I love my life. I think I say that every time, but it's true. It's been about a week since my last post... which means that I'm definitely keeping busy.

I've been into town every day for the past week... except Sunday, but today, I'm going in twice. My internship has been amazing. I'm really getting closer to the kids, usually discussing my marital situation. Oh, and PS. You all missed my wedding to Mamadou, the 15-year-old talibé, that was on Sunday. I missed it myself as I was in N'Gallèle with my family.

Friday was one of the most memorable days of my life. The financial partners of Claire Enfance, my internship organisation, came from Spain to visit and to do a medical check-in with the talibés in the area. There were so many that showed up that they wanted to get a second group started on their treatment. They didn't, though, have 2 people that could speak Spanish and French to translate. "Américaine, we need you." For what? "English translation." What? I ended up serving as a medical translator for about 5 hours on Friday. The talibé boy spoke to the Senegalese nurse in Wolof who spoke to me in French who spoke the the Spanish doctor in English who then spoke Spanish to the "pharmacist". Any time anyone wanted to ask a question to the opposite party, they had to go through the two middle-men. Crazy times. I got to see a lot of really common sicknesses that can potentially be fatal if not treated. These kids can't afford medical treatment and usually don't understand the gravity of their situations. In any case, I learned a lot and got to meet a lot of different kids.

Put in an 8-hour day and then went home with Bouba for dinner with the family... who I absolutely adore. (The night before, I went to a rap concert to see his younger brother, Lamine, on stage. Crazy times. No one was dancing, but there were 100s of people there... and Rita and I kinda got to be VIPs and go backstage and everything... because I know Lamine. I love that it's all about social networking.) I was there pretty late, and then we walked the two talibés that live with them back to their daara. Now, I've been working with these kids for two weeks now, and I still hadn't seen a daara. Bouba took me inside to see it. And as it was about 23h30, all the kids were asleep in their room. Which is a big concrete square room where they were all piled on top of each other. They are their own blankets, their own pillows, their own matresses... Just literally piles of kids all around the room. One of the most heart-wrenching things I've seen. A really hard thing to wrap your head around.

On a lighter note, today, I met a musician through a mutual friend. He let me play his guitar for awhile and then asked if I wanted him to get me a spot on the roster for the jazz festival on one of the "off" stages... and he even said that we could jam together sometime. He and his band have a regular showcase on Saturday nights in town. So, basically, that would be the coolest thing ever. I'm heading back into town tonight to check out the week-night music scene.

On Saturday, Rita and I went into town to go to the tailor. I'm having a dress, a wrap, and 2 shirts made. I'll post pictures when I can. Hopefully they'll be as great as I want them to be. Inshallah.

So, I guess, as always, I'm really enjoying myself. And it's really sad to think that I only have 6 weeks left. But then I really am planning on coming back over December and January... as we get out of school so early. I could really be here for 6 weeks. So, yeah. I'm excited about that prospect.

Tomorrow, I'm going to work, to the tailor, to my family, and then back here to pack for Dakar! I'm heading out on Wednesday. I'll spend some time there and then head back up to Louga to see Rita's orphanage... and I'll be back in Saint-Louis for class on Monday (inshallah). Such adventures!