Chere ma famille et mes amis

Less than 3 weeks left and I still seem to be having cultural "expierences" on a daily basis. Monday brought a visit to the doctor. Last week, I was feeling feverish, exhausted, and having bad headaches. I figured the 3rd world had finally kicked my butt and I'd be over it soon. But by Monday my arms were starting to ache and worse, I was actually wearing a long sleeve shirt from being cold (I still sweat regularly here). Trying to suppress thoughts of malaria, I finally made a doctor's apt. Of course, when I say made an appointment, I first called a local real estate office and got very annoyed when the receptionist did not seem to understand when i repeatedly said medecin medecin (doctor doctor). Finally got my hands on the right number and not only got an apt for that afternoon but the office was incredibly nice. The doctor was very friendly and after looking down my throat said Ahhh, une infection des amygdales. I starred at him blankly. You don't know the word "amygdale?" , "AMYGDALE?" (speaking louder and repeating it always helps). A few hand gestures later and with the help of another doctor, I realized I have a tonsil infection. Believe it or not, tonsils is not in my vocabularly. Words like "diarrhea" and "I'm sick to my stomach don't make me eat intestines" have been more necessary while here. Nevertheless, got some medecine and am now on the mend :)

Tuesday: went to HLM fabric market for retail therapy. Unfortunately everyone who lives in Dakar was there because big Muslim holiday, Tabaski, is coming up and everyone needs a new bou-bou (dresses women and men wear here). After buying something for my mama, the next time I stopped to open my backpack, my bag was in fact already wide open for me because I had been robbed. Clearly someone had seen me put my wallet back in my backpack and while I was getting tossed around in the crowd- someone reached in. Dakar is known for its pick pockets but I was just so bummed because I am usually so careful and had almost made it to the end with all my stuff. The good news- I only lost 40 bucks. In fact, 30 minutes later someone called me because they found my wallet on the ground, void of money but still had my ID cards in it. Retrieving it involved an hour adventure with the help of a Senegalese whose name was Monsieur Yess and greeting an entire family and sitting in their living room before I got it back. Nevertheless, it restored some faith and all in all, was only 40 dollars.

French class is calling, but I'll add that Wednesday's expierence was eating lunch at my house with a complete stranger. My family just sat me down with her and I prayed I had not met her before and was now being rude. She gave me an apple at the end so I guess I did not offend her.

Much love
Hannah