I realized a few weeks ago that the only souvenirs (did you know “souvenir” is the French verb “to remember”?) I had from Dakar were an impressive tan line from my running shoes and a plethora of mosquito bites. I bought figurines of an elephant and a giraffe a while back, but considering they don’t grow those animals in Senegal and the items were probably made in China, they don’t count.
We bought a sand painting like the one above from a vendor a few weekends ago. They’re made by a local artist who uses brushed-on glue and various layers of different-colored sand to make everything by hand. Ours is a depiction of the entire continent, with two men rowing a kayak in the foreground. It’s nifty.
What’s your favorite souvenir you’ve gotten abroad? (Drunken stories from bars notwithstanding.)
Rachael Cullins is a twentysomething American girl living in Dakar, Senegal, with her husband and two dogs. She blogs about her adventures in Senegal and travels elsewhere in West Africa. She will reside in Dakar until summer 2013, when she and her family will move to another foreign post as part of her husband’s career with the U.S. government. In addition to West Africa, she has traveled to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Costa Rica and plans to continually add to that list.
