Also from our trip to M’Bour a group of about 6 of us ran into a man, who was very excited to meet Americans. The man told us when we went home we should bring baobab trees home with us. We laughed and told him that wouldn’t be possible. He explained, “oh no, it would work great! You just bring a few baobab seeds back to the United States, and then plant a few everywhere, and then you could have baobabs in America as well!” We then told him, it wasn’t that we didn’t want baobabs in the U.S., but it would be illegal to bring baobab seeds back to the U.S. and plant them. The man seemed very concerned about this, and thought we were lying to him, he insisted that it couldn’t be illegal! Unfortunately, it is. We tried to explain to him that it would be bad for the environment since baobabs trees don’t grow naturally in America. His only response was, “no, Obama is a good president, he wouldn’t make baobabs illegal.” As a result of that comment and his question, “can’t you just ask Obama when you get back where to plant them? he wouldn’t arrest you!” we had to hold in our laughter. After a few more back and forths and miscommunications all around, we decided to concede, and just agree to plant baobabs in America, he was elated, telling us how life in the U.S. would be much improved as a result, and how everyone would be happier because of it. He then thanked us for our time, and introduced himself to us, first with his name, and then his Wolof nickname by which all his friends refer to him. He had to explain it to us in French, and it roughly translates to, “large head, but with nothing in it.” A good fit.
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