So I’ve sat down many times and attempted to write this
guest entry, and writer’s block has struck me each time. Part of it is fear of
sounding boring, as I lack the entertaining and witty writing style that Anne
seems to naturally possess. (note from Anne: she’s being modest and is a great
writer!) Another part of it is a fear of not doing justice to my experience in
Senegal, or to the people there. And, perhaps, another part is nostalgia, for
each time I try to write about an experience there I want to recall every intricate
detail, and I hardly think Anne’s audience (you) would appreciate me going into
elaborate detail about my mosquito bites and the crazy olfactory experience I
had in Senegal. So, I have decided, at last, to write about my top 10
experiences or memories from my time with Anne in Senegal. This is by no means
a list of must-sees or must-dos, but instead is a list of what stands out to me
the most from my time visiting my friend of more than 20 years in the country
that has been and will be her home for at least another 15 months or so. As a quick
background before list, I am a second year law student in the States, and this
was my first trip to Africa. I have known Anne for almost 22 years, and
couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit her while she was in Senegal. (note from Anne: Becky is awesome)
10. People find out
your marital status at lightning speed: One of the first questions asked of
me upon entering Senegal (besides “Do you want some money? It’s good. Black
market.”) was “Are you married?” followed quickly with some variation of “Do
you want/need a husband?” At first I was taken aback, but after a while I just
expected it to come up in any conversation with a Senegalese person. Answer it
as you like, it doesn’t really matter. The only reason that this stands out to
me is that within 3 minutes of talking to someone in Senegal, they would know
my marital status, while it took me a month or two before I realized one of my
friends in law school was married and had been for 5 years. I’m not sure if
that says more about law school interactions and my attention to detail or more
about Senegal, but there you have it.
9. You better be
quick at simple math: Our primary form of transportation in Senegal was in
taxis. If you can’t calculate the exchange rate quickly in your head, you’ll
probably end up getting ripped off (a) because you’re a tourist and (b) because
you couldn’t figure out that you had been ripped off until it was too late.
People make fun of law school students for being bad at math, and as a whole,
it’s true, we suck at math. My time in Senegal reawakened that part of my brain
that hasn’t been accessed in a while, and it took me longer than I’d like to
admit to get used to doing quick arithmetic in my head. You’ll probably still
get charged more because you’re a tourist, but if you can catch the disparity
upfront you’re more likely to be able to negotiate them down to a lower price.
8. High school French
will only get you so far: I’d like to say that I was pretty fluent in
French. In fact, I was commended for my impeccable accent and pronunciation.
However, after not having spoken French for at least 4 years, and not studying
it for over 6, I found myself wondering if I actually remembered any French at
all. Part of it was actually forgetting my French, but another part was the
fact that African French is quite different from French French. The
pronunciation is different, the syntax can be different, and inflection as
well. Overall, I could get my point across, but I did get made fun of
(good-heartedly) for my pronunciation. Getting my point across in Senegal
became an exercise in my garbled French (or Franglish if I was really
struggling), hand gestures, and some attempts at charades that generally seemed
to garner more laughs than understanding.
7. Patience certainly
is a virtue: I live in New Orleans, where things happen at their own pace,
but Senegal certainly took this to a whole new level. All I can say is, go with
the flow, and you’ll be fine. Things will get done (usually) and worrying about
it isn’t going to get you anywhere. Sit back, grab a good book and a Fanta, and
enjoy the ride. Patience came in handy many times during our trip. If you get
impatient, you won’t enjoy yourself, and you’ll just be grumpy. No one likes a
grumpy person. Patience got me through a transportation strike and a sept-place
ride from hell (including 2 flat tires, 4 tire changes, and a grumpy driver).
If patience is not a virtue that you possess, Senegal will either break you completely
or force you to develop that much needed skill. It’s worth it. J
6. You will leave
Senegal with at least one new name: Before going to Anne’s village, she
told me that I would be given a Senegalese name, and she mentioned that it
would be probably one of four names that are quite common (Mariama, and I 3
others, which I can’t remember right now). However, when we were stuck in her
regional city of Tamba during the transportation strike, I was named by a
Pulaar woman selling fabric at the market. She named me Adamatoulai, after
herself and her daughter. Adamatoulai is the feminine version of Adama, which
is Senegal’s version of Adam (as in Adam and Eve). Once in Anne’s village, I was
named Mariama Savanne, after one of Anne’s host moms (and one of the four names
Anne said I would likely be given). Incidentally, Mariama recently gave birth,
and her child was named after Anne’s American mom, which is super sweet. I like
both my new names, and they’re a special thing I brought home with me that I
didn’t have to worry about fitting in my carry on luggage.
5. Stop complaining
about stupid things: Seriously. Your soy latte doesn’t have enough foam?
Get over it. Stop complaining. It doesn’t matter! Unless you have been to a developing
country, it can be easy to get caught up in the minute details of American
life, like coffee shops and parking spots and designer jeans. Heck, even if you
have been to a developing country it can still be easy to get caught up in
these kinds of things. But really, these things don’t matter, these things
won’t make you happy, and complaining about this stuff make you sound rather
silly. In Senegal, you’ll see people with nothing (granted, you’ll also see
people driving Range Rovers there) who are happy, and who aren’t worried about
what their butt looks like in their new $200 jeans.
4. Quiet does not
really exist in Senegal: The quietest place in Senegal was our hotel room
for the first couple days, and there you could still hear people yelling down
on the streets or hoof steps on the pavement. I slept like a baby there
compared to elsewhere in Senegal. I can’t tell if my restless sleep in Senegal
was due to jet-lag or to the noise, but I’d wager a bet it was a noise. When I
would point out the blood-curdling screech coming from somewhere near the Tamba
house, Anne would just say “What noise?” I guess the constant cacophony of sounds
is something you get used to, but I had a hard time blocking out the noise of
what sounded like a goat meeting a very unhappy (and prolonged) end. Even in
Anne’s village, which has no roads, electricity, or running water, there was
always something going on. In every place we visited, the call to prayer would
sound regularly, and in Tamba it seemed to be a competitive sport to see how
long (and how atonally) someone could yell on for.
3. Come hungry, leave
happy (unless you order Chinese food): Senegalese food is delicious. You
have to try Thieb, a national specialty, and you must try Yassa (poulet if you can). I wasn’t the biggest fan
of Thieb, except from one place in Tamba, but Yassa was delicious and I will be
hounding Anne for a recipe. Also, if you are the guest of a Senegalese family,
they will feed you until you pop. I have never been offered so much food in my
life, and I found myself in several food-induced stupors post-mealtime in
Senegal. Hamburgers in Senegal, while bearing only a slight resemblance to
American hamburgers, are delicious and possibly worse for you than any burger I
have ever encountered in America (but I’m sure there’s a heart-attack hamburger
somewhere in Texas). Same goes for Fatayias, which contain similar ingredients to
burgers, but with pastry instead of a bun. Delicious but super unhealthy.
Unfortunately, the worst meal I had in Senegal was also my last. Anne and I
ordered some Chinese food in Dakar before my 1:00AM flight, and what I got
looked like gumbo but tasted nothing like it. It was disappointing, but
overall, my culinary experience in Senegal was very good. I even brought back
some peanuts with me, which were meant to be gifts for people, but they never
made it out of my house. J
2. Wax fabric is the
only souvenir you need to bring home: Senegalese fabric is gorgeous. It is
vibrant, creative, and even quite strange (dismembered fingers featured in
quite a few designs). Go to the markets, buy yourself several yards of fabric,
and you’ll be a happy camper. You can get pagnes or pretty much anything you
can think of made for you, or you can just take the fabric back home with you. I
wish I had checked bags with me on my trip, because I easily could have taken a
whole suitcase of fabric back home with me. I want to decorate my house with
the fabric, put it on the walls, and make pillows and sheets and bathrobes made
out of it. It is just gorgeous and colorful and unlike anything you can find in
America. If you do manage to find something like it in American, it will
probably be many times more expensive. I wish I had brought back more fabric
with me, but I was limited to a carry-on bag, so I think I did pretty well for
myself.
1. Good friends are awesome:
I have been friends with Anne for pretty much my entire life. We’ve lived apart
for quite some time, but whenever I see her it is like no time has passed at
all. A friendship like this is something to cherish, and if it means visiting
them in some strange country, do it. I would visit Anne anywhere on Earth. I
would go to the Arctic just to hang out with her, and I’m not such a big fan of
being cold. If you have a friend who is living in some distant country, go
visit them! It’s a great chance to see your friend and it could likely be a
once in a lifetime opportunity to see a country where you actually have someone
who knows the ropes a little bit. Granted, I would have been perfectly happy
just hanging out with Anne in Senegal, but I also got to see a good deal of the
country, which for me was just the icing on the cake of getting to see my best
friend. If you have a friend in the Peace Corps, I would jump at the
opportunity to go visit them. You’ll get to meet other volunteers (and all the
volunteers I met were awesome) and you’ll get to see your friend’s life in that
country, which no matter how hard you try you cannot even begin to imagine
without having been there. Plus, it’s nice for you PCV friend to have someone
back home who knows exactly what she means when she says _______.
So, there you have it. This list is by no means exhaustive.
It doesn’t even mention our experience buying and transporting chickens to
Anne’s village, or the crazy smells we encountered, or the dirt and trash, or
the children, or the mindboggling transportation system, but it’s the best I
can do for now. Law school steals far too much of my attention, and has
currently inflicted me with some kind of shoulder ailment that makes typing
uncomfortable, but I am happy to write this instead of reading the 200 pages I
am supposed to. I haven’t ruled out writing another guest post, but I think
Anne will have the final say in that matter. J
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