Bonjour! I'm still alive (and doing well!) despite 2 weeks of no blog. Since my last blog, my Dad and Carolyn visited. I was so excited the day they arrived I actually ran away from a scheduled field trip to jump in a taxi and meet them. They meet my Senegalese family- including eating the national dish around a bowl with them- saw lots of Dakar, and the three of us traveled south of Dakar to stay at a pretty beach hotel for the weekend. I definitely expierenced a little bit of culture shock eating one good meal after the next, having a mirror in my hotel room, and being able to crank up the air-conditioning as much as I pleased. I even spent an evening watching MSNBC's special on 'Sex Slaves in America' just because it was in English. Carolyn and my dad brought me enough toilet paper for a small army and lots of great gifts for my family. During our beach visit, one taxi driver insisted on calling my dad "Le President" and asking him whether he wanted a second wife. It was less funny when someone asked me whether I was his second wife. Both my dad and Carolyn mastered the "walk away" when taxi drivers jacked up prices because we are toubabs (throw your hands in the air, act pissed, walk away from taxi until they lower their price). It was so nice that they came and visited - even my friends appreciated it when my Dad and Carolyn treated them to a nice meal out!

Since they left, I cranked out my first ever 10 page French paper (no thanks to the dodgy computers at school) and found a group of foreigners to play frisbee with! The group consists of Spanish embassy workers, some Frenchies, a British man with a fabulous accent, the occassional Senegalese, and some other American students. It has been so nice playing and very funny at points- especially when one French man says "H-up" every time the disc goes flying in the air.

I find I miss WashU classes while I'm here. Whether it be my economics teacher who becomes very defensive when someone criticizes anything Muslim or another professor who spends more time preaching to us then leading an effective discussion, it is an example of how different education is across cultures and often very frustrating. I have another professor who simply lectures the entire time, writing dates of wars on the board, instead of making interesting conclusions about those same wars. More thoughts on this for another day. Needless to say, I find myself going to the bathroom frequently just so I don't explode in class.

This weekend, off to the north to St. Louis with the program. Going to St. Louis, Senegal makes me feel that much closer to St. Louis, MO! Before that, Thanksgiving dinner at the local American club with proper turkey and all. Looks like it will be a good weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!