Eating in Senegal

Even though I can still probably count on my hands and toes the number of meals I've had in Senegal, I'll try to sum up what it's like. As a traveler, one of the first ways you experience the culture is through the food. I can tell you a bit what it's like to take a meal with my family, but from comparing with some of the other students, each family is different. For example, in our orientation we ate with our hands from a bowl, but so far in my family I haven't seen them eat strictly with their hands. Usually it's a combination of hand and utensil (most often a spoon). We always eat out of a large communal dish set in the middle and we eat sitting on the floor. Only the right hand is used around the bowl, which is a whole story in itself. With the idea being that the left hand is used for cleaning yourself after going to the bathroom (most people don't use toilet paper just a plastic pot filled with water).

Each person around the bowl has his or her own section. Usually the triangle area right in front of you. Since the plate it communal, it presents some difficulties, like how do you cut the choice meat in the middle of the plate or distribute the whole carrots. This is usually the job of the host. He/She will cut the pieces and distribute them in each section.

And unless it's breakfast, we don't drink with the meal. We drink either water or juice after everyone is finished. More traditional meals take three rounds of sweet strong tea afterwards. But my family only does that for special-occasion meals.

One of the nice things about eating on the floor is our table is moveable. So in my house we sometimes eat in the master bedroom, which is air conditioned, or sometimes out on the patio, but if it rains then we eat in the salon. It's a bit hard to digest your food in that position especially when my "maman" is constantly throwing food into my section urging me to eat more. This is apparently part of the Senegalese hospitality but it's really hard to refuse when you are actually full.

We eat a lot fish and rice and other meats that I'm not really sure I can identify. We don't eat much for vegetables unless it's one cooked carrot (that we all divide) or a side of greasy onions. But that's what fruit and mult-vitamins are for: supplementing my diet.

Sunday night was somewhat of a break in the routine. We ate millet and yogurt. Which I still haven't figured out. When I got to school Monday everyone was commenting about the "weird" dinner they had the night before with their family. My maman said we have it every Sunday. I'll have to ask her the significance.

Breakfast is the easiest meal and the most predictable. It's usually just baguette bread and a choice of Laughing Cow cheese/nutella/butter/jam.

I really enjoy taking meals with my family, and I enjoy eating communally out of the same bowl. It makes it feel like we're really sharing the meal together and it feels really special. Usually dinner lasts over the course of two or three hours. Mostly because we sit around awhile before the food is served (it takes a long time to prepare food here). Then quite often our neighbors come over just to visit. And the television is usually on though rarely is anyone really watching it unless there's a lull in conversation.

This was taken at the Baobab Center, a local cultural center, during our orientation.