I met another American from Wisconsin. He was studying architecture as an alternative form of cultural expression. I�ll give ya three guesses as to just HOW pretentious he really was. Sheesh! I wouldn�t have liked this guy if I met in the states or anywhere else. He was a jerk. And he thought the Peace Corps was a subtle form of American Colonization.
Okay so we�re going to step back in time to last Friday�site announcements�We have a basketball court with a map of Senegal painted on it. So they blind folded all of us (the ag trainees where thrown in wheelbarrows) and positioned us on the map. And once everyone was in place we all whipped our blindfolds off. It was quite fun with lots of laughing and fright, as well. It was very scary! So, drum roll please�I will be spending the next 2 years in� Du-du-duN!! Tivouone! Woo-hoo!
Okay, now you�re saying�tiwhatone? Tt�s like this: Tea-Wow-One. I feel like the priest from Princess Bride when I say it�Wuv�twue wov�tee-hee. Emphasis on the first syllable. If you look at a map it�s only 20KM north of Thies, where I am right now. I�m only 1 � hours from Dakar (fabulous!) and right in the middle of the country basically. AND I can have a cell phone there. However they are a bit more expensive then I thought�so I�ll have to save for a while to get one. I think the phone itself is $140 and then the card to start up is $40 and then each consecutive card to run the thing is $10-$20. But they last a really long time. And it�s free to use when people call you. So hopefully within the next couple of months people can call me so I can hear my family�s voices again! I�m so happy. I love Thies and I didn�t want to stray far from the nest if you will.
My only concern is this the site of a HUGE and very POWERFUL Muslim brotherhood. (I can�t remember which one right now) So that�s kind of scary�very religious and conservative�so we�ll see how that all works out. I mean it could be good�very safe right?
I�m going to start a tradition�at the end of every letter I�m going to list the things I missed the most this week�the things I cried about or pined for. This week�s list:
*The Bakery and the people who work there and the laughing (I don�t laugh as much here) and the hugs [photos and laughter are on the way Paige, as well as cake and cookies]
*Mandy singing
*My sister�s laugh
*Dr. Pepper
*CHEESEBURGERS!
*My family (duh)
*CR Pizza Co Pizza
*A pitcher to make Kool-Aid (it�s just so hard to make it in the little Nalgene) [Kool aid is on the way!!]
*Goldfish (the crackers)
Now it�s time to yell at everyone because everyone else in training has received a letter or a package except me! L That�s not true�Sherry sent me a card which I loved! But letters would rock! J Or maybe a small padded envelope with a couple packs of kool-aid, sugar already added kind in tropical punch flavor�hint hint� ;) or some twizzlers stuck in a letter J Now that I�ve given all of you your daily guilt trip�I�m going to sign off�and once again if there�s something you want to know, let me know and I�ll address it next time. J Love you all lots!
Much much love,
Paige
Journal #4
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