Top 20

Hey ya'll!

January has come and went. Can you believe that in a little over a month, I'll be celebrating my one year anniversary here in Senegal? Whatttttt.

The other day I was sitting in my hut thinking about where the time has gone. I suspect I have adapted and integrated to the culture here at least a little and I suspect everyday activities may seem like insane things to the outside world. With this notion, I decided to jot down the top 20 things I do in Senegal that I would have NEVER done a year ago. This way I'll be able to remember the crazy African life I led once upon a time.

 I warn you all, every single thing listed is stuff I do on a daily basis.

 Perfectly normal... promise.

Top 20 Things I Would Never Do if I Didn't Live in Senegal

1. Eat dinner every night that has the consistency of wet sand. (Disgusting the first couple months but now I can't get enough)

2. Eat wet sandy dinners with my right hand in a community bowl with 10 other people.

3. Eat beans and mayonnaise on bread for breakfast.

4. Drink tea out of shot glasses.

5. Consume water, juice, and peanut butter out of a plastic bag.

(I feel the need to one day tell locals this has got to be the nastiest, messiest, most inefficient way to eat peanut butter.)

6. Ride donkey carts 7k into the woods in search of fresh manure for gardening.

7. Pick mango leaves off the tree and use them as dish scrubbers.

8. Sweep the sand and dirt ground until the dirt is neat looking.

9. Shower using a bucket of water and a cup to pour over me.

10. Get serious marriage proposals 5 times a day.

11. Call strangers "hyenas" if they insult me.

12. Keep a machete under my bed just because.

13. Open my door in the morning and greet the two donkeys standing on my stoop.

14. See packs of monkeys crossing the road as I bike through the woods.

15. Travel 2 hours on rickety buses to use the internet, the bank, or the post office.

 (I really had to try and comprehend this one. That's like me driving from Cincinnati to Columbus every time I need to withdraw money or send a damn email)

16. Live in a small compound of huts with 20 Senegalese people, 10 cows, 7 ducks, 6 chickens, 5 sheep, 4 goats, 2 donkeys, and a partridge in a pear tree. (No joke those are accurate numbers, except the partridge.)

17. Put on a sweatshirt and curl up in a sleeping bag for what’s considered "cold season". (Its 90 degrees outside.)

18. Think of the names "Fatoumata" and "Koumba" as common.

19. Poo in a hole in the ground.

20. Use my left hand when toilet paper doesn't exist. Yep, i know.

After reading this, I hope you all don't think I've gone off the deep end, but hopefully this gives you some insight to the habitual things in my life here.  It was surprisingly difficult to think of this list seeing as how it’s all so normal to me now.  I haven't changed too much have I? :)

As always, my love goes out to all of you. Hope America is treating you well and that great health and happiness are flooded your way.

Until next time!