Mardi Gras!

First of all, I'm sitting here in my lovely echoey hallways sharing my life story of the last week, and I've just noticed that the sun has set but there are no lights. Hence, I have a very cozy setting that makes for an interesting blogging mood. The last week has been kind of the same old same old (In an it was totally bizarre but the same as each week really) with regard to classes. Most of my classes were met and there were apparently strikes because students wanted a "study week" lol, but it didn't affect me because poli sci is a little behind the times and our exams aren't until later. I recently acquired a library card and have now checked out two books, one of them being a collection of tragic plays by a famous French author, haha, I panicked in the moment and grabbed it. We'll see if I read it but I have high hopes of reading more books in French.

Besides classes I have not yet returned to volleyball practice. I'm not sure if I will but I've been running quite a bit lately. While running I've had some lovely experiences involving security guards inviting themselves to my room and a semi-truck blowing out it's tire just as it came alongside me, i fell off the road because of that one. Friday night my roommate Juliette's mother came into town for a conference for the Catholic women of Senegal. She enlisted me to help retrieve her mother from the bus, and when we arrived at the school where many of the women were staying, I found probably 1000 Senegalese wandering around in the dark. It's hard to explain but it was a pretty hilarious sight, especially because Juliette's mom managed to be as far away from us as possible. When we got back to campus Juliette had choir rehearsal so I awkwardly helped her mom settle in/brought her food/ and then tried not to seem too awkward while I got ready for bed. She is a very nice woman and hopefully doesn't think I'm overly crazy.

Saturday I had a "youth group" meeting with the pastor of our church who came from Dakar to visit with us. Considering that the youth of our church is 4 people including two Americans, I wasn't sure that the visit was entirely necessary, but I enjoyed meeting the pastor. After the meeting I got to have hang out with my friend and choir director Noah. At one point he informed me that he likes me because I'm a little crazy...in a good way i hope. Sunday was as usual a nice Church service where I forgot most of the songs. After church Noah forced me to eat lunch with his family because he has realized that i'm not the busiest person in Senegal, and I enjoyed a nice fish sandwich, with the bones still in the fish. Eating here never really gets boring because you never know what you'll find in each bight.

The highlight of this week was Tuesday night, otherwise known as Mardi Gras. I'm not sure if I've talked too much about Catholics here in Senegal, but to me they seem a little more on the religious side than they do in the U.S. For example, for lent my roommate is fasting everyday until the evening. So far it seems to be taking a bit of a toll on her because she sleeps most of the day. But back to Mardi Gras, as the last hoorah before the fasting begins, the Catholic students on campus have a big costume party, and by costume I mean you dress as a member of the opposite sex. It was hilarious seeing how detailed people were in their costumes. Most of the men were wearing dresses, heals, make-up, and wigs, and the girls often times wore seats and stuffed their bellies with blankets. I didn't really dress up because I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was still great just to watch them all dancing and trying to impersonate the opposite gender.

Besides that not too much else is new, I went to my Bible study on Wednesday and had tea with our friend Ousmane. At the moment I'm thinking I might have a parasite. Don't worry though, i'm just experiencing a little bodily discomfort. Hope you all have a great weekend!