it again :(
They are renovating the bridge (it definitely needs it) in a process that apparently will require closing the bridge for about 2 years and only having a person-carrying ferry across! All the taxi men I talked to said it was going to be terrible for them...not to mention tourism in general in Saint Louis! But I guess rather that than the bridge collapsing one day...
The sheep were out in force the days leading up to Tabaski!
Fishing neighbourhood! Someone sunk their ship...
See the kids playing in the water? They had little floaty toys... I imagine it was COLD
The goats were all gloating knowing that they were safe from the tabaski slaughter!
The gang
This little boy came and played us a song on his drum!
Looking up river in Saint Louis
On our way into town our first night out!
Jacques...one of my housemates. He is from France.
Marieke is our other housemate. She is Dutch. Jasmien is Belgian and Papis on my right (in the photo) is an amazingly wonderful friend from last year!
The more you sweat...the more fun you are having! Very simple rules...
And it is Tabaski again! Just before the cut. We spent tabaski with Papis and his family. It was very low key and as always involved lots of sheep eating!
Hopefully this photo is not too graphic for those of you out there who are squemish! The worst part is the cutting of the throat. The disection afterwards is actually interesting. And makes you appreciate the meat that you are eating, knowing what kind of life the animal had.
Intestines! We actually all did fairly well watching the whole slaughtering process. Except for Marieke who fainted a little. She was only out for a few seconds...but still a little scary!
The ladies all dressed up in their boubous! Marieke's is a little low-key because it was a boubou she had made last year while she was in Mali. Jasmien's (in gold) was made for the occasion!
With Papis's mom! Really cool actually, when she heard I was Canadian she asked about the training of volunteer teachers that CIDA funded because her daughter had participated. One of my missions was to monitor one of the training sessions!
No boubou for Sarah! I had one made but it wasn't ready by the time we left for Saint Louis! I have it now though and will wear it to work for my last Friday! Papis's brothers told me it was okay because it was still a nice dress...so I felt less bad!
Awww
Jacques was in the same position as I was but Papis lent him a shirt so he got to fit in as well!
Papis's sister in her gorgeous boubou!
Tabaski night time partying! The best part about going out on Tabaski was seeing everyone in the bar all dressed up in their fancy traditional outfits. The two seem to be contradictory but I guess not for everyone...
Our last night out!
Back to Dakar! This is from a walk that Marieke and Jacques and I went on in the neighbourhood. We walked up to the light house that lights the way around the Western most point of Africa. Apparently it is the most powerful lighthouse in the world.
Trying to mock the statue behind us that scars the landscape of Dakar and symbolizes corruption in a startling in-you-face way! The statue cost millions of FCFA to build, is not particularly African looking and has involved lots of scandals around special land deals to the builder and Wade (the president) getting a pourcentage from the revenue once the statue is opened as a tourist site!
The western most point of Africa is behind us! Unfortunately you can not go see it because it is owned by Club Med.
So beautiful...so privatized...shouldn't these kind of places be public spaces?
This guy asked us to take a picture of him. Said he likes to come up and sit on the hill and look over Dakar dreaming about going to France one day. It was touching and sad all at the same time.
The view of Dakar...Jacques and Marieke
The statue and Marieke.
The lighthouse from afar!
There she be...
Dakar and Me
The Ouakam beach...not so much for swimming but to watch fishing boats!
Or to pray at the mosque!
This is a rice field. I took this picture during my mission for work!
The Senegal River at sunset..
Looks like there should be a lion or elephant wandering in these parts! Unfortunately those big animals were long since chased away!
Back in Saint Louis! I love this photo of Papis. Looks like a yoga pose :)
Sunsets at Hydrobase always take my breath away!
Drift wood and nets all tangled up
The Senegal river again. Also from my mission...
Kids will be kids...and they always want a photo :)
Jumping way back in time to Mbour! Just wanted to share this amazing photo of a dinner that we had!!! Makes my stomach growl...
Under a big tree on a hot day!
Back in Dakar - chez Aimée.
He has a great view of the city - especially at sunset!
Dakar! Chaotic and hectic Dakar...
The sky is on fire!
And that is all for now!!
