Dreaming of a White Christmas

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Trip Start Sep 01, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 15, 2006

  Dakar, Senegal
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Recently, a friend of mine sent an e-mail and asked if I was beginning to get into the holiday spirit as Christmas is right around the corner. I'm sure he expected me to say that I wasn't feeling very Christmas-y, being in a predominantly Muslim country, but interestingly enough, Senegal has done an acceptable job of preparing me for the Christmas season. The neighborhood gas station has decorated their windows with fake snow and has painted on green Christmas wreaths with big, red bows. Posters have been put up around the city to wish everyone a happy holiday season, and merchants have started selling inflatable Santa Clause dolls on the streets... something my little sister just HAD to have when we went to "la foire" (the bi-annual market where representatives from all over the African continent come to sell their goods.

There's nothing that gets me into the Christmas spirit more than a shopping spree, and that's exactly what my host-mother, my little sister, and I had at "la foire". We tried different candies and sweet treats from Egypt, Madagascar, and Kenya. We bargained gold jewelry from Mali and bartered our shoes for chic, fancy Moroccan shoes. We bought wooden goods from the Congo and filled our bags with 100% Ethiopian cotten woven with brilliant green, red, and gold. After several hours of maneuvering through the crowds, even energetic Aminata was asking for a ride on my back.

Later that night, my little sister ran into my room, screaming and jumping up and down, clearly excited about something that sounded like "le serpent". I couldn't imagine that she would be so ecstatic about a snake in the house, so I followed as Amina grabbed my hand and pulled me into the next room. Lo and behold, my family had just brought out a tiny evergreen tree, "le sapin". Aminata thought that it was called "le serpent" because it was green like a snake. My friend Biz was over for dinner (ceebu jen... yum) and stayed to help decorate the fake tree with lights and purple garland. It was quite the magnificent creation in my opinion, but you can judge for yourselves once I post the pictures of the Muslim-family-Christmas tree.

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