Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So it's taken me this long to have access to the internet again for more than 10 minutes as the only computers really are at the High School, CEM Lamine Senghor. I'm not sure where to start as it'sbeen a while and lots has been happening!
Firstly, we gave up on our search for an appartment as in Joal there are nothing but big family houses and a lot of teachers posted to Joal have troublme finding a place to stay. Instead we have opted to stay with Amadou and his family whiwh suits us perfectly as he's always on hand to ask questions about the teaching, Aicha keeps us well fed and looked after and the kids keep us on our toes. Yesterday our beds arrived so that last night was the first night Louise and I spent on separate matresses that weren't on the floor, complete with mosquito nets (hurrah!) and surrounded by lots of photos and cards from home. Needless to say we both slept soundlessly!
Last week we took a trip with Aicha to Thies for a naming ceremony and met the whole of her extended family. She even lent us some fancy African dresses to wear and one of her nieces, Nafi, took us to the market to complete the look with henna hand and nail tatoos. This was all well and good until she decided we needed to get braids to top it all off. I was mortified. I'm not entirely sure how braids can look so stylish on all the women here and yet make Louise and I looklike such nutcases. They came out the day we got back to Joal! The naming ceremony itself wasn't exactly a ceremony but an excuse to feast all day and socialise without any formal meeting at all. We only found out the child's name (Mariam) by word of mouth and even then everyone seemed a bit unsure as to whethere they had it right or not. The food and the socialising made every second worthwhile though. We spent the morning helping to chop 25kilos of onions and wrenching out chicken intestines to prepare for lunch. Although I'm not a massive fan of twisting out chicken insides it's a new skill I've gained that may perhaps one day come in useful again! I had a close shave with the last of 20 chickens when I stood up with pins and needles in my leg and nearly fell head first into the basin of blood but luckily was saved from that embarrassment and permanentlyruining Aicha's clothes. The family were very generous and welcoming and, apart from a few ladies asking us for money with the assumption we are the usual rich toubabs, made us feel quite at home.
Last weekend we took a trip to Dakar for one of the other volunteer's birthdays which was a bit last minute but turned out very well. We went to see a concert of The Daraadji Family, one of the most popular Senegalese groups, at a small restaurant near to the university. We had about 2 and a half hours worth of introductory music from the DJ of RnB mixed with reggae before the band began at half past 12. We'd been up at 6 to catch the taxi so it was a bit of a tiring day! They were incredible though and played for a good 2 hours. The TV cameras were a little intimidating as they put a proper spotlight on you but as long as you have no shame and dance away nobody really seems to mind. Managed a quick visit to the back whilst we were there and visited the project of the 2 girls in Dakar as well as a brief look around a shopping centre... a fully air conditioned shopping centre with a supermarket that sold weetabix and cheese and jam and... many, many other things which I stared at for a long time and promptly left.
On Monday was our first day of work at the High School which has finally started. It's a lovely school and our timetable isn't very heavy at all at the moment until we find out exactly what we are doing at the lycee. The kids are good fun and the staff arelovely so I think we're both going to really enjoy working there. The syllabus is very comprehensive and detailed so hopefully lesson planning shouldn't be a problem! Unfortunately on Monday I also came down with a fever and ended up spending the afternoon in bed before being carted to the hospital. They did the usual tests as well as a test for malaria that tested negative and then put me on a drip. The only thing was the nurse tried to insert the drip 3 times into the inside of my elbow unsuccessfully and quitepainfully until she resorted to my hand. After all that it did help a lot and I'm now on 8 tablets a day and feeling a hundred times better!
Anyway I've been writing for a fair wee while now but hopefully I'll have to chance to write again soon. I received lots of letters in the post the other day - thank you so much to everyone and I'll do my best to reply soon.
Love Kirsty x
- comments
D Great to read as usual. Take care!!
Gran & Gramps. Blog most interesting.Hope you are feeling much better now.Will write soon.Take care.Lots of love.
Honor Wow Kirsty, what an amazing time. Am v envious! X
Sarah Hope everything is good. Missing you x x