My Family

My family’s ethnicity is Ballant, and they originate from the Cassamance region of Senegal. They speak mostly Wolof at home, but they also speak a lot of Ballant, so it’s hard for me to understand them. We live in a Ballant neighborhood, and the Ballant ethnicity is often a lot calmer and more relaxed than the often high-strung Wolofs. My family is pre-dominatly female, and there aren’t that many kids (which is rare in Senegal) My family consists of:

Malamine Mossley-My dad. We call him Baba. He works for the Agricultural department. He is very kind and he loves to talk. He is very secretive and funny when he asks me to pay him for rent… he always takes me off to the side, and he whispers that he needs one or two months rent in advance.

Khady Biaye- My mom. We call her Na. She loves to participate in community events. She travels to another town every Sunday and sells frozen bissap juice and bon-bons (sort of like donuts) at the weekly market there. She is a very loud talker at my house, and it always sounds like she's yelling at family members.

Mama- One of my sisters that I haven’t met yet. She married a previous Peace Corps volunteer and now she lives somewhere in America (my family isn’t sure where in America she lives). She moved to America about 2 years ago, and she has a daughter.

Mari- My sister. She is currently living in Dakar, and studying law. She left Sokone shortly after I came here, so I don’t know her too well.

Sophia- My sister. I LOVE this girl! She is so patient and kind to me. She is probably the closest Senegalese “friend” that I have. She is very open-minded. She is 25 years old. Her husband lives in the Cassamance and works for the Club Med that is there. She has a 6 year old son named Oussman. She is super skinny, and she loves to sit and talk with me. She also loves it when I have guests over.

Oulay Maya- My sister. I love her as well. She is 21 years old, has a 4 year old son called GB, and an 8 month old daughter called Nazarine. I REALLY want to adopt her daughter, she is BEAUTIFUL!!! Her husband currently lives in a town called Joel, and she recently moved back to Sokone because she wants to try to get a divorce from her husband. Her father forced her to marry after she became pregnant the first time…

Anto- My only brother. He is super sweet. He is 19 years old, and already he owns 2 donkeys. He still goes to school, but when he has free time he transports people from one end of town to the other on his Moto. His sister in America sent him her old Ipod, and he LOVES it! He is always listening to music on it. His favorite music is Beyonce and Akon (fyi…Akon is Senegalese!)

Sally- My cousin. She is fantastic! She is always smiling and dancing. She often cooks for us, and she’s the one who does my laundry for me (I tried doing it on my own, but she might start doing it regularly now… she says that I’m going to ruin my clothes because I don’t know how to wash them properly by hand). She has a 3 year old son named Moustapha (we call him Tapha). She was married before, but her husband was in the military and died while fighting in the Sudan a year and a half ago.

Yay-Fatu- My sister. She’s about 13 years old. She is super energetic and fun. She loves to dance, and watch movies, and she’s always smiling. Sometimes she goes running with me when I need some exercise.

Mamiko- My sister. She is super quite, but really kind. She is somewhat tom-boyish. She likes to play handball in school. She’s about 15 years old.

Oulay- My youngest sister. She’s about 8 years old. She is also super quiet around me, but when she thinks I’m not paying attention to her she opens up.

There are also a few other people living in the house with us (they are not our immediate family, nor do they live there permanently)….. there is:

Mere- She is an elderly relative of ours that comes from the cassamance. I believe that she is my father’s aunt. She only speaks Ballant, so I never understand her, and she doesn’t understand me. We try to communicate to each other through hand gestures, but usually we just talk to each other in our respective languages. I hate when she sits next to me at meal time, because she always scoops up and eats all of the good sauce and I’m left with none! (But i feel bad getting annoyed with her... she is after all super old and skinny, and i'm able to buy more food if i need to...)

Mama- She is Mere’s granddaughter. She’s about 10 years old, and she came from the Cassamance with Mere (the older lady). Everyone in my family jokes that she’s going to be Anto’s wife (my brother). It’s funny though, because I really do think that they have a crush on each other, even though he’s 19 and she’s 10.

Amy Turrey- She’s about 19 years old and she is living with us during the school year because Sokone has a private school that she goes to (and her village is quite a ways away). She is a BIG girl, and wow can she dance! She is always smiling and dancing and laughing.

Senabou- She is about 19 as well, and she is another girl that lives with us only during the school year so that she can attend school.

Babacar- He’s about 20 years old, and he’s a sweetheart. He is another student that is staying with us. Upon several occasions he has confessed his dying love for me, so it can be awkward for me. He loves to work out and play soccer.