There are far better approaches to discovering a foreign culture than simply going down the traditional route. And when I say “traditional” I think you know what I mean: arriving via ugly steel structure that ties up to a questionable pier and releases its over-worked minions for 1.5 days of drunken revelry at the nearest watering hole. That, in my opinion, is NOT the best way to see the world…but oddly enough it’s been my vehicle of choice for the past 11 years.

So moving beyond crappy port calls, how can one gain a meaningful foothold into new cultures? Well, this week I came up with an idea:

 That’s right, it involved that great American triumph of baking- the brownie.

Last month I told you that my class sits through a weekly anglophone lecture series with Columbia University. In my class only two of us are American, and we are just about the only ones who comprehend what the lecturer in New York is saying due to the poor sound quality. A few weeks back, we decided to offer English speaking sessions with any interested classmates. The goal was to get to know everyone as well as help our peers improve their English before they take the TOEFL. It’s a pretty informal setup: we gather our chairs together and chat for an hour. This has been fine, but after a few sessions of stilted conversation we toubabs decided to liven the event up a bit.

Now you see where I am going with the brownies.

 Who doesn’t need more photos of brownies in a blog entry? These beauties were consumed at my birthday back in August. Props to Caitlin who made them from scratch and is thus the undisputed brownie authority in Dakar.

Now normally because I am a female, I would not bake for any occasion that intersects with my professional life. I am wary of coming across as some kind of peer-cum-barefoot-in-the-kitchen-servant to a class of predominantly male students. Similarly, I never baked batches of cookies for my sailors when I held down my real job as a division officer. This nuance is kind of hard to explain, but I just don’t think that it’s a gesture I should undertake if I want to be taken seriously.

In this case I reasoned that the circumstances could allow for an exception. This was after all, going to be executed in the name of bridging cultures- and we Americans definitely know how to invent junk food that EVERYBODY in the world loves (hello Coca-Cola). So the night before class convened, I whipped up a batch of brownies while the other American (a New Mexico native) inexplicably tracked down a big bag of tortilla chips. Armed with our Americana, we were ready to introduce UCAD to some quality fat pills.

To ensure that everyone in the class got to try a piece, I was sure to cut my brownies into very small squares. I also brought some up to our administrators and made sure that our technical support guys got to try some too (it is very important in this culture to think of others and share what you have). I found it amusing as I tried to explain what I was forcing upon each person as they peered suspiciously into my rubbermaid container:

Them: “What is it?”

Me: “They’re brownies. Very typical American delicacy. Try it!”

Them: “They’re what?” 

(I write it out the word ‘brownie’ and the plural form ‘brownies’ for them to see. They see that this clarification clarifies nothing.) 

Me: “Brownies. You need to try them.”

Them: “It’s cake, right?”

Me: “No. Not exactly”

Them: “So they’re cookies?”
Me: “Not exactly. Goûte (try it).”

Do I need to tell you that Senegalese Sustainable Development students like brownies far better than Global Classroom lectures in English? They really do. In fact, so do the other students of other representing West African countries: Togolese, Ivoirian, Gabonese, Cameroonian and Burkinabè (these last groups of guys were hogs! I had to cut them off!). 

Our English discussion group in action. This time more convivial when accompanied by brownies and chips.

So how can brownies possibly apply to my master’s program? Well, here’s how I look at it: you can’t hope to achieve sustainable development without teamwork and an understanding of a culture’s needs and concerns. I find that sharing food is a fantastic and basic way to build inter-personal relationships. No matter where you come from on this planet, you are going to get hungry at some stage. And I am more than willing to bet that you’ll like brownies. 

I will say that one of the Burkinabè guys tasted my offering and immediately gave me a suggestion for what I should make for next week’s class. While the fantastically astute women of the class tsked at this caveman comment, I just smiled and turned the suggestion back to him by suggesting that he bring in something that is popular in Burkina Faso.

He replied by saying that in his country, men don’t cook – which I interpreted to be a lame excuse. But that’s okay. Even if no one ever brings in food again for our discussion groups, I think we achieved a bit more than just practicing English during this particular hour.

[Hey Rory, do you see my Celtics maillot in the classroom photo? I made sure to tell my group that it was opening night in Boston, and that ma soeur was going to the match.]