On Mission 3

I visited three more villages in the Mbour and Thies regions: Samba Dia, Samba Diallo, and Njassane, making a total of seven.

OK, so here's the thing about villages: they get pretty boring after awhile. Someone (forget who) defined boredom as the inability to do what one wants to do, and in this case I find it very true. I wanted to chat with people, but was unable to because of the language barrier. I wanted to explore the town and surrounding village freely, but was hampered by the face that I am a young white female and have to be accounted for or followed or begged for presents at all times. So most of the time in the villages I was gently trapped into sitting in my host's compound and watching life around me, which went a bit like this:

Get into the village late morning and greet everyone, shaking hands. Get ushered into a plastic chair, a sure sign of a respected visitor. Smile at everyone in turn. Say no when they ask if I am tired from my hour of travel. Smile again. Say hi to staring kids. Watch two roosters fight in the yard. Watch women braiding each others' hair and smile when they catch me looking at them. Watch the men brew attaya, the Senegalese take on tea (more on that later). Say no when they ask if I need a nap. Watch the ducks wander across the courtyard. Greet the grandmother when she comes into the compound. Watch the men continue to make attaya. Make faces at the kids. Watch kids ride by, bareback on donkeys. Smile at the kids. Answer a polite question through my translator (e.g., "Are you tired?") Eat a handful of peanuts brought to me by my host mother. Watch her draw water from the open well, knowing that she would refuse help if I offered it. Watch men pour attaya back and forth. (Have I mentioned this tea process can take up to two hours?) Smile politely at my host father. Watch my translator napping. Finally drink some tea. Have lunch with my translator, who then asks if I want to take a nap now. Take some pictures of kids, who are delighted and pester me for more. Watch men make tea. Watch kids pass by with goats and hobbled donkeys. Clarified the lyrics of "ain't no sunshine when she's gone" for my translator. Finally agree to take a nap, and laid down on a mat in the year. Didn't nap (never do), so ended up watching staring kids through my mirrored sunglasses. Sat up after about 20 minutes and read while men made tea. Greeted the host's adult daughter entering the compound to visit. Drank tea. Took some pictures of kids. Made faces with kids. Smiled at my host mother. Watched men make tea....

Well, you get the picture. The first day in the villages was relaxing. The second day was meditative. The third started to get frustrating. Greetings, tea, and napping would be interrupted three times in twelve hours: half and hour for lunch and dinner, and an hour for the interview. It was fascinating, but I think I can safely and inoffensively state that I'm glad I'm not in the village permanently, and have a good deal more freedom to explore while based in the city.