We began the day with a dual lecture at the WARC, given by a Senegalese political activist and a political scientist who is a consultant to almost all the governments in West Africa. They spoke of the political realities of contemporary Senegal. For me, the big takeaway from the political scientist was the fact that the current constitution has been so modified over the past decade that he, one of the architects of the new constitution in 2000, does not recognize himself in it. Those are powerful words from the framer of such an important document. The activist emphasized the importance of the role of women in the state currently. She noted that just last Friday the General Assembly voted that each political party had to have gender equity in their candidate slates. That is, for every man they nominated to run for office, they had to also nominate a woman. Currently 37 of 150 seats in the National Assembly are filled by women.
We then visited the National Assembly, where I was struck by the lax security and the informality surrounding the building and our place in it. We spent a great deal of time on the floor, in the seats of the representatives, learning about the history of the Assembly and the building itself. The contrasts to the Capitol Building in DC were staggering. Lunch was in the basement restaurant of the Assembly.
After lunch we walked next door to the Musee D'IFAN, where we were toured through some fascinating dioramas revolving around the use of masks in Africa. We saw many tribes and rituals represented, and it was fascinating to see the incorporation of so many masks in so many different ways.
We then had a quick visit to the front of the Presidential Palace, on our way to the Dakar Market, a frightening, yet, in retrospect, vibrant, alive place. It occupies several square blocks, and the people are wall-to-wall, all egaged in commerce, all about selling you stuff, all aggressive, all pushy, all in your face. We split into two groups, and were immediately set upon by some ropers who inserted themselves between Wali and us, and acted as if they were part of the package. They brought us to a factory for fabric and clothing, where you could watch your clothes being made. Their negotiation tactcs left those of us with little or no skills in the discipline hunting for Saba or Wali to do our negotiations for us. We've all got some serious stories to tell of the emotional machinations of these interactions.
After this, the palate cleanser was a quick stop at a piece of public statuary, the Millenium Gate, then a longer visit to the Renaissance Statue, a HUGE work of bronze, controversial, powerful, and dramatic.
We got back late to the Djolloff, and did dinner in groups. It was a very long day, but interesting and eye-opening.
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