November 5, 2003
Okay so that wraps up my weekend in Dakar. Now I�m excited to go back with the whole group for swearing in! We get to go to the American Club�I heard a rumor that they have Dr. Pepper and American beers. EEE!!! I can hardly contain my excitement.
So going back to what I said before�this past week I have felt so incredible. I felt alive and happy and just bursting with everything around me. You guys should be familiar with that emotion from me, because it�s the emotion I always felt back home. So I finally feel like I did before I left. That this is what I�m supposed to do. I can�t wait to come home for a visit, but I�m not longer looking for an excuse to quit Peace Corps. Guess it was just hormones. Okay so that about wraps up this weeks e-mail.
Next week�s e-mail might be a little late because on Wednesday (the day I usually do e-mail) we�re heading out to �Site Discovery� where we spend a week at our sites to make sure everything is in order and all that fun stuff. So that will be a fun e-mail�first order of business: Find the cybercafe in Tivaone!
Oh if anyone has any old summer catalogues or furniture catalogues (like Ikia and stuff)�roll em up and stick them in a small envelope and send �em my way!
Oh DUH!!!!!!!! How could I forget? It�s Ramadan! You know that big Muslim holiday that involves a lot of not eating and a lot of praying? Well a lot of PC people are fasting for it. And I�m like okay that�s nice but why�you�re not Muslim? People asked me if I would fast and I was like, �Um�no thanks. I like food. My body was designed for food on a regular basis.� But hey best of luck to everyone who does fast this month. Liz, you are in insane! So yeah you can�t eat or drink or swear or partake in any personal pleasure between 6PM and 7PM. Geez, yesterday I was getting cranky because lunch of � hour late! Sheesh!
Okay so instead of rambling let�s just move to the �what Paige missed this week� section of the letter. Here we go:
*Halloween, real Halloween with candy and decorations
*Dr. Pepper
*Reese�s Peanut Buttercups
*Mudpie Blizzard (figure out how to send that!)
*Family (duh)
*Cake! (okay so cake doesn�t ship well to Africa�but it still made me happy!)
*My bed!
*Snuggling with cats
*My white bear
*A snooze button
*Hienz Ketchup
*NPR!
Okay I think that�s it. Okay, so I think I�m done here. I�m gonna go write in my required business journal now. Oh wait! We did have some excitement this week: During a women�s health session with the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) a friend of mine passed out right in the middle of it. It was scary. But what was scarier was another girl; when she saw it, she literally dropped to her knees and started wailing. It was like a bad soap opera. So there ya go�and that�s why I�m not fasting. Okay tout le monde, keep the letters and cards coming! Thanks Petersens!
Much much much love and all that junk,
Paige
Journal #5
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