Ataaya

I'm really really liking it here. Food is amazing. People are great. Still getting to know my fellow students and figure out which ones I get along with better but that's not too bad either. I get along with Emilia really well, my roommate while we're here in the hotel. Also, she's studying to be a nurse, so don't worry, I'm in good hands : )

Today we had our first official Wolof lesson. It's a pretty fun language. My favorite word today was "alxamdulilaay" (pronounced: al-[c]ham-doo-lee-lie), it means thank god. It's very fun to say.

We also met someone from our respective families today after class. One of my sisters came to meet me from my family. My mom is Madame Awa Casse (pronounced Sehsay). So my name will be Casse, and they will give me my Senegalese first name once I get there. They have family in Gambia and Casamance (the southern region of Senegal which has been having off and on conflict over their independence for the past several years) which will be really interesting, cause there is very intersting history with both the country of Gambia and the region of casamance in Senegal. Also, most exciting part for me- it's a big family! With baby and toddlers! My sister who met me today, Fatou (very popular name here) was 37 years old, and apparently I have 4 other sisters and 2 brothers, all of which are in their early 20s and older. Most of them are married and have children, but everyone lives in this one house with our mom and dad. So the kids aren't my siblings but neices and nephews (So, Nomi and Nick, fine you don't want to give me neices and nephews, I got it taken care of here). So, yes, a big family, but Fatou told me I still have my own room which is really nice, I figured I'd have to share since there are so many ppl living there. I was told my family is very religious (Muslim-about 90% of the Senegalese people are Muslim, actually, side note, I'm woken by Morning prayer over loud speakers on the streets every morning. It's pretty cool actually. I mean, more so when I'm able to go back to sleep, but still).

One last anecdote (I'm soaking up this free wireless before I move in with the family Friday). Yesterday, our first day at the SIT building (actually a house), which is not in the heart of the city, but very close, we were continuing orientation and getting introduced to the staff. Every staff member seems to be amazing. One of them is actually a famous guitarist, I can't remember the name of his group right now. But, anyways, along with the staff, they introduced us to Amadouz, the guardian of the house. He lives there, and I guess acts as a guard for the most part (guards are common here). Apparently Stevie Wonder lived in this house for a little while and Amadouz would serve him tea and such. So, anyways, they told us that Amadouz' French isn't that good but he could help us with our Wolof. That he's always open to having tea and practicing wolof. So during a break, another student, Becca, and I decided to go see if we could get in on this wolof tea lesson early on.

We went outside to the side of the house where they showed us the door where he stays. We turned the corner, and there was Amadouz. Sitting facing us, with a regal posture to match his crisp white, traditional garb. There he was, sure enough, already making tea. It looked as if he was just there, prepared for a visit anytime. He had the tea set up to his right, steam escaping out the top, with cups in front of him and mint leaves to the other side which he used to make the tea ('ataaya' in wolof). So, after the greating of "peace be with you", we sat down, sipped on tea, and tried out our very poor Wolof. I plan to make this a regular activity.