And day two....

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Humdeedum... I feel like I should update this thing pretty regularly so I shall cover the past few days. And I just realized that only one day has passed since I last posted so it just goes to show how much I'm doing here--I cannot believe its only been 3 days!!

Today we had our first Survival Wolof class in the morning which was interesting. Its definitely unlike any language I've ever tried to speak, and this "survival" method at the beginning is not easy... Our group was split into small groups of 5-10 so it wasn't too overwhelming. Still, its like I'm basically trying to memorize a script of greetings but if the order were to change in the slightest I would have no idea what to say or what we're talking about. Hoh well, it shall come with time. Our teacher was this really cool, young, stylish Senegalese man who was obsessed with New York. So cute!

After the Wolof, we had our Safety orientation, which was a tad bit frightening but also really informative and helpful. Our director kept stressing that there is veryyy little violent crime in Senegal, mostly petty crime, and there are very easy ways to avoid being targeted. Basically avoid isolated areas, never walk alone at night, only bring extreme necessities when going out, don't flash expensive gadgets (hard to hide a camera...), etc. I was definitely a lot more paranoid about my bag at the beach in the afternoon, so they did their job well! This afternoon we had the French placement test which was actually a lot more stressful than I thought it would be. To place into the French electives you need to test into Advanced I or II French which I'm pretty confident I was able to do, but... I really wanted to place completely out of French and take a third elective. I feel like they would expect near perfection for someone to place out so I'm a bit worried (I definitely made up a few verb conjugations...). But its definitely not a big deal either way--I just might actually have to take a French grammar class for once in my life. The test took forEVER... 2:30-5:30 which I thought was excessive for a placement test, in this hot, huge room with everyone looking stressed and frustrated. I basically came to my room and passed out from exhaustion for a little bit and actually posted "yesterday's" blog.

This afternoon was soooo much fun! Eva came and dragged me out of my lethargic stupor and we all went to the beach together... basically all 54 of us minus a few. This time I actually wore my swimsuit and we all went swimming... the waves were insane!!! I'm sure there was a terrible undertow but no one really went in beyond the first 10 feet so it wasn't too bad. A few people WIPED out, and others had a some wardrobe malfunctions, but all in all it was a blast. Even more interesting were the other people on the beach. Apparently women just don't go to the beach here, which is kind of weird because we definitely heard that two pieces were acceptable here. Maybe they're only on the more touristy beaches. When we first got to the beach, there was a HOARD of men (maybe 30-50) at the other end, all jumping up and down in unison. I saw this going on in the city when we visited our neighborhoods yesterday, so I'm guess its some national form of exercise... men of all ages just jumping up and down for long periods of time. We stayed on our little piece of empty beach, but gradually curious onlookers started to meander over to our side of the beach, and 30 minutes later there was a legit audience laughing at us, pointing, one guy was videotaping... I'm sure they particularly enjoyed the wardrobe malfunctions if they happened to witness any of them. At one point I looked up at the cliff that's right above the beach, and this lone man was just staring down through the bushes, arms crossed, looking absolutely perplexed and horrified by our behavior.. very creepy. But we had a great time despite the spectacle we made of our selves!

The rest of the day was fairly unremarkable... we walked back in the rain which felt great washing away the somewhat gross ocean water (it is definitely not very clean, though I think its fine compared to a lot of beaches here). Ate dinner, showered, talked, played cards, talked some more, and now I'm in bed recapping the day. So far I'm really liking it here. It's definitely an adjustment but its getting easier and easier. Right now I'm actually mostly overwhelmed by the social situation with so many people meeting each other and wanting to make friends and get to know lots of people, but also to make closer friends. Its kind of like the beginning of college where you feel like you can't miss out on any bonding or you'll be left behind in the dust. I wish I didn't think so much about that here but its hard not to in this camp-y environment. Sarah's former roommate, Eva, is here and we've definitely been getting closer (especially since she's going to be at Sciences-Po in the Spring, too!). All of us living in this dorm (there are two) have been bonding in general but there are a few I can see myself getting closer too, especially since some of them are going to be living in my neighborhood as well. That should definitely be exciting!

Otherwise, the cultural adjustment hasn't been TOO hard, probably because we're still in that in between stage where its easy to avoid interaction with locals and really being thrust into the culture with such a big group of people and spending so much time on campus. So far I've been mostly observing and figuring out how I think it is appropriate and safe to approach certain social situations. I'm certain moving in with my family and getting used to the neighborhood will be a very challenging, but exciting, experience.

That's it for tonight! Can't wait to hear from everyone!

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Comments

[Cathy]

Hey Kim, Glad to here you are settling in and that things are getting easier. I am sure there are plenty of new and stressful events that will be happening in the next few days/weeks. Good luck with Woloof-cann't even begin to figure out how to say or know what that sounds that. Look forward to keeping up with your adventures. Cathy