Qu'est-ce elle s'appelle, sa pere?
Family is such a big deal in Senegal. You always hear stuff like that when studying culture, but the impact is so much greater than I anticipated. The other day my sisters asked me if I knew Justin Beiber and then asked if I knew his parents' names and where he lives. Many little questions like that regarding family strike me. There are so many greetings, too. The Senegalese greet each other constantly as a sign of respect. It shows that people are paying attention to each other. At the same time, they don't say all too much in the greetings. They may ask 'how's your family' (of course), or more specifically 'how's your mom?,' but the scripted response is 'they're there.' They may ask 'how's the heat?' and the scripted response is 'it's hot.' Because, of course, it's damn hot. But then they may also greet each other by simply remarking on what they see someone doing 'you're sitting?' 'yes, I'm sitting.' And then sometimes it seems downright nosey 'where are you going?' to which you must tell everyone on the street where you are going.
Sangu cinq fois par jour... vent fois par jour
The joking culture here is something that I have yet to acclimate to, which is a shame because it's so prevalent. I have a hard time discerning when they are joking, for one. It can often seem rude to me or just short. Like, my sister, Adja, tells me sometimes if you don't do X I'm not going to talk to you. They are always teasing me about what I do which is, I think, a big contributing body to my most frequent dream: I'm trying to sleep in my bed and my Senegalese family comes in to tell me I'm living my life improperly. In the most recent version of the dream, they were so upset with me that they called the Peace Corps to come give me a talking to. Partially, it's true. They tell me that I have to shower more and keep my room clean and do my homework and all the stuff I already do/know I should. Then, on the other hand, they tell me I am very generous and kind and polite. Basically, I'm getting some mixed messages, but overall I'm just rolling with the punches.
Noo sant?
Another part of the joking culture and family ties all rolled into one is the fact that different family names have different joking counterparts in Senegal. I guess my name, Kandji's joking cousin is Camera. If I meet a Camera, they will tell me I like to eat or I like to eat rice and I have to say 'no I don't' etc. They really really get a kick out of these repeated jokes. They claim it is the reason Senegal is a peaceful country. Whatever works, right? I just hope I start to get it soon.
Troll Toll
Our work in the field has been slow. We have had to do two days work twice because of security reasons. Yesterday, though, we got the fence in and I'm so proud of us. Our garden is beautiful. We won't be around to see it's produce, but we did what we were supposed to.
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