Keep Your (Left) Hand to Yourself
Understanding the distinction between the use of the right hand and the left is of paramount importance in Senegal. There, as in many Eastern cultures, the left hand is used for cleaning oneself after using the bathroom. For this reason, it is used for little else. Whether it's handing someone a drink or taking a bite of food to your mouth, you must never use your left hand to do so. For Dan, who is a leftie, this took quite a bit of getting used to.
Interestingly enough, I see some parallels between Hebraic and African culture in this regard that we might miss when reading Scripture with our Western lenses. For example, the Bible tell us that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 12:2). Why the right hand? We may know that it is the place of honour, but many in the West may not realize just how dishonourable the left hand is. It's no coincidence that in Christ's parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)), the sheep (those who inherit the kingdom of God) are on the right, whereas the goats (those who reject the Saviour and "the least of these") are on the left.
On top of that, meals are shared out of a common bowl, with friends often sitting on mats on the floor. Some eat with a spoon; many help themselves to rice with their hands. Either way, the leftie must learn to adapt and use his less dominant hand to feed himself. This has made for lots of schmutzing along the way for Dan and other lefties like him, but it's a small price to pay to be sensitive to the local culture.
In addition, extensive greetings accompanied by profuse hand shaking are highly valued. So, what do you think you do if you need to greet someone but your right hand is dirty? Perhaps in our culture you'd offer someone your left hand, or else keep both hands to yourself with a simple explanation, "My hands aren't clean/I have a cold/I just licked cupcake frosting off my fingers." In West Africa, you offer your right wrist (with a closed fist), which your friend will grasp and shake in place of your hand. Problem solved!
Being back in N. America, we've had to get used to the fact that you can use either hand interchangeably. My first visit to a drive through window, I was awkwardly leaning through the window, reaching out with my right hand to pay and receive my Burrito Supreme, forgetting that the Taco Bell employee could care less what hand I used. After almost five months here, I've finally adapted to the "any hand goes" culture. Hopefully upon our return to Senegal, I'll remember my manners, African style!
Interestingly enough, I see some parallels between Hebraic and African culture in this regard that we might miss when reading Scripture with our Western lenses. For example, the Bible tell us that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 12:2). Why the right hand? We may know that it is the place of honour, but many in the West may not realize just how dishonourable the left hand is. It's no coincidence that in Christ's parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)), the sheep (those who inherit the kingdom of God) are on the right, whereas the goats (those who reject the Saviour and "the least of these") are on the left.
On top of that, meals are shared out of a common bowl, with friends often sitting on mats on the floor. Some eat with a spoon; many help themselves to rice with their hands. Either way, the leftie must learn to adapt and use his less dominant hand to feed himself. This has made for lots of schmutzing along the way for Dan and other lefties like him, but it's a small price to pay to be sensitive to the local culture.
In addition, extensive greetings accompanied by profuse hand shaking are highly valued. So, what do you think you do if you need to greet someone but your right hand is dirty? Perhaps in our culture you'd offer someone your left hand, or else keep both hands to yourself with a simple explanation, "My hands aren't clean/I have a cold/I just licked cupcake frosting off my fingers." In West Africa, you offer your right wrist (with a closed fist), which your friend will grasp and shake in place of your hand. Problem solved!
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| She has no problem eating with her right hand! |
Being back in N. America, we've had to get used to the fact that you can use either hand interchangeably. My first visit to a drive through window, I was awkwardly leaning through the window, reaching out with my right hand to pay and receive my Burrito Supreme, forgetting that the Taco Bell employee could care less what hand I used. After almost five months here, I've finally adapted to the "any hand goes" culture. Hopefully upon our return to Senegal, I'll remember my manners, African style!
That's interesting. I didn't know that about West Africa. I'm also a lefty, but I learned to do things with my right hand due to the social stigma in my own culture. The closed fist is a good solution, but if both your hands are dirty, could you do a fist bump?
ReplyDeleteHey Amy! I didn't remember that you were a lefty. Is there a social stigma in Chinese culture, or are you talking about American culture? As for the alternative to the hand shake when both people have hands unfit to shake, you just tap wrists. Funny, eh? It works. :)
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