Les Faux Lions (The Fake Lions)

All week long there is an event that I can best compare to a western circus going on. Each night, there is a gathering of people at a different school, where a performance entitled "Les Faux Lions" takes place. Entrance to the event was steep. At 200 CFA (50 cents) a person, not everyone can afford to go (last night I paid for several host siblings to go). During the event, 4 costumed characters make their appearance and put on a show of dancing for the crowd. Often time the characters picked out children from the crowd and had them dance for everyone as well. The list of characters was quite interesting, it included a "Lion bu ndaw" (small lion), a "Lion bu mag" (big lion), some ungodly 12 foot tall jester on stilts that i didn't get the name of, and of course the crowd pleaser, the "goor-jigeen" (man-woman, which means homosexual in Wolof). The "goor-jigeen" was a man with tons of makeup, fake breasts, and was sporting a simple dress... From a western point of view, it struck as quite odd that an event made for kids would parade around a character who was simply called man-woman, but a lot of things strike me as odd out here, so life goes on.
At the start of the event, the manager of the event spotted me taking pictures. He quickly ran up to me and said that I would need to pay money for the right to take pictures, since I was obviously going to sell the pictures and video in Europe for tons of money (I don't know where they get these ideas...). Before I could explain myself, my host sister jumped in, calling the man and idiot and telling him he had no right to ask me for money. The man, obviously quite taken aback that a local was defending a toubab from getting ripped off, sulked off and pouted at a table nearby, eyeing me during the whole event. As he walked away, my host sister proclaimed "Moom, dafa begg xaalis rekk!" (All he wants is money!), to which I replied "Waaw..." (Yes).
So thanks to my host sister I am able to bring you pictures and even a short video of the event. I hope you enjoy them. A plus tard!

The "Lion bu ndaw"

The "Lion bu mag" and the strange jester make their way to the show

The "Lion bu mag" and "goor-jigeen" dancing away

Quick Updates

Not too much going on, but just wanted to update people on stuff out here. Work is really picking up now, as I've accepted a teaching gig. Less than a month ago, a massive building was finished on the outskirts of town. I had seen this structure before, but never knew its purpose. It turns out the government built it to educate young girls who have dropped out of school. The manager of this new school invited me to her home and asked me if I would be willing to teach computer classes at the center. I agreed, and I think it will be a great opportunity. I'll post some pictures of the facility next week, but it is easily the nicest building in the entire town. My classroom is equipped with 11 brand new HP computers, and the rest of the building is just as nicely furnished. I wanted to make sure that I didn't take too many hours since I do have my commitments to the artisans in this area.
As for my leather workers, we have been steadily filling out application after application in order to try to get funding so they can build a new workshop and thus increase their production capacity. We're turning another application in on Monday, so we'll see how it goes. In addition, we're having a artisan seminar next weekend at the Thies training center for all the artisans that volunteers work with. It should be a good experience and I'll definitely have some pictures of the event.
Tomorrow is the day of local elections, so we'll be having a new mayor in a few hours. Over the past few weeks, there have been almost nightly "meetings", where candidates talk about their platform in front of supportive crowds. There is usually a lot of dancing and it's far more social than Western political gatherings. There are also many security measures in place right now. I'm actually not allowed to be on the streets right now, as there was a 10pm curfew in the town. Also, all traffic coming in or leaving Dakar has been stopped from midnight to 6am. The government is very concerned about violence during this period and has therefore taken quite a few precautions...
Anyways, I'm off to bed, but I'll have some more substantial updates next week. Pictured is my little brother (and namesake) Fallou Gallas, who has become quite attached to me. He wanted to see how my camera's timer worked, hence the odd picture. A plus tard!

Weddings and Gamou

It's just past midnight. About a half hour ago, several of my siblings and I got back from Gamou, the religious pilgrimage to Tivaouane. During this event, approximately 1 million people converge on a city that normally houses 70,000 souls. The result is sheer pandemonium. Trying to visit family after family, we were often caught in mobs and simply could not go from one part of town to the other. Things got frustrating when people starting pushing their way through the most, causing others to fall down, and fights to break out. Consequently, my toes got stepped on enough times that I started retaliating with my bony elbows, thrusting them out at those who dared stomp my feet. I also had numerous people try to pickpocket me, but was lucky enough to fend them off. Otherwise, it was fairly enjoyable event, with lots of food, soda, and of course, "attaya" (green tea with obscene amounts of sugar) included. The famous "Teranga" (hospitality) that Senegal is known for really showed itself today, as anyone could walk into any compound and eat, drink, and converse to their hearts content. Food was plentiful, and it was obvious that these families spent a lot of money and time getting these meals together. As tiring as it was, it was a good bonding experience with the family and I'll probably go next year as well (only with actual shoes and not sandals next time...)

Tivaouane during Gamou
(This was the quietest street in the entire city...)

My host brothers and I before attending the first wedding

Yesterday was also a big day in my community as 2 families from my "quartier" (neighborhood) had weddings. Both of these weddings had some very strange and distressing aspects to them. The first wedding involved 2 cousins. Complete, outright first cousins. Besides that, the girl was around 17 and in the 11th grade, while the husband is a college graduate and a school teacher... Looking past these issues, it was a very jovial event with once again, lots of food and drinks. I got many compliments on my stylish attire (see above picture), with most people claiming "You! You are a REAL American!" (As opposed to the phony Americans roaming the streets of Senegal...). The second wedding I found to be even more awkward, as the husband to be wasn't even on the same continent! Rumor has it, he is a taxi driver in Spain. Essentially, over the phone he agreed on a date for the wedding, and thus it occured yesterday...without him there. So here was this young bride, standing all by herself, having her picture taken over and over. I found this bewildering to say the least, and even stranger was the fact that my host family considered it weird that in American weddings, both parties HAVE to be there...
Well, I'm off to bed for now. I'll be around over the next few weeks so I'll make some updates sooner than later. Ba ci kanaam!

In gold with ludicrous amounts of makeup is the bride to be.








Also, last week during a bike ride, I decided to try to get some footage of the scenery here. Thus, I climbed a tree and took a video, so here it is. Turn the sound down if you're not interested in hearing roaring wind. Enjoy!