Another amazing African day. Wow. Just great.

Couldn't fall asleep last night... first night in a mosquito net, and I couldn't breathe, and I felt like a prisoner in my own skin until 4h30. Thought I was going to die... but instead of sleeping in, I woke up at 9h30 to get ready for the day. Cold shower, left-over fish pasta for breakfast and donuts. Still not feeling too great, but tried to choke some of it down anyway. There's this little girl that lives here, Astou. She is so cute... 2 years old. I can't understand a single word she says. She's cute though. And I think we're friends now. She came into my room this morning, and she didn't really understand. All she saw was a toubab in her house... and she seemed a bit surprised. Anyway, we were playing around, and then I went to see Adjou, Mina, Aminata, Khadija, and little Fatou. So nice to see them, too. Adjou flew into my arms. What a homecoming. It was really nice to chat with them for awhile. Rita, they say hello. :D And they miss you terribly. But man, are they demanding and high-maintenance! Love 'em, but I was ready to leave. I love my host family... a bit more hands-off.

Came back for some thieboudieune, the meal we eat everyday for lunch. It was great. I haven't had that in quite a long time. Had to eat some fish, and that really didn't feel good.... haven't eaten that since March. Took a brief nap and then went into town to buy a cell phone and to visit some friends. And that was amazing. Didn't actually buy a cell phone because everything was still closed due to Tabaski yesterday, but I did get to see some good friends that I really missed.

I walk down to the South end of the island, and there I find Bouba (a coworker of mine) with open arms. I talked to him for about 30 seconds before seeing his brother, Lamine. Lamine sells coffee around the island and performs rap for fun. He has good lyrics and a great presence, but he's not a very good singer... Talked with him for awhile, then ran into Yakham, who apparently just got a new job as... the director of commerce in Saint-Louis. I think he's just joking, but I still have to investigate. They moved into another half of a house, so he took me over there to find Lala, their younger sister, who was laughing so hard she almost cried when she saw me. I got to see the little talibés that live with them, Issa and Khalidou, and Mayoro, their nephew. It's so nice to see them. They still remember me and want to play games, wanted me to bring some balloons and other balls, etc. Talked to a bunch of different people, really, and then I was going home for dinner, I ran into Lamine again, and he insisted on walking me back to the garage where I could take a taxi to Ngallele, my host-family's home. But before we could do that, of course, we had to stop and see his second mother and meet everyone there, we had to stpo and see some other friends. They were all very kind, making me feel good about my Wolof skills. One of them is even a sociology student who did a thesis on Pierre Bourdieu, the sociologist on whom I'm basing nearly my entire research project, so hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch with him. 1h30 minutes later, I finally catch a taxi just in time to catch dinner, lakh (akin to oatmeal), with the fam.

Seriously. What a homecoming. It feels so natural to be with them. Just very much like I'm at home. I really do know that no matter what, no matter when I come, I'll always be welcome here. They tell me that everyday, too. A nice reminder. It really feels like I've never left.

I'm still thrilled to be here. :D