Mga napulot ko sa aking pagala-gala... (Picked up from my wandering about...)

Friday, June 20, 2008

Kolda at Night


This was another experiment taken at around 9:30pm out by the church which isn't far from my hut. The sky looks very different during the daytime because it's usually just dull and gray all over. I also wanted to go down to the river but my co-worker says it's dangerous and I've heard crocodiles have started coming out.


Pinoys in Senegal


I'm not alone! They're real! They exist! In Senegal! My pinoy-hunting phone barrage actually paid off. Ain't it cool? Don't believe me? I have photos from 'Le Lagon' and 'Le Seoul' to prove it! :) And I found out yet again what a small world it is. Que le monde est petit...

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Folks You Meet Down by the River


Whenever I'm bored and don't feel like walking around, I grab my camera and head towards the river, a few minutes away from my hut. Here, I can watch the sunset or the birds and here I usually meet eager subjects I can chat with. This day I spotted these two cute kids curious about me and willing to let me follow them around with my camera. Other times, I spot women or children watering their gardens or usually it's more like they spot me. One nice lady I met here always greets me whenever I bump into her in the market even though I still can't speak Pulaar.

If we can't understand each other, to cross the language barrier I just point to my camera and say "Photo?" and point to them with a big smile on my face and if they smile back or laugh and then look like they're waiting for their picture to be taken, I go ahead and take the shot!

Anyway, here down by the river, is my favorite spot outdoors.

The Casamance River: Primary Colors


An alternative title for this post was 'Shortcut into the heart of Kolda'. Why? From my hut, you can take this path right into the busy center of Kolda. It could save you a few minutes which is always good especially if you'd rather not be out in the heat for too long.

Mampatim: The Mango Picker

Friday, June 6, 2008

Looking back at what was penned


Here is my first entry in my journal (which I wrote in before I started this blog) about the day I arrived. It’s funny when I look back on this now but I’m putting it here because it’s one of the highlights of my traveling life that I should never forget.


Thursday 2/28/2008 9:05am Dakar, Ganalé Hotel

Voila! I’ve arrived safely in Senegal. Thank God! I had a very good flight, enjoyed the food, and most of all, I am enjoying a book I purchased at the JFK airport called ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert. In many ways I can relate to her experiences and her passions and I really love it. Right now I’m at the hotel. It’s pretty nice. I have air-conditioning and a TV! My supervisor will be dropping by at 12:40pm and we’ll have lunch.

Hmmm…food. I’m actually pretty hungry. I wonder if I’ll like the local food. But that’s just one of my worries. Another one is that there are a lot of con-artists around. ‘Arnaqueurs’ is the French word for them. I was actually sort of almost duped at the airport today just as soon as I had arrived.

I didn’t have my original visa (thankfully they still let me on the plane) so I was instructed by immigration officials to go find whoever was going to fetch me to get the original from them and then go back to immigration so they would let me go. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go back in without my papers so I panicked and it was probably pretty obvious to these two guys pretending to be employees at the airport (or maybe they really were). Seeing that I looked so distressed, they offered to help me find the driver, offering to call him on his cell phone, taking me aside, and I…foolishly followed.

At least I got to talk to the Country Representative of our organization and let her know I’d arrived and was still alive. I explained that immigration wanted the original visa and she instructed me to go back and have them call her. This sounded good. Then, the cellphone I was using ran out of credit and the two guys began asking me for money to buy credit. And that was the scam. Oh no! But I walked away and they, of course, weren’t pleased. I went back to Immigration, told them some people were harassing me and they were very protective and they said I could stay inside and wait for the driver there. I know this should teach me to smarten up and keep cool. Hey, it’s not like I don’t come from a developing country too!

But oh, it’s beautiful here too,.. in its own way. I regret not taking my camera out to take photos of the sunrise, beach and rocks in Dakar. And there are sheep and goats everywhere. I’m feeling positive about this even despite my little ‘incident’ at the airport. But I’ll be more careful now.

Another thing I’m thankful for is that all my bags went through! I didn’t have to part with my precious canned goods. Thank God!

Here’s something I’m copying off Gilbert’s book; an answer from God to her frustration and desperation with depression and loneliness that has greatly helped re-assure me throughout this trip:
“I’m here. I love you. I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long. I will stay with you…There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die and after your death, I will still protect you. I am stronger than depression and I am braver than loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me.”

I not Chinoise, I Pinay!

Friday June 6, 2008
1:48pm
I remember my young cousin who ,when once told to hurry, replied "I not Harry, I Danny!"

Every single day whenever I leave my hut, I get called 'chinoise' or Chinese.

It never fails. Sometimes I stop and correct them. Most of the time I keep on walking. Sometimes I feel like if one more person called me 'chinoise' or worse 'neehong'(which is their attempt at Chinese) today, I would scream what I put on the title or maybe "Hoy, Pinay ako!" which was an alternative title for this post.

Pinays are great and if someone called me 'philippine' instead of 'chinoise' one time I would definitely stop and be friendly.

Here's a photo I like of a Pinay (named 'Sally') that I took at a resort back in the Philippines. I like it because it exudes simplicity and kindness - things I witness and admire in most Filipinas I know (though I don't know if it includes me).

But I get called other names too.

There's 'japonaise' (Japanese), there's 'toubab' or 'toubako' (for white-person), there's Psssst to attract your attention, but the ultimately worst ones I've ever encountered are 'future Mrs. _________' and 'Filipina Wife'(at least I get called Filipina but it's still so wrong).

I guess I don't have to explain why this bothers me.
What do you reply to that? I'd laugh about it and I'm not that witty so I had to ask around.

And what do you reply to the marriage proposals you get? It's hard to look for culturally acceptable answers.
If you say "No", they'll see it as a sign to just keep on trying.

- "How many cows do you have?" To get someone's hand in marriage, the man needs to give cows (or their equivalent in value) to the woman's family. Thus, if the guy replies he has 40 cows, you say you want 200.
- "Go ask my brother." My 'brother' would refer to someone from work. I've used this and they never showed up at his house so it's a culturally acceptable way to tell someone to leave you alone.
- "I already have three husbands." Now I would never want to pretend I was married to ward guys off but this was a reply another volunteer suggested. I tried it with a relatively older man who retorted "No you don't" and wasn't amused so I felt bad about my feeble attempt at a 'joke'.
- Intervention to nip it in the bud. Ask someone to intervene and tell them nicely (while you're not there so that they don't lose face) that you're not interested. This I've tried and thankfully it's worked.

Why don't tell you these things on 'Lonely Planet'?

To be fair to Senegalese men, I've heard that in their culture, they are very respectful to women and they aren't rude or obscene. They will leave you alone if you play it right. But of course, it's always good to play it safe.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Playing with fire (aka Zorro)

Self-portrait with red flashlight in my hut