Who's The Tubab?

Tubab [too.bab] the last syllable sometimes followed by [eh] making [too.bab.eh] N. 1. Foreigner 2. Person with light toned skin 3. White person 4. A person who is not a habitant of host country 5. Peace Corps Volunteers

Being the only tubab and also the only white person (although if I wear the right clothing I have once or twice passed for a Mauritanian-although Mauritanians are still considered tubabs) in my village, one of two Americans within a 4km radius and 1 of 5 within a 10km radius, I stick out as sorely as the lone carrot in a bowl full of ceeb (rice). And for those who don't yet know my name (any variation of Mariama), when I run into town and past the garage which is unfortunately teeming with cocky teenage and my age boys, walk through the market or visit with families in my village, there is always a resounding "Tubab!" that follows in my wake. Some, actually most people have no idea why I'm actually here so here are my thoughts on what's going through people's minds (or coming out of their mouths) concerning the matter of my reasons for being in the Djolof of West Africa. While some people-like my counterparts, family for the most part, school director, etc., already know the main reasons I'm here, part of my goal as a PCV is to share my goals and culture so the Senegalese have a better understanding of Americans and vice versa. So while for now, there is still need for some disillusioning, I hope I can change that over the next two years.

Ndiaga (my older brother and counterpart): Of course I know why she's here-she's going to plant trees in Thiamene and every village within 5km. She'll give us fruit trees (maybe an orchard Inchallah) and she's going to make our women's gardens flourish. Since she played with the Brazilian national team, she's going to whip our men's soccer team into shape and start a team for girls. And she's going to help us plant lots of Moringa trees which by the way have over 20 different vitamins in its leaves.

Abby, Alsane, Haddee (my older sisters): Sure, Sure, she's here for all of that, but most importantly she's here so we can make her as fat as possible so her family back home and all of America can see how great Senegal is. She's here to eat two lunches and dinners of rice and couscous and sometimes fish everyday and if she dares to leave the bowl before its all gone, we'll be sure she knows that she'll have no hope of getting fat if she doesn't eat until the bowl is done. The fatter the better :)

The Two Teenage Girls Who Attempted To Accost Me On My Run Through The Bush: Obviously she's here to hand out money. All tubabs are rich so why else would she be here. I don't think she understands wolof though since she sprinted away when we reached for her backpack.

Woman Who Owns The Beanstand In Dahra: Her hair is so long and curly and black like mine and I'm pretty sure she's here to either chop off all her hair to give to me as a seriche (present) or at the very least to give me her miracle shampoo (which she said she bought at the boutique on the corner...I don't believe her).

Every women age 8-92: Uh-Uh. She's here to be our entertainment. Everything she says in wolof is hilarious and she's supposed to dance for us on command so we can laugh some more. We don't understand why she'll only dance when we dance with her...that's no fun.

Little girls at the gamou (Muslim version of a revival) in Medina: Well, we think she's here to button all of our jean jackets when it starts to get cold. She's the best jean coat buttoner we've ever seen!

Every Single Person Who Sees Me On My Bike: Her bike is so "Nice" and she can ride to the market and home so much faster than our donkey and horse carts. I'm sure the next time I ask her where her bike is she's going to go getit and give it to me.

The Men At The Beanstand: She's an American tubab eh? Well even though I'm 83, and I'm 11, we're obviously prime marriage material. So if I tell her right off the bat, while she has a mouthful of beans, that I love her, she'll want to marry me, she'll take me to America, and she'll probably pay for my bean sandwich too.

Everyone Who Hears Me Speak English: O she's french. No? Must be Spanish. Italian? Portuguese? Aha American! Then clearly she's here to teach us English. If we ask her often enough, she'll definitely come to my house and teach me everything-even if she's still learning wolof and can't understand me that well.

And Going Off The Last One-My All Time Favorite: No, No, she's here to teach us a phrase or two. She doesn't have all the time in the world to sit down and teach us English. She is hear to plant trees remember. Here I'll teach you the few she's taught us so far: Director of the school and my tutor: "Dafa Ngelaw": It is windy: now how he translates it: "The wine is blowing". My older sister: after hearing me say "O My God" more than once and asking what it meant (I told her it meant yes! as in an exclamation): "Oi ma Gaww". My older brother: he wanted to know how to say "Maangiy xole ay gertes": I am shelling peanuts: how he pronounces it "I'm selling penis". *Now I better understand why I'm constantly laughed at for my wolof-I could be saying things as funny as 'I'm selling penis' and not even know it.

Although right now there are a lot of people who don't know who I am, where I come from and what I'm doing here, over the next two years I hope to get to know them better and hopefully all of us will learn something from eachother and even grow a little bit (so long as those 14 year old girls don't catch me by the backpack on my runs...thank God I run fast :)