Jërëjëf means thank you in Wolof and it’s cool looking and is useful. We moved into our host families last night and this morning heard some of those very few “horror” stories of awkward and uncomfortable. LUCKILY, mine was not like that. I have a Mum, Dad, 2 little siblings, my own room (decorated with a hundred children’s stickers) and a bathroom that will take some getting used to. It is quite small with a Western style toilet and sink but the room is also the shower and there are buckets and a shower head so I’m not sure how that works yet…I’ll get back to you. Needless to say I did not shower yet.

My vocabulary in Wolof remains extremely limited, I can greet someone, find out about their night, health and day but that’s about it. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so much, I think I will be learning Wolof from my 3 year old brother Mouhamed.

He was running around until I pulled out the camera, and very quickly struck this fabulous pose! He runs around giving me orders to play, wash my hands before dinner, thank God for the food first and then sit down after. It took him all of 10 minutes to come out of the shy child into a rambunxious ball of energy. Amina, the 4 month old ball of chub is adorable. I haven’t heard her cry once and she is perfectly pleased sitting in her chair and observing.

We sat around in the living room watching awful foreign TV while Mouhamed climbed all over me, chewed my book and drove his motorcycle around my body for a couple hours before dinner which we ate traditionally on the ground but with spoons! Followed by mango and oranges for dessert. Yum.

My family has fairly younger parents, so I haven’t run into too many cultural faux pas, and they were totally welcoming and told me I was part of the family. Oh! And my new Senegalese name is Hadija so that’s fun. I live in Ouakam, Cité Comico and there are 5 other SIT students in the neighborhood so I will find out where they live soon.

We took a tour of the city today by bus, driving along the coast and it was beautiful. We saw the swanky politician and rich neighborhood, complete with the 5 star Radisson on the beach and shopping mall next door.

oh! the other day they dropped us off in the middle of the city in groups of 3 where we had to navigate our way around. Long story short, we went to a giant outdoor but covered market where there were fish everywhere covered in flies, half animals hanging, the worst smells I’ve ever encountered, and far too many people in one place. It was crazy but a good experience. Erica almost got run over by a moped and we were followed by a guy selling wooden monkey figurines, almost scammed and hid in a fabric shop where I learned a bunch of Wolof for 10 min. That was a highlight. The guys were so nice, a break from the haggling outside and said I was a wonderful Sénégalaise already and would speak Wolof in no time!

We are often greeted with Toubab! Toubab! (White person) with excitement. It’s hard not to draw attention to ourselves but we’re trying not to be mistaken for tourists.

I don’t know if any of you actually read this, besides Mom. Hi mom! But this was lengthy. Miss you all!