A Saturday in Senegal: Carving, Washing, Filleting

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This being my final year teaching and living in Senegal, I'm mindful of things that I must accomplish, places to visit, and souvenirs to acquire.

Yesterday, Almamy, Marje (a pre-K teacher at ISD, my swim partner, and downstairs neighbor) and I walked around the artisans' market at Soumbedioune, with the intent of visiting a wood carving cooperative. There men worked assembly line-style, transforming raw wood into finished carvings. We had visited the workshop several times in the past two years, and I had wanted to focus on taking photos, and collect samples of work in progress. (Note photos 1-6, and the four little monkey carvings at the top of photo9.)

We visited the shop of the man in photo7, who was carving masks in intricate detail. His kit of handmade tools was beautiful. He had even forged the adze blades, of varying width. With Almamy's help, I purchased four of the tools, shown in photo8, along with two wooden mallets used in the cooperative workshop. (You can see them being used in photos 4-6.) The owner was quite amused by my interest in his tools, and appreciative that they would be shared with my young students.

We also visited with a group processing hides, of all kinds, from crocodile, snake, sheep and goat. See photos 11-13. The hides are soaked with the fruit of a particular tree, then rinsed and stretched.

In the afternoon, Marje and I accompanied a small group of ISMers to the Yoff fish market. See photos 14-18. Description of photos 14-18: photos 14-15: it is not uncommon to find billfish here, caught on hand lines, Hemingway come alive; photo16: Yoshiko has a small sushi business, and is on the left negotiating for the purchase of fresh fish; photo17: parrotfish, a fish common in the Caribbean, are eaten here in Senegal; photo18: a group of kid snorkelers pose with their day's catch.