I am going to head back to Dakar, and I feel like today is one of those days that I'm just annoyed with everything. Similar to those days where I look around and everything is fantastic, there are certain times when I travel and I feel fed up. No, I don't want to buy your painting. No, I don't want to visit your store. No, I'm not interested in whatever it is you are trying to sell me. In Dakar, there are a lot of unemployed people with nothing better to do than follow foreigners around the city, trying to get them to give you money. Sometimes, I'm tempted just to throw a dollar at them so that they'll leave me alone, but it's the principle of the matter--I don't want them to think that heckling people will earn rewards. On the streets of St. Louis there are bands of children wandering around. "Chinaaaaaaaaaa!!" They yell. And then, "Give me monnaaaaaaaay!!"
Some kids are actually cute and interested in learning more about me, since I suppose they don't see that many Asian people. Others however, can just be annoying. As I'm walking, one kid runs at me, slaps me on the arm like he'd hit a crocodile or some other dangerous creature, and runs away cackling like he's just completed a deadly mission. "China!" "Japan!" "Tubab!" Normally I ignore it, but some days I snap and I say, "You know there are a LOT of countries in Asia, and they're as different as Tanzania is from Senegal!"
It's hot here, and for the past two weeks I've been wearing long pants and covering my shoulders out of respect for local tradition--a local tradition that is fundamentally unfair. I've started arguing with the men who try to convince me that polygamy is a good thing. "How would you feel if you had to eat bread for the same day, the rest of your life?" One man asks me. "A man must have multiple woman, one cannot have only one."
"I agree," I say, "It would be very boring to eat only bread all the time. That's why women should have multiple husbands." If you're going to be a polygamous culture, at least be fair.
Of course, they're all horrified when I say that, and start muttering stuff in their native language. "No no," one says, "women don't want that. A woman should only have sex with her [one] husband."
Well fuck you and your sexist traditions. It's too hot here for pants so I'm wearing my shorts. Be offended!
Granted, I'm feeling braver because I know my male Senegalese friend will be accompanying me today since we are going to Dakar together. People leave you alone when you are walking with a man, because apparently, that woman has already been claimed.
Some kids are actually cute and interested in learning more about me, since I suppose they don't see that many Asian people. Others however, can just be annoying. As I'm walking, one kid runs at me, slaps me on the arm like he'd hit a crocodile or some other dangerous creature, and runs away cackling like he's just completed a deadly mission. "China!" "Japan!" "Tubab!" Normally I ignore it, but some days I snap and I say, "You know there are a LOT of countries in Asia, and they're as different as Tanzania is from Senegal!"
It's hot here, and for the past two weeks I've been wearing long pants and covering my shoulders out of respect for local tradition--a local tradition that is fundamentally unfair. I've started arguing with the men who try to convince me that polygamy is a good thing. "How would you feel if you had to eat bread for the same day, the rest of your life?" One man asks me. "A man must have multiple woman, one cannot have only one."
"I agree," I say, "It would be very boring to eat only bread all the time. That's why women should have multiple husbands." If you're going to be a polygamous culture, at least be fair.
Of course, they're all horrified when I say that, and start muttering stuff in their native language. "No no," one says, "women don't want that. A woman should only have sex with her [one] husband."
Well fuck you and your sexist traditions. It's too hot here for pants so I'm wearing my shorts. Be offended!
Granted, I'm feeling braver because I know my male Senegalese friend will be accompanying me today since we are going to Dakar together. People leave you alone when you are walking with a man, because apparently, that woman has already been claimed.
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