Asalaam maalekum!
Lu bess?

So much has happened lately - I'm not really sure where to begin.

Last Thursday my brother Issa and I went out and bought ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. They turned out surprising well considering that I couldn't find any brown sugar, I used baking powder instead of baking soda, and I guestimated the quantities of the rest of the ingredients.

Friday my whole class headed off to Les Isles de Saloum for the weekend.
We started off by taking a pirogue tour around the mangroves before arriving at our hotel.
Dinner was AMAZING. We had an appetizer of tomatoes and then the main course was Shrimp pasta, and for dessert we had flan.

Saturday morning we took a charet (horse cart)to the local village. The ethnic group here is mostly Sereer (and they tend to be Catholic) so we got to see the local church. Then we took a charet tour around the island and saw a bunch of baobab trees and more mangroves. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday afternoon I read 'A Wrinkle In Time' (somehow I escaped reading that in middle school...) and I learned how to play Spades. Spades is a fun game, but I still think I prefer Euchre.

Saturday night was so much fun. We went back to the village where we were able to see a Wrestling match. Some of my classmates even got to participate! I didn't wressle there but later on that night back at the hotel a few of my friends and I decided to try it out.
We had a jembe/dance part back at the hotel that night in celebration of my 21st birthday. It was SO much fun.

Sunday was my actual birthday and we headed back to Dakar in the morning. That afternoon I went to lunch with some of my friends at an Indian restaurant (Yes - they have Indian food in Dakar... I'm as surprised as you are). It was really good though.
Upon returning to my house my whole family broke into singing 'Happy Birthday': First in French, then in English, then in Wolof. It was quite a memorable experience.


Also, I now have Senegalese clothes!
I got my outfits back from the tailor and they turned out great. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.

Oh, and my hair is braided again. :-D

That's it for now. I'll try to post pictures before I head out on my rural visit. (Next week all of us CIEE students are being sent to different villages in Senegal and we're going to live there for a week just to see a different perspective of what living in Senegal is like... because Dakar is defenitely not like the rest of Senegal).

Bachikanam (until next time),
Kelly