The Country of Hospitality

   We have now been in Senegal for a week which means that we have experienced a weeks worth of hospitality. The country of Senegal is known for their hospitality and are extremely welcoming to everyone. We have had many different types of food since we have arrived here but the common theme is that you are served family style, which in Senegal means that there is one plate and enough spoons for everyone. A unique thing about Senegal is that people do not invite you to their house you invite yourself into their homes, even though in the United States people might think you are rude but here people like it and encourage it and will not turn you down if you show up at their front door. If the family does not have enough food the mother or some of the people who live there will go with out food so their guests have enough to eat. In Senegal there is a lot of poverty so when you are on the streets of Senegal you will see many children begging for food and at night they will go to people's houses and they will feed the children what they can. The people of Senegal truly want to help their community and think of others first. I feel like this is a good attitude to have because we can always learn from each other and help others because God has graciously given us more than we need, so we need to find ways to use our excess in order to help people. I think one of the reasons people are so open to giving is because of the high population of Muslims here and one of the pillars of Islam  is almsgiving or giving to the needy and people feel that when they give food to the poor they are fulfilling one of the pillars, which they are and they can see the direct impact that it has on the young children.
    A common dish here is fish with rice and vegtabales, because the capital of Senegal Dakar is surrounded by water the main food that people eat here is fish because it is very cheap compared to other animals here. Although in the United States we can go weeks without eating fish because it is expensive and the quality is not always good, the Senegalese people eat it almost everyday because it is easy for them to buy and because it is healthy for them. In this picture it is chicken and rice in an onion sauce that resembles a french onion soup but sweeter. When eating in Senegal you eat what is in your invisible triangle, there is usually a lot of rice and sauce and then the meat and vegetables are divided up between the people eating. Because the Senegalese people are so hospitable they will constantly try to get you to eat more because you come first in their house. They will continue to push food to your side as a way of being nice and sharing their food.
   In Senegal around 90-95 percent of people are Muslim and the remaining people Christian, but there is a good bond between the two religions here. In Senegal because it is very common for multiple generations to live together, there could be Christians and Muslims living together in harmony. The people of Senegal like the consistency so they work hard to keep it. We have visited both Christian and Muslim families in the short week that we have been here and have heard from almost all of them that there are both Muslims and Christians in there family and that they have been excepted. In most families they will share holidays even if it is a holiday that they do not celebrate. So if it is a Christian holiday they will invite the Muslims over and cook for them and if it is a Muslim holiday they will do the same for the Christians.

-Julia