Dakar, Senegal. September 10th, 2006 to March 10th, 2007.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Food!


I think that how the Senegalese traditionally eat is very much indicative of their whole mode of living. It happens like this:


  • There is one large plate/bowl, at least 1.5 ft in diameter, containing a carb such as rice or couscous with a pile of meat and some vegetables in the middle. There is extra sauce on the side for people to be served, and sometimes we also have a baguette.

  • Everyone sits around the plate with clean hands and/or a spoon. The imaginary pie-shaped section in front of you is your space to eat from, with the meat and vegetables in the center being for everyone. BUT, the head woman of the house (which in my case is about 5-6 people) is in charge of taking that meat and vegetables and breaking it up and giving it to each of the others. Most of them eat with their hands in a way that is very graceful compared to how it was when I tried to do it. I am consistently given a spoon or fork and a towel to put on my lap.

  • When you are done, get up and leave, otherwise everyone will keep shoving more food toward you. Also DO NOT use your left hand. That is rude. Also don't take a second spoon or handful before you have finished swallowing the first. Pace yourself.

Needless to say, it's a very communal activity, altough I am rarely part of the conversation, since they primarily speak wolof and I don't know that much yet. Their concept of language is very different than ours; since there are at least 12 different languages in this small country, they are used to not understanding others sometimes, and it is not considered rude at all to speak a different language in front of others who don't. Right now that is rather hard, but especially because I live with little kids I am picking up more and more as time goes on.


I am getting used to being sweaty all the time and to having a much different concept of time. I can't seem to wrap my mind around what having been here for 2 weeks really means.


I hope you all are doing well. If you can't post a comment and want to, just email me. I don't get to use the internet that often, but often enough!


Peace,
Caitlin

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Toubab

hi everyone:

i only have 15 minutes left on this computer, so this will be quick. I have arrived safely and so far it has been very interesting. I have a great host family with a 16 month old named Fatou Marie and a 23 month old named Mustapha. There are a lot of women and every morning I am to say au revoir et bonjour to my 80 year old grandmere, who is very sweet. This culture is all about groups, and families are very close and hospitible to others. They always have leftovers just in case someone comes by and needs dinner. I need a whole 30 minutes to talk about how and what we eat, so Ill save that for later.

The other American girls and I (there are 9 of us from various schools) have started referring to ourselves as toubabs, the wolof word for white person. We hear that word wherever we go. It gets to be kind of nice when you can respond a simple phrase in wolof and say hi to everyone. I am trying to get over being hot and sticky, and I need to finish up for today... best wishes to all!!!