week 2

okay, I honestly hope that I don't post quite so often in the future because internet caes are just way too easy a place to hide out and pretend like I am working...

I need to share with you another, favorite quirk... it has to do with Africa time-- I'm sure you've all heard of this phenomenon and I am really impressed by how it functions in reality. Of course a lot of this experience is based on my own poor understanding of Wolof and of the Senegalese culture; but it is still funny all the same. So the other day a friend of mine, Kari (whose blog you can find at this address www.livejournal.com/users/kbsenegal) comes in to visit. We spend a great day sharing our stories (frustrations) and just laughing (it feels so good to laugh after so much Wolof). Then we are supposed to meet another friend for lunch across town-- we decide to take a horse cart called a gallesh-- it's sort of a cheap form of taxi. our gallesh driver promptly starts going the opposite direction from where we want to go. Kari and I start making a fuss, because this 14 year old taxi driver thinks he can just run his toubab passengers wherever he wants. He assures us that he knows where he is going but just has to run an errand first (first lesson-- my time is your time and no one is in a hurry) so we drive into the middle of the market so he can run his errand. We start moving again only to stop a hundred meters later. The driver gets out and we wait patiently.... but then we look around and realize the driver is hanging out behind the car with some friends eating and smoking a cigarette (second lesson-- meal time is paramount) so we decide to get out of the car and take a taxi instead. Our driver sees us; hails us a second gallesh which inevitably tries to charge us 3 times the normal fare. Our now friendly driver yells at the new driver and lets us continue on our way out to the main road on foot. Five minutes later; as we are finally approaching the main road where we can get a cab our first gallesh driver passes us, calling out to us, as he has new passengers in his vehicle ( third lesson-- I have no idea-- does anyone have insight on this?!?)

So Kari and I are prepared for this-- the Senegalese operate differently than we do and we can accept it even if we dont understand it :) and we are able to laugh it off. but now my favorite part of the whole story... a few days later the gallesh driver passes me on the road; calls out to me- so now we are the level of friends that hang out and greet each other even though he left us stranded further from our destination than where he picked us up-- the irony of it always good for a laugh :)