Details...

Okay mom, this post is for you! My house in Thies is open to the courtyard, so you have to walk on a porch/patio to get to any other room. They have electricity but it is only used for lights and for the television. (I think there is one channel that shows lots of soap operas and sometimes the news from Senegal. I have also seen a few soccer games and wrestling matches.) The kitchen is a small building outside in the courtyard. They cook with a small portable gas stove. The main meal is lunch, which is usually rice with fish (or another type of meat) and vegetables, mainly potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and a few others. Different sauces change the entire meal. My family in Thies eats around the communal bowl with spoons, although this might just be because I am here. During demystification it was always with your right hand. Dinner is either leftover lunch or something similar but smaller. Breakfast is usually baguettes with butter and/or chocolate "mousse," although they have peanut butter (definitely not American PB) at the training center. The bathroom is also a separate building with a wall separating the toilet area from the bathing area. To get into details, the toilet is a Turkish toilet, so a porcelin hole in the ground. The bathing area is for bucket baths, but both areas are paved.

Mandinka is not a "click" language... Here are some phrases:
Greetings:
Asalaam malekum!
Malekum salaam!
Iba herra to?
Herra durun.
Kortanante?
Tanante.

Isaama - Good morning
I too dun? What is your name?
Ntoo mu Djeneba Diatta le ti. My name is Djeneba Diatta.

More later.... and yes, I know more!