I am officially done with my homestay! I really cant believe that it has been 2 months since i first got here. this friday we will be swearing in as official volunteers. i am very excited for the swear in-- all of us have traditional outfits to wear so get ready for some more pictures. this past week was really stressful because we had our last language classes and we also had to complete projects in our homestay villages. we did a mural at the health post, did a demonstration on neem lotion (mosquito repellent made from neem leaves that grow here), practiced our baseline survey methods, and oh yeah, celebrated my BIRTHDAY. my birthday was awesome. after recovering from a small meltdown on my birthday eve due to stress, fatigue, and not knowing any pullo fuuta, i needed a good day-- and a good day i had! it started with the typical breakfast-- bread and coffee-- then class where marie and larocha (my language group) sang happy birthday to me. then i went home, listened to my ipod, and had a delicious lunch made by my sister in law. after our afternoon class, we went to the neighboring town of Mboro and met up with other trainees. they had presents and cards for me and made a cake out of cookies! larocha even whittled a birthday candle for me (seriously) and sacrificed american candy for me! i have never been so grateful for a snickers.
after swear in, we travel down to our regional houses and are installed one by one. we have to buy beds, kitchen stuff, chairs, buckets, etc for our huts and im having flashbacks to packing 2 months ago. i was so stressed out about which pair of pants to bring and now that just seems silly. now i have the mindset that things will happen when they happen-- theres not a lot of things to be stressed out about these days. i want to tell the next stage (group of trainees) to just relax! people told me that and i didnt believe them or heed their advice and i wish i would have. now i find myself missing random things from home-- like my couch and takeout. and maybe by random i mean indicators of how lazy i was.
our mini beach vacation was in popenguine and it is literally the most beautiful place i have ever seen. it looks like something out of a movie. the beach house was directly on the beach-- like we walked down steps from our door to the water. it was amazing and i plan to go back very soon. also as if seeing me isnt enough, if you come to senegal i promise to take you there and i promise you will have the same reaction i did.
after i move into my hut, i will probably only be going to the regional house (which has internet) once every couple weeks so the blog posts might be more sporadic. i hope everyone is having a great start to the summer and congrats to all my friends graduating this week!! wooo! the real world isnt that bad.
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