Happy Birthday Amerik!

Kedougou has an ice cream man...who knew?

 This year I celebrated the 4th of July in Kegougou, a region in the south east of Senegal with a couple of waterfalls, some modest hills and a lot more green than anywhere else in the country. About 100 volunteers descended on the regional house for a weekend of all-American fun. There was a pool party at a local hotel, bike trips to local waterfalls, horseshoes, beer and a good old fashioned pig roast. Nothing says American like a cold can of beer and a plate full of pork, two things extremely hard to come by in a muslim country. In honor of the occasion, I've compiled a short list of things about America that I didn't realize were so amazing until I spent a year in Senegal.

Two pigs in the ground, one for the grill

1. Anonymity- In a country as racially diverse as the United States it's pretty easy to blend in with the crowd, even in predominately ethnic neighborhoods. Its not uncommon to see a black person in Chinatown or a Mexican in Harlem and most people don't give it a second thought. As a white person living in Senegal, however, its impossible to remain anonymous. As soon as I step out my front door I stick out like a sore thumb. Even if I dress in traditional clothes, speak three local languages and suck dirty well water out of a plastic bag that I bought out the window of a public transport vehicle I will never be mistaken for Senegalese. I stick out like a sore thumb and from the moment I leave my village people shout Toubab ("white person") at me from all directions, small children cry at the sight of me and street children follow me around like a pack of wild dogs pinching my skin and throwing rocks.

2. Cleanliness is next to Godliness- Hand washing. Trash disposal. Sterile medical facilities. Food sanitation laws. After a year of watching kids poop next to our food bowl, grown men mine for gold up their nose next to me on the bus and raw sewage flowing freely through the streets of Kaolack, American's penchant for over-regulating, over-sanitizing and over-medicating doesn't seem so bad.

3. Punctuality- In America you call a meeting and people show up five minutes early. In Senegal you call a meeting and people show up two hours late. In America now means now. In Senegal now means any time from 2-10 hours later. In America public transport operates on a schedule. In Senegal public transport barely operates and you should expect to wait 2-5 hours for a car to fill up and leave.

Large hills

4. One price for everyone- I can't wait to go shopping in a country where the price of an item doesn't depend on the color of your skin, where its illegal to charge someone 4x the fair price for vegetables just because they're white, and where people don't exert a "toubab tax" on public transportation.

5. Racism is wrong- In Senegal, racism is a way of life. You could never get away with addressing someone as "white person" in America as if it was their name, or shouting "xonknop" (red ears, the Senegalese equivalent of nigger) at them from across the street. People don't throw rocks at people who look different, charge different prices for different races or force white people to take the worst seat on public transport. I have so much more respect for MLK jr, because after a year of almost constant harassment because of my race I don't know how much more I can take.

6. Things that work- Senegalese people break EVERYTHING. Give a child a stuffed animal and they will immediately start dismembering it. Wheels fall off of moving cars, huts collapse in the rain because they aren't maintained, the only ATM in the city remains broken for weeks, and massive power outages cause riots in the streets.

Termite Mound

7. Common courtesy- Americans can wait in an orderly line. If a pregnant woman or old lady gets on a bus young men will give up their seat. If someone spits on your foot while washing for Friday prayers they apologize profusely. People say "please," "excuse me," and "thank you" regularly. No one demands you give them money / a present / the shirt off your back. These things are AMAZING.

8. Work Ethic- The American Dream means working hard to improve your life. People respect hard work and most people don't feel good at the end of the day unless they've accomplished something. The Senegalese Dream is to sit around under a tree drinking tea until some NGO shows up and gives you something for free. People refuse to do any work that does not have an immediate pay-off...investing in your future is not a wise decision since it involves hard work without visible results.

9. Women's Rights- I can't wait to move back to a country where I don't get asked to become someone's third wife on a daily basis, where my male friends don't get asked to sell me to some gross old man, where I can sit in the front seat of a vehicle, wear pants and "do sports" without getting yelled at by some sexist old man. A country where I don't have to explain to people why I don't want to be married with three kids at 23 years old, where people don't constantly remind me that my biological clock is ticking and where my worth is not based solely on my marital status.

10. FOOD!- God bless the land of variety. Mexican, Chinese, Thai, German, Vietnamese, Japanese, Diners, Italian...the list goes on and on. In Senegal you can choose from one of 10 ethnic dishes, although they all contain rice, fish and oil so why even bother to choose. God bless the land of availability. Supermarkets in every city, convenience stores on every corner, farmers markets in every yuppie neighborhood, 24 hour drive throughs, grocery delivery services. In my village I have to walk 2k to the nearest boutique and if I don't get the vegetables I need on Tuesday market I don't eat them all week.

ANTS!