You ate what?!

The title implies another story of me eating an animal we do not consider edible at home. However, I had my thanksgiving dinner in Dakar at the home of the new Senegalese American Ambassadors. Yea. It was so nice. As volunteers we rarely take off our sandals and put on our classy attire. Some of us actually don't have any. There was a lot of borrowing and sharing going on before the day was over! The food was AMAZING! There was everything Thanksgiving should have. The pumkin pie, the turkey, the dressing (which I didn't get any of....), and the mashed potatoes. There were also many non-traditional dishes that volunteers put together. Just by looking at some of the food you could tell it was made by a PCV and not one of the Expats or PC staff. I personally made fruit salad and brought it in tupperware. Sorry mom, I tried to be classy it just didn't work out. The food did get eaten though!! A favorite moment of the night was seeing a fellow PCV bringing over a plate full of chocolate cake, various pies, and excessive amounts of whipped cream. Classic. Another volunteer was talented at the piano and even busted out the mario brothers :) The party was nice but being the youngsters we are we had to go out for more! Karoke! I think that's how you spell it. If not let me explain. In front of a bunch of people me and new friend Lisa belted out Whitney Houstons' "I'm Every Woman". It was a great night. After all the festivities were over we slept in and took our time getting to the Artisinal Festival. There were many hand made super awesome things there. All very authentically made in Senegal. Yes family I got you stuff! There was jewelry, wooden carvings and masks, baskets, purses, and even clothing. One volunteers tailor was there to make sure it really was the perfect fit. Dakar was great but travel is always rough, so on the way home I took a pit stop in Kaolack. Then I found it time to go back to my meager little hut and chow on millet :)

Tabaski 2 and Cold season begins!

This year we once again celebrated the life of Abrahams son Isaac. I think. Well we killed three sheep and wore our fancy clothes. No pictures this year though :( It's too bad because my little sisters hair was so cute! The celebration was on the 7th, however we began preparing on the  6th. Meaning the late night drumming, high energy children, and dancing had already begun. This continued to the 9th. I wore Senegalese clothing all day the 7th and on the nights of the 8th and 9th. My clothes this year were hot pink :) My sister goes to a school in Dakar for design and she really like my outfit. My dad said he liked it but I thin khe was just being nice. My mom cane to me mid day on the 7th and put half a heart and part of a sheep leg in my hand and was like "cook this" then we'll have 2 more lunches! It was a lot of eating. The meat I cooked was delicious thanks to my knowledge of cooking deer meat, I was able to prepare myself a tasty treat in my hut. I didn't enjoy cutting off the fat and removing the bone, but it was nice for those things to not be in the final meal for once. Finally, the night of the 9th as I'm trying to study for my GRE my family announces there is going to be a few more days of celebration becasue my sister is getting married. This I found odd as she already has a kid, and claimed to have a husband in Dakar. Confusing, I think my dad was just really desperate to get her out of our house. I decided it was in my best interest not to tell her new mother inlaw even though the results could have been interesting.... Due to the importance of my exam I chose not to stay in village for another few nights of drum pounding into the morning hours. I know my sister will be mad, but there wasn't really any other option in my mind. Meantime, in Kaolack the new volunteerss have installed. It is a time for me to share my great knowledge of culture and technical work with them. It's so funny to hear people saying what I was thinking a year ago and how some of it hasn't really changed.It's cool enough I need to wear a shawl at night all the way down to 70! Still gets up to 100 in the afternoon though. This requires careful layer planning for going out. It reminds me a little of fall in Indiana. I bet I'll die of cold when I go back there! New season means new work. I plan on completing an insect guide for volunteers as well as doing some small trainings in my village and demonstrations with my master farmer. she is getting better all the time. This season she started her vegetable nursery all on her own and even used ash and manure to boost the soil, go Fatou! Hopefully I will get my camera fixed soon and have some pictures to put up here.