its been a whie since ive written in here. so we had most of the week off this week because of All Saints Day on tuesday and Korite which was oin Thursday for some families and on Friday for others depending on which marabou they follow. Korite marks the end of ramadan so i am curious to see how much peoples attitudes will change when they are not fasting through the hot days.

because im in a christian family, i went out to other peoples houses to celebrate korite. what people basically do for korite is dress up in new bubus (classic senegalese dress of a long skirt/pants and long tops of african print) go to the mosque, then come home to prepare a feast to celebrat the end of ramadan. i borrowed a bubu and went out to a freind of my host brothers house with other senegalese and american students. we met his parent and sat in a pimped out living room to eat some fruit and drink soda (a treat for the holidays) while chatting and taking an obscene amount of pictures which i will be sure to post in st.louis. the most memorable thing about korite was the hospitality of people always offering you food and making sure you are comfortable as we made the rounds from house to house. the other notable thing was how much more people liked me when i was walking around in a bubu and how many compliments you get when you here a bub especially from senegalese friends.

bueno, ahora en castellano. antes de korite? nos fuimos con unas amigas a derscubrir ile ngor que es una isla medio touristica pero con menos historia que ile de gore. te tomas un botesito de una playa a la playa de la isla donde te dejan. la isla es chiquita y casi llena de casa monstrosas serca de la playa. encontramos una casa en construction donde entramos para subir al techo donde nos encontramos con una vista bellisima. sacamos muchisimos photos de las cellesitas y de las playas y e las casas y los voy a poner en internet quando llego a st.louis. Me hiso muy bien estar en la playa (como siempre) y ayer tambien fui a la playa en dakar. Lo mejor del viaje a ngore fue que lo hicimos todo como los senegaleses, tomando los car rapids que no tiended horario fijo y hacen todo en wolof. tomo mas tiempo pero ahora me siento mas mejor viajando por transporte publico.

last night was my first experience of dakar nightlife where nothing really gets started until 2am. i had a really good time going out dancing and didnt get home until 6am!! But clubbing is still a pretty expensive passtime, even here.

Im kinda bummed to be going to st.louis so soon now. a week ago i couldnt wait to get out of the grime and crowds of dakar but now that ive met more studnets working here and am starting to get senegalese friends here too, i wish i could stick around to enjoy it more instead of getting up and moving again. at least this last move is final and i can always come back to dakar rto visit.