Ce N’est Pas Comme ca en Amérique (as stolen from my kick-ass replacement's blog)

I must preface, I didn't write this; my awesome replacement Katy did and it's avail on the link above. I just loved it and had to repost it. Katy- Hope you don't mind; you're spot on with all of these observations.

So this blog is dedicated to a list of Senegal-specific things/characteristics, and perhaps other 3rd world countries, that myself and a my neighbor volunteer put together. These are attributes that one would most likely never encounter in the great land of America aka a part of my new life. Enjoy...


- Men sporting jelly shoes (oh yes, we remember these, those clear plastic shoes we all wore in middle school)
- Motor oil as a burn antiseptic

- Africa does weird things to your skin: rashes, blister beetle sores, bacterial sores that prevent walking, etc.

- Spitting, picking your nose, grabbing your crotch anytime, anywhere, and in front of whomever...literally all the time

- Spaghetti/macaroni on bread with mayonnaise, and (if you choose) beans as well

- Spaghetti/macaroni sprinkled on rice (this is fancy food)

- Liberal use of dried fish in literally almost every meal

- Donkey races with small child drivers

- Eating every meal with your hands (right hand only, left hand reserved for other things, you can only guess)

- Liberal use of insults to any and everyone, people you don't know are not exempt from the insult hurling; they actually seem to be favored targets

- Small children can apparently do anything big children can do: shopping, driving charettes, any general task that an young/adult should do but feels they don’t need to because they can send a small child

- Bird slaying by slingshot followed by a bbq

- In Senegal it takes 5 seconds to fall in love with a white girl: see, speak, love. "I have always wanted a white wife".

- Every baby is available for the taking if you are going to America, or will be going to America at some point in the future

- Men squat to pee. Why? That’s one of the beauties of being a man, you don’t have to squat.

- Men holding hands and being generally physically affectionate with one another

- Boobs everywhere….everywhere, and of all ages…yuck

- Animals roam everywhere, the capital city highway included

- Fear of cats and dogs by at least 85% of the population

- Saying hello/greeting can take a solid 3 minutes, with the same questions being asked repeatedly (and it’s rude if you don’t greet so we are forced to participate)

- You can buy anything, in any amount (1 cigarette, ¼ Nescafe, 1 tbs sugar)….not for individual sale not applicable in this country

- You can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and its completely acceptable

- Falling stars every night

- Anyone will pick you up on the side of the road if you need a ride (charette, car, 18-wheeler) and it’s common Peace Corps volunteer behavior

- Laying outside under the stars with your whole family every night

- Napping all afternoon because that’s what you do in the afternoon

- Hissing is a completely acceptable way to get someone’s attention

- Eating all parts of an animal (eyes, insides, head, etc.)…ew