So now that I've had some time to decompress as well as talk to my friends here about all of our experiences (we were all in different towns), I feel like I have a little more to add. Overall, it seems like most of my friends here had the same experience I had which was that at times it was great and at times it was just really hard. We all agree that once we have cellphones (and free texting to over PCT's) it'll be a lot easier. Also, I want to explain a little bit more about my hf (host family). My hf dad is a "farmer" which means he goes to the fields from 9-11 and from about 3-5 for farming millet and corn. He told me that during Seche (the dry season) he'll have a garden in the compound courtyard for growing veggies. His brothers are farmers, a teacher, and a driver (from Thies to their village). The women spend all day: doing laundry, watching the kids, yelling at the kids, cooking (each meal takes 4 hours to prepare), and sweeping/generally cleaning. The kids that are currently there range from 24 years - 5months old. When there aren't tasks to be done, everyone is sitting under the mango tree in chairs or on mats. Originally they all just sat there, but I brought some UNO cards for the family and now they play UNO all day (I'm really good at my numbers, colors, saying "change directions", "you can't play", and "it's your turn" in French now). Sometimes they switch trees when the sun starts to move around and come through.
I have 2 female hfcousins who are 24 and 22 who go to university in Dakar. They're REALLY nice and super patient with me. Also, they've realized that while my French isn't that of a 21 year old, I'm actually a decently intelligent person and can talk about more than the weather. We were able to talk about Senegalese and American politics, climate change, plans for after school, and other just general girl topics. They said they're going to go with me to the tailor to get my clothes made, so I'm really thankful I have them in my hffamily (even though they're leaving for Dakar at the end of September).
There's also a very interesting connection between Senegal and Canada that I'm just starting to figure out. For the first few days, I noticed that everyone in university seemed to want to go to Canada to visit or to maybe live one day and I just couldn't figure out why... until I realized that Canada is like the French speaking America! One of the cousins wants to live there and one of my professors wants to visit.
Overall, I feel like my French is REALLY improving and I'm looking forward to learning a local language. Tomorrow we have a Med session (which means more shots too! I think Hep A and maybe Rabis part 2?) as well as some Tech sessions. Afterwards, I think my friends and I are going out for dinner.
I think that's all for now! A Bientot!
KO
Hey any pictures??
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