Eating with hands

Hello friends and family!

Today was a beautiful day in Dakar. We had another Wolof lesson this morning- it was difficult. We learned the full set of conjugations for "to be" and their respective pronouns and object whatevers.. learning this stuff in English wasn't easy, and it wasn't easy for French either, at least for me, it takes awhile for this kind of stuff to sink in. The other kids didn't seem to find it so difficult. Being the oldest of the bunch, it reminded me of my community college days when I would get irritated with the older "returning student" who asked too many questions, except that this time I was the older student! Hah! Karma....

After our Wolof session, we had lunch, Senegalese style! The dish is called, Cebu Jen, and I believe it is the national dish. It consists of a huge communal bowl of rice, with a whole cooked fish in the center surrounded by various vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, cabbage). It's communal because everyone sits around it (on the floor) and eats with their right hand. There are a few rules to this: You must eat with the right hand only (there are superstitions about using the left hand), you must wait for the host to start, you must not go for the food in the center unless the host encourages it, you wait for the host to distribute bits of the fish and veggies to you, and you must stay within your little piece of the pie so to speak (that is, you don't go grabbin' food from areas not directly in front of you- this is like going into someone else's space). To eat this way, you grab a handful of rice and other goodies (fish and veggies), and you squeeze it together in your hand to make a ball (like making cookies), and then you can eat it. This is the traditional way of eating Cebu Jen, but many families do use utensils. It's fun, though. And, when you're done, it's considered rude if you don't lick every bit of rice off of your hand. So there you go- Senegalese style. And, just to be clear, I DID EAT THE FISH! AND, IT WAS YUMMY!

After lunch, we had a fantastic cultural values session, in which we learned about various cultural norms (do's and don'ts), but also more interesting things like cultural superstitions and concepts related to humility, group harmony and cohesiveness, family, hospitality, etc. I found this very helpful for my research, too. Specifically, one of the phrases we learned was, "Those who are patient will smile" or something very close to this; the idea here being that group harmony overrides individual desires. I think this will be important when thinking about conflict between two people- for example, when someone does harm to another person or does something repeatedly to irritate them, the other person will probably show a higher threshold (compared to Americans) before confronting the harm-doer. But, this isn't even all true, because people here don't confront one another directly when conflict arises. Rather, they might use other family members as mediators, or friends even, who will then go to the other person and express their unhappiness with the situation. This is considered more respectful and dignified to do it this way. That's just a bit of what I'm thinking about right now.. I can share more later when it develops.

After the cultural values session, we walked home, rested, and had dinner again by our fabulous cook, Seda (I thought it was Sera, but it's Seda). She made some kind of beef roast with peas and potatoes. It was delicious. When we asked her about her beautiful dress, she told us that she has a friend who made it for her, and that she could have her make us clothes, too. And of course, this would be for a reasonable price, compared to tailor-made clothes in the US. Tomorrow, we will take a look at fabrics when we go to downtown Dakar. There are several markets there where they sell all kinds of things, including fabric. I can't wait! Finally, some shopping!!!!!

Sunday we've made plans to drive up to Lac Rose (the Rose Lake). It's name reflects the fact that it has a pink shimmer to it (apparently because of the high concentration of certain minerals). It's about an hours drive out of Dakar. We will also go to a very famous church service where the choir sings in French and Wolof. They sell cd's of their music- I'll pick one up. It's supposed to be delightful.

That's all I have for today. I have been trying to upload photos and videos to my blog, but I'm having some difficulties, so bare with me. Wish you well, and keep the comments/questions coming!

love,
Ryan