I'm going to Egypt!

I'm leaving for Cairo tonight to visit my good friend Nick Rodriguez, who is working there for a few months. I'll be there a week and am absolutely ecstatic! I feel a bit guilty for going on vacation so early into my service, but then again, you have to take opportunities as they arise! It will be great to see an old friend, check out a new city, and hopefully get a bit of perspective on my life here.



I got to Dakar last night after taking a sept-places (seven seats, a station wagon) from Tamba. For almost $20 it is the priciest way to travel, but the easiest. Thankfully we had no flat tires or any other reason to be stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere for hours. The trip took close to 10 hours, which is pretty good. (About the same amount of time it will take to fly to Egypt, with a layover!)



As far as life here, not too much is new. I was quite a "home body" the month of October, not leaving my village much. It's nice when you are in a place where everyone knows you or at least knows who you are. Going to Tamba (the big city!) can be stressful as an "outsider." I get tired of being called "toubob" (the word for white person) all the time! I never feel like my safety is threatened, but the constant attention gets exhausting.



The rainy season has pretty much come to a close and it is slowly but surely starting to get cooler. Corn is starting to be harvested; the kids roast corn on charcoal everyday as a treat. Quite good, and a nice change from just plain cornmeal with a peanut or a leaf sauce for dinner.



School will finally start next week since the teachers have finally come back from vacation. I'm looking forward to doing some projects with them, especially some AIDS Awareness in preparation for World AIDS Day on December 1.



Our old (or just sick) horse finally died, which was kind of sad (for me, anyway). We have two other horses though so we are not economically hurt by the event. The goats have been reproducing and their "baa-ing" (or whatever) wakes me up at about 5 every morning. They sometimes sound like actual kids and it is quite annoying. My neighbor had a baby girl a few weeks (or maybe now a month ago). She named her after me, Aminata, which was really nice. The family is adorable and the gesture was really touching.