I've got less than a year left and I've realized I've never fully discussed my local language. So here it is! The low down on Pulaar.
The language we speak down south is broadly know as "Pulaar" but can be broken into several different types, and in Senegal we have Fulakunda and Pullofuta. They're only slightly different, and for the native speaker only slightly different; it's like an American speaking to a Brit or an Australian, slightly different yet they can mostly understand each other.
I learned Fulakunda during training, as the majority of Pulaars in Kolda are Fulakundas. What a lovely surprise it was to find out that my immediate village would not be Fulakunda, but a mixture of Pullofutas, Bambarans, and Mandes. The good news is that everyone speaks Pulaar, the bad news for 2013 Kim was that it was Pullofuta Pulaar. It was a bit of an adjustment at first, but that's exactly what those first couple months were for, and once my village realized that I knew more Fulakunda words than Pullofuta words, they'd either switch to Fulakunda when speaking to me or yell the Pullofuta word at me until my brain remembered it. Both techniques worked.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, greetings are especially important in all Senegalese cultures. The first thing you do when you see a person is greet them, and exchange that can last for 2-100 back and forths. Some Westerners find this annoying, but I find it wonderful. What an easy way to make people happy! And the best part is you can repeat the same greeting and even throw in some"Ca va?" and you're golden.
Here is a typical morning exchange with a neighbor:
Me: Walle-jam! (Good morning, or literally, sleep in peace)
Them: Jam toon! Tana finani? (Peace only! Good morning, or literally, you woke up?)
Me: Jam toon! Hono bimbi o? (Peace only! How's your morning?)
Them: Jam toon! Hono bandu ma? (Peace only! How's your body?)
Me: Jam toon! (Peace only)
Now this conversation can go a lot of different ways. My favorite way it can go is just pointing out the obvious. Senegalese people love to point out this obvious. This is another cultural quirk that some people find annoying and I really love. Again, less work for me during a conversation. I can be doing anything, reading, pulling water, sitting, etc, and someone will inevitably ask. "Oh, you're reading?" "Yes, I'm reading." "Oh, you're eating?" "Yes, I'm eating." "Oh, you're pulling water?" "No, I carry full buckets of water around on my head for exercise." "Oh Aissatou, you're so funny!"
I know.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Islam in Senegal and Ramadan
In an overly simplistic summary, 95% of the Senegalese population became Muslim over hundreds of years of cultural exchange with the North Africans. Over the years Islam developed from a religion of merchants, to a religion of the upper class, to the religion of the masses. Muslims resisted conversion to Christianity and even used Islam as a rallying point against colonization.
As mentioned before, the majority of Senegalese are Muslims, but that does not mean they are all the same type of Muslims. Just as Christians are broken into Catholics and Lutherans, Episcopalians and Presbyterians, the Muslims of Senegal have options between sects, or brotherhoods. These are distinct branches of Sufi Islam, which is based in mysticism and different from the Sunni and Shi'ite branches that are more prevalent in the Middle East.
One of the two largest of the brotherhoods are the Tidians (Ti-jaan). This brotherhood was founded by an Algerian in the 18th century and is considered an Islam for the poor, as it was founded in rebuttal to more conservative brotherhoods. It is now the largest Sufi brotherhood in West Africa, and in Senegal is especially popular among the Wolof ethnic group. My village is also primarily Tidian, although it does not come up in conversation a lot. Today the Tidians put a great emphasis on Koranic learning and have even established schools for girls.
The other major brotherhood is the Mourides. While the Tidians are popular throughout West Africa, the Mourides contain their following in Senegal and the Gambia. Their religious city is Touba, where the founder of the Mourides was born; every year Mourides make a pilgrimage to Touba on their holy day. They make up approximately 1/6 of Senegalese population.
The smallest brotherhood is the Qadiriyya. It was brought in from North Africa by missionaries, and it is a more fundamentalist group that either the Tidians or the Mourides.
Islam is a central part to life in Senegal. Each brotherhood has a leader, and you can see their faces hanging everywhere. People love to show their support for their brotherhood. They have tapestries they hang int heir houses, in their cars, buses can have decals on the windows. These men wield a lot of power. They can be politically influential if they so choose, and that means that political groups hoping to win will intentionally cater to brotherhood leaders. The leaders can reach their followers mostly through the radio, but also television and newspapers.
What you all really want to know about though, is the holidays, am I right? I'm writing this in the middle between Senegal's two biggest holidays: Ramadan and Tabaski. During Ramadan Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset, and break the fast lavishly. This means no food or water. People will often wake up just before dawn to eat last nights leftovers in preparation for the day, and then depending on the time of year either go to the fields to work while they still have energy or go back to bed. Work does not stop; women still have to do laundry, prepare a meal for the children if funds permit, and see to the compound. Men still have to go to the fields and tend the animals. If someone has a conventional job in the government, with NGO, or in a hospital, they still must go.
To break the fast in my village we would drink instant coffee and powdered milk with a small chunk of bread. Some families would also eat mogni (moe-knee), a millet based soup that tastes excellent with copious amounts of sugar. People then take a break while the women cook dinner. During Ramadan families try to have one lavish dinner each night, spending extra money on fish or meat and vegetables.
Children, the sick, the elderly, and pregnant or nursing women are not obliged to fast as the others are, but they often still do, with negative effects on their health. In my village the children would eat one mid morning meal of white rice with a bullion cube crushed up, and their parents would try to buy them snacks during the day. Last year Ramadan was during mango season and those who weren't fasting snacked on mangoes all day.
Ramadan lasts for a month and then there's a big party! This party is called Tabaski. Everyone will get all dressed up, cook an extravagant amount of food, and go see all of their friends and family. This year my host family killed a goat and we had loads of meat! I'll leave you with some pictures:
As mentioned before, the majority of Senegalese are Muslims, but that does not mean they are all the same type of Muslims. Just as Christians are broken into Catholics and Lutherans, Episcopalians and Presbyterians, the Muslims of Senegal have options between sects, or brotherhoods. These are distinct branches of Sufi Islam, which is based in mysticism and different from the Sunni and Shi'ite branches that are more prevalent in the Middle East.
One of the two largest of the brotherhoods are the Tidians (Ti-jaan). This brotherhood was founded by an Algerian in the 18th century and is considered an Islam for the poor, as it was founded in rebuttal to more conservative brotherhoods. It is now the largest Sufi brotherhood in West Africa, and in Senegal is especially popular among the Wolof ethnic group. My village is also primarily Tidian, although it does not come up in conversation a lot. Today the Tidians put a great emphasis on Koranic learning and have even established schools for girls.
The other major brotherhood is the Mourides. While the Tidians are popular throughout West Africa, the Mourides contain their following in Senegal and the Gambia. Their religious city is Touba, where the founder of the Mourides was born; every year Mourides make a pilgrimage to Touba on their holy day. They make up approximately 1/6 of Senegalese population.
The smallest brotherhood is the Qadiriyya. It was brought in from North Africa by missionaries, and it is a more fundamentalist group that either the Tidians or the Mourides.
Islam is a central part to life in Senegal. Each brotherhood has a leader, and you can see their faces hanging everywhere. People love to show their support for their brotherhood. They have tapestries they hang int heir houses, in their cars, buses can have decals on the windows. These men wield a lot of power. They can be politically influential if they so choose, and that means that political groups hoping to win will intentionally cater to brotherhood leaders. The leaders can reach their followers mostly through the radio, but also television and newspapers.
What you all really want to know about though, is the holidays, am I right? I'm writing this in the middle between Senegal's two biggest holidays: Ramadan and Tabaski. During Ramadan Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset, and break the fast lavishly. This means no food or water. People will often wake up just before dawn to eat last nights leftovers in preparation for the day, and then depending on the time of year either go to the fields to work while they still have energy or go back to bed. Work does not stop; women still have to do laundry, prepare a meal for the children if funds permit, and see to the compound. Men still have to go to the fields and tend the animals. If someone has a conventional job in the government, with NGO, or in a hospital, they still must go.
To break the fast in my village we would drink instant coffee and powdered milk with a small chunk of bread. Some families would also eat mogni (moe-knee), a millet based soup that tastes excellent with copious amounts of sugar. People then take a break while the women cook dinner. During Ramadan families try to have one lavish dinner each night, spending extra money on fish or meat and vegetables.
Children, the sick, the elderly, and pregnant or nursing women are not obliged to fast as the others are, but they often still do, with negative effects on their health. In my village the children would eat one mid morning meal of white rice with a bullion cube crushed up, and their parents would try to buy them snacks during the day. Last year Ramadan was during mango season and those who weren't fasting snacked on mangoes all day.
Ramadan lasts for a month and then there's a big party! This party is called Tabaski. Everyone will get all dressed up, cook an extravagant amount of food, and go see all of their friends and family. This year my host family killed a goat and we had loads of meat! I'll leave you with some pictures:
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| My host sister Ramatoulaye and host brother Yaya |
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| The neighborhood kids doing some greetings |
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| My host mom Oumou and me in our finest |
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| My neighbor Sira posing for the camera |
Some Political History
The country of Senegal did not have the modern borders until after 1963, when it reached independence. Before the mid 1900's, the lands that would come to be known as Senegal went through several different waves of rule, and was often not actually under anyone's power.
During the toil in Europe of the 18th century (revolutions, the Seven Years War, Napoleon, etc) all colonies of both Britain and France, including Senegal, became pawns in a larger game, and Senegal was lost for a while to the English, who had already retained control of what is now the Gambia. In 1895 Senegal officially became a French colony. France invited all of her colonies to join the French Union, offering citizenship to all those living in their colonies.
Around this time emerged and important figure: Leopold Senghor. He initially ran the government on the interior of the country and eventually formed the Senegalese Democratic Bloc (or Socialist Party, SP), which we will hear more about soon.
In 1958 France gave independence to their African colonies, with the West African colonies becoming the Mali Federation.. The western part of the federation withdrew in 1960, establishing two separate countries: Senegal in the west and Mali in the East. Senghor became the president of Senegal and Mamadou Dia became the prime minister. Dia staged an unsuccessful coup in 1962, ultimately leading to stronger presidential powers in the new constitution written in 1963.
In 1981 Senegal and the Gambia attempted to join forces, each maintaining their political independence but consolidating their economies, defenses, and foreign relations. It did not work and dissolved in 1989.
From independence until 2000, when Abdoulaye Wade won the presidential election in a run off, the SP ran Senegal. In Jan., 2001, a new constitution was adopted, establishing a unicameral parliament and reducing the president's term to five years. Despite Wade's strong start, some of his actions over his second term were seen as corrupt. He tried to create a vice president in the government, presumably for his son, his second election was labeled as fraud by his opponents, and tried to run for a third term, despite precedent. He ultimately lost in 2012 to Macky Sall, who achieved a landslide victory. What is so amazing about this election is that Wade actually stepped down. Generally Africa is no stranger to coups and politicians ignoring election results or just outright changing them; although Wade continues to be politically active and his son as political aspirations, he has made no overt attempts to take over Senegal.
SOURCES:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sg.html
Senegal: History | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/senegal-country-africa-history.html#ixzz3D2fm6xZ2
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| French Colonial Possessions |
The Mali Empire, which was based out of what is now Mali, held control for a time until European colonialists arrived in the mid 13th century. Over the years Portugal, Holland, Britain, and France all had colonial dealing in Senegal, but serious colonization by France didn't begin until the mid 1700's, when they reached farther into the interior searching for slaves, ivory, and Arabic gum, and they unsuccessfully encouraged the growth of cotton and cocoa.
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| Leopold Senghor |
Around this time emerged and important figure: Leopold Senghor. He initially ran the government on the interior of the country and eventually formed the Senegalese Democratic Bloc (or Socialist Party, SP), which we will hear more about soon.
.jpg) |
| Abdoulaye Wade |
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| Macky Sall |
From independence until 2000, when Abdoulaye Wade won the presidential election in a run off, the SP ran Senegal. In Jan., 2001, a new constitution was adopted, establishing a unicameral parliament and reducing the president's term to five years. Despite Wade's strong start, some of his actions over his second term were seen as corrupt. He tried to create a vice president in the government, presumably for his son, his second election was labeled as fraud by his opponents, and tried to run for a third term, despite precedent. He ultimately lost in 2012 to Macky Sall, who achieved a landslide victory. What is so amazing about this election is that Wade actually stepped down. Generally Africa is no stranger to coups and politicians ignoring election results or just outright changing them; although Wade continues to be politically active and his son as political aspirations, he has made no overt attempts to take over Senegal.
SOURCES:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sg.html
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