Spelling Doesn't Matter...

I’ve decided the best way to be keeping up with my blog (while I have LOTS of internet) is to update on my own during the day and post each night… but I lose internet access tomorrow so that’ll really only apply today and in 10 days when I’m back in Thies.

10:30am:

So far it’s been an exciting, eventful day! After breakfast this morning I did my laundry along with 3 other SED girls. The Senegalese women helped us but I think they also enjoyed our questions and general incapability. It really isn’t that hard, but it’s kind of hard to keep things clean. You get 2 buckets and some soap, soapy water in one, clean water in the other. Then you dunk your clothes and start scrubbing them against each other. Eventually when you think they’re clean, you put them in the clean water. I wasn’t sure how well I actually cleaned my clothes, but judging by the amount of dirt in the water, I think I did it pretty well. Next, you hang them up to dry and you SERIOUSLY have to let them dry all the way.. Unless you want mango fly larva in your clothes and then in your skin (so the pcv’s have warned us). After that, our first session was on how to learn a language. We learned that most of the local languages don’t have a specific spelling, everything is phonetic… a language where spelling doesn’t matter… this is my kind of place! Then we had the moment of truth… we found out the language we’re learning!……. So… over the next 9 weeks I’ll be learning… FRENCH!

I have mixed feelings about this but overall am happy, the pro-con column breaks down as such:

I’ll go to my site without knowing the local language which will make integration harder and I’ll only be fluently bi-ligual. BUT I know a decent amount of French so I’ll be able to communicate with my homestay family, I’ll be able to communicate with a lot of people (almost everyone speaks some French in addition to the regional dialect), passing the language level at the end shouldn’t be too hard (you have to show basic conversational skills which, minus some vocab, I think I’m almost there), and I’ll be able to speak French fluently for the rest of my life all around the world! Yay! Back to Language Class!

Lunch was AMAZING today, so far my favorite meal. It was some sort of noodle that looks like cut up angel hair along with the typical meat and vegetables.. But this also included raisons in the sauce! Other than I, it’s important to mention that the “mef” aka mefloquine… weekly malaria pills did NOT give me crazy dreams or insomnia (yet) and I actually slept really well last night. Not only is sleeping well just generally a nice thing, but typical morning greeting is “Bonjour! Qu’est-ce que tu a dormi?” “Hi, how did you sleep?” Also, I’ve found that, so far, crystal light raspberry lemonade is REALLY good with the water and seems to have some stomach calming powers! Off to tech classes (in the air conditioning.. Thank goodness because it’s getting to be the hot part of the day).

After afternoon sessions, I went to the market with a few friends. We were looking for cloth to have pagne’s made (a sort of wrap skirt) as well as some tea and sugar as a gift to our homestay families. We were only successful with the sugar and tea because the cloth seller was way too expensive (he was asking for twice the price that it should be). We walked back and talked with one of the Mauritanian volunteers. After dinner I’m going to pack for the next 7 days in my homestay. I won’t have internet until the 23rd, so don’t expect any updates until then.

We’re all pretty excited to get traditional clothes and another volunteer had the idea, and I’m definitely following to get an underskirt… unlike american “slips” it isn’t plain colored, it’s a bright colored, flashy (sequined or fring-y) that you show when you’re dancing (by holding up your pagne). Quite sexy… I know.

Time to get back to packing! Off to my homestay tomorrow, back on the internet in a week!

Best,

KO