Relax, I'm In Good Hands

 I debated writing this post because I didn't want anyone at home to worry, but this story has a happy ending and I wanted you all to know just how well my family takes care of me here. This also includes unrelated pictures because no one wants a blog post full of words...think of them as commercial breaks.

The word sai sai has two different meanings...joking trickster or murdering rapist. Actually, to be fair its more of a spectrum, and most sai sais fall closer to the former end, but last week I had an encounter with one closer to the latter. The short version is I met a man at a boutique in Kaolack while I was trying to bargain to exchange my new cell phone for an older model (long story). Since Seereer is a minority language here (ie no one in the city speaks it) and my wolof and french are both pretty limited this was a rather long and complicated process. While I was going from boutique to boutique greeting the shopkeepers, introducing myself and attempting to negotiate a fair trade this guy decided to appoint himself my "assistant." These services usually come along with a marriage proposal so I told him I didn't need any help, but he came with me anyway. After two unsuccessful attempts he asked me if I wanted to see his shop where he sells "merchandise." I had a feeling this guy had never done an honest sale in his life so I asked what time it was, pretended to be surprised and told him I had to get to the garage so I could be back in my village before breaking of the fast. He asked if I knew where I was going in the garage and I said Keur Madialbel (which is a town 20k past my village, but I take that car because it passes through my road town). I hustled off to the garage then doubled back on another street and hit a few more boutiques before I managed to exchange my cell phone (without any help thank you very much) and headed back to my village. Out of sight, out of mind right? Wrong.

The baby duck my friend Bass gave me after he saw a picture of Oxford

The next day I'm sitting in my hut with my eleven year old sister Aissatou and my four year old brother Modu when my mom comes in and tells me to "Greet your guest." And who should step through the door but Mr. Creepy. I didn't even recognize him at first because it was so improbable that he should even be in my village let alone in my hut. Before I can register what is going on my mom leaves and Aiou decides she wants to go finish getting her hair braided, and neither of them picked up on my hints that I wanted them to stay. So its me and a 4 year old and a sai sai sitting awkwardly in my room. This might be a good time to mention the guy doesn't even speak Seereer, so while I'm trying to ask him why he is here and tell him its inappropriate for me to have a man in my room, communication isn't really working out. Finally I ask him if he even bothered to greet my father and he said no, so I took him out to the courtyard and quickly and quietly explained the situation to my dad. My dad made small talk with him in Wolof for a while and then firmly told him to leave and not come back.

After he left I asked my dad what exactly happened, and my dad said that with just my name and the direction I lived, in the guy was able to track me down. That's the downside of being one of the only white people around...everyone knows you. Apparently he went to Keur Madialbel and asked around until someone told him I lived in Sambande. I immediately got on the phone to the Peace Corps Safety and Security guy and told him what had happened, and while I was on the phone the sai sai came back and said he had dropped some money in my room. My dad when to look, told the guy he was lying and told him to get out of town, then sent one of my siblings to spy on him and make sure he really left. It was clear that this guy thought I was a rich white person (I wish), but just how he planned on getting my money by showing up in our compound in broad daylight is a mystery to us all.

The monitor lizard that got into my room and ate the
baby duck, which was promptly killed and eaten by my
brothers. ((cue circle of life song from the Lion King))

Here's the happy ending to the story: my dad is protective of me that he has forbidden me to ever go to Kaolack by myself again (fat chance...) and he immediately called my uncle in Keur Socce to look out for the guy and make sure he really left the area. Then he called the gendarmes and the president of the community rurale (a pretty important guy) and told them what happened. Then that night when I went to bed my older brother Malik posted himself as a sentry outside my hut and stayed awake all night to make sure the guy didn't come back (it made me feel a lot safer, but I still slept with my machete). Even my four year old brother said that if the guy came back he would “beat him until he shits,” a common threat kids get from their parents here. So as you can see, I am nothing if not well taken care of here...nothing to worry about!

In other news, Ramadan ends either tomorrow or the next day (the Marabout has to officially see the moon to declare it over), and we celebrate with a holiday called Korite. We all dress in our fanciest clothes and every family kills a sheep and we eat and eat until we've gained back all the weight we lost while fasting. It should be a blast! I must say I am going to miss our 7:30 breaking of the fast with bush coffee (boiled leaves with a ton of sugar) and bread, although I will be glad to not have to wait until 9:30 to eat dinner...that's way past my bedtime.

My brothers Samba and Modou with the heads...

...and Aissatou with the rest of the chicken