(Thanks to Colleen, one of the other girls in my program, for the title. By the way, if you want to have a quick and amazing summary of Dakar, go to this entry in her blog.)
I just wanted to talk briefly about something very cultural in this country. As indicated in the title, it will be the discussion of toilet matters. Specifically, the use of toilet paper is something which is very Western. In Senegal, people use a combination of 1) their left hand [which is, culturally, why you never eat or give gifts with your left hand. poor left-handed Colleen must become ambidextrous] and 2) a bucket of water, in order to clean their buttocks.
For this reason, going to the bathroom is always an adventure. Every time, I must remember to bring my toilet paper with me, or I will be stuck dealing with the African tradition. Frankly, it's an adventure unto itself, and may be one of the leading causes of culture shock. It's very interesting to me that this hygienic tradition has led to the cultural tradition of never doing important things with your left hand.
So, I thought you might be interested to hear how I'm dealing with culture shock, in this as well as other issues. The answer is... quite well, actually. As long as I keep my toilet paper handy.
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hah! ha! ...ha...[!]. Wait until you here the small collection of puns I've gathered in your interminable absence from my life. You're probably forgetting me already in the whirlwind of your culture shock and are wondering who's life you're noticeably absent from. jk, I have faith in your impeccable memory -- how else could you blog like this?
ReplyDeleteThat's gross, but if you think about it, paper isn't that effective of a barrier unless you get a good wad going...this is grossing me out, so I'm going to stop. Does everyone share the bucket of water?
Anything else that is noticeably shocking, besides losing your right-of-way as a pedestrian? I'm fascinated.
I laughed pretty hard when you started talking about toilet paper techniques... thanks for that. I'm really glad you know these things.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think you're the one that's forgetting me. Or maybe neither of us is forgetting the other one and we're both just paranoid. I miss you! I don't want you to forget me! You need to have a ritual "remembering Claire" day every week so that you never forget me.
As far as shocking things... I guess one of the more shocking ones is how people treat women here. They haven't really reached the 70's yet (relative to America's history), so feminism is still... not very rampant. If you want, I can make a more detailed entry about my observations on that.