Celebrations: About a month ago one of my younger cousins within my former Senegalese host family got married. I attended lunch before the actually ceremony and was able to reunite with my extended Senegalese family and join in the wedding-day boubou bling. Everyone was happy to see me back (though not very surprised). We had platter upon platter of steaming rice with spiced meat while the young bride-to-be basked in our attention and praises and graciously accepted photo requests.

Picture: Me and Yacine

The next week Moussou invited me to join in celebrating the (second?) birthday of a little cousin, Papis. He and his sister, Awa, are visiting from the U.S., where their parents live. The party was basically a group of adults sitting around and watching the kids at play. I was the designated photographer and caught several very cute shots of the birthday boy and his posse.But here are some nice ones of me with my former host mom, who everyone calls mamma, and Moussou, my Senegalese sister, looking fly in the outfit I gifted her.


Overall, I must admit that ever since Ramadan I have been doing a lot of partying. Not the kind that involves getting super dressed up and paying at the door, but cool and casual partying that involves making new friends, discussing things in different languages and celebrating culture, life, and successes. A month or two ago Duma, Jeanne and I hosted a birthday party for one of Jeanne's friends that possibly made Ouakam history. The birthday girl, Fleur, hired a DJ who came with his mega speakers and turned our serene terrace into a club. People were up there dancing until 4am.

The next weekend, Duma, Morgann and I accompanied some new friends to a Brazilian birthday party, complete with drumming, Capoeira, and Feijoada (black beans- although here they were actually red). I felt like I was back in NYC, Brooklyn in particular...chilling with Fatma, Salim, Sozi, Kevin and the whole manjinga/ capoeira-obsessed crew. The next week Duma and I chilled with a new friend (who we met at the Brazilian soiree) at the house of one of our neighbors. We had noticed these really cool bright yellow posters everywhere advertising the new album release of a musician called Naby. Ironically enough, Naby and his wife and baby are our neighbors. We all hung out and got the royal treatment at the club where he hosted his release party (which we attended last weekend).

A couple of weeks ago we attended an Indian Diwali (festival of lights) celebration, also in our blossoming little neighborhood. We were instructed to come wearing 'something Indian.' Vague as that is, we managed and were greeted at the candle-lined door by Jeanne (she went early to help out), who dabbed our foreheads with rice grains colored by an red-orange dye. We entered during a ritual prayer in front of candles and then were invited to receive a blessing and a wish-bracelet. After eating some delicious home-cooked Indian food (Dev, our host, promised to give us lessons), the party really got started and everyone danced to bollywood mixes. We didn't stay too late, it being a Tuesday night and all...

Last week we party-hopped throughout election night...This weekend there is the Goree Diaspora Festival to attend. This is not to brag, but just to give you all a glimpse of the melange of events and many things to celebrate in Dakar. It's the kind of town where even the opening of a new salon is celebrated with a soiree, literally.

The next celebration on the agenda is Thanksgiving. I am working with the student activities coordinator at Suffolk University, our host institution here, to organize a Thanksgiving dinner for the students and faculty complete with turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes.

So much to celebrate, so much to be thankful for!