yay lyssie its been awhile
sorry about the typing they have stupid frenchie keyboards here

no valentine yet--but everything takes forever here.  people just chill on
africa time.
glad to hear all is well

i just got back from living in a tiny village outside of thies for four days.
intense to say the least.  i had to communicate all in wolof, which ive only
been learning for a month...i lived in a family with 3 wives and about 20 kids
running around all the time.  i spent most of my time being led around and told
what to do when...just watching and trying to process the experience.  it was
too much to even describe here.  they threw us a sabar dance party our last
night which was amazing. they dressed me all up in traditional wolof garb,
braided my hair--yes i now have ridiculous white girl braids but theyre kinda
fun.  danced to the tam tams all night.  EVERYONE can do all the dances
there--they have one about ceebujen, the national dish, one about jayfondal,
which means big senegalese booty, etc.  even the little five year olds can move
like no one ive seen before.  the women dance with babies on their backs too,
its great.  this one baby slept through his mom getting down for like 10
minutes.

im in st louis now, the old colonial capital.  its gorgeous and quite french
looking.  big change from the village--slept on a piece of foam on a buggy
floor tyhere, staying in a gorgeous hotel here.  traveling around the country
by bus with my amazing group is so fun

i love you all and love hearing news
be well
kate

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