How to Grow a Jayfundé!

What's a Jayfundé you ask??  It's the Wolof word for Butt, however in this context the better word would be Booty.  As I've mentioned before, Senegal has not been good to me.  Granted, I have had an AMAZING Peace Corps experience, but the Senegalese diet is responsible for the nearly 20lb weight gain I've experienced over my time here.  Don't be fooled like I was.  Originally I thought, "Huh, I'm going to West Africa, hell ,I'll probably lose weight there!" WRONG! So wrong! In fact,  I wish I would have known this before coming, but the majority of female volunteers serving in West Africa gain weight while the male volunteers lose weight.  The culprit?--- Senegal. The diet here. Carbs. Oh the carbs!
And no matter what I do, I can't seem to lose it---trust me---I've done almost everything to try to lose this weight including "questionable" methods which i don't feel so inclined to share.  The only thing that has worked for me was leaving this country.  When I went on vacation to Spain I lost like 10lbs, just by not being in Senegal.  So you can imagine that I can not wait to get back to America....counting down the days.....
But for those of you who are interested in growing a jayfundé, here's whatcha got to do (And believe me this works! I verified with my Senegalese friends and they confirmed it!):

~Eat Beans. Seriously. I eat the famous bean sandwich almost every morning for breakfast.  They are delicious!

My usual breakfast

Bread and beans: Simple but delicious!

~Eat Peanuts.  Anyway you want: just the nuts or in the form of peanut butter.  Peanuts are a staple here in Senegal, and at least 2-3 times a week my family makes Maffe Gerte, which basically is an oily peanut sauce on top of rice.

This is Maffe Gerte--get some!

~Eat Millet.  I know it's not something you'd usually eat in America, but we eat it a lot here.  Oftentimes for breakfast or dinner, and especially during Ramadan my family eats Mooney, which is a millet based porridge.  Literally it is little balls of millet flour boiled in water until it turns into porridge.  Add sugar, yogurt, and sometimes lime juice! It's delicious, and will definetely help you grow a bigger booty!

Millet Porridge

~Eat Corn.  Usually we eat a corn based "couscous" which is called Leciri.  Basically it's a bunch of corn kernals that have either been pounded by hand or milled by a machine.  My family likes to eat this often with either a peanut, leaf, or oil based sauce.

Before

After

~Eat Oil. Lots and lots of oil.  You can't avoid it here! It's in everything!  The most common is tintilu, or the red palm oil.  You can find it generously poured on top of dishes like these:

Fish boulettes in palm oil sauce on top of rice

The same dish, but this time on corn leciri (couscous)

~Eat Rice. Lots and lots and lots of rice! At least twice a day. That's what we do!

It's what we eat, but only short grain, not long grain

If you follow these easy steps, I guarantee you'll grow a worthy jayfundé, you may even grow other areas of your body too including but not limited to: stomach, legs, arms, etc. 
Soon after you've followed this diet, people will start to tell you (Like my Senegalese family likes to tell me everyday), "You have body now!" or "Wow, Salimatou your ass is so big!" 
Who wouldn't want to be complimented like that?

So a big Thanks goes out to you Senegal, for your eating habits and the new jayfundé you've given to me! Thank you! :)


**And inchallah it disappears the minute I step foot in America! :)