Senegal- The weather's hot but the times are cool: My Host Family

So, this is another entry that could last forever, so I’m going to condense quite a bit. I’ll start with the first day I moved in and then just describe a few interesting points.

Okay, so it was the second day we were here, and we were supposed to move to our host families that night. I, of course, was nervous as a little beaver because I had NO idea what I was in for. With much difficulty, we got all my luggage into the cab and drove to my house. We got there and our housing coordinator, Aby, took me in to introduce me to the family.

Now, their house has an outer courtyard thing and then a small tunnel-like covered pathway that leads to their main courtyard. So, I’m walking through this tunnely thing, and the first thing I see is a goat’s head sticking out up ahead. It turned towards me and let out a huge, “BAAAA!” I almost ran away I was so frightened. Aby noticed and sort of giggled to herself.

So, anyway, after my extreme startlement (which I’m pretty sure isn’t a word), we entered the courtyard and this tall, slim woman came to greet us--- my host mother. The minute Aby saw her they both burst into greeting each other, asking about the family, how business is going, etc. So I just sat and tried to look pleasant. After a minute or so, my host mother turned to me and introduced herself, offering me her left wrist because every other appendage was busy. We bumped wrists, and I tried to tell her my name in Wolof. As is common here, there was some miscommunication about what the hell my name actually is and how to pronounce it. I introduced myself as “Errrik” using an American “r” sound. That clearly wasn’t working, so I just said, “Call me Erique” with more of a French “r.” Okay, one hurdle crossed.

Then I got my first glimpse of the layout of the house. Their house is a traditional African set-up: a fairly large open courtyard made of concrete with a big tree in the middle and several small rooms attached. It is common in Senegalese culture to not show guests around the house or smother them too much. They are simply expected to figure things out and eventually integrate into household life. This was quite different for me because I am used to entertaining my guests and, similarly, being entertained when I visit people. Definitely not the case here. The family makes sure to give me my space and rarely brings me into their conversations or household schedule. It is up to me, the guest to assert themselves and join in the fun. It’s certainly a different experience than in the United States but no less interesting or valuable. I’m really working on asserting myself --- asking questions, entering conversations and games, and generally making myself visible. It happens only slowly, but I’m getting there.

Now, about my host family. It consists of the mother and father, and their 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl, ranging from 9-19 years old. The oldest boy recently left for France (so we slayed a goat for him), so now there’s only 3. We also started with 4 foreigners in the house: me, 3 other Americans, and 1 Italian, but the Italian girl is now gone. It makes for quite the full house but quite a lot of fun. My host brothers are pretty silly, and my host sister is sassy and awesome. Also, her French is impeccable, which I find very impressive. We also have another family relation living with us, who helps out the mother with cooking and cleaning.

Okay, well, that’s enough for now, but I’m sure I’ll be writing more about my host family soon. And now, a few pics. I don't have any pictures of my family members yet, but those will be coming soon.