Lac Rose and the green bou-bou

Bon soir, dear loved ones,

today we took an hour long taxi ride to the Lac Rose. On our way, we stopped at this famous church and attended their Sunday morning service. They are well known in the Francophone world because of their soothing hymns and chants they sing in French. I had never heard of them before, but now I know why they are so popular- it was beautiful; touching; tranquil. They accompany their voices with two instruments- a guitar that looks like a giant banjo (and Vicki says it is probably the ancestor of the banjo), and a giant hollowed-out gourd that's used as a drum. The banjo is also made from a giant gourd; the name of it is, Kora. You might google image it if you're curious.

After the service we went to Lac Rose. When we pulled up, I noticed the pink shimmer almost instantly- it was faint at first, and our views were obstructed by the huge salt mounds (I'll explain this...) but as we got closer I could see that large parts of the lake had a pinkish/purple tint. It was a sight to see. I took videos and pictures, and will hopefully post them soon (when we get legitimate internet here... otherwise it's almost impossible to upload images, and especially videos). There were also a few colorful fishing boats scattered around the coast- I have pictures of those, too. Why's the lake pink? I'm not entirely sure.. but, I know it has something to do with the high concentration of salt (and some other substance). The salt is so great that it-the lake- has been used as a source of trading for centuries. In fact, the lake played a large role in trade between West Africa and North Africa, and also Europe and Asia because it produced so much salt. Well, I don't know if produced is the right word.. I think it's more like there's huge salt deposits in it. I should read up on this- there's a passage in the Senegal travel guide I have, but I've been too lazy to bone up on it. This explains the huge salt pyramids surrounding the lake. In fact, while we were there we noticed a few flat-bed trailers being loaded up with packaged sacks of salt- this was at one end of the lake. At the other end of the lake there was a small village and tourist resort. The small village hosted their own market, which was much more amenable than the one's in downtown Dakar. I was able to actually browse through their products without anyone bothering me. I hadn't intended to shop, however, so I didn't have much money on me. But, one of the vendors noticed that I took a special liking for one of his bou-bou's, and he insisted that I buy it. I explained to him that I needed my money for lunch and the taxi ride home, but he wanted to know how much money I had left if I factored that out. The original price of the bou-bou was 20,000 CFA's (divide by 400 to get $$), but then he brought it down to 15,000. I wasn't even trying to barter with him; I was honestly telling him that I couldn't spend my money! I knew that I had 16,000 CFA's, and that I would need at least 6,000 of that for the rest of the day, leaving behind 10,000, which I figured would be an insult to offer him. But when he asked me how much I would have left over after factoring out lunch and taxi, he said alright! So I got my bou-bou for 10,000, which was probably what a local would have paid after bartering with him (a Toubob, like me, probably would have only got it down to 15,000), so that was pretty nice, especially when I wasn't even trying to barter with him! Seriously, I was just trying to get him to understand that I didn't have enough money, but what I did have, he wanted it, so it was a win-win situation, I think.

After this, we had lunch, and then we took a swim in the lake. This was an experience to remember! Yes, the water, being so full of salt, practically PUSHES you up and out of it when you sit in it!!! You float in it, literally feeling like you have an air-mattress underneath you. It was the strangest feeling. The water itself was kind of slimey, which was at the same time kind of gross and luxurious. When we got out of it, there was a layer of slimey film on our skin, so we had to take a quick shower- this was accomplished by standing near a stream while someone from the resort splashed buckets of fresh water on us. It was kind of fun actually- the guy made gestures to pull out the front and back of our swim trunks so he could empty the bucket down there; so it was a full body shower, no slime left down there or anywhere, which was thankful! Even the shower though didn't remove all the slime, so all during the ride home I kept touching my arms and legs to feel how incredibly soft they were- it was if I had just had the most luxurious spa skin treatment. As soon as I got home though I took a long shower and then put on my new bou-bou. I've been wearing it ever since, and I don't know how I will go back to wearing my other clothes... it's so damn comfortable!

That's it for now- I have nothing more interesting to say. I have to study for our Wolof exam tomorrow. Goodnight!