Finally class started yesterday!!! FINALLY. Yes, I know that you in the States have about 5-6 weeks of school left, and I've just started yesterday... but TIA. My first class was Mondialisation et Mouvement Sociaux (Globalisation and Social Mouvements). It's a Masters level course... which is apparently fine for me to take. It was really nice to be in the classroom again. It's been such a long time! The prof seems good and knowledgeable... and funny! Most of the class is dictation: the prof says something a few times for us to be able to write it down word for word and that's how things are done. Which I don't really like. I don't think that really fosters real learning, but I'll do what I can. I'm looking forward to it.

Today, I went in to talk to Dr. Barry about my internship... and I'll be heading into town tomorrow (inshallah) to get things started over there. Hopefully I'll be able to help some of the talibés start learning French. And hopefully it will help my Wolof! I'm excited for things to get started. I feel like I've been here for 2 months of nothing... and I've learned a lot, but it's not actually what I expected, so I'm really ready to get going.

Alright. Spring Break part III. The Casamance.

Melissa and I got a taxi in Serrekunda to get to Diouloulou where we were going to meet Dr. Barry's nephew, Tapha. He seemed like a really nice guy, but I was kinda weirded out when he asked us to pay for all of the tickets to get back to his place in Abené. Normally, the Senegalese are very generous and would /never/ let guests pay for something like that. We get back to their place, the "auberge" Dr. Barry was telling us about. He thought it was going to be a hostel, but alas, it was just their house. In the middle of nowhere in the Casamance. No electricity or running water. Well water. Their home was beautiful. Tapha and his brother Anya took us around the area, looking for monkeys, and we took a walk on the beach. Mel and I were both really tired and weren't up for too much, but they took us to this other campement where they have a friend... and we got (awful) spaghetti that we paid too much for... and then they smoked joints. Because, they said, that marijuana is legal in Senegal. Which it definitely isn't. Yeah. Major rastas. Long story short, we were pretty excited to leave this part of our vacation and plan our great escape to Ziguinchor.

We spent one night in Ziguinchor in a campement that only cost us 7000F. That's around $18. Really cheap. Which was definitely all it was worth. There were, however, 2 beds, electricity, and a shower... everything we wanted. Including the used condom in the shower. Yay. Made for an exciting evening. After a few days in the middle of nowhere, we treated ourselves to a really nice (very necessary) dinner. We got appetizers, a main course, dessert, drinks, the whole shebang. It was a very nice dinner, all for 10600F, about $25. Amazing. We slept well and got up the next morning... and did kinda the same thing: a nice meal. Breakfast of chocolate ice cream. Mmmm. And then we got on the boat! CRUISE! Wooo!

We paid the extra $5 to get a real room where we would be able to sleep. There were 8 beds. There was a restaurant, a bar, and a big sun deck. It was pretty enjoyable. Minus the tossing and turning of the boat all night. Only a little seasickness. We got into Dakar around 06h30... and then we went to the marché to pick up some art. The marché that didn't open until about 9am.

We got into a minibus at the gare routière to get back to Saint-Louis... and after waiting for it to fill up for an hour, we hit the road. And a 2 hour traffic jam. Why? Because there was a one-way road with people coming down the other way trying to turn onto a different street. Yeah. I bet we moved... 4 city blocks in 2 hours. I got out of the hot sweaty bus and chatted with the Malian guy who's also a student in Saint-Louis. It was a long day. Also on the way back, we had to stop and get gas, stop for the Muslims to be able to pray, stop to let other people off, stop to pick other people up... We left Dakar at 10h30 and got back to Saint-Louis by 5h30. 7 hours for a ride that can be done in 3.5. I was pissed and tired and crabby... and got dinner and went to bed. Haha, what an end to spring break.

So, this last segment of my spring break doesn't necessarily sound like the best time, but it really was. It was an incredible experience. I really learned a lot about lots of different things, and Melissa and I are pretty close now. Which is nice.

And it's really nice that Saint-Louis really feels like home. It was definitely a real homecoming experience. Two nights ago, I went back to visit my family in N'Gallèle, and Fabinetou answered the door... her face just lit up. So cute. It had been a good 2 weeks since I'd seen them last, and it was really nice to see them. I think I'll be heading back tonight... because when I was there last time, I'd gone out the night before and I fell asleep promptly at 21h30. Haha. I wasn't too much fun. So tonight should be good too. :D

TIA, man. TIA.