What is Senegal like?

My blog post last week was more about Alec, Kari and Jonathan than what life has been like for us here in Senegal since we arrived a little over a week ago, but since I want to write about Alec...I'll do both. Let me warn you in advance, this is a long post. Well, there are a lot of pictures, anyway!

We were fortunate to be here for the baby dedication service at church when Kari and Jonathan promised to raise little Alec so that he could come to know and love the Lord with his whole heart, and to relinquish him to whatever plans the Lord has prepared in advance for him to do. It was a beautiful, meaningful service; we were able to stand with Kari and Jonathan, and Glenn gave them a blessing before the pastor prayed over them.

The first couple of weeks with Alec were rough as they tried to figure out his schedule and what his various cries mean...and I think they've got a good handle on it now. He has some reflux problems so they now know what to do to help him not vomit out what he's taken in. He is very social and didn't want to fall asleep for fear he might miss something. Because of this, he was not getting enough sleep so now we know to not let him get over stimulated before it is time for bed. He is doing much better and so are Mom and Dad! He is so precious!!!

Everyone that reads my blog with any regularity knows that I love homemade ice cream and make 50-60 quarts a year. I wanted to buy Kari an ice cream machine when they were in the States to put in their crate but Kari wasn't sure that they would be able to buy ice in Senegal to make the ice cream. I was thrilled when I found a small electric ice cream machine in Budapest that makes a quart of ice cream but that does not use ice!!! (It has a bowl that is filled with a liquid that you freeze for 8 hours and when you put the mixture in the bowl, the paddle stirs it and the coldness from the bowl freezes the ice cream.) Granted, it only makes a small amount at a time, but if the mixture is well chilled before you put it in the bowl to freeze, it makes enough for 3 servings after about 15 minutes of churning!!! We've made chocolate chip mint ice cream 3 times so far, and are going to try lime sorbet today. Yum!

I love a lot of the Senegalese dishes from our days in Ivory Coast and our previous visit to Senegal in 2003 (when Kari was a Journeyman) and I was looking forward to enjoying them again. Kari's house girl, Eliza, made a meal for us one day that has a caramelized onion sauce that you pour over chicken. The chicken is placed on a bed of french fries, encircled by chopped lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. It was delicious!

Kari and Jonathan go to the International Christian Fellowship of Dakar. (The pastor and his wife were friends of ours in Ivory Coast back in the early 90's so we already have a connection with their church!!) Last week the ladies in the mission organization with which Kari is affiliated gave her a baby shower. This week her church gave her a shower, and it was in the home of a family that works for the American Embassy (so the house was gorgeous!) I have enjoyed getting to know Kari and Jonathan's friends and co-workers, putting faces to their names after having heard about them for the past 7 months.

We were invited to dinner at the pastor's house on Wednesday evening, and I loved getting caught up on Joel and Elin's news from the past 18 years. Their son, now an adult and working elsewhere overseas, was 2 when we last saw him. Shortly after we left Ivory Coast, they had two daughters so we've gotten to know them a little during our visit here. We had Poulet Yassa for dinner that night and it was soooooo good, but I forgot to take any pictures. Sorry!

When Joel and Elin moved out to their neighborhood, they had a gorgeous view of the green country side, but in the past year or so, a strip of land behind their house has become the dump and squatters have built up against their house and yard wall. They don't mind the squatters so much as they do the smell from the burning trash...and the spoiled view off their roof-top terrace.

For the most part, we are staying close to home so that "Little Bit" (Alec) can get his sleep regularly (and because it is so hot outside!) but we did make a trip out to Malika Monkeys, a school that teaches young men a trade so that they can support their family. There are usually 6-10 men at the school at any given time, and they are also taught to read and write in French and Wolof, math, basic accounting, and the Bible. They make things like quilted bags, African clocks, carved wooden boats as serving pieces, animal statues, crosses made out of iron, authentic drums, and so on, to sell to tourists, but unfortunately, the director of the program just went to America and took most of their stock to sell in a store there in the U.S. that is run by her son.

I took most of the following pictures during our drive out to Malika Monkeys.

Notice the child about 3 years old that is playing unsupervised by himself out in the median-between heavy traffic on both sides? I have seen lots of young children playing in dangerous situations seemingly without adult's watching over them.

One of the biggest changes I have noticed is that there is much more trash on the ground this trip than there was in 2003. The population has increased tremendously since then, and I guess the infrastructure of garbage pickup hasn't been able to keep up with it.

I haven't seen as many stores being added as I have noticed things being sold out on the sidewalks. This is a hardware "store". :-)

Senegal is a Muslim country with a little animism mixed in. These boys have just finished their studies at a Koranic school, and are carrying home their Koranic boards...as opposed to their notebook.

She was willing to pose for a picture for me. Notice the goat? Wednesday is the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours. It is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God and is the month in which they believe the first verses of the Koran (Qu'ran) were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. The goat will be killed and eaten as part of the celebration of the end of Ramadan.

It is the middle of hot season here and so in the middle of the day, everyone is looking for the coolest place to take a nap. He found this nice shade tree and claimed his spot. Believe me, it was still hot under that tree!

We came during the mango season and between the four of us, we go through 4-5 mangos a day.

When we lived in Ivory Coast, Glenn was extremely allergic to the peeling/skin of mangos so I've been the one to peel and slice them for us each day.

After peeling the mangos, I like to suck the pits to get every last bit of the fruit off! I had to be careful though to make sure that the juice didn't drip down my arms and stain my clothes. Of all the tropical fruits available during the year, mangos are my favorite! Pineapples come in a close second.

Mufflers 'R Us?

Anyone need a slab of beef or a spare rib? Notice the cows' head on the table? I'm sure the table was wiped clean and sanitized before the guy put the cow on the table and started chopping. Yea, right! I'm sure the meat is only hanging out there in the heat for a short time before it is moved inside, into the ultra nice cooler and wrapped in germ-free butcher paper. Yea, right!

Women chit chatting. World-wide custom?

These brightly colored short buses are called Rapides, which is quite ironic since they don't really go very fast! Most of them are so weighted down with too many people inside and several hanging out the back, goats and produce on top, and wrecked and battered from so many accidents through the years that they can't go very fast. In addition, they stop about every block to let someone on or off so it's not like they can gain much speed!

In Ivory Coast, these Rapides were called Vingt-deux Places (22 Places), which is also ironic because most of the time there would be at least 30-35 people crammed inside, seated and standing, and always 2-4 men hanging off the back. This is the way of life here. The idea of getting or using a seat belt is unheard of, and what about car seats for children? No way.

I am so nervous behind one of the many Rapides because I am so afraid one of the guys is going to slip off and get run over!

Shoe store. What more can I say? Creative way to display the many styles in stock. Don't see what you'd like? Maybe I have something in my storeroom. Oh, I don't have a storeroom. Hmmm, let me run check with my buddy down the street to see if he has what you want. Be back in a jiffy. Dash, dash!

Nothing like letting everyone see your dirty laundry.

Looks like a town meeting.

Why carry something in your hands when you can carry it on your head? They start learning when they are young so that they...

can carry bigger stuff when they are older.

Well, thanks for sticking with me to the end.

We've had a great visit with Kari, Jonathan and Alec, but unfortunately, our visit ends tomorrow. We are headed back to Budapest, catching a 2 am flight out of Dakar early Thursday morning. Well, the good thing about a flight out that late is that there won't be much traffic!!!

GRAND KIDS!

Last week I was in New Jersey, visiting with Chris (son) and Kate and precious little Jazmine, and now I am in Dakar, Senegal, visiting with Kari (daughter) and Jonathan and (also) precious Alec, and in between we took a 5 day trip to Georgia to visit with our families-to check on our parents.

Our 5 days in Marietta were packed with special times with family members. One of my favorite things was our "Girls Day Out" with my two sisters, Elizabeth and Karin. So, do we look alike? I've always thought they looked like each other and I was the odd one out but in this picture, I see some resemblance in our mouths.

We went with Glenn's mother to visit two of her friends that have been special to us through the years (Anne C. and Mary Jean W.) and stopped by Burger King for a quick lunch. As on each of our trips to the U.S., I am amazed at how things change in such a short time, and I always enjoy seeing what is "new". The new drink machines at Burger King are new since we were here in May! We have Burger King in Budapest. I wonder how many years it will be before these drink machines make it over there?!? They still don't have the "free refills/self-serve" at our Burger Kings so it may be a while before we get one of these fancy machines

Sunday "lupper" at Red Lobster was a fun time. We went after church on Sunday and service was so slow that we didn't leave there until close to 4 pm so we ended up eating both lunch and supper meals there in the middle of the afternoon.

Sister-in-law Becky was kind and brave and generously spent one full day shopping with me for things for Kari and Jonathan and Alec. We both love SAM's pizzas and enjoyed one for lunch, and in addition, she brought one home for her hubby for that night.

And what trip to Marietta would be complete without Glenn's favorite, The Varsity???

We flew from Atlanta to Budapest, repacked our suitcases, paid some bills, cut the grass, picked the apples and then flew out the next day to Senegal. I'm getting to be a pro at packing!

I know you've all be waiting for photos of Alec so here are a few. We are proud grandparents, for sure, and doubly blessed! We've got teeny tiny Jazzy and moving, muscular Alec and we love them so much!!! Holding those sweet babies bring back such wonderful memories of when our own children were infants.

Both Alec and Jazzy are good sleepers.

Alec likes sitting in Grampy Glenn's lap but really doesn't believe all his Grampy tells him about when his mother was a little girl.

Even though Alec will let me hold him, he prefers his mother. Natch!

He loves everything about his mother, even her pinkie.

Of course, he loves his daddy too. He feels very safe and comfy on Jonathan's chest.

And while Jonathan is babysitting Alec, Kari takes advantage of the "disconnection" to grab a few minutes of rest for herself.

The ladies of the organization with which Kari and Jonathan are affiliated had a baby shower for her the morning we arrived (boy, was I tired!) It was so nice to meet everyone that Kari talks works with and to put faces with their names.

One of the ladies Kari knew from her Journeymen days, when she was in Senegal from 2002-2004. Maggie was the daughter of Kari's supervisor and was 13 years old when Kari first met her. She is living again in Dakar, married and with a child of her own.

It has been hot here, in the mid- to upper 80's with 80%-90% humidity. Pretty hot and very sticky. Rainy season has begun and fortunately, when it rains, it cools things down a few degrees. One afternoon we went for a drive through the city. (A co-worker loaned Kari and Jonathan a vehicle to use while we are here which has been a blessing, and it has a wonderful feature called air conditioning!) I'm not sure which we enjoyed more...the sights or the cool air!

These are colorful fishing boats along the waters' edge.

We're not sure what the real deal is with the man on the stilts since this is not a traditional Senegalese art form or part of their dance, but it is a great money maker! He blocked the road until we gave him a few coins to move out of our way.

We still have a little over a week here so you'll see more of our time with Kari and Jonathan and little Alec the next time I update. Until then, "stay cool".

And all that JAZ!

Glenn and I are in New Jersey.

This is our son, Chris.

This is Kate, Chris's wife and our daughter-in-law.

And this is Jazmine, Chris and Kate's daughter; our first grandchild.

Isn't she beautiful?

And this is their family, complete with the dog, Shadow.

What a wonderful family!

For the past week, I've held Jazmine as much as possible.

She said to me, "Mimi, I love you this much!"

She feels very comfortable with her grandpa!

Glenn used to hold our daughter, Kari, just like this when she was an infant!

We love it when she is awake.

She likes to be held, which is a good thing this week!

She has two doting grandma's!

The grandma's can't get enough of her!!

Four generations in one photo. Josephine, the great-grandmother, holds Jazmine as Kate and her mom, Barbara, stand behind them.

Chris, Kate, and Jazmine live with Kate's grandmother, Josephine, in the borough of Rutherford, which is one square mile. We walked into the next town, Lynhurst, for some Italian ice! It has been unbelievably hot since we arrived here so this was a nice treat.

Notice Glenn's tongue sticking out of his mouth?

It's a family trait. Chris does it, and Jazmine does too!

While I've been holding Jazmine, Glenn helped Chris with several projects around the house.

Not sure which one was the worker and which one was the supervisor.

Shortly after Glenn got out from underneath this wash basin made of concrete, the legs crumbled from age and collapsed! Glenn estimates it weighed about 100-125 pounds! I shudder to think of what COULD have happened!

They worked on plumbing projects and electrical ones too. Josephine was so thankful to have a new laundry area by time they finished!!!

They also worked on Chris's jeep one day.

Kate and I went shopping one day, leaving Jazmine with Chris and Glenn. She wanted to be near her daddy (and her daddy wanted to work on his jeep) so she napped in the front seat of the jeep while her daddy and grandpa worked on it.

After a week of me taking about a 1000 pictures, Jazmine said, "Please, no more pictures!" She is just like her daddy in this way. He lets me take about 3 pictures (if I can take them in 2 minutes or less...) and then he says, "No more pictures."

Well, she's in luck. We now have a grandson to oogle and ahhh over!

Alec Glenn Masson was born on July 31 to our daughter, Kari, and our son-in-law, Jonathan, who live in Dakar, Senegal. (More info on this wonderful event next week when we are in Senegal and I update my blog of our trip to see them!)

When Kari got home from the hospital and was feeling up to it, we held a family Skype call with video so we could see Kari, Jonathan and Alec. It was "way cool!"

We couldn't talk long because Alec was getting hungry but it was great to be able to see him via video on Skype. When I think of how far technology has progressed since the days we lived in Ivory Coast in the late 80's and early 90's, I realize how fortunate we are! It used to cost us $4 a MINUTE to call from Ivory Coast to talk to our parents, if we could get the call to go through on the "one" line out of the country!!! We can keep in touch so much easier these days via Skype, and using video is such a blessing!!!

We wanted to introduce cousins Jazmine and Alec to each other, but they didn't seem too excited about it. They just slept right through the video call!! I know in 5 or 6 years from now, they will be the best of buddies!

Kate's grandmother got great, inexpensive tickets to a Broadway play and asked if I wanted to go with her and Kate's mom to see it. Of course! So we drove about 10 minutes toward NYC and parked the car, hopped on a transit bus that took us to within one block from the theatre house.

We had about an hour and a half to walk around a little bit and get a bite to eat before the show started.

We walked and talked and enjoyed the perfect weather.

The sidewalks were an obstacle course, packed with ethnicities of every kind. A real mission field.

We stopped by a Starbucks to enjoy a drink before the show. "A low-fat, with whip, white chocolate mocha grande with an extra pump for me, please."

Barbara (Kate's mom) and I went to see Baby, It's You! Kate's grandmother went to see Catch Me If You Can, which was 10 blocks away.

It was a musical with all the songs I grew up on as a teenager so it was great fun! Soldier Boy, It's My Party (and I'll Cry If I Want To), Dedicated to the One I Love, I Met Him on a Sunday...

The description of the play is above. One of the most enjoyable evenings I've had.

On a TOTALLY different note, as we were walking through town today, I took this picture on the door of a local restaurant. Did they mean Re-Grand Opening, or Grand Re-Opening???

We are here for two more days and then we head to Atlanta for a few days to have a quick visit with our parents, and then on to Senegal (via one night in Budapest) to see Kari and Jonathan and meet Alec. We have been having a great time here with Chris and Kate, and Josephine (lovingly called Bub), taking it easy, holding Jazmine, and taking some long walks to burn off all Josephine's great Italian meals!!

Catch you later!