How to make a Senegalese tea
On Monday Jenn and Melissa invited me to go with them to get a tiah or Senegalese tea. I pictured some sort of coffee shop in my head but we headed into Mermoze and stopped on a street corner which was actually right outside PCCI. Hanging out at the corner was a group of Senegalese guys who we greeted and then sat down to start making the tea. They were pretty friendly and only slightly sketchy. Plus I much preferred their method of teaching Wolof which is to say something and then translate it into French. My family seems to think that if they talk to me exclusively in Wolof I'll somehow learn the language. It would work if I could ever understand what they were saying.
That night I was hanging out making tea again. This time in the telecentre with my host uncle Zueme. He told me a little bit about the importance of tea in Senegalese culture and why it takes an hour to make. Apparently you have to let it cool so the foam can form. I still don't really understand the process but the tea sure is tasty. You take about a cup of water, a cup of tea, and three cups of sugar and let it simmer. Once it's ready you sip it hot from a little shot glass.
That night I was hanging out making tea again. This time in the telecentre with my host uncle Zueme. He told me a little bit about the importance of tea in Senegalese culture and why it takes an hour to make. Apparently you have to let it cool so the foam can form. I still don't really understand the process but the tea sure is tasty. You take about a cup of water, a cup of tea, and three cups of sugar and let it simmer. Once it's ready you sip it hot from a little shot glass.