Week in Dakar

Time to talk about the present day. It's January again. I've spent a great week in Dakar. It has been really nice to come back here and feel completely at home. It is great to see all my friends and my host family. My host family treats me like I've returned after a very long trip, when I actually was only gone about a week and a half. I haven't stayed with them this week, which has actually made me feel even more like part of the family. I just walk in, sit down, eat, chat with everyone, nap on the couch, etc. That is all what their other relatives do when they come over. It's not unusual for the relatives to simply show up, greet everyone, and then spend an hour sitting on the couch and sending text messages or watching television before simply getting up and leaving again. I always thought it was strange that they wouldn't spend more time interacting and talking with the people in the house, but that's just how it's done. They immediately treat it like it's their own house. So that's how I've been all week. I dropped by at least once every day except for one. It was sad having to say goodbye to them, but I'll be visiting every few weeks, so it's not so bad. I gave them some presents from the states including two MSU coffee mugs (so now they have 4 coffee mugs altogether), some dried nuts and fruit, a t-shirt for my host father, and a blanket with some winter images on it. One of the images on the blanket is a snowman. When I pointed it out, my host mother called it a penguin, because the only show they have on television with winter images is a cartoon with penguins in it. The other favorite thing that I brought back was pictures of winter in the States. I had pictures of my street covered with snow, and the trees in my backyard without leaves, and the snow piled up a few feet on the side of the road. Their eyes grew wide and they couldn't stop laughing, it's all unbelievable to them. They got a big kick out of seeing me with boots, a heavy winter jacket, scarf, and hat.

Heading to Kaolack in the morning. I'm really nervous now about leaving. I never do well with transitions. I'm just so comfortable in Dakar now that I don't have a huge desire to move away from my friends and the comforts of a city for a few months in Kaolack. But I really am looking forward to my work in Kaolack. So, inchallah, all will go well.