Wolof chez les Diallo

I am now settled into my new host family for the next two months. There are eighteen of them! Which, large as it seems, is not too unusual around here. They thought it was pretty funny when I told them I come from a family of six, and that's considered unusually huge in the U.S.A. I was only "Binta Faye" for those few days in my demystification village, and now I am "Fatou Diallo", until I end up with another (and this one I will finally get to keep!) Senegalese name in whatever place I end up. We break the fast now slightly differently: bread with butter, dates, and nescafé. The evenings thus far have been taken up with relaxing in the cooling air, chatting (or, in my case, listening to the still-incomprehensible conversation...in a few weeks hopefully I will be able to join in!) and greeting neighbors. At the moment, the womens basketball championship is on, so we have been watching that on T.V. in the heat of the afternoon. This morning I woke up at 5a.m. to eat a little, intending to try and fast today just to see what it is like. We ate a bowl-full of what is called "fundé". It is like a tapioca pudding made with balls of millet. I had some during demystification, but it was not quite as good as this, because it did not have the secret ingredient: lime juice! When you add lime juice it becomes irresisteable, and it is easy to understand how overindulgence could lead to a "jaay fundé" - big butt, which as I understand it is a positive attribute here, but still not something I aspire to! Incidentally, I didn't end up fasting today. They kept giving me food! I don't like to turn that down. As another side note, please excuse my spelling; we haven't started Wolof yet and so I have no real idea how to write it all out...plus this is a French keyboard and that further complicates things. Tomorrow, though, I start Wolof class! Already we learned a few key phrases and basic greetings in "survival Wolof", but now I'm in for the real thing. Not everyone is learning this language; there are several local ones being taught as well as French. Learning Wolof gives me no clue as to where I may be placed, since it is the most commonly spoken language in Senegal, so the suspense in mounting. While knowing French is very handy, and means I can converse with my host family pretty easily, as all the older members studied French in school, I am hoping it won't end up being a crutch I use when struggling with Wolof. Almost everyone here uses French to some extent, though Wolof is preferable; I'll just have to force myself outside of that comfort zone. From looking at my grueling schedule, I don't think I will have much free time during the next few weeks. We have something like six hours of language training a day! Still, I will try to write a few things when I have the chance. Also, I need to go shopping and especially have some shirts made! The ones I brought are just not suitable for this hot weather, and they tend to get dirtier than they would at home. Hopefully I can do all that this week, while studying, spending time with the family, and trying to stay sane in this new and very communal culture. There are so many wonderful things about Senegal, but none of them are really appreciable unless you get out of the American mindset. My host family is wonderful, and I hope I settle in and make some real friends among them soon. Only one thing annoys me about being here so far, and that is the word "toubab". Rough translation: "toubab" = "white person" = "person with money". Which I suppose is true (please refer to title of my blog) however HERE I don't want to be thought of as just another tourist. The adults don't say anything, they just occasionally stare, which I don't mind; it's the little kids who get very excited and will call out "Toubab! Toubab!" You can't get mad, really, because they are doing it out of innocence and interest in something new and unusual, and the word is not even an insult. It just gets old really fast. My new resolution, as of this afternoon, is to try and make a joke out of it. When a couple of kids called to me earlier today, I put a startled look on my face and said, "Toubab? Ou? Where? Je ne le voit pas!", while looking around in mock bewilderment. That got a giggle out of a couple of them, but only confused the others. Well, more on all that to come. I am headed home to the comparative luxury of my home for the next couple of months, to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow's Wolof lesson. Wish me bonne chance et bon courage!