Idleness

I have basically been on vacation since December 15th when my role with Rotary technically finished. Just this past week when I started working with 10,000 Girls did I start having a job again. I was kinda going crazy feeling like I didn't have a purpose. Waking up in the morning and knowing that I didn't have anything that I needed to accomplish that day. It drove me crazy! I had enough of a break and was ready to actually start doing something again. This is a good example of how I am obviously not Senegalese (not that a million other things such as skin color and language would've given it away). When I started working last week and this week, even when I only worked for two hours and I felt like I really should be doing more, my family told me that I work too much.

It doesn't help the situation that about 50% of the working-capable population here is unemployed. But, the Senegalese have an amazing way of sitting around and doing nothing. Often, it's sitting around and talking. There is a lot of that as well. And people say that this society is built on the art of chatting. Aside from that, there is also simply sitting around and doing nothing. At this moment, while I've been sitting here for the past hour or so typing away, my two host siblings have been sitting on the bed with me… doing nothing. Occasionally they'll say something to each other or to me, but overall they're just laying there and not even sleeping. I went to a party yesterday afternoon with Bethany for a woman who had just returned from Mecca. We arrived and after greeting everyone, we were ushered to sit under a tent with a bunch of other people. Hardly anyone was talking, and no one was doing anything else. There was music playing, but not dance music, in the background. And they simply sat there. They were all dressed in some of their nicest clothing, and sitting. One man took his cell phone out when Bethany and I arrived to take pictures of the two toubabs who were there and then he filmed a short video of everyone seated under the tent. After a little while we got up and sat down next to some girls who were a little older than us, who wanted to ask us questions and become our friends. Before we arrived, they weren't talking either. But at least that kept us entertained for awhile.

Even this morning, a guest came to our house and just sat down on the porch away from where everyone else was sitting. She sat there for at least a half hour and then got up and left. During the middle of that she spoke with my host mother/sister for about 2 minutes. I was introduced to her, and I exchanged greetings but she kept looking away.

I'm amazed at the ability of people here to be content with sitting and not being active. This is a country filled with people who have lots of patience, and very little ADD.