Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Katy tests Delicious
Google has gone and done it. They've removed the ability to share items in Google Reader. I occasionally did this from my personal Reader site, but did it much more often for work. Now that it's gone, I'm testing new options. I'm still hopeful though, that the Google Reader community will rise up against Google on this one and demand a reinstatement of what was a wonderful feature.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
"Have you taken pounds?"
Unfortunately, I have now gotten this question TWICE! In fact, one fellow suggested that I had "taken 2 to 3 kilos" in four days! Haha. I have tried to explain that this is most certainly not a compliment in North America, but both gentlemen insist that I look better with "more pounds".
It's easy to gain weight in a country where oil is used like water. Even when I order vegetables, they come dripping in the stuff. And I have fallen in love with aloko. They are a common side dish (as are french fries and those oil rich vegetables) and are deliciously deep fried. In attempting to not get sick again, I am trying to stay away from raw food, which unfortunately increases the amount of oil in my diet.
A petit diet may be in order upon my return - I do have a wedding to be in!
It's easy to gain weight in a country where oil is used like water. Even when I order vegetables, they come dripping in the stuff. And I have fallen in love with aloko. They are a common side dish (as are french fries and those oil rich vegetables) and are deliciously deep fried. In attempting to not get sick again, I am trying to stay away from raw food, which unfortunately increases the amount of oil in my diet.
A petit diet may be in order upon my return - I do have a wedding to be in!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter and Islam
Happy Easter from Senegal. It's pretty easy to forget that it's Easter here in Dakar. I don't know a lot about the intersection of Islam with daily life in Senegal, but here is what I do know:
1. According to the CIA World Factbook, Senegal is 94% Muslim;
2. Islam in Senegal and The Gambia is slightly different than other areas of the world. Instead of ordinary believers being directly connected to Allah, in Senegal there are intermediaries between Allah and the commoners; they are called the marabout (pronounced mare-a-boo). The marabout have divine power, and can have significant sway both politically and economically in Senegal.
3. It is not uncommon for families to hand over their young boys to the marabout under the pretense that the children will be given a good education. While I'm sure some are getting a scholarly education, it seems that the majority are simply learning to live on the street. These young boys are everywhere with their tins, begging for money not for them, but for the marabout. It often seems like a good option for families in extreme poverty; and actually many of the boys supposedly come from Guinea-Bissau. It's quite sad...I just looked this up on the internets - the boys are called talibes
4. I live in an area essentially under the control of the Layene brotherhood. Indeed, the area I live in is called Yoff Layene. Their huge, picturesque mosque sits on the beach a five minute walk from my place. For reasons I don't quite understand, because of this mosque, the power rarely goes out in Yoff Layene; whereas in other parts of Dakar, power outages are very common.
1. According to the CIA World Factbook, Senegal is 94% Muslim;
2. Islam in Senegal and The Gambia is slightly different than other areas of the world. Instead of ordinary believers being directly connected to Allah, in Senegal there are intermediaries between Allah and the commoners; they are called the marabout (pronounced mare-a-boo). The marabout have divine power, and can have significant sway both politically and economically in Senegal.
3. It is not uncommon for families to hand over their young boys to the marabout under the pretense that the children will be given a good education. While I'm sure some are getting a scholarly education, it seems that the majority are simply learning to live on the street. These young boys are everywhere with their tins, begging for money not for them, but for the marabout. It often seems like a good option for families in extreme poverty; and actually many of the boys supposedly come from Guinea-Bissau. It's quite sad...I just looked this up on the internets - the boys are called talibes
4. I live in an area essentially under the control of the Layene brotherhood. Indeed, the area I live in is called Yoff Layene. Their huge, picturesque mosque sits on the beach a five minute walk from my place. For reasons I don't quite understand, because of this mosque, the power rarely goes out in Yoff Layene; whereas in other parts of Dakar, power outages are very common.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Match du Football
Update: PICTURES
On Saturday March 25, I had the pleasure of attending a soccer game between the national teams of Senegal and Cameroon. Before I went, I joked with some of my Senegalese buddies that I was going to root for Cameroon, just to be a bit of a "merde perturbateur". Then the woman who owns my guesthouse told me that the last game between The Gambia and Senegal resulted in both a Gambia win, and a beating for all Gambian fans. Change of plan! GO SENEGAL!
Becca and I opted not to show up six hours early as another friend had chosen to do. Instead, we felt 1.5 hours was sufficient. The line up outside the stadium when we got there was ginormous, but moving pretty quickly. Once we got into the actual stadium, there were many more lines corresponding to the colour of your wristband. We were yellow. After standing in the yellow line for 20 minutes with no movement (the door was shut and it didn't seem that there was any intention by stadium staff to reopen it) we opted instead for the blue line. We were immediately ushered to the front of the line, for no other reason than we were white (as far as I could tell).
We had landed ourselves in the covered section. We did not pay for the covered section. Oh well! There were no seats left whatsoever, so we sat on the stairs as many others had begun to do. This stadium would fail every kind of fire regulation in Canada, that's for sure. Good thing people weren't lighting flares in the middle of the crowd - OH WAIT - they were!
The game itself, up until the 92nd minute, was not spectacular. As is typical with most soccer games I seem to watch, the score was nil-nil and the players ran a lot, and fell down a lot. But that 92nd minute changed everything. Senegal scored. I have honestly not seen so much joy and jubilation in one place. People went CRAZY. Becca and I were splashed with water as people swung their water bottles around in fits of euphoria. The man beside me, who until that point had been fairly reserved, picked me up and gave me a huge bear hug; not putting me down until about 10 seconds later. "EXTRAORDINAIRE!" "INCROYABLE!" And it went on, and on, and on. People began to storm the field, and the police didn't get them under control for a good 15-20 minutes.
It was a pretty fantastic experience. I'll add pictures to Picasa once my internet connection is strong enough to handle it.
On Saturday March 25, I had the pleasure of attending a soccer game between the national teams of Senegal and Cameroon. Before I went, I joked with some of my Senegalese buddies that I was going to root for Cameroon, just to be a bit of a "merde perturbateur". Then the woman who owns my guesthouse told me that the last game between The Gambia and Senegal resulted in both a Gambia win, and a beating for all Gambian fans. Change of plan! GO SENEGAL!
Becca and I opted not to show up six hours early as another friend had chosen to do. Instead, we felt 1.5 hours was sufficient. The line up outside the stadium when we got there was ginormous, but moving pretty quickly. Once we got into the actual stadium, there were many more lines corresponding to the colour of your wristband. We were yellow. After standing in the yellow line for 20 minutes with no movement (the door was shut and it didn't seem that there was any intention by stadium staff to reopen it) we opted instead for the blue line. We were immediately ushered to the front of the line, for no other reason than we were white (as far as I could tell).
We had landed ourselves in the covered section. We did not pay for the covered section. Oh well! There were no seats left whatsoever, so we sat on the stairs as many others had begun to do. This stadium would fail every kind of fire regulation in Canada, that's for sure. Good thing people weren't lighting flares in the middle of the crowd - OH WAIT - they were!
The game itself, up until the 92nd minute, was not spectacular. As is typical with most soccer games I seem to watch, the score was nil-nil and the players ran a lot, and fell down a lot. But that 92nd minute changed everything. Senegal scored. I have honestly not seen so much joy and jubilation in one place. People went CRAZY. Becca and I were splashed with water as people swung their water bottles around in fits of euphoria. The man beside me, who until that point had been fairly reserved, picked me up and gave me a huge bear hug; not putting me down until about 10 seconds later. "EXTRAORDINAIRE!" "INCROYABLE!" And it went on, and on, and on. People began to storm the field, and the police didn't get them under control for a good 15-20 minutes.
It was a pretty fantastic experience. I'll add pictures to Picasa once my internet connection is strong enough to handle it.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Disjointed Thoughts and Observations
I was invited to a colleague's house for dinner with her family. The father was talking about the recent French election, and the bigotry of one of the candidates. A candidate who had equated Africans with primates. Obviously awful. About ten minutes later, someone at the table said something about China. Then the kids pulled their eyes back in their imitation of a Chinese person and started talking in a ridiculous fake Chinese accent. This was encouraged by the parents with fits of laughter. I found this act racist also, and was surprised that it was fine after we had just been discussing the French attitude towards blacks. Then I wondered if I was being too sensitive? It's hard to tell sometimes.
There are no stoplights in Dakar. Why? I don't know. I find it bizarre. There are beaucoup de roundabouts, but they don't necessarily work the way they are supposed to. Often, the police are directing traffic, but with no regulations on emissions (or unenforced regulations), I imagine they'll all have terrible respiratory problems in no time at all. The pollution here is pretty, pretty, pretty bad.
People here almost unfailingly call me either "Kathy" or "Cat-ee". Somehow, these said with a French accent are much more bearable than said with an English accent. No offense meant to the Kathy's and "Cat-ee's" out there; they're just not my thing. When people introduce me, they typically say my entire name in such a way that it sounds like I am the leader of a successful military coup and am addressing my adoring public for the first time: "Now introducing CAT-EE STOCK-TON!!!!" (The crowd goes wild. In my head.)
Unfortunately, as a single female traveler/worker for the most part, it is all too easy to attract unwanted male attention. So far, I have three expressions of love under my belt. Especially unfortunately, two of them come from the young males who live in my guesthouse. This makes my daily life slightly awkward. Though it is nice to receive compliments such as "you are cool; funny; simple; not very hard" (uh...I think...) not to mention my favourite, "irresistible"!
Off to Mali for a quick four day jaunt.
There are no stoplights in Dakar. Why? I don't know. I find it bizarre. There are beaucoup de roundabouts, but they don't necessarily work the way they are supposed to. Often, the police are directing traffic, but with no regulations on emissions (or unenforced regulations), I imagine they'll all have terrible respiratory problems in no time at all. The pollution here is pretty, pretty, pretty bad.
People here almost unfailingly call me either "Kathy" or "Cat-ee". Somehow, these said with a French accent are much more bearable than said with an English accent. No offense meant to the Kathy's and "Cat-ee's" out there; they're just not my thing. When people introduce me, they typically say my entire name in such a way that it sounds like I am the leader of a successful military coup and am addressing my adoring public for the first time: "Now introducing CAT-EE STOCK-TON!!!!" (The crowd goes wild. In my head.)
Unfortunately, as a single female traveler/worker for the most part, it is all too easy to attract unwanted male attention. So far, I have three expressions of love under my belt. Especially unfortunately, two of them come from the young males who live in my guesthouse. This makes my daily life slightly awkward. Though it is nice to receive compliments such as "you are cool; funny; simple; not very hard" (uh...I think...) not to mention my favourite, "irresistible"!
Off to Mali for a quick four day jaunt.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Live-ish Blogging
Continuing the post from hier, j'ai demandé a mon amie 'puis-je manger avec toi aujourd'hui?'. She replied 'I'm fasting', then told me to call extension 7738 when I wanted to eat. I thought she was pointing me in the direction of someone else who would eat with me, mais quand je suis revenue a mon bureau, le extension était pour le 'cafetariat'. Hahahaha. Mon dieu. Luckily, someone else overheard and offered to eat lunch with me at 1:30.
Update: The reason I was told to call the cafeteria is because you have to pre-order your food. Luckily someone pointed this out to me, and I ordered 'salade kubata' et 'C bon'. Huh? Me no know. Turned out the salad was fairly close to salade Nicoise, and the C bon was fish, rice with shrimp and various other sea creatures, and something spicy. It was Senegalese; it was ok. It certainly wasn't as good as injera! I ate with colleagues and we spoke French. When I was busy chewing or not paying attention, they spoke Wolof. Waaw. I now have enough for dinner tonight, as someone was kind enough to lend me their tupperware when I asked Puis-je prendre le riz et poisson emporter?
Update: The reason I was told to call the cafeteria is because you have to pre-order your food. Luckily someone pointed this out to me, and I ordered 'salade kubata' et 'C bon'. Huh? Me no know. Turned out the salad was fairly close to salade Nicoise, and the C bon was fish, rice with shrimp and various other sea creatures, and something spicy. It was Senegalese; it was ok. It certainly wasn't as good as injera! I ate with colleagues and we spoke French. When I was busy chewing or not paying attention, they spoke Wolof. Waaw. I now have enough for dinner tonight, as someone was kind enough to lend me their tupperware when I asked Puis-je prendre le riz et poisson emporter?
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