Language Seminar
In mid-January I went to another volunteer's site (the other remaining Jaxanke volunteer from my stage) along with my Jaxanke language teacher from Pre-Service Training to study language for four days. I appreciated the opportunity to practice my language, but my favorite part of the language seminar was spending time in another volunteer's site.
In my fellow volunteer's village, about 75km (two hours) from the city of Kedougou, the people speak Malinke. Malinke is very similar to Jaxanke; I now am aware that during PST we learned to speak Malinke rather than Jaxanke. Most of the words are the same in the two languages, but pronunciation of certain letters differs. In Malinke, "x" is pronounced as a hard "h" sound while in Jaxanke it is pronounced as a "k" sound. In Malinke, "j" is pronounced the same as in English; in Jaxanke they are sometimes pronounced as a "y" sound. The endings of many nouns are different as well. Malinke nouns tend to end in "-o" while Jaxanke nouns tend to end in "-a." In short, I could not understand the people in her village quite as well as the people in my own village, but it did not take too long to adjust my listening to their style of speech. Her family members could usually understand me very well even though pronounced words differently.
Most evenings the three of us sat around the fire with the 4-5 other men in her compound who are in their mid- to late-20's. These men liked to joke around quite a lot with us new Jaxanke-speakers. In many parts of Senegal, including this village, this type of continual light-hearted joking is common. Many of the jokes are simple, relate to food, the amount you eat, showering, working, carrying water, and other daily tasks. For example, one of my friend's host brothers said this to her on a somewhat chilly evening around the fire: "you are cold because you did not shower this evening. Your friend is not cold because he showered in the evening." Many of their jokes were similarly nonsensical. They were often repeated throughout the evening and again the next day.
In my village, people generally seem to be less eager to poke innocent fun at one another. I do not have this same demographic of 20-something men in my compound, but even when I hang out with the men in their 20's at another compound in my village they are much more subdued. Getting the chance to observe the many cultural differences that can exist between villages that are in the same region and speak the same language was the most interesting part of the language seminar.
The moment that really takes the cake for my week in another site was eating my first cashew apple! I fell in love immediately. A Master Farmer that past volunteers in the area have worked with has many cashew trees on his land, one of which had a few cashews that were beginning to ripen when we visited. The apple was a light orange color, soft, and incredibly juicy. It tastes somewhere between a peach and a creamier version of a normal apple, but more juicy than both. Despite its juice, the cashew apple is a little chalky; I quickly overlooked this minor flaw. The biggest flaw of the cashew apple is its inability to travel well--it spoils quickly after being picked. I have heard that cashew apples are made into wine somewhere in Senegal, but I have not yet seen it. I only hope that farmers harvest their cashew apples and sell them in Kedougou. It is a couple months from cashew season, so this remains to be seen. If cashew apples are sold in the Kedougou market, I would gladly survive for a couple days at the regional house by eating only this delicious fruit.
In my fellow volunteer's village, about 75km (two hours) from the city of Kedougou, the people speak Malinke. Malinke is very similar to Jaxanke; I now am aware that during PST we learned to speak Malinke rather than Jaxanke. Most of the words are the same in the two languages, but pronunciation of certain letters differs. In Malinke, "x" is pronounced as a hard "h" sound while in Jaxanke it is pronounced as a "k" sound. In Malinke, "j" is pronounced the same as in English; in Jaxanke they are sometimes pronounced as a "y" sound. The endings of many nouns are different as well. Malinke nouns tend to end in "-o" while Jaxanke nouns tend to end in "-a." In short, I could not understand the people in her village quite as well as the people in my own village, but it did not take too long to adjust my listening to their style of speech. Her family members could usually understand me very well even though pronounced words differently.
Most evenings the three of us sat around the fire with the 4-5 other men in her compound who are in their mid- to late-20's. These men liked to joke around quite a lot with us new Jaxanke-speakers. In many parts of Senegal, including this village, this type of continual light-hearted joking is common. Many of the jokes are simple, relate to food, the amount you eat, showering, working, carrying water, and other daily tasks. For example, one of my friend's host brothers said this to her on a somewhat chilly evening around the fire: "you are cold because you did not shower this evening. Your friend is not cold because he showered in the evening." Many of their jokes were similarly nonsensical. They were often repeated throughout the evening and again the next day.
In my village, people generally seem to be less eager to poke innocent fun at one another. I do not have this same demographic of 20-something men in my compound, but even when I hang out with the men in their 20's at another compound in my village they are much more subdued. Getting the chance to observe the many cultural differences that can exist between villages that are in the same region and speak the same language was the most interesting part of the language seminar.
The moment that really takes the cake for my week in another site was eating my first cashew apple! I fell in love immediately. A Master Farmer that past volunteers in the area have worked with has many cashew trees on his land, one of which had a few cashews that were beginning to ripen when we visited. The apple was a light orange color, soft, and incredibly juicy. It tastes somewhere between a peach and a creamier version of a normal apple, but more juicy than both. Despite its juice, the cashew apple is a little chalky; I quickly overlooked this minor flaw. The biggest flaw of the cashew apple is its inability to travel well--it spoils quickly after being picked. I have heard that cashew apples are made into wine somewhere in Senegal, but I have not yet seen it. I only hope that farmers harvest their cashew apples and sell them in Kedougou. It is a couple months from cashew season, so this remains to be seen. If cashew apples are sold in the Kedougou market, I would gladly survive for a couple days at the regional house by eating only this delicious fruit.
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