In Wolof, one of the traditional exchanges that you hear when people greet is, “Are you at peace?” No matter what kind of a day you are having, you’re always expected to give the stock response: Jamm rek, or “Peace only”. And with this in mid, almost all people in Senegal seem to be at pretty legitimate peace with their lives.
I’m no Senegalese person, but I can only imagine that their idea of peace varies wildly from mine. Indeed, if you play the word association game with me and say “Dakar”, I would immediately spit out words like “vibration” “energy” or “beep!”. What can I say? Different strokes for different folks…
I like to operate a bit more on the slow side- although you may not believe it, given my manic year of largely extemporaneous travel. Really, I prefer to keep things low-key at all times- even when the rest of the world around me seems to be hungry for action:
DSK is finally back in Paris, and paparazzi and gawkers alike are staked outside of his house (maybe waiting for him to cast his geriatric wiles on another African immigrant?). You’d think that Napoleon had risen from the grave, judging by the amount of press attention this is
still receiving. In this distinctly French case, I’m thinking that DSK is actually liking his unique definition of
la paix.
You crazies have your brand of peace, and I have mine. With that said, here’s a bunch of random shots from the past week to capture how I am enjoying my ability to settle in and finally attain some
bona fide
jamm.
Hello, real flowers! How I have missed you!
I have never really understood this fountain, but I love the nonsensical fusion of shapes and colors.
I also love this city’s more structured color and designscapes (unless we’re talking about the Louvre. I
hate the Louvre). This was the ceiling view I got at a restaurant we checked out the other day. I felt like I was eating my smoked salmon under a huge Tiffany lamp.
And what city isn’t complete without massive chocolate gorillas? He makes me happy, and I have no idea why.
Most of all, I love to exist in a place where it is easy to wander about (this is kind of hard to do in Dakar).
Dad will like this photo, I am sure of it.
And equally, I value the ability to sit and not be approached by anyone looking for anything other than directions (and I have given a lot of directions already).
How nice to live in a place where you can really spread out. (Okay, I’m actually not living here- too many tourists walking around to enjoy the grounds anyway…)
I’m also appreciating the standard grittiness that is part and parcel of city life. Or maybe it’s just that I’m still drawn to bright colors…
Did I forget to mention that there are few good places to eat in this city? Actually, it’s more like a few hundred million, and I hope to visit at least half of them while here…
The eats are varied and quite sublime. And that word choice was not taken lightly: this is an honest to goodness galette composed of walnuts, potato and bleu d’auvergne- washed down with a glass of Breton cider. Sublime.
(Hey, you can also see that I was taking notes as I was dining, so I really am being productive here!)
Only by walking around aimlessly can you experience the endless supply of marchés.
I ducked into this particular market and told the cheese man that I was making lentils for supper. I wanted to throw some cheese into the dish, and asked what he would suggest. He reached in and picked out a nice crottin de chèvre for me. It was fantastic, and the chèvre is now all gone. Mmmm….
Not only are the French are failing in their attempt to stamp out English words from their pristine language- but it looks like Facebook is making inroads into the vernacular. You can see it here in the metro, and I will now demonstrate mastery of my new favorite French verbe: Je vais
liker mon séjour ici à Paris.
I’m here to enjoy some normalcy, and even though you may grow weary of my fascination with the quotidienne, prepare for a blogging season of just that very thing.
Peace only, indeed!
