Life in My Luxe Hut



My Hut



It has been way too long since my last post, these last few months have been crazy busy. I spent Thanksgiving at the Kaolack house with 36 other volunteers and I am proud to say we whipped up an awesome meal. With three turkeys, stuffing, countless side dishes, sangria, and pie it was a lovely American holiday in Senegal. We even dressed up for the occasion and went around the table saying what we were thankful for.

November blurred into December and it got cold! While the days are still pretty hot (around 90 to 95 degrees) the nights have gotten considerably colder. My airplane blanket isn't really cutting it anymore. December was the month of waiting; cutting out paper snowflakes, painting a nutrition mural at my health hut, and writing a grant to build a wall around my primary school. Finally on the 22nd my family arrived in Dakar! I was so excited to see them all, plus it was my Dad's 50th birthday! Even though they had been flying for over 24 hours and were extremely jet lagged we talked until almost 5 am.

We spent three nights in Dakar with Taylor's friend and my fellow Senegal volunteer Leah and their friend Laura at a cute bed and breakfast in uptown Dakar. The weather was perfect and we spent the first day at the beach on Ngor Island relaxing and resting. The next day we headed downtown to Goree Island where we enjoyed the French colonial architecture and went on a tour of the West African slave trade. On Christmas day we went to my village and were greeted by the majority just outside my compound. I'm sure it was overwhelming for the fam to be bombarded by a ton of villagers trying to greet them and not understanding anything! I served as translator and tour guide. My Senegalese family was so excited my American family came to visit. They told me over and over again to tell everyone how happy they are and what great work we are going to do. It was really cool to be able to show my family how I live in village and what my life is like. My Senegalese family is also a huge part of that. The visit went really well and we of course had amazingly huge meals (none of which I normally eat). My family was truly welcomed into the village and even given Senegalese names to everyones delight. I think it was hard for both sides to say goodbye after two nights.



Baby Ibou and me in our Tabaski best



Next was the long drive up to Saint Louis. Which I must say I was not too impressed with after hearing how great it was from everyone. The beach hotel we stayed in, however was right on the water which was beautiful and crystal clear. In the short time we were there it was nice to just hang out and not have to go anywhere or deal with anyone. We just hung out on the beach, played ping pong, rested by the pool and ate. That's my idea of a vacation! The whole trip went very smoothly until the end of course. On our way back to Dakar to catch our flight to Istanbul, we got into a car accident. Luckily no one was hurt, but we were stuck in the middle of the highway as it was beginning to get dark. After waiting for a while we finally got the car to start by pushing it. We thought we were home free, but then our driver decided to take a "short-cut" and we got lost in the back streets of Rufisque at night with a car that broke down about 3 or 4 times more. By 9 pm and yet another breakdown later I had had enough. I made the driver get us a different car and we eventually made it to Dakar. Luckily our flight was a lot later and we were in no danger of missing it. It was a crazy end to our trip, but at the same time a more realistic transportation experience for my family.

To be continued... (Turkey and WAIST)