Arrival & An Animal sacrifice

I arrived in Senegal yesterday morning, a bit jet-lagged but excited for the beginning of this experience. I am staying very close to CRESP (the center of the Living Routes program) with Ndege Saml and Macoumba Ndoye, and their three children. I was initially a little nervous having never done a homestay before, but they have been very welcoming and I am already feeling more comfortable. The have even given me a Senegalese name - Daba, after my host mother's sister (although sometimes they call me Fatu as well, not sure why.)

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The other students, both the Americans and the Senegalese, are also extremely friendly, and thus far my french skills have served me fine. This morning I had a long discussion with Djimera, one of my new Senegalese friends, about the role of spirits ("djinns") in Islam. It was very enlightening, and quite different from anything I am familiar with. There is a belief in Islam (as I understand it at this moment in time) that G-d created both men and spirits, and that these spirits are able to influence events in the human world.
The conversation with Djim helped prepare me for what we saw next - the sacrifice of a goat to a local spirit. The spirit had appeared to three people in dreams, requesting the sacrifice. Before we saw the actual slaughter of the animal, we were told a story about a local woman who had a spirit appear to her in dreams, requesting a sacrifice. She refused repeatedly, causing (it is believed) 3 successive miscarriages and her paralyzation, but she was eventually convinced to go through with the sacrifice and was cured. Although this story helped illuminate the belief system behind the practice of animal sacrifice, I admit that it was hard for me to watch the death of the designated two goats. There is definitely a difference for me between understanding why a certain practice is undertaken and fully reconciling myself to the actualities of that practice.
We haven't begun classes yet, but are still in the stage of cultural orientation. Some of the American students and I are going to explore Yoff for a bit tonight to help ourselves get further situated. Will write more soon as things continue to unfold, Deb.