Toubab Toubab!

Silence is hard to find here in Senegal, as I am constantly surrounded by a cacophany of sounds, some familiar, some new. There are always voices calling across to each other. In my house, my family members are constantly calling one another by name and shouting commands or comments. Sometimes, it is my mohter with her deep, raspy voice calling to one of her children to do a chore. Other times, it is my sister or aunt reprimanding a child or telling something to someone else in the compound. And of course, there are the sounds of children laughing, playing, or crying, as well as the voices of neighbors visiting and children coming to buy peanuts or baobab from my mother. All of these conversations are ones I strain to listen to, so that I can pick out the few words I understand in Wolof. But Senegalese love to talk and laugh - if you think I talk alot, you should hear how much they speak.

In my house, there's also the sound of goats baying behind the gate. (Interestingly, the Wolof word for goat is 'baay.') Then there's the sound of flip flops sloshing on the ground, doors opening and closing, money clinking into the can as people pay my mother for the food she sells, and metal utensils scraping bowls. There's also an occasional mooing or crowing from cows, roosters screeching, or cats fighting. All of these are noises I am not accustomed to. It's the other sounds I hear that I am particularly interested in. I have woken up many morning to a "pshing" sound, that of clothes being washed by hand in buckets outside my windows. It seems that in order for clothes to be considered clean, they must be rubbed together in such a way as to produce this squishing sound. I also hear the morning call to prayer and Muslim songs ringing out from the mosque nearby. There are also the sounds of other chores - there is often teh sound of sweeping (done with a handleless broom), pots banging together, and water being poured into buckets for household use (as well as personal washing).

And finally, the other normal sounds in my house include chairs and wooden benches being slid across the floor, the outhouse door banging closed, bowls being set down, and cell phones ringing. One of the most common sounds in the house, besides talking, is of the television. It is almost always on with Wolof soap operas, French soap operas, and sometimes (if I'm lucky) the news. They even leave the tv on during dinner. (I have probably watched more tv in the past 2 weeks than in the past 4 years of my life combined.) Sometimes, my father will have his radio on at the same times as the tv is playing.

So noises in my house usually begin around 4 or 5 am with door squeaking open, voices calling out, and my father's radio turning on. They last until the tv is turned off and people stop talking around midnight. Only during those few short hours is there no noise in my house, an unusual sound.

But of course there are also sounds from the streets. Often, there are the sounds of religious music and singing that comes in loud and continues for awhile. Then, there are constantly people passing and greeting each other and children playing. Without adult supervision, it's almost like Lord of the Flies at times with "gangs" of children running around. There are the sounds of squeaky doors and gates as well as coins being clinked. On the main street, there are donkey and horse drawn carts with the clonk-clonk of the hooves and the dragging of the carts. There are the sounds of old cars and motorcycle engines, car doors slamming, and people tapping on the cars. Also, people banging on objects, voices encouraging you to buy something, and the crash of things falling.

Impossible to escape is the sound of "Toubab Toubab" in the street, as children run up to shake my hand or ask me my name. Toubab is the Wolof word for foreigner, or someone dressed well. Once I tell them my name, it is shouted after me, and they remember it for the next time they see me and tell it to other children as well.

At the training center, there is also the sound of birds chirping in the trees, cats fighting with each other, and dogs barking.

All together, these sounds all keep me constantly entertained and preoccupied. When I do wake up int he middle of the night and hear the silence, it is overpowering and seems unusual. Sounds are the norm here.