The Senegal Scoop: An American in Senegal

Many college students look forward to the opportunity to study abroad during their junior year, hoping to experience the novelty of living in another country, interacting with new people, and soaking up an entirely new culture. Popular abroad destinations typically include France, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, and the UK. However, for students like Sarah Sagan, a less commonly chosen location was the most appealing. A current senior at Vanderbilt University and a Massachusetts native, Sarah spent the spring of her junior year studying abroad in Senegal. As a token of loyalty to our 18 year friendship, Sarah agreed to answer some of my questions regarding her experience as an American in Senegal. Below is a transcript of our correspondence:

Q: How long was your study abroad experience in Senegal, and where specifically were you living?
A: I studied abroad in Senegal from January 2011 until May 2011. I lived with a host family in Ouakam within the capital city of Dakar. Ouakam used to be a separate fishing village but has since been incorporated into Dakar proper. Within Ouakam, I lived in the district of Cité Assemblé with my host mom, Oumy, host brother Ibrahima, host cousin Malang, and our maid, Fatou. While I was in Senegal, Oumy was being courted to become a third wife of a man named Djiby. They were married in August 2011.

Q: Did you experience much culture shock during your stay? If so, what particularly surprised you or made the adjustment more difficult?
A: One of the bigger culture shocks I encountered was wrapping my head around this idea of living in a polygamous household. Oumy's first husband passed away, and she was the second wife in that marriage. She met Djiby while she was still mourning her first husband and only recently found it appropriate to seriously consider his courtship. In moments of honesty, Oumy would wonder to me if a single man could love two or three women. It was incredibly difficult for me to accept polygamy as a cultural practice and not just immediately judge the community that I was living in for being polygamous.
The majority of other culture shocks I experienced were food and hygiene related. For example, the Senegalese eat communally around the bowl and with their hands. However, they only use their right hand. You know the adage "Wipe with the left and shake with the right"? Well on that note the Senegalese culturally do not use toilet paper. Yes you can purchase tissue, so I did not spend a semester embracing all aspects of Senegalese culture. For bathing, I had to get used to the bucket shower. Fill up a bucket, dump it over your head, and repeat.

Q: As an American, did you feel welcome and accepted by the Senegalese community? Why or why not?

A: I did feel welcome and accepted by the Senegalese community, especially my neighborhood in Ouakam. Oumy is beloved by my neighborhood, so it certainly helped to have such a social host mom. Minus the male neighbor that consistently proposed marriage whenever I saw him in the road/sand ditch, I really felt properly welcomed by the community. I made an effort to dress modestly and respect the Muslim culture. This meant being discrete about things like alcohol and being silent during the Call to Prayer. In Senegal as a whole, I felt comfortable while traveling around the country. However, it does become aggravating to constantly be asked for money or being yelled at in Wolof. As an American traveling, those are cultural aspects to anticipate but are not really a deterrent.

Q: What were your favorite and least favorite parts about your study abroad experience in Senegal?

I absolutely loved my host family. Fatou was my favorite family member. (It is very common in Senegal to have maids and the only sign of status is how many maids a family can employ.) Fatou was always around to hang out with or practice Wolof. As Fatou did not know French, our friendship began through dancing and gestures. The more Wolof I learned, the more we could talk and get to know each other. She was the first to make fun of me and the first to know when something was wrong. I also loved living right next to the beach and meeting the beachfront ex-pat community there.

My least favorite part of study abroad, well...I mentioned the bathroom situation? Less than ideal, but hey, you learn to get over that. I would say that the frustration of being laughed at by a big group of family members for doing something super "Toubab-y" or "white person-y" got old after a bit. It was certainly hard to worry that you were always on the verge of committing a culturally faux-pas.

So, there you have it--one Senegal abroad experience in a nutshell. Sarah's cultural observations provide interesting insight into how the local customs, values, and traditions are perceived by visitors or "outsiders," so I thank Sarah for her time and effort!! She was also kind enough to provide some pictures from her stay with her own personal captions, posted below.

"The Aunties dancing at my host family's Tam-Tam"