Humor as Healer

2 June 2008

I took a short 2-day trip down south to Mbour where a small group of us got together to celebrate our friend Chris’ birthday. The trip should have been quite easy but was fraught with many a jafe jafe (problem). First of all, I woke up late Saturday morning. Way to start the day. My mom told me the previous night that she thought there were cars going to Mbour across from our house and that I could just catch one of them; so, I headed for the area where all the cars were. When I arrived I saw none of the cars I was looking for, instead, I saw numerous “Alhums” (essentially mini buses). I decided to try my luck anyway and began asking around to see which ones were going to Mbour. No one seemed to be able to answer my question until, just before I lost hope, some one informed me that I would need to go to Thies first then to Mbour. This seemed odd to me because Thies was in a completely different direction, but my lost patience made the choice for me. I hopped on the bus slightly frustrated and found a seat. It was practically empty, another slap to the face because this meant I would have to wait for it to fill up before we left. Time passed and the bus slowly filled but everything started getting on my nerves: the Jaaykats shoving their useless wares through my window in an attempt to get the toubab to buy, the begger boy who walked up and down the aisle of the bus singing at the top of his lungs his prayers whilst jingling change signaling his desire for more, the crying baby two seats behind. Finally the bus starts moving and I exhale deeply. While driving we stop numerous times and I get angry with myself for not going to a different garage to take a car straight to Mbour. I probably added an extra 2 hours to my travel time this way. Just as the stress starts to bubble up to my throat, something big and hairy falls into my lap. I jump thinking some rabid animal is about to attack when I realize what it is. The woman in front of me had begun dozing off and when her head bobbed backwards her wig flew off at me. I pick it up and awkwardly hand it back to her while her small child giggles. I can’t help but grin and I quickly realize how foolish all of my stresses had been. It’s all part of the experience.

 The weekend in Mbour was a lot of fun. We ate tons of food because Chris has been living in a village with no current or running water and he was wasting away! He said all he eats for dinner is fish bones because there never seems to be any meat on the fish. He shared this hilarious story about how one day he was really craving some real food so he biked for 2 hours into Mbour and went to a restaurant. He sat down and started eating the bread they served and noticed there were two containers of sauce on the table. He started putting the mustard on his bread and was freaking out because it was so good. Then he tried the other sauce, which he wasn’t quite sure what it was. He said it was INCREDIBLE, and he continued eating it feeling as if he should know what it was. He was about to ask the waiter when it dawned on him…….he had been eating Mayonnaise. His amazing sauce was Mayonnaise! We all laughed at him and told him how disgusting that was. Then we started talking about how all of our cravings have changed so much since living in Senegal. We all ended up giving the mayo a try AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! It’s strange the way Senegal changes you. 

Here is a pic of us LOVING the mayo

Lastly, I wanted to share some videos that I just got online. They are back from when I was living with my family in Thienba. The first is my brother Matar explaining to me how he makes Tea. The last video is of my Niece and Nephews singing a song to me. So cute.