baggage

Baggage. In English we use it as a word to describe luggage or anything we use to travel. However in Senegal the French word baggage, which means the same as it does in English, takes on a whole new meaning. Baggage can be construction material, junk stored away, a jacket, shopping bags, cans of soda, etc. In Senegal is becomes a word that commands an action: getting rid of it, putting it somewhere, taking it, is how it is normally used. The plethora of uses for the word amuses me every day.
One day a man at a national park office was apologizing for the confusion caused by the office’s new location. He went on to tell me about all the baggage they were currently organizing. After we were done talking I watched movers lug huge televisions around the sparse office space. Another time my host mom was telling me about her big plans to convert the terrace on the roof into an apartment “but first we need to get rid of the baggage” she confided to me. That baggage consists of random pieces of tile, iron rods, two-by-fours, broken clothespins, and grilled ram legs. Then the letherous Alpha from Yoff told me on Bob Marley’s birthday that if I wanted to have a good time he has some baggage at his house that we could enjoy. I declined the offer of testing out his baggage and avoid him at all costs. My host dad was talking to my host mom about unloading his baggage, which consists of eggs and chickens from his farm from the car. “Khady needs to unload the baggage so I can examine it and get it ready for the client.” When I did some research at UNIFEM the office assistant there asked me to move my baggage: some books, a notebook, and a pen, into the library so I could have more room. When we had a funeral ceremony at my house I as asked to load up the refrigerator with the baggage “x” person brought. The baggage was soda cans and plastic water sachets of course.
What makes the ever-useful word baggage so funny is the way it is pronounced. Senegalese-French accents are unique. Senegalese French contrary to popular belief is the purest and the best spoken French on the planet. Educated Senegalese speak better French than the French it is a commonly known thing on the continent of Africa. In any case the accent is weird. For some reason the “s” sounds gets thrown in a lot making words like “carateristique” or characteristic in English sound ridiculous and leave you with a face full of spit. “Changer” is also a classic Senegalese spit inducer. With baggage the “g” in “age” gets a “s” sound making the word really sound like “baggass.”