the homestay begins

asalaam mallecum [peace be with you]

i moved into my homestay tuesday night and so far things are going really well. i live in a small village called keur issa which is about a mile out of thiès. this means i get to bike everyday to the training center and bike home. i was pretty pumped when we got bikes because they are nifty trek bikes...no 1920 schwinn. i also have a bell on it which i plan on using the whole time.

my family is amazing, very big and very lively. i live with one extended family and i think, but because people come and go like nobody's business i can't say for sure, that about 20 people live there. unlike most of the volunteers, my family speaks french as well as pulaar so i have been lucky to learn a lot of the language. my uncle is teaching me how to say my morning routine, my mother is teaching me my body parts, a few nephews are teaching me how to spell everything and how to say important phrases and my sisters just talk to me in pulaar and laugh. i'm starting to understand much more than i thought i would after four days and i hope that during this stay i can pick up as much language as i can. this weekend is our first time we spend the whole day with our family. i think i am going for a walk around the crop fields where my uncle works, if i translated the pulaar/french correctly. i may also have agreed to a marriage proposal. we'll see what the weekend brings.

it's been a crazy two weeks in sénégal. we've been so so so busy that it feels like i've been here for a month at least. my days consist of about ten hours at the training center plus about four hours spent with the family. by the end of the night i am just exhausted, but the training especially the language is absolutely necessary.

the days are getting a bit hotter...we're enterning the dry season and it will only get hotter until june/july. i've heard from current volunteers that it can get over 120 here. hard to believe there was still snow in wisconsin when i left.

i haven't heard anything else about where i will be assigned. word on the street is that most pulaar health volunteers will be near the mauritana and mali borders, about as far from dakar as you can be. i won't know anything more until later in training and then i will begin my post a few days after i swear in as a volunteer which will be may 9th. i'll keep you posted.

hope you all have a great easter. feel free to send me news clippsing or anything you may find entertaining...we feel kinda like we're in a bubble away from the world right now and are dying for news from outside the training center. miss you and love to you all.

peace,
jaime

ps i've taken a few pictures but have't quite figured out how i will post them online. once i do however, i will post a link on here for your viewing pleasure.