Tan lines not frostbite

Adopted "sis" Devin and I
During the taxi ride home
Downtown. I really don't know how the traffic works here but it just does
We're doing a research project on the jewelry at Goree island
A blog post wouldn't be complete without a little coca cola
Saturday at Goree-Devin, moi, and cousin Fall
Bahahaha
"Sisters" jumping..Devin and I always make the same faces in photos..
A soccer game
On the ferry on our way to the island
Moi
Boy do I love my reflections
Goree Island
One of the main walkways on Goree
Picturesque
There are no cars on this island..how relaxing
What a pretty view
A the Maison d'Esclaves (House of Slaves) on Goree Island



So how's everyone at home? I'm spending a little bit of my afternoon at school so that I can update everyone on my beautiful life here :) Hope you enjoy!

So Friday our SIT group traveled to Goree Island for the day. Goree (pronounced "Gor-ray") Island is a symbolic/historic sight of the African slave trade. We visited the Masion d'Esclaves and a women's history museum. We also had lunch together and had a little time to explore. The history wasn't as moving as I was anticipating, partially due to the presenter's terrible ability to tell stories in a tasteful way.

Elsewise, the island is gorgeous. A little hunk of paradise not far from Dakar. There are no cars on this island and the architecture is from colonial times. This is the most of a touristic thing we've done here so far, and it reminds me of how much I dislike being a tourist. It was a peaceful walk around the island and we enjoyed it so much that we decided to go back on Saturday to enjoy it some more! (and without our "big" school group). My nose got a bit sunburned but I also finally bought some jewelry (see first photo).

Since her homestay situation isn't the greatest, Devin spent the weekend with me and my family. Exhausted, we fell asleep on Friday night at 10:30pm. After getting up to brush our teeth and put our pjs on, my cousins and brother barged in the door as I was turning off the light and we continued to have an impromptu dance party in my room in our pjs. Gotta love these guys :) Saturday we got up and had a baguette and tea breakfast, then took a cab to the ferry with Fall. We spent the day working on our project about jewelry - basically just talking with the vendors on the island. We also had lunch on the beach but disappointly the spaghetti wasn't as awesome as it was at the place we went to on Friday with the group. We sat on a pier on the water for quite some time the afternoon, enjoying the view and the peaceful nature of the island. Devin and I even found a boat with a combo of our Senegalese names on it. Awesome!

Back on the mainland, we followed Fall around downtown squeezing between taxis, street vendors, and their items for sale. We eventually made it to a book store, one of my favorite types of stores. If you ever go abroad, they are great to check out, and books make fantastic memoirs of the places you visit, just saying. I found a few sweet photo magazines but ended up not buying anything. Maybe next time? After we made it back home eventually, we went a few separate field trips..One to the ATM for some cash and another to buy some water. It is really awesome to run into my new friends here on the street and have them recognize me. On both trips, this happened, joined by my new friends. Bocar carried my ten liters of water back to my house for me and remarked (in french of course) that chivalry is not dead. I'm glad they realize it here as well!

Today has been more of a restful day. Woke up and had some lunch and now we're at school. Hoping to spend some of my valentines at the beach, work on my tan. Its wonderful worrying about my flip flop tan line in the middle of February rather than frostbite. Just sayin'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! (a day late, but you got a call yesterday!)

Sorry I don't have any really spectacular stories for you, but maybe soon. Now we're starting to get busier with homework and limiting computer time is difficult!

Keep drinking your Coca Cola!

I hope you enjoy the photos. I've always been better with my photos than my words!