a little banner-waving.

Background info: yesterday was Senegal’s Independence Day, April 4th.

Because of the holiday, we trainees had the day off to use as we liked here around Thiès. Being as how we have been working and learning for the last three weeks to cram information into our brains to the tipping point, we were all very excited to get a chance to spend a night and a day just relaxing. To facilitate this kind gift, the staff at the training center allowed us to stay overnight there Independence Day Eve, meaning we had to inform our homestay families that we would be spending the night away. So on Tuesday evening, while my older sister and younger sister were in my room helping me go over my Wolof notes, I brought up the subject of Independence Day.

This is about how the conversation went, with me speaking some French, and trying hard to use Wolof more, and my sisters, N and ND, speaking a mixture as well, but with a larger ratio of Wolof to French :

ME: So. Vendredi. Naka lanuy waxe “vendredi” ci Wolof?
(How do you say “Friday” in Wolof again?)
N: Aljuma.
ME: Waaw, waaw-waaw, Aljuma. (Yes, of course. Friday.)
ND: C’est la fête de l’indépendance. (It’s the Independence Day celebration.)
ME: Waaw. Degg la. (Yes. It’s true.)
ND: Est-ce que vous fêtez le 4 avril en Amerique aussi?
(Do you celebrate April 4th in America too?)
ME: Déedéet. Wante… on célèbre le 4 juillet, c’est notre fête d’indépendance.
(No. But… we celebrate July 4th, that’s our Independence Day.)
ME: Kon, aljuma, amul klaas ndaxte c’est le 4 avril.
(So Friday there’s no class, because it’s the fourth of April.)
ND: Ah, baax na, baax na. (That’s great, great.)

[break in conversation while I try to formulate the words in Wolof to say I’ll be sleeping at the center Thursday night --- ND takes this opportunity to continue the topic of the 4th]

ND: Xam nga l’hymne nationale? (Do you know the national anthem?)
ME: Déedéet, wante xalaat naa ne … c’est dans mon cahier de langue, look, voila --
(No, but I think that… it’s in my language notebook, here, tada!)
[as I pull out my notebook, pointing to the page with the Senegalese national anthem]
N: Hahaha, [Then N, who has been very helpful and hands on in my language learning, takes my notebook into her lap and then proceeds to sing, along with ND, the entire national anthem. And maybe now you can see where this is going… Clap, clap, clap, so beautiful, etc. etc., and then…
ND: Xam nga sa hymne nationale? (Do you know your national anthem?)
ME: Waaw, waaw-waaw, The Star-Spangled Banner. (Yes, of course, “The SSB”.)
ND and N: Chante-la! Woyal, woyal!! (Sing it, sing it!)
ME: Mmm, well…

So that’s how I sang the entire American national anthem for my two Senegalese sisters, sitting in my room in our village on the outskirts of the city. Talk about cultural integration... ;)