brrrr it's cold out here!

so the cold season has finally hit the fouta. it actually happened rather quickly, pretty much overnight (literally one night i was simly wearing a tshirt and skirt and the next i was huddled with all of my younger brothers in a sweatshirt and pants. i put a thermometer outside just out of curiosity to see how cold it really has been. it's gotten just over 90 degrees here at about one oclock and when i wake up in the morning it is about 65. the sad part, the part that makes me hang my wisconsin winter head in shame is that it IS cold. i go to bed in long sleeves and pants and burrow under my quilt...thank god i brought it with me! in the morning i heat up my water before taking a bucket bath. my littlest brother and nephews all cuddle with me at night for warmth...i never thought i would say it but that africa is so cold right now. even during the day it's comfortable...90 and breezy is the perfect day here. i could quite possibly die of hypothermia when i come back to wisco in february.

no snow shoveling is nice though especially from last winter...

we just celebrated tabaski here which is the most important holiday here. it celebrates abraham's willingness to sacrific issac for his love of god. (y'all know the story)...anyways each family kills a male sheep as a sign of rememberence and then the meat is cooked and shared among everyone. i was excited for tabaski for a number of reasons; after experiencing korite i was better prepared for what was going on in the village, i got a new outfit that was SO beautiful (i was even told so by my teenage sisters and they are pretty critical about my appearance), i bought all the kids candy to eat, and the village becomes so lively and happy. we ate meat all day long with potatoes and macaroni, drank tea, and visited each other. a fun day or i should say days since it goes on for awhile. i hennaed myself which impressed all the women, "banel you are so baleejo (senegalese)" and lauren,a volunteer who lives in podor. all the men got dressed up in their nicest boubous and it was really beautiful to watch all the men line up behind my cousin who is the imam to pray. all their clothes were these vibrant hues of purple; green, blue, and red they looked like a rainbow. and the women got dressed to the nines as well. that was my favorite part for me- watching the women get to dress up. they work so hard day after day after day that they take full advantage of the oppurtunity to pamper themselves. i loved the different styles of clothes they wore and the different braids they did, they were all so happy they even would break out dancing just to do it.

now i'm sure each village is a little bit different in how they celebrate tabaski but i loved the way my village came together. everyone in my village is related some way or another and so when it was time to eat everyone brought their bowls of food together and then split off into different groups which were; kids under 10, boys 10 to 15, girls 10 to 15, teenagers, married couples (20 to 40), older married women, really old women, and older men. where exactly did i fit in? i was too old to eat with the teenagers, not married to sit with the married couples...old women it was. until i got yelled at by my older sister to come sit with the married couples because i was one of them. (i forgot about my little "husband") so i spent most of the time there. it was fun going from group to group though to see everyone's outfits, gossip, chatter, games. i went to bed exhausted but full and happy.

with any luck the next few months will go by quickly. i have a number of things planned starting with a mosquito net dipping in my village next week. i'm a little nervous about it because the chemical is pretty nasty and i'm not the most coordinated of people (broken nose anyone?) but i've done a dipping before and i think that if i can keep people away from the dip area it will go well. it's malaria season right now and i feel like this is the bast time to do it. plus, the mosquitoes here are relentless and tricky little punks...they find there way everywhere and bite through everything. it's time to fight back and i will show no mercy.

on that peaceful note...merry christmas and happy holidays everyone!!

peace,
jaime