Ma famille

Today is my sixth day in Senegal, and I have seen and learned alot! First of all, so you can appreciate why my post is going to be shorter and awkwardly worded, in order to use internet i currently have to go to a cyber café with international keyboards; meaning the letters are in weird places and i have to delete every other word and try again:

Anyways, my last real post was before I moved in with my host family, so I will fill you in on them. First of all, my family is both small and large. The people who consistently live in my house are my host mother Yassine, who is probably in her early fifties and her husband who is a bit older than her. Im not really sure their ages but i think that Senegal ages people a little faster because there is more wear and tear on their there bodies compared to the lavish American lifestyle. Besides my host parents, Yassines son and his wife Nathalie and their 2 year old son Isaah live there. Nathalie is my age but obviously has matured in different ways because she is raising a child and does most of the work for the household. There is also Yassines niece whose name I think is Nyra and she is a bit older than me and works in a couple of hotels and stays in our house during the week because its closer to her job. To the outsider it probably seems weird that I dont know peoples names, but heres the problem: if they have a Senegalese name with its roots in the Wolof language, I have no idea what they are saying when they introduce people.

More specifically, Im staying with a muslim family with whom i celebrated the holiday korité yesterday. Korité is the holiday in which muslims break their 40 day fast known as ramadaan. The holiday is focused on a large meal for lunch and then spending time with family. Younger members of the family are expected to go and visit the rest of the family, so last night i went with my brother and sister to several houses and saw some of there family. It was interesting to see the dynamics of family life, but I was a little overwhelmed by the mass of people I didnt know and the fact that they mostly speak in Wolof leaving me out of the conversation. Interestingly, in Senegal it is not considered rude to speak a language people arent familiar with in front of them. Im glad the Baobab center informed me of that because my family pretty much only speaks in Wolof unless they want to tell me something and then they use French.

Honestly, it was awkard the first night and morning with my family, but I moved past feeling awkard pretty quickly. It doesnt bother me when they speak Wolof and I will generally bring my journal or a book out into the common area and sit with them while they talk or watch tv. After spending the day yesterday with them, I really feel like im developing a good friendship with Nathalie and she pretty much only speaks French when im around her, which is a noticeable change and makes me happy. My french isnt great, but it is functional and getting better. My Wolof is essentially non-existent, which is truthfully debilitating but im taking in classes in it. When i say debilitating it is because Wolof is the language of the people, if i speak in French, most people will be able to respond in French, but they wont continue on. Plus, people are constantly shouting things at me and it would be nice to know what they are saying and how to respond.

My house is very nice, it is different than American standards, but i have my own bedroom and bathroom with running water! Although the toilet doesnt flush on its own, use your imagination on how to flush a toilet manually!

Thats a bit of news from me but by no means everything so I will be back soon.
à toute à lheure