A Month part 2: Learning a new culture

Culture time! There is so much I could say about living in and learning about a new culture.. Its a complicated subject I think. Oh well, here goes nothin.

I've thought about what to write and have decided to touch on the main things about the culture here that are different from American culture. Then I'll kind of say what ive learned by living amongst it, as an American of course.
In ASenegal there is city life and there is village life. The two are very, very different. Many city people have never been to a village and vise versa. I live in a village so I will be talking about village life.

So, some things to talk about.
Lets start with Islam! I am learning about the daily lives of muslims and how they see the world. Low and behold, they are just like normal people! A lot of them pray 5 times a day and many don't. They wear differet clothes. They have different holidays, like Kordite and Tabaski and a strange new year celebration. The way they celebrate their holidays in my village is different because they are poor and dont have electricity and stuff. What they basically do is braid eachothers hair, wear nice clothes and nice jewlery and nice shoes and walk about the village and great people. There is dancing too. African dancing that I know I will never be able to duplicate. I have some African clothes but I dont usually wear them. i like my clothes too much! So, basically living among muslims is great. They are nice. They have different values however and I find some of them to be great and some not so great but that is just my opinion.

I bet you guys are all wondering about polygamy. In the states its only crazy religious cults that have men with multiple wives, right?
Well that isnt so here. Having two wives is normal. Heck, having 3 or 4 is accepted, but more in villages than cities. Honestly though, that part of culture seems to be catching up to western views in cities. But once again, I live in a village. My sister's dad has four wives. Her mom is the first wife. When there are multile wives it is important to know which is the first; second third, etc. It counts and roles change. All my sis's dads' wives have between 5 and 8 kids. So, Dalanda has a ton of siblings, and pretty much all of them live in the village, or in a near by village. Many of the kids are grown and have families of their own. Dalanda's big brother has two wives, both of which are my good friends. Its normal here to have multiple wives, it just is. I pay very close attention to how it works and why it happens because it doesnt exist where I grew up. Here, amonsgt these people, it works. The culture here is different. Men and women have roles that have become rather concrete. The question of love in these marriages is the one that people usually ask about, and its also the most complicated. My answer is, it depends on each person. Cant really explain it here :p

The most important things in these relationships is a sense of traditional family values, and building a community that supports each other. Men have their roles and women have theirs. Oftentimes it is better for both the man and the woman if the man takes a second wife. When there are two wives they share the chores and help with the kids, etc. Men and women often dont spend much time with their spouses. They generally fall into their working roles during the day, and for that it is nice to have help.
Being general, the work roles of men and women are very different. I often see men sitting around doing nothing. I rarely or never see women doing that, except one friend because she has the day off work because her husbands second wife is doing the chores that day. Men do work, some have full time jobs even. But in my village, most have no work to do at all. They gather firewood and do house construction things. They make tea and sit down and chat. Its fun to chat with them.
The women work all the time. American eyes would see them as super athletes, made that way by being housewives the African way. Its hard work, let me tell ya.

Some great things about my village that Americans probably dont take into account. All of the villagers here own their own houses and their property. They made their houses with their bare hands out of sand and mudd and cow poop... Or cement if they can afford it; sometimes nice cinder block brick type things. The majority of the food that the poorest people eat is grown in their own fields. They dont rely on only money to eat. The food they buy makes it taste better, but they cuold eat nonetheless. This is not really a part of the American culture. In America people own houses, sure, but not until struggling for 30 something years of having their house own them. A house is a home no matter how big or small and the houses in my family are enough. Its cool to see that. I tried explaining to my sister how many americans were poor even though they have a house with electricity and running water and she just couldnt understand. The huts here are great. Its just like being in your bedroom. The livingroom and kitchen just happens to be outside which is fine because its warm outside.

Oh, weather. Its not culture but this is how it is. The seasons are basically the same as American seasons; you just add a million degrees. fall and winter are october through february. There is gradually gets "chilly" in the nights. It probably gets as low as 60 degrees. The days are still warm. Its the season of the year where you can be neight hot nor cold. Spring and summer is march through September. Its freaking hot, day and night. I havnet experienced the hottest part yet, which is aparently April. There is hot dry and a hot rainy season. Its painfully hot. People bath three times a day. In the rainy hot season nothing is ever dry, even the air.
So
March-May: Painfuly hot dry season
June-September: Hot rainy season
October-February: Cool dry season (heaven)

The cool dry season is the only time you dont constantly think about how uncomfortable you are, i.e. "man its hot," or "i cant stop sweating," or "if it gets any hotter i think i will die," etc. So, if you want to come here and be mildly comfortable, come in the cool dry season. If you want to come and see the green beautifulness come in the hot rainy season. If you want to feel the heat and see the brown, come in the hot dry.

im feeling finished with this blog. Next up is work.