Sex, Relationships, and Dating in Senegal?

English: this is the only place I feel like i can get an honest answer. I’m a Senegalese American. Lived in America my whole life, been to Senegal 3x in my life. Last time was 2016.

I never seen my parents kiss or show crazy affection. I know they love each other deeply but compared to the relationships I see in America, it’s very different. Here, people tend to move fairly quick and it’s very common for people to make out, kiss, have sex long before they get into an actual relationship. I don’t even know how to bring these topics up to my cousins, let alone my family because I don’t understand the cultural differences.

In Senegal, I feel like this topic is taboo. I know since it’s a Muslim country that it’s expected to wait till marriage. But nobody has ever told me if that’s general consensus or if people break the rules all the time. I’ve had girlfriends but I feel like I don’t know how to bring up my experiences to my cousins for instance without feeling weird, whereas in America, it’s so common to talk about our relationships (the good, the bad, arguments, sex life, etc). I even had one of my exes move in with me.

I guess my questions are: is dating in the traditional way common in Senegal (first date, then kiss, then invite woman into apartment to possibly “make love”)? Is sex an expectation in relationships and do couples engage in it just to do it? Is there such thing as hookups or one night stands in Senegal? Do couples have a “sex life”? How is it seen and viewed by the public?

pour ceux qui lisent le français : je suppose que mes questions sont les suivantes : les rencontres de manière traditionnelle sont-elles courantes au Sénégal (premier rendez-vous, puis baiser, puis inviter la femme dans l'appartement pour éventuellement « faire l'amour ») ? Le sexe est-il une attente dans les relations et les couples s'y adonnent-ils juste pour le faire ? Existe-t-il des choses telles que des relations d'un soir ou des aventures d'un soir au Sénégal ? Les couples ont-ils une « vie sexuelle » ? Comment est-elle perçue et perçue par le public ?