Its a Family Affair:

Yesterday I decided to spend the entire day at home and really see what my host familys life is like on the weekends. I woke up around 9am which was pretty easy to do since I didnt go out too late the night before and had breakfast with Raissa and Pascal. Once again the bread with instant coffee and a little hot chocolate....would that be considered as a mocha? After breakfast Raissa slowly got ready just to paint our toenails hot pink and study. She was working on her English pronounciation (with the sweetest French/African accent) while I was putting together random sentences in Wolof like "I like to ride horses to school." Things that would never happen, but help my Wolof vocabulary and grammar!

The house was buzzing with Binta and her brothers making hundreds of meat filled pastries. I thought I should put myself to good use so I asked if I could help with anything and Binta put me right to work by peeling potatos and carrots for our lunch that afternoon. We made a traditional Senegalese meal of rice and meat, where the rice is covered in a piping hot garlic tomato sauce. It was very delicious even though I was eatting mystery meat and I was pretty proud of myself for making a contribution to the meal.

The best part of my day was jumping in the taxi with Raissa to drive over to Baobab neighborhood to visit Bintas mother and give the family extra dinner. I was so overwhemed with emotion when I first heard Bintas mother speak in a sweet soft voice. Her face was aged but was so welcoming and kind. At that instant, she reminded me of Granny Svien. From her love of her many grandchildren to singing joyous songs to me, I felt like I was back with Granny Svien again. Is it possible that Granny was reincarnated into this sweet Senegalese woman aho was wrapped in bright yellow laced fabrics and large gold jewelry? I cannot even explain how I felt at that moment...It was such a beautiful place to be where I thought I was meeting a stranger, who turned out to be such a loving, caring woman...exactly like Granny. Im definately going to make an effort to visit her more often; even just to sit with her and see her smile would make me feel like Im closer to Granny.