Friday, April 18, 2008

Asalaam maalekum!
Namoon na lanu. (I've missed you)

Again I must apologize for not updating this more regularly, but as the semester is drawing to a close things are getting more and more hectic (especially with school - papers to turn in, tests and what have you).

I believe that when I last posted I was getting ready to leave for rural visits.

Let me begin by saying that it's misleading to say that I went on a rural visit - there was not really anything rural about it at all (the family I stayed with had running electricity, a fridge, tv, faucet with running water, etc...)

I went to the town/city of Kaolack for the week (about a 4 hour ride south east of Dakar - depending on traffic).

Marianne, Edwina, Wendell and I spent the week working with an NGO called 10,000 girls.
They have received English textbooks from the States and are currently working on organizing and distributing these books to local schools (specifically the English classes).

In short - I spent the week packing and unpacking and attempting to organize about 5 rooms filled with boxes upon boxes of books (all while wearing traditional Senegalese clothing! - because apparently wearing a tank top and capris is considered too risque here).







It was a lot of fun though - and it was nice knowing that we were doing something productive. It was REALLY HOT though... temperatures were around 42*C ( 107*F - thanks Dannielle!)

We also lived with different host families. I've been blessed yet again with having an amazing family. I spent most of the time talking with my 18-year-old sister Moussou. She's in high school and wants to become a doctor someday. (Cancer specialist if you want to be precise about it).

Here's a picture of us - we got all dressed up to have our picture taken at a local photo shop. **PLEASE NOTE** I do not own this outfit - she let me borrow it. (I do however own the teal dress that's in the above photos) :-D







Towards the end of the week we got to go to some of the schools where previous books had been delivered. It was really interesting/a lot of fun getting to talk to the English teachers and some of the students.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that while we were unpacking some boxes and moving things around we found a family of cats - Mama with 4 or maybe 5 kittens. They'd been living behind one of the piles of boxes in one of the back rooms. They were really cute, but we were careful to keep our distance.



On another note school is starting to get busy. Lots of end of the year quizzes, tests, and papers to complete.

Tomorrow my History of Islam class is taking a field trip to Touba - the "center of the world for the Mourides" as my teacher calls it. (Mouride is one of the more popular sufi brotherhood (religious sect of Islam) here in Dakar.) Hopefully I'll have a lot to tell you all about that when I get back.

Until then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post comments. I love hearing from you guys (plus it reassures me that I'm not writing to an empty audience). Jerejef!

Okay, ba beneen yoon!

Kelly

4 comments:

Connie said...

Namoon na lanu.....too!
I feel very disconnected this week. I hope the school work slows down for you and you have a little more time next week. I know many people who read your blog. You are not writing to yourself. We love you and miss you. Enjoy your field trip this weekend. It is Grandpa Riegel's 90th birthday. We are celebrating Saturday. This is also the big weekend for DHUMC. Love you bunches.

B.Mullett said...

Hi Kelly, Love reading your blog and I know Aunt Tammy, Aunt June, and Aunt Paula all read it along with Leigh. You look so cute in your braids, Hang in there only three weeks to go. Love, Ya. Grandma M.

Dannielle said...

See... told you.
Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find.

I your "tree of knowledge" started blooming. This is very clever.

I am procrastinating a little longer then I have to do A LOT of stuff today.

Have a great week.
Love ya,
Dannielle

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