Weekend by the Beach

Hi folks,
This last weekend, I decided to take a mini-vacation by staying with my Quebecois friend's place over the weekend. She lives in Yoff, an area that is part of greater Dakar and is very near the beach. On Saturday we went to visit the Marche HLM, a large market that mostly sells fabrics and clothing. There are some really lovely, colourful fabrics there, and let me tell you, the Senegalese people are always very fashionably-dressed! It is very difficult for expats to keep up with the beautiful fashions worn by locals, from brightly-coloured boubous, to trendy Western clothing that you would on the streets in Toronto. While the market was fun, it was very crowded, and more than once I felt hands gliding over my pockets to see if there was anything in them! Unfortunately for them, I had my money stuffed safely in a moneybelt in the front of my pants. I also had the chance to try a Senegalsese hamburger, consisting of meat, cheese, a fried egg, french fries, and ketchup. Not bad, not bad! The next day I visited the nearby beach in Yoff, and it was probably the nicest one I've seen here- very little garbage, not too crowded, white sand and very few vendors. I will definitely go back for a visit with Adam and Robyn when they are here! A nice weekend, but now it's back to work. And yes, I do work!! I've now just completed 20 interviews, and I hope I can do a few more before Adam arrives next week. However, tomorrow is Tabaski, a big festival here, and most places will be closed over the following days, so it will be tricky to find interviews. I will do my best to take lots of pictures to let all of you know about my experience with this "Festival of Sheep"!