i'm not burned yet

asalaam malaacum everyone i'm currently in thiés sénégal. we arrived here last monday night at about midnight following a 36 hour flight from new york to brussels to dakar. the city is prounouced chi-es kinda like the game chess. it's super hot here...probably around 85 degrees or so. the great news is that i am not burnt yet. i know, i'm surprised too. we've started our official peace corps training here, taking classes in safety, health, language, etc. so far i've learned a few phrases in wolof, the second official language. today i learned that i will be speaking pulaar and will most likely be put somewhere in the nord to eastern part of sénégal.

so far, i'm having a great time. the staff here is amazing and very helpful. we are in incredibly good hands here, so no need for excessive worry. the food has been great as well. i've even managed to eat fish whiwh was made with a lot of spices which in turn made it tasty. the days here are realy long and though we don't do a ton during the day, the heat really takes a lot out of you. we nap during the hottest hours of the day, which i think i can really get into.

tomorrow we head out to our homestay during the first two months of training. my family will be in the surrounding thiés area, but my address won't change. we'll live with the family until we're sworn in as peace corps volunteers and then begin our two years of service. during our homestay we still go to the training center for classes and everything too. from the schedule they gave us it sounds like we will be very busy for awhile.

dinner is about ready for us and so i've got to head back to the training center. miss you all, but i'm having a great time and know this is where i am meant to be.

peace,
jaime