My host family

So naturally in life, there are pro's and con's to everything.  The same happens in host family situations abroad.  But overall, I am slowly becoming more and more acclimated to their lifestyle and more and more becoming a member of their family.  Let's get started:

My host mother, Mémé, is an 84-year-old woman from the Cote d'Ivoire.  She spends most of her time in her room, yelling at the other people in the house to fetch her things.  She usually comes out for dinner, which she makes me eat by myself (or with her and her great-granddaughter) at the Western-style dining room table.  The arthritis in her neck is so bad that she can't turn it, so she has to urn her whole body when she speaks to you.  It kinda reminds me of the time my brother broke his collarbone and had to wear that neckbrace for the summer.  This is Mémé.

Though Mémé sometimes wears me down, I love the rest of my family.  There is Néné, a widow in her forties who is somehow related to Mémé.  She too is from the Cote d'Ivoire, and she is very nice to me.  She puts up with my inability to speak French and gives me a fair amount of freedom.  I usually go behind Mémé's back to ask Néné certain things, but Mémé usually finds out and changes it.  (Dinner story to come later).  This is Néné.

Then there is Angelica, and she is my favorite Senegalese so far.  She is fifteen, and stays at home to work as a maid/servant for Mémé.  I am also teaching her to read, something she has never learned before.  She also doesn't know for sure when her birthday is, but she thinks its the 25th of January.  I asked if we were having a party, but she says no one has enough money for a cake.  I thought it was unfair that Fari get two cakes for her birthday this weekend but Angelica can't even have one.  I just need to buy baking powder from the boutique and I will make her one.  This is Angelica above on her bed.

Mariétou is 11 and is a student at the school down the block.  She is very hyper, but I do love hanging out with her.  She is the only one who actually tries to speak slowly to me but she also gets frustrated when I don't understand.  She loves my American chewing gum and Snickers bars.  She said she wants to be a doctor one day if she can go to the university.  Above is Marietou, posing in her favorite outfit with her purse and scarf.

Ngi is the maid.  I don't even know how to spell let alone pronounce her name, but Ngi is the best I can do.  She only speaks Wolof.  Well, she can say bonjour and ca va, but that's the extent of her French.  I practice my Wolof with her, and she responds in these complicated sentences, to which I always just say "Yes."  She too likes Snickers bars.  This is Ngi in the doorway of the kitchen.

 

Farima (Fari) is the great-granddaughter of Mémé.  She is always at the house since her mom and dad work until 10 at night.  She is super cute, but highly irritating and spoiled by Mémé.  She also is obsessed with Toubabs (white people).  As a result, she follows me around, crawls in bed with me while I'm taking naps, and pinches my skin because she likes to see it turn red.  For the first two days of my homestay, she referred to me in the masculine form since apparently I had the haircut of the boy.  She got spanked a few times for that.  This is Fari sitting on Marietou and Angelica's bed.

El Ladgi is the final member of my host family.  He is 23 and an unemployed college grad.  He comes home mainly for meals and to sleep, and spends the rest of the day with friends or at the neighbors drinking.  Mémé is devout Muslim so no alcohol is allowed in the house.  Ladgi is really nice when I do talk to him.  He doesn't seem to like me too too much, but I think that may just take time.  He did walk me to school two days when I did not yet know the way.  Because of his frequent absence from the house, I do not have a picture of him.