We still haven't started classes. Monday, profs didn't show up. Tuesday and Wednesday, the first year students were striking because they didn't receive their government scholarships, Thursday was a holiday and now, people don't show up because... well, it's Friday and it's almost the weekend. And then next week we probably won't have classes because it's the week before Spring Break. And then the following week is Spring Break, so we probably really won't even start classes until the week of the 7th. Of April. Yeah, when I left the States, Hamline had started classes... so, as much as I'm learning here about culture and as much fun as I'm having, I really do feel like I'm kinda missing out on an entire semester of courses... especially since I'll be having about 8 weeks of classes that only meet once each week. So, that's basically a third of a semester in the States. Hmmm. Oh well. TIA, man. TIA.

So, yesterday was basically amazing. In the afternoon, we went into town to buy some stuff. On the way in, we met the woman who lives next to Rita and Jessica who happens to be the sweetest woman in the entire world. She's an English student writing a thesis on the concept of duty in Shakespeare. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to do that in English... or any other language for that matter. I've been quite impressed by the masters students' English. Quite impressed. She paid for our 50CFA bus fee, so we'll have her over for an American dinner or something. She's a sweetie.

In town, Rita wanted to buy stamps, so she went into a boutique, and when she came out, we had all been invited to take attaaya (tea) with the artists of the boutique. We went to a patisserie and got some /delicious/ pastries, and then went back for attaaya. There were 3 sénégalais and one martiniquais. They were so nice and extremely /not/ creepy. Which is refreshing to see. They gave us tea and brought out a djembe and wanted us to sing. Good thing Rita, Melissa, and I are all singers... so we could bust out some old spirituals in 3-part harmony. Fun times. We were singing and dancing for a few hours, and by the end of our impromptu dance party in a tiny boutique, we left with an invitation for lunch and dancing on the beach on Saturday. Sounds like fun.

We were going to go wait for the CROUS bus to take us back to campus, but it didn't show up when we thought it would, so we started walking back toward the bridge to get a taxi, and there we saw Campal and Georges' car! Fate. So, we caught up with them for awhile and headed back to campus as they were still doing work at the cyber café. In Saint-Louis, there is a "garage" where you can find a taxi or a car-rapide (a bit like a small bus) to get to the university, so we went there. And there was this /crazy/ (mais fou!!!) man who wanted to help us out. We all think he was extremely drunk, but he was nice and didn't even rip us off for a taxi. We were all commenting on how nice it is to not be tourists here anymore. People are starting to recognize us and treat us differently because they now assume we're students... not just tourists. It's interesting how the whole situation and feeling of the town changes when you're no longer a tourist.

We got back to the university and got a later dinner (23h00) with Georges and Campal and then hit the sack pretty late. This morning, we got up and had breakfast of café au lait and baguette (à la française mais "sénégalaisement", comme il disait le mec à la boutique) before going to Wolof. Pap Laye, the prof, is starting to grow on me. I still think he's extremely impatient with his students and doesn't teach very well, but I've found myself adapting more and more to that style. We've been asking more questions as well, and I feel like I've really learned a lot in the past 2 sessions. So, things are going well on that front. It was really impressive to see the Wisconsin girls speak Wolof... but it makes me sad to think that I probably won't get to that point while I'm here. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to come back.

So, as for today, I think I'm going to go back to my room, grab some lunch, have attaaya with Ibrahima at 16h00 and then head back to my family in N'Gallele for the evening... and then go into town to see my first jazz concert! Wooo! I'm excited!

I feel like things are finally starting! Even though class is still... not... It's been fun for the past few days. We've finally got our independence back. It's been fun. :D I'm excited to have more stories to tell when I get back!