Salaamaalekum,
I hope you have all been having a great week. I've been playing catch up at school and have finally, I think, caught up, which is great. I've had a lot of time with family, so I've even finished a 1,000 piece puzzle, that mom sent me, with my brothers! Quite a feat! We are supposed to be in dry season now but it is still raining once or twice a week which does keep the boys in so going to redo puzzle number one and then start puzzle number two!
I am still on the mend to feeling better which is great. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health last Thursday and told me to start running. Of course, following doctor's orders, I did and had a lot of difficulty breathing at one point so I'm going to not follow doctor's orders and walk more than run! That way, all of you loving people will not have to worry about that part of my life until I get back to the USA. So please, stop worrying, I don't want to be the cause for stress, love you all too much for that!
I was hanging out at my program director's house the other day and playing with his wonderful kids when Baboucar, the 7 year old boy, told me that he wanted to have white skin. It was interesting because I had heard other people's host siblings saying similar things but to hear it first hand was quite shocking. I then made a joke about my preference being neon green or purple and luckily that made the conversation a little better but he still came back to saying that, in the end, white was the best color for skin. I guess it is that thinking that makes so many people here bleach there skin and so many white people sit in tanning beds trying to tan (or go orange). So strange.
Elizabeth, probably my closest friend here, had her 22nd birthday last Friday so a few of us decided that we should hold a huge celebration. We found a crepe shop, which was delicious, then a wonderful Indian dinner, a big wonderful chocolate cake, and a night out dancing. It was a lot of fun and was a great experience out (which makes up for my not so great clubbing experience from before). One of my friends, Hannah, had this guy that kept following her and kissing her which she most definitely did not appreciate. So I was given a great opportunity to slap him and tell him that she, and all other women do not appreciate that, he was angry for someone getting between him and a girl that wouldn't slap him, but he left and soon after we went home. Felt very tough telling off a guy like that - hopefully he learned!
On the same note of Senegalese guys, being here has made me realize that I have a huge problem with people 'using' me, and others. The way people here spend a lot of their time expecting to get presents, money, and other things from foreigners is pretty mind boggling, especially when I'm expected to call them family. In my program, there are about six or seven girls that came here to find their African man, I know, worrisome, and have very easily found them. Though for those of us not looking it is amazing how quickly a guy will say 'I love you' without knowing your name and say, so when will you be taking me to America? It really makes being here tough when you feel that everyone is out to use you and not to just be friendly. Hopefully though, with time that will change on both sides.
A few days after I got out of the hospital I went to another student's house and hung out there playing uno. All of a sudden there was a scream like one of our brothers smacked there head on the tile floor, but as soon as we turned around we saw a little goat being carried in. I quickly realized what was going to happen, it was going to be dinner, but Allison, didn't jump to that conclusion and followed it to the patio asking questions. She started making a huge fuss when she realized it was dinner and started crying (in a culture where no one really cries). She decided she wanted to watch it get slaughtered and held through it pretty well but kept making a scene. Luckily, I think her family just thinks she is crazy anyways and didn't get annoyed with her. It was very interesting how clean the whole thing was and how everything was put in piles for food. Blah. Not quite what I wanted to see, brains, eyes, lungs, heart, everything was thrown into the little piles. I didn't mind watching it but in a few weeks we will be celebrating 'Tabaski' which is where they slaughter all the goats/sheep in celebration, which I feel will be a bit tough! More on that when it happens though!
Lots of love,
Katie
I hope you have all been having a great week. I've been playing catch up at school and have finally, I think, caught up, which is great. I've had a lot of time with family, so I've even finished a 1,000 piece puzzle, that mom sent me, with my brothers! Quite a feat! We are supposed to be in dry season now but it is still raining once or twice a week which does keep the boys in so going to redo puzzle number one and then start puzzle number two!
I am still on the mend to feeling better which is great. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health last Thursday and told me to start running. Of course, following doctor's orders, I did and had a lot of difficulty breathing at one point so I'm going to not follow doctor's orders and walk more than run! That way, all of you loving people will not have to worry about that part of my life until I get back to the USA. So please, stop worrying, I don't want to be the cause for stress, love you all too much for that!
I was hanging out at my program director's house the other day and playing with his wonderful kids when Baboucar, the 7 year old boy, told me that he wanted to have white skin. It was interesting because I had heard other people's host siblings saying similar things but to hear it first hand was quite shocking. I then made a joke about my preference being neon green or purple and luckily that made the conversation a little better but he still came back to saying that, in the end, white was the best color for skin. I guess it is that thinking that makes so many people here bleach there skin and so many white people sit in tanning beds trying to tan (or go orange). So strange.
Elizabeth, probably my closest friend here, had her 22nd birthday last Friday so a few of us decided that we should hold a huge celebration. We found a crepe shop, which was delicious, then a wonderful Indian dinner, a big wonderful chocolate cake, and a night out dancing. It was a lot of fun and was a great experience out (which makes up for my not so great clubbing experience from before). One of my friends, Hannah, had this guy that kept following her and kissing her which she most definitely did not appreciate. So I was given a great opportunity to slap him and tell him that she, and all other women do not appreciate that, he was angry for someone getting between him and a girl that wouldn't slap him, but he left and soon after we went home. Felt very tough telling off a guy like that - hopefully he learned!
On the same note of Senegalese guys, being here has made me realize that I have a huge problem with people 'using' me, and others. The way people here spend a lot of their time expecting to get presents, money, and other things from foreigners is pretty mind boggling, especially when I'm expected to call them family. In my program, there are about six or seven girls that came here to find their African man, I know, worrisome, and have very easily found them. Though for those of us not looking it is amazing how quickly a guy will say 'I love you' without knowing your name and say, so when will you be taking me to America? It really makes being here tough when you feel that everyone is out to use you and not to just be friendly. Hopefully though, with time that will change on both sides.
A few days after I got out of the hospital I went to another student's house and hung out there playing uno. All of a sudden there was a scream like one of our brothers smacked there head on the tile floor, but as soon as we turned around we saw a little goat being carried in. I quickly realized what was going to happen, it was going to be dinner, but Allison, didn't jump to that conclusion and followed it to the patio asking questions. She started making a huge fuss when she realized it was dinner and started crying (in a culture where no one really cries). She decided she wanted to watch it get slaughtered and held through it pretty well but kept making a scene. Luckily, I think her family just thinks she is crazy anyways and didn't get annoyed with her. It was very interesting how clean the whole thing was and how everything was put in piles for food. Blah. Not quite what I wanted to see, brains, eyes, lungs, heart, everything was thrown into the little piles. I didn't mind watching it but in a few weeks we will be celebrating 'Tabaski' which is where they slaughter all the goats/sheep in celebration, which I feel will be a bit tough! More on that when it happens though!
Lots of love,
Katie
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