American Woman: The other day I had a talk with a colleague about the differences in lifestyle between Senegalese and American twenty-somethings, including the different gender dynamics in our respective societies. Here you can be a 28 year old man and still be considered and treated like a teenager in some respects by your parents - living at home, financially dependent, mom takes care of cooking and laundry...etc. If you are a woman you are expected to stay within the protective confines of your parents' home until you are married and can then move to the home of your husband. Of course there are always exceptions to these rules....I sometimes wonder what people make of Duma, Jeanne, and me - financially independent and living without any protective male figures around to chaperon us. Are we given the benefit of the doubt as foreigners from a different way of life, our we secretly admired for our independence, our we observed with indifference, or our we suspected to be running a brothel? Who knows? I just know that I am feeling extremely grateful for and content with my life these days and wouldn't exchange it for anything. There was a time when I yearned to take on another 'more Senegalese' identity for myself because I had this static, romanticized image of what a 'Senegalese identity' is and was still very discontent with always being 'the American' living overseas. But these days, with Obama close to the White House, and a clearer head about the ever-shifting realities of Senegal and the U.S., I am able to fully accept who I am. I don't mind the fact that I will likely never fit seamlessly into this Senegalese society that I love. The best I can do is to keep drinking my coffee, working hard, supporting Obama, and learning from the experiences of living here. I agree with Michelle, this is the first time in my life I have been really proud to be an American.