One of the church leaders in the capital who speaks English
well has talked to us a lot about cultural differences in the Sahel. He is quite a character and teaches people
his name by singing the Bob Marely song because it sounds very much like “I
shot the sheriff…” He also often repeats
to us the three rules we should follow for living in his country, “Be
patient… Be flexible… and Ask [him] first.”
 |
The husband (left) a week later, sitting with his normal
group of friends across the street. |
Before we left the capital we had a very
interesting experience with our Sheriff, as the family right across from our
compound lost their matriarch while we were there. It was interesting to see the Muslim cultural
mourning process. There was a big
gathering in the afternoon, where the whole road was pretty much blocked by
people and vehicles coming. I’m not sure
if they had a formal service or people giving speeches. But then for three days afterward there were
3-4 times the number of people as normal sitting outside their “compound” on
the street. They were sitting with the
husband, expressing their condolences and just spending time with him. When we asked about what was happening, our
Sheriff took us over to sit with the husband briefly and express our condolences by
saying “Barka” (blessings). He was very
appreciative that we took the time to do that.
He invited us to come inside where the women were sitting with his
sister-in-law, and so we sat for a few minutes with her as well in a little
screened in area of their “courtyard.”
People are generally grateful for time spent, we also found as the
guard’s wife gave birth a few days ago as well and has had a continuous stream
of visitors, including us, starting when she got home from the hospital a few
hours after the birth!
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