"I'm sitting in a gorgeous four-story house in my own bedroom in Dakar for the night. And I'm here. In AFRICA. It's 20°C here and I love it. It's just great. Most of the people out tonight were in sweatshirts as it's still their winter. And my winter, too, because this is my life now!! Dr. Barry met meat the airport and he just seems great. It's amazing to see the poverty around, especially without the people, as it's 03h00. I can smeel the ocean, and my hair is already curling from the humidity. I can't wait to meet the others later! I can't wait to start!!!" -- 11 fev 2008, 03h00

"What a beautiful house! Amazing! And not even just for Senegal! My alarm went off at 10h45 and I got out of bed and went down for breakfast and read the paper. I met the Kenyan family and their adorable son Dennis. I was soon met by Andre and Dr. Barry who'd hardly slept at all. They are so sweet. Melissa arrived at 06h00 and we spent the afternoon chatting. She seems great. Oh, and the third floor is a beautiful huge salon where I spent most of the day. I went up to meet Gisele, Andre D'Almeida's wife, and their assistant Paul. They work for Interface, a company that helps in agricultural development of the country. Very nice and hospitable. Lunch was the national dish of Senegal (which I'll write later when I know how to spell it), rice and fish. Mmmmm. The other girls arrived at 18h30. Rita and Jessica seem great. I'm really excited! :D As much as I'm looking forward to Cape St. Louis, I'd also really like to go out and be among people! Everyone seems great and I can't wait to get started! Goree tomorrow!!!" -- 11 fev 2008, 23h30

"I love Senegal. How amazing! Today we went to Gree after an early breakfast and a goodbye with Dennis, the little boy who turned out to be my best friend. :D He came to sit on my lap at breakfast... and I want to take him home with me. We met Albert at Goree after a long ride (due to construction and traffic jams), and had to wait an hour before getting on the boat. We took a tour of the Maison d'Esclaves (the slave house) where we heard a spiel from the old, really passionate curator. He was talking about how the concentration camps were a big deal, but this part of history (the slave trade) lasted for 200 years and is often overlooked or minimized. Beautiful tour of the island, even it if it was a bit rushed. 3 people today asked me if I was Stephanie of Monaco. :D I guess I just am royalty. We went back tot he our gorgeous home to head off to Saint-Louis via the Lac Rose, the Pink Lake. And yes, it really is pink... a mixture of micro-organisms, salt, sun, and vegetation. Lunch was poulet yassa, chicken with an onion and spice sauce over rice. Mmmmm. And then we settled in for a LOOOONG ride to Saint Louis. It was great to get to know the girls. It hink we'll really get to be good friends. And we were also saying how it wasn't awkward at all when we first met... we just kinda jumped into it. They're really great. We finally made it and now I'm in my bed under my mosquito net at a beautiful (beautiful) resort in Saint Louis where everyone treats us like princesses (and they even called us gazelles... which is ironic because American women are the least gazelle-like of all the women in the world, I'd say). It will be nice to have a few days here just to chill with Melissa, Rita, and Jess. Good times!" -- 12 fev 2008, 23h30

"Another fantastic day in this beautiful country. We woke up early AGAIN for a 07h15 breakast of croissants and pain au chocolat. And then we waited for awhile for our cab driver again and headed out to Djoudj, the bird sanctuary. For a 2-hour drive on a really really bumpy muddy road in rural northern Senegal. Djoudj is the national bird park of the country where migratory birds come to stay. We saw pelicans, ducks, ospreys, crocodiles, warthogs... There wasn't actually too much variety to see and we were out there in the direct sunlight for 2 hours. We came back to Saint Louis and got a bit of atour of the central island. We stopped for lunch (lots of fish and rice) and then walked around a went to the bank and a cyber cafe... that didn't end up working. We were really able tog et out and see the town which was good... except when we were accosted by so many people to buy stuff. It's been really different seeing abject poverty, knowing I can't do anything about it. It's hard to politely brush people off really when they're so pushy. Walking on the beach, someone offered us a bedroom and "great adventures", etc, etc, etc. I've gotten many invitations... The thing that I'm really excited for more than anything is my project! There is a mosquee (I've forgotten how to spell the Muslim place of worship in English) with talibes, the boys who beg on the street... the thing my research hopes to focus on... so that was pretty exciting. I've seen it with my own two eyes! Loving the girls and the time here!" -- 13 fev 2008, 22h15

Seriously, I couldn't have asked for anything better... this has been one of the most amazing experiences already, and I've only been in the country for a few days! I love it so much, and I'm excited to be able to post pictures sometime. We'll see. Love you and miss you all (but not too much). :D Bisous!