Hospitality(ish): Teranga

Teranga is a Wolof word meaning a warm welcome, a kind of generous hospitality.  Senegal calls itself Le Pays de la Teranga (The Country of Teranga) -

It's the way people will call you over to Come, eat! if you walk past when they're in the middle of a meal.

It's attaya, tiny glasses of strong tea, made in a unhurried, unceremonional-ceremony.

It's the boutiqier asking about your family, how they're doing.

It's sharing what you have, even if it's so very little.

It's the parties, the celebrations that spill outside your courtyard, across the small cobbled walkway and into the neighbors' courtyards.

It's passing one madd fruit around, everyone scooping a spoonful out and sucking the flesh off the seeds before spitting them out.

It's cold juice for guests, brought into the living room on a tray with glasses.

It's firm handshakes, kisses on both cheeks, warm greetings.

It's food piled on a platter, six or eight people all tucked in around it, the host making sure everyone gets meat from the center.

It's kindness to strangers who are lost or needy in some way.

It's the spirit that says, Come, there's room for you here.  Let's eat together.  Walk together.  Be together.

Of all the things I learned in Senegal, teranga is probably one I love best, what I hope my little mid-West apartment somehow captures in its own way.