CENTREVILLEEEEE

allo. 8:19 PM Senegal Time

Sitting in the Salong avec ma famille.

Today was eventful. Our school group went downtown for the first time.. It was a bit overwhelming because ther eare a lot of people, a lot of traffic, the smells are..let's just say, not so refreshing, but it was so much fun. We were prepped on what to expect: people asking if we wanted to buy things, people asking for money, and also the possibility of pickpocketing and stuff like that. I had a good experience, honestly. I was with two others from the group and a guide from ACI Baobab, Tchiaba. I really like Tchiaba- she's super nice and has a good sense of humor. It's fun to joke around with her. I feel totally comfortable. She's also really easy to understand in French. I've been noticing my French improving day by day. It's great! I can undrestand people more easily and speak at east as well. C'est formidable!

21Jan10:

Went downtown again. Much more easy than yesterday. I bargained to buy a pair of flip flop sandals. Bargaining is: Marchander in French. I ended up getting then for 5000 CFA which is about $10 US... I was looking to pay around 4000 CFA, but it was my first time doing it and our guides said that 5000 CFA was okay. But man! I put on the saldals to walk to school and they totally cut into my skin! It's really painful! Goad I brought a decent first aid kit.

I really like my family, especially my cousin Mohamed and brother Mohamed. It's a popular name. Mohamed 1 (bro) was asking Mohamed 2 (couz) how to say "honey" in English. It was quite funy becaue he kept pronouncing it like "hoonay." And then Mohamed 2 kept trying to correct him.. It was funny because Mohamed 1 got kind of mad, but it was a funny mad and said, "you have hoonay in yr big head" to Mohamed 2. And we laughed. I dunno, I like my host fam, but i'm also noticing how they are more reserved and almost seem a little mad at times. I'm going to investigate some more. This weekend we're going to an Island called Ile d'Goree. Update soon.
xo -kp