Having been in Senegal for the two most important Senegalese holidays (Tabaski and Korite) I feel like I have become a bit of an authority on how to navigate these celebrations. What follows is a short guide to surviving Senegalese holidays. Just in case you were interested…

1) Buy a new and expensive outfit. (Actually wear the same outfit you wore for the previous holiday. Insist the outfit is new, and that you had it made just for this occasion).

2) Get your hair braided. (Or insist that white peoples’ hair can’t braid and that you would really like to have beautiful braids, but your hair just won’t cooperate…)

3) Wake up early. (Unlike in America, where holidays are a time to relax and spend time with your nearest and dearest, in Senegal you need to wake up early to ensure that the compound and your hut is spotless—you will have visitors).

4) Watch your brothers slaughter the sheep/goat. (Sure it may not be the most pleasant thing in the world, but the only way to ensure that the piece of meat you are nibbling on isn’t intestine or brains is to watch it with your own eyes go directly from a piece of livestock anatomy—to the cooking pot—and then to your mouth).

5) Take pictures of your family/friends/neighbors. (Or take one quick photo then insist that your camera is broken and needs to go to Dakar to get repaired).

6) Learn the special holiday greetings. (And then proceed to screw them up every time someone new walks into your compound).

7) Eat. A lot. (Or sneakily shove the food in your section of the bowl into other people’s sections and insist that you ate a lot and that you are really really full).

8) Greet the neighbors/extended family/entire city. (And pretend you think it is fun to spend hours walking in the mid-day heat to greet people you have never met and will probably never see again).

9) Give pennies (aka 25cfa) out to the kids. (Or yell at them and tell them you are not a toubab and don’t have any money!)

10) Stay up late into the night dancing to the same Akon song played on repeat. (Or feign a stomachache and go to bed early with earplugs).