Sorry I’ve left you hanging for so long friends and readers! I had a fear of complaining or honestly writing about my silly negative thoughts. You know the usual ones… it’s halfway through, I have a whole 6 weeks left, but still so much to do here, the fear of not feeling fulfilled/not experiencing everything available etc. I won’t lie, the airport borders my neighborhood and I’ve watched planes take off from my rooftop in a healthy anticipation of heading home to the people and comforts I miss. But enough of that, we’re moving on!

1. Classes are done!! And we’re starting our Independent Study Project (ISP) period which takes us all the way to the end. I could not be more excited with where I’ve ended up. I stumbled upon this organization on a random french article’s comments section? No one here had heard of it before and it was too lucky. I went to check it out Wednesday and it was the best day of my life/Senegal/maybe I’m exaggerating. Point is I loved it. It’s called Taxawu Sunuy Xale (Help Our Children) and is a hole in the wall that opens to children from families on the street, talibés (young boys who have to beg daily for their religious leaders), and provides structure and safety. One of the leaders Max just said it required that I have a heart for these kids, language barrier or skills aside. Count me in. 

So I spent the day loving on these kids who loved 10 times more on me. Within 30min of arriving I was leading story time by reading a French children’s book to them while Max translated to Wolof and the kids sat eagerly taking it all in. Next, I sharpened colored pencils (with the world’s worst sharpener, my hands still hurt) frantically trying to keep up as they colored pictures from The Hunchback of Notre Dame for an hour. We then watched Pippi Longstockings in French! This was great for so many reasons. 1. I’ve never even seen it and she’s an American household name. 2. Three kids quickly leaned on me eventually falling asleep. 3. A few girls began playing with my hair and commenting on how it was like Pippi’s haha 4. As they were soaking up my presence, I was enjoying their giggles at Pippi all the more. They would check back to make sure I laughed too as the silly things happened, often pointing and naming the funny parts in wolof. 

I’m hooked and will be back next Wed  to start my month of daily volunteering and learning from them. It’s in French but you can check it out at Tsxdakar@wordpress.com.

2. Tomorrow at 4am I’m leaving for family vacation! We’re driving back to St. Louis my dad’s hometown to celebrate Tabaski with his family. If I haven’t already explained Tabaski is THE holiday and the event you dispense all your earnings on lavish outfits for. It’s in honor of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his first son (Ismael in Islam, not Isaac). The head(s) of the family will kill a sheep (yum) and the women will grill and prepare the elaborate meal for the evening. I’ve been notified I will change outfits and lather on makeup partway through this day of festivities so just hold on tight pics will come. The Post-Tabaski post will be more detailed and visual for sure. Spoiler alert if you’re not into sacrificing animals.

3. My family is staying in St Louis for a few weeks so the kids get grandparent time and I’ll be coming back to Dakar and have the apt to myself! I’m gonna learn quickly how much I depended on their cooking, cleaning and basic upkeep. What do I do when the water doesn’t run?! and how do I do the dishes in the dirty bucket water/how much bleach do I clean stuff with? I’m a baby. As long as I can get the gas tank on without an explosion hopefully I can heat some beans. I’m just stoked to cook for myself and hang out with these beautiful kids all day. I gotta re-learn my children’s French song repertoire and bring the uke in to teach them! 

Sorry for the lack of visuals this time. Thanks for keeping up :) 

Peace and Love