#bayakh

A Peace Corps recruiter has asked me to share a story of an experience in Senegal thus far. Here’s what I decided to share: One of my most memorable moments in Senegal took place during pre-service training. PST in Senegal entails the first two months of training where volunteers spend days at a time between the Peace Corps training center in the city of Thiès and language & cultural immersion sites in surrounding villages. The village I was assigned to was a small town of about 8,000 people called Bayakh. In Bayakh, 7 other trainees and myself lived with a respective host family and were expected to learn from them and interact with them. Trainees also meet with a Peace Corps Language and Cultural Facilitator for 5 hours each day to learn the local language and teach you about the cultural norms of the Senegalese.

After the first few weeks of training, my language group and I decided to meet at our friend Stephanie's house in Bayakh for some additional Wolof studying prior to our first big test the next day. Myself and 3 other "Toubabs" (what white foreigners are commonly called) sat outside on a mat taking refugee under the shade of her host family's house which separated us from the heat of the sweltering Senegalese sun. 

In the midst of studying, we noticed a young man walk into the property -- he seemed especially eager to see meet us.

"Hello! How are you?" he shouted in English from the entrance of the home's compound. He approached us all and began shaking our hands.

"This is my neighbor," Stephanie explained, "he practices his English with me and he helps me with my Wolof."

Noticing our notebooks, books, and flashcards sprawled across the space we were studying, Stephanie's neighbor replied, "Oh! You are learning!"

"Yes," I said, "We are studying Wolof because we have an exam tomorrow."

"Ah, yes!" he exclaimed. Then he looked and pointed at each of us individually with a huge smile on his face and shouted, "Sexist! Sexist! Sexist! Sexist!"

My friends and I were all completely shocked and taken aback. We all looked at one another with wide eyes while laughing uncomfortably. Without words, I could see we were all thinking the same thing, 'What the HELL is this guy trying to say?!'