My feet look like they've been grilled on a George Foreman (Thanks Megan)

Let me tell you a little bit about fudan. I had no idea what fudan was. I also do not know how to speak Wolof very well. I unknowingly agreed to partake in the process, probably assuming they were asking me if I wanted food, and was immediately attacked by mounds of Gambian women.

So fudan is basically henna tatooing of the feet and hands. Here they do it for women on special occassions, usually weddings. Or if you're just really grand. Had I known what fudan was, I would have probably tried to wash my feet beforehand. Perhaps given them a little soak. But I caught off guard with really gross-looking feet. But no one said anything about it, at least nothing I could understand. And I can't really understand a lot.

Phase 1 of the fudan process began at about 11:00 at night, and ended after 3:00 in the morning. Here they taped my feet in crazy designs, then they covered my feet and hand with the first round of goo. At 7:00 AM the next morning, I got up for round 2 of goo application. I had to go to class, which was completely across the village. So Sali lovingly pushed me in a wheelbarrow all the way to Haddy Sowe's house. I was only 45 minutes late.



After class, Tiny, my fellow Sare Samba trainee, gave me a piggy back ride back to my compound because he is glorious (and recently got a new puppy named Nancy, which is about as Afican sounding as Sally. Congratulations Tiny!)...

Tiny, obviously excited to help a friend in a time of need.


Wowee. Look at him go!


Then came round 3. They put a final goo on my feet and hands to turn the tatoo black, but this goo was different than all the other goos. It smelled like highly concentrated ammonia and made my skin tingle.... and then burn.... and then itch. I don't know exactly how healthy and safe this practice is. But I guess I'm fine??? and my feet were super cool looking.




My host mom, Yaa Je, helping with the process. I think it's important to mention that I adore this woman. She amazing, and also the first narcoleptic I've ever met. One night we were chatting and I swear mid-sentence, I looked over and she had fallen completely asleep. The first time it happened, it made me really sad because I thought she was just really bored. But when I asked my language instructor the next day about it, she told me that Yaa Je does that all the time. Narcolepsy is actually a pretty funny medical condition.


This is Ami who helped a lot with my fudan. She was the tape extraordinaire. She is also the leader of the village youth group. She is also fantastic and asked me to come and eat with her whenever I walked by her compound.


The final product.

It lasted for about 3 weeks, but now it's completely faded. Except for my fingernails and toenails, which are permanently tatooed until they grow out. Now it just looks like I have really bad greenish, barfy-looking foot fungus.

A random funny story. Last night I had to pee on the side of the road. I asked my friend Holly to look out for walking Gambians. She is a horrible friend, and a man walked right in front of me, completely mid-pee, and I couldn't stop peeing because you can't stop in the middle. And it was and interesting situation. And then I tried to apologize and explain myself, but he only spoke French.