Christmas Time in Dahra

Merry Christmas from Dahra! So I decided to spend Christmas in my site this year instead of going to Dakar, St. Louis, or Popinguine with some other volunteers. I am really glad that I decided to stay in Dahra. While Christmas wasn’t the same as in the States, I had a wonderful experience :) . On Christmas Eve day, I went to the missionaries’ house here in Dahra for a delicious turkey dinner, complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, and pies :) . Afterwards, we all hung out and played some cards. They even gave me a Christmas present – a decorated container with some candy inside :) . I am so grateful for having other Christian believers nearby. They were also kind enough to loan some Christmas decorations for my house:

Afterwards, I went to a Senegalese wrestling match (very “Christmas-y” right?). As in true Senegalese fashion, the match started about 3 hours late, which meant the sun was already setting. Of course, just as the match started, the power went out…lol. I used this as my time to escape to my host family’s house to eat dinner with them. The Senegalese people celebrate the 24th for some reason with a big meal of chicken…I don’t even think they know why they celebrate from what I gathered. *Sidenote: There was also a Gamou going on near my family’s house that I was invited to; a Gamou is similar to an Islamic revival, so needless to say, I did not want to participate. Luckily with the power outage, I was able to avoid that and not offend anyone. So my family wanted me to come have dinner with them; they were so awesome….they prepared half a chicken just for me and gave me my own bowl with that, French fries, onion sauce, lettuce, and bread…it was delicious! I hung out with them a little bit until the power came back on and then headed back home. Once home, I was able to Skype my parents who were at my grandmother’s house with the rest of my mom’s side of the family. I was able to talk and see everyone for a few minutes, so that was incredible. I am so thankful for technology…it has made this whole experience so much easier!


On Christmas, I spent most of the day at my house just reading and watching Christmas movies. Late that afternoon, I was able to Skype mom and dad over at my other grandmother’s house so as to talk to all the family over there :) Afterwards, I went out to a local Christian-ran clinic where they were showing the “Jesus film” in Pulaar (and no I do not understand Pulaar, but I know the story :) ) There was a good gathering, so that was encouraging to see. After the film, they served dinner and some sort of fruity drink (which I am pretty sure is the cause of my violent illness later that night…better now though). Afterwards, I made a short appearance at an AIDS awareness event and then went home to call it a night. Overall, a wonderful experience that I am very thankful for; definitely not your typical American Christmas, but I am in Senegal…