I can't even believe the amount of crazy stuff that I have done in the past few days since last updating. Seriously. Here's a bit of a rundown.

#1. Went to church on Sunday with Jess. What an experience. The music was amazing. Djembes and a cappella harmony voices. Congregation was 15 people. Incredible. The only issues: the preacher was very preachy and the service was four (4!!!) hours long. It was actually really validating to be able to look over on the cell phone to see that 4 hours actually had passed. It wasn't just me. Walking back, Jess was talking about her religious views (she's hardcore open Christian and very reasonable and knowledgeable). So, it was quite interesting.

#2. I went into town with Melissa the other day. We were waiting for an Alhamdulilahi taxi-bus, and I started playing soccer with some of the little kids. Adorable. When we got on the bus, a few of the men were telling a (larger) white woman that she was going to have to pay for 2 seats. Calling them out on it, saying it wasn't funny and that it was extremely rude and unappreciated, they just laughed. Later when I got back, I asked Aida if this was a common thing. She said that it happens to Senegalese women too, and that she thinks it's an extremely vulgar thing to do. She said she'd kick anyone who said that to her. There's no point in ripping on my body, she said. I am the way God intended me to be, and I love myself that way. I also then asked her about the word "tubaab", and she said that she thinks that the only people who ever say it are uneducated, and that if they knew that it was something that was extremely offensive (especially to French people... apparently they hate it more than we do), they probably wouldn't do it. So, next time I'm in the position to call someone out on it, I think I'm going to give it a shot. Can't hurt...

#3. So far, the African notion of time hasn't been too much of an issue. The one thing that is bothering me, though, is that school now isn't really starting until APRIL! Because we're going to be going on a trip and missing the first few days of classes (apparently something that isn't a big deal at all because profs don't necessarily show up for the first few days of class.......) and then it's Easter break. And then it's April. I really want to start classes and start hanging out with people my own age.

#4. The time that I have been able to spend with people my own age has been great. We've been spending time with Georges and Campal and Jonas, the guys that work for Interface, an agricultural development company. We were diluting molasses (and playing with it), and then sitting on top of huge vats and pouring Fermented Plant Extract in it... Yesterday Georges cooked us a Kenyan meal and we had a bit of a dance party... and the other day, they bought us hamburgers (which in Senegal are made with fried eggs and fries in them). They treat us like princesses. Haha. Yesterday evening, I went with them to the university to check my email, and I was just going to go to the lab, and they said, "No! You cannot pay for internet when we have laptops and wifi!" So, we spent 2.5 hours chatting and trying to find wifi when I could've just gone to the lab. It was fun chatting with them. In Wolof, French, and English, depending on the context of the conversation and who we were making fun of. So, after chatting with Georges about his failing marriage, chatting with Campal about extra-curriculars (including a choir!) on campus, and chatting with Jonas (the Republican from Togo) about President Bush, I was finally connected for wifi for about 20 minutes. And on Georges computer, every time you want to open a new page, you have to type in a password: henry14, which I got really good at typing. Freakin' annoying. Good times, good times. I think we're all going dancing on Saturday! Wooo!

In any case, things here are great. We're heading out to a wildlife park on the 13th, and then we're going to head to Mali maybe... It's almost Spring break, so we have to solidify our plans.

I love Senegal!

OH. And hopefully photos will be up soon. We had a bit of a mishap with all my photos being deleted, but some of them are on one of the computers in the lab... so, yeah. There's that. Hopefully everything will work out.

Catch you next time, lovas.