Missing Things

written Wednesday, 4 April 2007, 3:30 pm


The parade was pretty much a bust. I walked over to the Place de France with my host brother and sister, and there were lots of people there, but we couldn't get close enough to see the parade. It seems that the parade was only about a block long, from an intersection over to a plaza area where there were stadium seats (I don't know if they were set up for the occasion or if they are there all the time). So if you had a seat, or if you got there really early and got a good spot on the sidewalk in the one block area of the parade, it was probably great. But after standing out there and getting really hot for about an hour, we came home. And watched the Dakar parade on tv.

Today is a really hot sticky day (one of the very few humid days I've experienced in Thies - usually it's hot but not humid, which is more comfortable but then I don't notice how hot I am until I start feeling sick and have to go drink about a gallon of water). This weather makes me think about all the things I miss from home, including:

1. real showers where you can adjust the water temperature (the wussy showers at the training center don't count - not enough water pressure).
2. any kind of food that doesn't involve fish or rice, but expecially cereal with really cold milk
3. baked goods and anything else with refined sugar (although cookies and other things are available here, it's just not the same somehow).

It seems funny how short that list is, and maybe especially that it doesn't include air conditioning. But I never liked A/C in the US much - people always set it too cold for me.

I am having another Senegalese day with my family. After the parade, I watched the Dakar parade on tv with my family for a while, then I went to my room and wrote letters and read for a while til I fell asleep. Then we had lunch - fish and rice! - then attaya tea and frozen juice called radi in Wolof or radio in Mandinka. My host mom showed me how they handwash clothes here - they are supposed to wash my clothes for me, except my underwear which I have to do myself, but I asked her to show me since I don't feel like I really know how to do it - so we had a nice half hour laughing at how terrible I am at washing clothes - I'd make a pretty poor housewife in Senegal.. Now we are sitting around again watching independence day stuff on tv. It's a fast-paced life.