Senegalese Independence

April 4th celebrated Senegal's 53rd year independent from French colonial rule. It's crazy to think that it has been independent less than an average lifetime whereas the US will be celebrating its 237th this July. Nevertheless, I was fortunate to be in village this year to witness the celebration. The vast majority of my village went to Dar Salaam, our rural communitaire, just 2km away, the village separating where I live from our regions' market town, Salemata. Dar Salaam is along the main laterite road and they set up a shaded area and took the desks from the school in addition to other plastic chairs for seating. It was hot but I walked over with my host mom, her friends and six children at 9am before the heat of the day really began to sink in. It was great seeing people in their nice outfits and admiring the womens' hair (e.g. braids). The day started with the raising of the Senegalese flag with a short musical tidbit I assume was the national anthem. Along the highway they used ash to make lanes you would see on a track. These served as sprinting lanes later, although beforehand, an equivalent of a parade happened. Group of children in matching "fete independence" (independence party) shirts, provided by World Vision, marched by, followed by a soccer team, men pretending to work fields, women in various matching outfits, a young girls dance group with a minor interruption by a sheep herded who joined the party by running by with his sheep in tow. Afterwards, various sprints took place. They also did this funny game where they blindfolded children, spun them around, handed them scissors and they walked towards a string to try to cut it. Seems a little dangerous, but children play with knives all the time here, and we give children fireworks in the States, soooo yah. There were drummers that played & people from the crowd came and danced. Dar Salaam is ethnically Malinke, known more for its music and dancing that Pulars in my area, so it was fun to see! I was invited to a government official's house for lunch at 2pm which I was grateful for (not only was I hungry and only shared a bowl with 3 men with oily rice and a meat and onion sauce, but I didn't have to eat in the crowded classrooms with many people sharing bowls, which also happened an hour after I ate). I saw people I knew from at least 6 surrounding villages, and even a man from Kedougou who came to cover the event for the radio. After everyone was done eating, we rested in the shaded area until it cooled down enough to walk home at 4:30pm. During this time we listened to a short playlist on repeat over big speakers. Coming home, we had a dinner bowl loaded with vegetables I bought from the market earlier in the week.