Sharing

One thing that I really love about the Senegalese culture is how they share what they have. For example, if you give one person of the family an orange, instead of eating the entire orange himself he will break it apart and give everyone in the family a little piece of it. The same goes with cookies, bread, fruit and even beverages… everything is shared amongst everyone. It’s really quite beautiful… especially when you see a 5 year old child willingly give up candy/food/drink to another child, or even to an adult for that matter.
People here also share work it seems… for example, in my family, one girl is in charge of sweeping the floor after we eat, another is in charge of getting the spoons, another in charge of whipping the bissap (a condiment of sorts). As for the cooking, the ladies alternate days in which they cook… the same goes for doing laundry. I’m not sure how or when they organize themselves to do such tasks, but it seems to work out very logically.
People here are constantly asking me to give them my bicycle, or my sunglasses, or my jewelry, or money, or even my hair… and it can get so frustrating sometimes. What makes them think that I will give them, complete strangers, any of those things? But instead of getting upset with them, I tell them to give me their jewelry, or to give ME money… thinking I’m giving them a dose of their own medicine… but it always backfires because as they look at me somewhat quizzically, I look down and they are actually handing me their jewelry (or the last bits of change that they have in their pocket)! THAT is the Senegalese culture. It can drive one crazy, but it’s also so very beautiful.