Im stealing words...from an email sent to Suz, I thought others might be interested in, from Monday:

here goes some general info about Thies, Senegal, and life in general…
We are staying at the Centre de la Formation for the Corps de la Paix/Senegal on the outskirts of Thies (pronounced Chiess). My blog mentions some info about it, but it’s a beautiful place with lots of buildings for offices, classrooms, bunks, etc. We’ve really only seen a small portion of Thies, including many places we aren’t allowed to go nearby, like the prison, an area with lots of abandoned buildings, and the train tracks after 7:30pm. Our safety and security guy took us around to show us these things in order to make us more aware of where we are and just to be safe and avoid areas where people are just hanging out and up to no good. Senegal is dusty dusty dusty…lots and lots of sand everywhere: sidewalks, streets, grass, everywhere…hence that whole “Sahel” region I guess. A lot of buildings are either abandoned or under construction and it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the two, as we noticed from our ride through Dakar to Thies. The Centre is very green and lush, which definitely fools us when we step into the hot sun in the afternoon/evening to go into town. It’s hot here, that’s for sure. We are at the start of the dry season, still enjoying the warm Marmottan (sp?) winds blowing in from the Sahara (yesterday was super super windy, today was much hotter with the occasional wind). It’s very strange to feel hot wind. Usually wind is a refreshing thing or blows you cold to the bone and it’s not really the case here, though I think we’re all trying to enjoy wind while we can, before the dry season also reaches peak heat and humidity, starting sometime in April, I believe. I have no idea what the daily temperature is, so feel free to check for me. Someone today had a hand-held thermometer registering around 98 or so, but we weren’t sure how accurate that actually is…
From our cultural intro, the Senegalese are very friendly people who enjoy laughter and teasing each other while also valuing hospitality a lot. In the many languages, there’s a word to mean “please,” but no one uses it because it is expected that you will help out your fellow man, whether by sharing food, inviting them in, etc. Many people from my program have already shared tea with random Senegalese people they meet and start talking to on the street. A lot of value is placed in greeting each other and you are expected (though it doesn’t always happen) to greet anyone you meet on the street with an Arabic peace greeting (Asaala Malekem and Malekem Salaam in response) and sometimes more. Today they briefed us on stuff for our homestays in addition to language info and people kept reminding us to laugh at ourselves and not to worry if people laugh at you for messing up the language, it happens and they understand and it’s all in good fun. For now that sounds reassuring, though I’m sure it will get old at some point. I also look forward to being able to respond to those harassing me about not having a husband, etc, by making fun of them in return (a story shared by a current female Volunteer). It will probably take ages for my Serere to be of that level.
I’m excited and nervous about the homestay, but our meeting today definitely helped. I’ve also realized how incredibly unprepared I was for Senegal, ie my horrible not packing until the night before. I don’t regret staying in DC as long as I did or working, but I wish I had been more focused on thinking about things I would need for 27 months here and yea… I really didn’t worry about much more than shoes and bags and forgot some key things that either my mom will send or I will learn to live without.


As of right now (Good Friday) I am at my homestay in Thies, typing from the cybber right in front of my house, ie the back door connects to my courtyard and i didnt know until now. However its the slowest comp you may ever meet...