Holy S*** I'm in Africa

So I think I finally had my “holy s*** I’m in Africa” moment. It was during the second evening of rain and I was washing my dishes on the porch and watching the kids across the way bathing in a wheelbarrow filling up from the rain falling from the edge of the roof.

I just sat there, washing my dishes in a bucket, rain pelting the ground around me, a clean breeze and kids taking baths in a wheelbarrow and thought…”Holy s***. I’m in Africa.”

Last week went really well at my village. My friend Ousmane stopped by every day but he told me that when he is done with his studies for the year he is moving away to live with family in a bigger city so he can go to the 11th and 12th grade. This makes me sad. I gave him a wheel of Laughing Cow cheese and he was really happy about that. He told me that everyone in my village says that they like me a lot, which is nice.

One of the dudes involved in the whole big generator thing told me they were going to hook my house up to electricity when it’s ready. The building is almost done and once it is, I wonder how long it will take before the generator actually arrives and is functional. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they did actually hook my house up to the electricity because my house is one of the closest to the generator and I am a “permanent” resident. The other houses close to the generator are houses where people just inhabit rooms in them and not all the time. Plus I seem to be a high profile member of the community, even if all I do is sit on my porch and read and saluer people as they walk by and make little kids draw me pictures and buy onions daily.

Also last week Pular really started to click for me. Before, it would go in one ear and out the other, but now I am retaining phrases and able to say more things and understand more and even Madame Bangoura said, “You are beginning to understand!” which made me feel good because she has yelled at me about my awful French before. I feel like my French is also getting better which is nice. By the time I am done here I feel like my French will be really good and I’ll be able to say I speak conversational Pular…maybe .

Anyway tomorrow we see everyone for IST but it will be a bit sad without Aaron and Dave. Miss you guys!! John and I are planning to get up super early to get the first car to Kindia and catch the Peace Corps bus as it goes through on the way to Mamou. And hence shall commence two more weeks of training.