In the US we have casual Fridays, here in Dakar its ‘Traditional Fridays’.
Friday is the Islamic holy day and Friday prayer is an important element of observance. In a country where 90% of the population practice Islam it makes sense, to me at least, that Friday is held in higher esteem than other days of the week.
I was told by my new co-workers that on Fridays most people will wear more traditional dress, instead of jeans and a t-shirt or suit and tie. This seems to be a practice of everyone at the Institut, both Muslims and the Christians.
After lunch around one o’clock I noticed a lot of people leaving the Institut grounds with prayer rugs. When asking about this I was told that workers are granted time off during the afternoon to attend Friday prayer at the Hospital’s mosque next door.
At 4 o’clock it was ‘Bon Weekend’ (I think it’s a universal thing to want to get out of work on time or early on Friday).
