Oh, Senegal

There is one thing here in Senegal that I just can't seem to get used to… it's socially acceptable to pick your nose. Mid-conversation with a Senegalese person or while one of my professors is explaining something to me in class, they simply go right ahead and pick their nose without breaking eye contact. This occurs on a daily basis, multiple times a day, but each time someone does it while talking to me it takes every ounce of my self-control to keep myself from reacting to it. People use Kleenexes when they have a runny nose or a bad cold, but for your everyday situations they just blatantly pick their noses. It is definitely something that I won't miss when I return to the states. It's particularly difficult to see someone do that and then seconds or minutes later, shake someone's hand.

Another thing… bras are not a necessity here. Most women and girls don't wear them. If they're dressed up to go out at night or they are girls around my age who are wearing western clothes, they're usually wearing a bra. Otherwise, bras are more of a rarity. Around the house, this goes without saying. When it's very hot, it's not unusual for my host mother to be without a shirt on in the house, or at the very least only wearing a bra on top. In the streets, it is not unheard of for a woman to be showing a lot of cleavage or an entire breast. It's not the norm, but it’s not unheard of. More often, those showing the former are younger women about my age and those showing the latter are older women whose clothing falls loosely on them. It is common for the shirts and tops of outfits to fall off one shoulder, no matter what the age of the woman/girl. This society does not have a problem with women showing "skin" from the waist up… but the area between the knee and the waist must be covered at all times unless at the beach.