Toubab Dialaw-Neex na!

This weekend we took a trip to a town called Toubab Dialaw.  Like most everything we do here, we didn’t really know what it was going to be like before we left.  Pretty much all we knew was that Toubab Dialaw was an artsy, touristy town an hour south of Dakar.  We went there with our Senegalese Art professor and Pape Samba (the guy that works for ACI that is sort of like the camp counselor that does everything).  We left Friday morning and rolled up to the shabby looking beach town early in the afternoon.  At first it didn’t look like anything special.  More dirt, garbage, stray dogs, and empty buildings.  Then we drove into the little hotel/community, called Espace Sobo Badé, where we were staying and it was like entering through a portal to another world.  All of the buildings are artfully designed with shells and rocks pressed into the walls and thatched roofs.  The best way we settled on describing it was that it is as if the hobbits and elves compromised and moved to the Caribbean.  After settling in a bit we went to have lunch.  It was without a doubt the best food I’ve had in Senegal so far.  Some type of delicious fish kabobs with rice and onion sauce and lime.  Did I mention that this whole place was on the top of a cliff looking over the ocean?  Yeah.  Amazing.  We had a couple of hours after lunch and in no time, we were on the beach.  The more time we spent there, the more we were able to start figuring out what the place was all about.  In order to fill you in, I have to start with a short history of Islam lesson…

                Over time, Muslims have divided themselves in multiple ways.  There are several different sects, a few different schools of thought, and hundreds of different brotherhoods.  The way people are divided has to do with how the Koran is interpreted and, in turn, how it is decided that the religion should be practiced.  From what I understand at this point in my studies, each brotherhood is headed by a Marabout, who is essentially very well-studied in the Koran.  One of the most popular brotherhoods in Senegal is known as the Murids (mouride in French).  It was started by Amadou Bamba in the late 1800s.  The Murids are known for being hard working, peaceful, and very faithful Muslims.  I’ll spare some details here, but a sub-group of the Murids was formed and became known as the Baye Fall.  I’m not entirely sure why the Baye Fall are a sub-group of the Murids, because from what I can tell, the two groups are completely different.  In contrast to the hard working Murids, the Baye Fall seem relatively lazy in life and in faith.  They’re “thing” is that they place full confidence in their Marabout, so they just live their lives.  They don’t even pray.  Before going to Toubab Dialaw, we’d only seen a few Baye Fall around.  They wear distinct clothes that are made out of a bunch of different types of fabric sewn together and they occasionally walk around Dakar collecting money for their Marabout and singing.  They don’t have the best reputation

                Well, it turns out that Toubab Dialaw is Baye Fall heaven.  And it turns out that Baye Fall are exactly what you picture when you think of “Rasta”.  In Dakar, they’re kind of weird, but at Toubab Dialaw, they are pretty freaking cool.  They just hang out all day playing music and doing art.  I’ve never been asked so many times in my life if I was feeling calm and tranquil during my stay.  Everything was chill.  They just wanted us to be happy and relaxed.  It was so weird because I just never wanted to leave.  The place was magical!  After the beach on Friday we went to do Batik, which is sort of like tie dying.  You paint wax over the cloth where you don’t want the dye and you can make really cool patterns (I’ll post pictures soon!).  After Batiking, we had a dance class and learned some traditional African dancing.  It was really fun!  Missa, if you’re reading this, I kept thinking of you this weekend! You would absolutely love it at this place (though I’m convinced that everyone would because it has magic powers).  If Missa isn’t reading this, Mom, can you tell her about it? Thanks!  The only complaint I had about Toubab Dialaw was that the mosquitoes were horrible.  Luckily we did have mosquito nets in our rooms, but they have their ways…I got over it pretty quick though when I was able to wake up early and go read on a terrace looking over the ocean.  Saturday morning, we finished up with our Batiking and then had a drum class! It was SO cool! I could’ve stayed there all day.  We learned a rhythm known as Syntay that “everyone in Africa will know”.  Sometimes people exaggerate, but who knows.  We were playing drums called Djembe.  After our drum class, we had the rest of the day free!  We went to the beach again, hung around, looked at some of the things being sold, met some cool people.  Ah! It was just so great there!!  We walked into the town a little bit, but it wasn’t anything too special.  As we were leaving to walk around town, a few of the guys that taught us the dance invited us to have attaaya (traditional Senegalese tea, but it’s really all about the process, I’ll have to explain it in another post because it’s pretty cool).  We should’ve gone to have attaaya right then and there, because we couldn’t find them when we got back.  Oh well!  Saturday night there was a concert playing.  It was a little mix between traditional music and contemporary music.  Pretty cool stuff!  There were a ton of white people there, but it wasn’t touristy in the sense that you’d normally think of a touristy spot.  For example, there was a group of French women who had been there for quite some time learning dance.  Toubab Dialaw is definitely all about art and relaxation.  Even the stray animals there were in excellent shape!  They looked healthy and happy.  More than once I saw dogs and cats lying next to each other.  I’m telling you, the place is paradise. 

                Now I’m back in Dakar (which I do love!).  Unfortunately our 50 hours of Wolof class is up on Tuesday, which also means our Wolof final is on Tuesday.  That is a terrible terrible thing.  After lunch today, we’re all meeting up to study.

Also, I skyped my dear mother this morning and got a surprise conversation with one of my best buds...