So, hopefully this will be the journal entry I was trying to write last time... we'll see. I'm a bit less pressed for time, so I think it will be better. :D

I've started wolof classes... which is really great. Except that the professor seems to think that degrading the members of his class is the best way for students to learn. (Strikingly similar to a few professors I've left at Hamline. Hmmm.) We're learning a lot, which is good... because in the families, they only speak Wolof. They can speak French, but they always speak Wolof with each other. That's probably been the hardest thing... because they'll say something to each other and then laugh and then stare at me... kinda awkward. So, now that we'll be able to communicate a bit more in their native language, hopefully that will be better. And I speak the best French out of all the Americans, so that's less of language barrier... I only have 1.5 language barriers.

My family is great. I've been spending a lot of time with my younger host sisters. They're so much fun. Sometimes I'll bug them about the boys in the neighborhood I think they should/do like. Sometimes we'll speak in English to each other... which is always fun because their accents are so funny. I asked Mamy what her hobbies were. "Singing, mang-ing". Like manger=to eat... only mang... like mango. Hahah. So that's kinda what we call her now: Singing Mang-ing. :D Pretty funny. They've discovered my digital camera, so we've been having photoshoots in which they do my hair, and after saying "your hair is muuuuch too smooth to do anything with", they pose me on the balcony and take lots of pictures. They're kind of ridiculous, but they get a huge kick out of it. I'll try to upload pictures sometime. They really want to braid my hair... but it doesn't work and looks absolutely lame because of how pale my head is... Oh! And next time they wash the sheep, Serigne is going to tell me, and he'll let me help!!! I'm so excited! :D

I was typing this entry a few days ago, and there was a power outage. Twice. Oh, Senegal.

Classes aren't starting until the 13th, so I have to try to keep myself busy... something that I'm not very good at. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal to be at home all day, but I've been reading a lot. Which is really nice. The Kite Runner, The Island, Three Cups of Tea, and now Reading Lolita in Tehran. All great books. And now when I'm done here, I'm going to go upstairs to see what's up with checking out books from the library.

Yesterday, Rita and I went to go play soccer with some of the girls. Here, soccer is traditionally a boys' sport, so it's even more fun to play with girls... because it's kinda... outside of the norm. After I (miraculously) scored a goal, I did a victory dance which brought on lots of laughter and cries for more dancing. Then they tried to teach us how to do some Senegalese dances... ridiculous.

Something that's really interesting is that we're learning a lot about racism first-hand when we're over here. People refer to us as "toubab" which I learned comes from the arabic word for doctor... because doctors tended to be white? Here it means stranger or white person. The families we live with ask each other "how is your toubab doing? where is you toubab?" We're definitely first identified as white. There are a lot of little kids who will stop and stare... we're the first white people they've ever seen. It's a completely foreign concept to them.

Lots of really interesting things have been going on. Hopefully I'll share more in the future. :D Bisous!