back in civilization!

so i've back in Thies for training again for a week now. currently in dakar, came for the night to see the city. It's so far away from Kedougou i figured i should check it out while at In-Service Training. we layed the by pool at the American Club yesterday which was awesome and i had a hot dog that wasn't that great, but still a hot dog. We went out in Dakar last night, which was so much fun and much needed. today being sunday i just found out that the massive grocery store i was hoping to visit is closed! but i do plan to eat my weight in baked goods while here. oh by the way, upon returning to Thies i weighed myself and have lost 35 lbs in the last three in the village. probably because all we eat is rice with peanut water, and cous cous with leaf soup. plus i ride my bike everywhere and for long distances. it's been nice to eat real food again, and surprisingly i haven't gotten sick once.

so a couple of interesting stories from the village. One day after getting caught in a rain storm while returning home with my massive bucket of water on my head, i saw my aunt sitting in her hut so i decided instead of sitting alone in my hut i would sit with her. It was just the two of us, and she is probably one of the coolest women i've met. i'm really thankful to have someone like her as my neighbor in the village. well we're sitting there talking and this cat was running around. she asked if we had cats in america and i told her yes. she then asked if i had a cat in america, they know i have dogs from my pictures. i told her no, and explained that they make my brother sick, he sneezes and gets itchy. i doubt there is a word for allergy in pulaar, even if there was i don't know it. she said she understood, and followed by saying how mean and bad cats are. She then went on to tell me how they are helpers of bad people. These people come into your hut in the night and scare you and do bad things. from everything she was doing i thought she was talking about having a nightmare, that she's had nightmares about cats. She kept explaining that these were people, not dreams. She said i had to know, because we have them in america, she's seen the film. she then tell me that they have sharp teeth and bite your neck. i'm fighting back the laughter at this point, VAMPIRES, seriously, in my small african village at the top of the mountain. i asked her if these people were scared of garlic and she raised her arms to the air and said "You Understand!" She went on to tell me that her daughter had been killed by a vampire, and we have one living in the village. this old woman, and i'm not supposed to talk to her and that she will let know if this woman is ever around. i found out why everyone has a corn cob and small piece of red fabric hanging above their doors, to keep out vampires.

i'll write more later, i'm too tired right now and ready to get off the internet. IST is going good, i'm taking french which is easy. The only Pula Fuuta class was for beginners so even though my french is alright i'm taking it again. we're all pretty good so we just sit around and talk a pratice the tenses, which i need the most help on. Most of my host family in Thies is gone, which is kinda nice i like not having many people around. Well i'm off to go lay by the pool some more! Hope everyone is doing well, write me letters. i'll try to be better about posting stuff since i'm in a large city with internet access all the time.

Hey Peg!!


James