HO HO HO!!! Happy Holidays!!! I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas again! I’ll be going to America for Christmas, and I’m super stoked. I’ve already put in a request for what I want my mom to bring me (food wise) to the airport when they pick me up. Woo!

Sooooo…..what have I been doing? Hmm. Good question. Well, the major thing that comes to mind is Emily’s visit! Emily is one of my best friends from college, and she made the trek from Boston to Senegal to see me. What a trooper. She was here for about two weeks and it was lots of fun. She got to experience a lot of Senegal. Highlights: We were on our way to a Halloween party on a car ride that’s supposed to be 8 hours. It took us 14. Not one complaint from Emily….thanks dude! It was a pretty miserable car ride, but it was nice having a happy friend there!
After the Halloween party we made our way to my site. We went to my tailor’s to hang out for a bit, and he winds up confessing his love for Emily. Keep in mind that he doesn’t really speak French, much less English, and obviously Emily doesn’t speak Pulaar or Wolof. He didn’t really understand how that would be a barrier in a relationship. Anyway, they compromised and decided that if my tailor ever made it to America he would call Emily and Emily would have to hang out with him. I hope that actually happens, it would be fun to witness :) After being at my site for a bit we went to St. Louis, which was amazing. We stayed in a nice hotel, ate lots of good food and hung out on the beach. It was a great way to end the trip. Thanks again for coming, Em!

I went to my regional house for Thanksgiving, which was pretty fun. Somehow people managed to cook really good American food even with our limited supply here! We even had pies. Mmmmm.

Other than that I've just been hanging out at site. Work with the Womens Group has been slow, but I started giving computer lessons to kids on my laptop. So far only a couple kids have come, but it has been really fun! These kids had never even seen a computer in person before, so needless to say they had no idea about anything. Im perfectly happy to start explaining the basics to them, but that was harder than expected in another language! I'm not sure they totally understood what i was trying to explain about things like the CPU and hard drive, but they keep coming! They ask some cute questions, too. For example, one kid wanted to know if it was possible to print the color green. At the school they only have black and white print-outs, so he didn't really understand that it was possible to print all colors from a computer if you have a color printer! He also wanted to know things like why the keys on the keyboard weren't in alphabetical order. I think that's a great question, and I don't know if I would have noticed that if I were him. Anyway, I started them on typing lessons, and they seem to be really into that. When they come they are super focused and try really hard. It's great! Hopefully when I get back from vacation I will be able to get more kids to come. We shall see!


Random Africa Moment

I have two today actually. They're related, and they also have to do with animals. Surprise surprise.

So Tabaski is just a few days away. Tabaski is the holiday when every family slaughters a sheep, which means during the weeks leading up to Tabaski tons of sheep are being transported. Well, a couple of weeks ago I was waiting in a minicar (which is pretty much like a minivan) for enough people to fill it up before we could leave. We were about full and a guy shows up with a bunch of sheep. Nothing abnormal about that, and they tied up the sheeps' legs and hoisted them up on to the roof. I had a window seat and had the window open with my elbow hanging out a bit. Not long after the sheep were hoisted up on to the roof I felt some wetness all over my arm. I looked over and realized that a freaking sheep had peed on me!!! Ahhh. I immediately slammed the window shut, which was kinda loud. The guy in front of me turned around kinda startled, but found me looking around trying to find something to wipe my arm off with. Comprehension spread across his face and he said to me in Pulaar, "Sheep pee?" I said "yeahhhh." Then he said, "Yeahh, we're in the Fouta!" Like yup, it happens, suck it up. Then he follows it up with "C'est bon!" Ha. I don't know how being peed on by a sheep could be classified as being "bon," but at that point after the inital shock I realized that it was pretty funny. I proceeded to text 2 other volunteers, and their responses were pretty funny, too. One said "Ha! gotta keep those windows shut during Tabaski season!" She didn't even have to ask how it happened. The other sais "Yeah you'll have that sometimes, bummer dude!" So I realized that being peed on by a sheep really isnt a bit deal, its just kind of an occupational hazard!

So then yesterday I was in an Alham (big, bus-like public trqnsport vehicle) and it happened again! Only this time it didn't come in through the window...it came in through a leak in the roof! I was kinda confused for about a half a second then realized No way!!! AGAIN? Grooooosssss it's on my head this time!! Eww. Luckily it wasnt crowded so I was able to move seats immediately.

And there you have it folks. I've been peed on by a sheep. Twice. Now I know that during Tabaski season I need to beware of open windows and leaks in the roof. Oh the things you learn while living in Africa...

So now I truly understand the meaning of the expression “til the cows come home”. It’s probably my favorite part of the day. The cows really do come home. I’ll try to explain.

Pulaars, the ethnic group in my area, are traditionally herders. They herd cows, goats and sheep. Animals are everywhere. They’re usually making noise. My family owns 20+ cows, and 6 or 7 goats. A lot of mornings I wake up to moo-ing. It can be really loud. Anyway, every morning my host mom and every other herder in the town take their animals out to the fields. It’s pretty hilarious to witness.

One day I told my host mom that I wanted to go with her when she took the cows out. She laughed and said ok, like yeah right you’re gonna take the cows out. Turns out the next day I didn’t, because I had some minor stomach issues. I felt kinda dumb that I hadn’t kept my word, but a few days later I woke up to moo-ing and felt great, so I decided I’d go out with my mom. The cows sleep in the ‘back yard’ tied up to posts in the ground, so I went back there and found my mom untying them. She smiled, and I didn’t have to explain what I was doing…she just pointed at her walking stick and told me to pick it up. At this point I’m beside myself with giddiness, but I’m not sure why the prospect of taking some cows out was so exciting. It was though, and I was singing to myself “I’m becoming a herd-er, doo da, doo da, I’m becoming a herd-er, I could herd all day long!” I followed my mom around while she was untying all the cows and pretty much just stood there. She opened up the back gate and shooed out the cows, and I told her that my stomach didn’t hurt anymore and that I felt better. She laughed and said she was glad.

Our house is kind of on the far end of town, so it’s not far to the where the houses stop and the field/nothingness starts. When we got out there, several other herders were there with their herds. We walk up to them and greet and they start chatting. Some of them were kind of amazed that "Aissatoubab" (what many people around town call me) had come out, and my mom told them that I came out just to see the cows. She also told them what I had said about my stomach not hurting and feeling healthy today. They laughed. Thanks mom, now they all know that I’ve had the poos the last few days, not that it’s anything to be ashamed of. Neat. I appreciate it.

But that’s beside the point. The whole scene was pretty hilarious. It was like a bunch of moms and dads taking their kids to the bus stop in the morning. The little kids (sheep and goats) were hanging out together in one area, and the big kids (cows) were hanging out together, while the parents (the herders) were grouped together chatting. Of course at one point two of the big kids started fighting, and my mom had to go break them up (this really happened…two cows were starting to ram each other and my mom ran over and broke them up!). Then there’s always a little kid who’s afraid of getting on the bus and the mom has to drag him to the bus stop. Only instead of a mom pulling on a kid’s hand, I turned around and saw a lady literally dragging a sheep by its horn. I don’t know what its problem was, but it wasn’t budging and the woman had to put forth a decent amount of effort to drag this dumb animal along to the bus stop.

Eventually somebody drove off the animals and they meandered into the distance. It was kind of anticlimactic…I thought we’d have to do more. But that’s just the when the cows are going. It’s way better they come back. Everyday around 6ish the cows come home. That might not sound too exciting, but it puts a smile on my face everyday.

The cows come home everyday through the front door. It’s hilarious. They usually announce their presence with a loud moooooo as they’re scrambling up the front steps. Sometimes the ones with really big horns have to turn their head sideways so they can fit through the door. Most of the time they walk straight through to the back, but a lot of times the more curious ones kinda wander around our courtyard area. They sniff and lick at dirty dishes until somebody shoes them off. Some days when I’m really bored I give them names and personalities. Here’s some pics:

Ok I'm about out of time...hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Later!