The Fam

I moved in with my host family a little over a week ago, and what an experience it has proven to be thus far! To start out with, I have a host mother, sister, and brother, for sure, and then there are about 8 other people that are at the house pretty often, but I don’t know who they are, if they live there, or what… But I will start by describing what I know, more details will follow on who else is in my family. My host mom is welcoming and warm, but still very much a powerful matriarch. Everyone calls her Mère Tall (my host family’s last name is Tall, and they are all coincidentally lanky). Mere Tall is constantly yelling at me for not eating enough, even though I am pretty sure I eat just as much, if not more, than everyone else in the house.

My older brother is Khadim and he is 23. Although he is observing Ramadan this month, he is continually talking about wanting to go out to a club or a bar, and how he can’t wait until Ramadan is over! He is fun to hang out with, even though we are pretty much completely different. I have been super tired here, since I get up for class every morning at 7 (definitely NOT a natural occurrence) so I go to bed by 11 or midnight, while Khadim will stay up until about 5 or 6 am every night. I haven’t exactly figured out when he sleeps or what he does yet. Saturday night he was on my case for being lame and sleeping so much, so I decided to hang out with him. Although he can’t go out since it is still Ramadan, we walked around the neighborhood, I got to meet some of his friends, and then we went back to the house to watch some movie(s). A movie was on tv, I have no idea what it is called, but Jessica Alba was in it, and it was dubbed in French so I understood most of what happened. We ordered a pizza around 1:30, and It was a delicious reminder of home. It wasn’t exactly what I had eaten before; the pizza came with mayonnaise and ketchup on the side, which Khadim put on his pieces, and told me to do the same. I admit, I was pleasantly surprised, but it probably won’t be a habit I repeat often. The movie finished at about 3:30, at which point I was absolutely exhausted and ready for sleep. I told my brother goodnight and I would see him tomorrow, but he thought I was joking. He was planning on watching another movie before going to bed; I am not sure how that sleep cycle will work out with morning classes all semester.


My younger sister is named Mbayang, and is 13, she is very sweet, but quiet, and it is harder than I thought to figure out what to talk to a thirteen year old about. Sometimes we have great conversations or be having fun, but she can keep them going for much longer than I thought would be necessary. Wow that sounds incredibly rude, and I absolutely love hanging out with her, so here’s an example: she had come with me to buy some notebooks for school, and when we got back to the house’s entryway she climbed onto one of the three motorcycles sitting there, and pretended to drive it, making plenty of sound effects and movements, which I agreed was fun, funny, cute, and many other positive things, so I laughed with her, and played along, but Mbayang didn’t stop for a good twenty minutes. It got to the point when I didn’t really know how to react, or what to do, so I just walked upstairs to my room after a while, but she wasn’t fazed and just kept on driving. Mbayang is very lovable, and fun to have around, we talked about boys the other day and she now wants to find me a Senegalese boyfriend (and/or husband), this probably won’t end well, and I understood part of why in our “Survival Wolof” course during orientation we learned how to say “I already have a husband” a phrase that will be necessary.


I already have a long list of misunderstandings and cultural gaps, and so will only share a few. I have pictures of my room below (before I unpacked) and you can see how they fit the room which I was explained would have “an armoire or a closet, and a desk for school work” I am just happy I have a fan! Also, I was asked by my sister almost as soon as I arrived, “so, are you from Washington or Missouri?” Answering, that I was from neither, but I was from Connecticut, she insisted, “yes, but is that in Washington or Missouri?” You could say my map of the United States has been plenty useful already. And finally, I learned my name yesterday! After several days of hearing a word I didn’t know repeated over and over. I kept wondering what it could mean, and what they were constantly chatting about. Then, I noticed that after using the word they would sometimes change to French to talk to me. Connecting clues, I found out that it is the Senegalese name my family gave me, but didn’t tell me about, I still don’t know if this was on purpose, and they are telling secrets/mocking me, or if they thought I knew my name wasn’t Sarah but actually Mamdiara (although I am still not sure exactly how it is spelled or pronounced). Time will tell, hopefully.

My bed and armoire (If you can see, my pillowcase is Tinkerbell) 

My desk, disney curtains and window.