Thoughts and Reflections on different Value Systems

 While I feel so comfortable living here, I feel like I am comfortable because I know I am only living here temporarily. A lot of my friends here keep asking me why I can't just stay, and I am realizing that  am realizing that I am definitely seeing American values in me that I didn't realize were there. I have so many ambitions, I want to go do things and accomplish things and see the world, set goals for myself. I didn’t realize that was such an American mentality,  accomplishing goals is engrained in the decisions I make and things I do. But that is definitely an American idea. We are always planning ahead in America, planning what we do next, dreaming big. When we are kids, we are encouraged to fill our time and do ten different extra curricular activities at once. That’s not really as much of a thing here, people just kind of live simply and are satisfied with that. In America we are hardly ever satisfied, but at the same time I feel like we like that. I feel like in America we all have our own bucket list in our head that we are always adding to, where as people here don’t necessarily think that far ahead. In America we also call it the land of opportunity, which I'm realizing is really true. We can really do whatever we want to, and find a way to do it because we are born in that situation. Here if you’re born in a village for instance, you can’t just become whatever you want to just because its your dream. Western life has so many more “opportunities” available I guess you could say, but it is also so much more complicated and stressful. I love Senegal but I think there isn’t enough variety for me here to stay here long term. As I’m getting ready to leave, I’m starting to feel nostalgic for the busy and craziness of the states. Not so much New York crazy, but the variety of things you can do.

I’m realizing being here, how much a lot of American values that shape American culture are actually engrained in me that I didn’t realize, or previously didn’t want to admit that I associate with. I didn’t think I liked to associate with those, but I definitely am a product of that. In my seminar class here, we got into groups and on a bunch of pieces of paper were different values, and all of the groups came up with these ones for the top 5 American values, and then bottom 5 American values. They were things like cross cultural awareness, dependence, For the top 5 American values, they were things like Capitalism, individualism, Freedom, independence, wealth, equality, materialism, competition, efficiency, education, etc. When we were asked if we personally identify with those values, I remember thinking that I don’t want to associate with capitalistic values, wealth or too much individualism. But I think some of those values are in me that I didn't realize. 

Being here I'm also really learning to appreciate how much freedom we have in America. Liberty is so huge. You don’t really know what Freedom means until you go to places where there aren’t really freedom. Freedom of speech! I usually get annoyed at people who are overly patriotic, but being here has made me feel proud to be an American. We don’t realize in the US how much we live freedom in our every day lives, and in the choices we make every day. Freedom is definitely something that we take for granted in America, and I definitely learned to appreciate it after this experience.

Also being abroad definitely challenges what your idea of what is normal, because normal is all relative and about your perspective and upbringing. Same with idea of right and wrong. I feel like I’m not as opinionated the more I stay here. I have an opinions about things but I'm becoming neutral about a lot of things. I guess that means I am becoming more and more accepting of other ways of life and opinions, while also realizing more about myself and how I like to do things, what I value. You really start to question what is normal, because what we consider normal or common sense is different then what people here consider to be common sense and normal behavior.

It’s weird how when you are in a place for a long period of time you start to accept things that you wouldn’t accept if it was in another place. For example polygamy is totally becoming a normal thing, and the fact that gay people are oppressed is also scarily becoming just the norm that I’ve almost just accepted that it is the way it is. I don't like it, but I also don’t actively stand up for it because I don’t see the point. It will just destroy my relationships if I argue too much for it and I know I’m not going to see eye to eye with anyone about it. What is the point of monogamy anyway though? Why do we choose one person for the rest of our lives? And who said that was how it should be?