First Weekend and Class

This was my first weekend in Senegal with my host family. I went to a Sabaar which had a lot of drummers and there was dancing. They had a guy limbo under fire and spit fire. Then I shared a cab home with two other people and we got totally lost. I felt a little stupid, but now I definitely know where I live. I helped cook the most well known dish, cebujen, by cutting up a bunch of vegetables. Cebujen is basically fish, veggies, and rice, with a red sauce on it. I spent the rest of the day talking to my "brother" practicing my french. We also made Senegalese tea which is very sugary and strong. Yesterday was our first day of class, and I am glad to have some kind of schedule now. We had a demonstration on Friday of music and dance and we will be having workshops on music and dance next week. I really want to do the workshop on the kora. I hope to spend the four weeks of the independent study project doing an intensive study on playing the kora. I am really excited about that. I think the only thing that I will have trouble with is eating and sleeping. I don't eat a whole lot, since I am a vegetarian, mainly just bread and lettuce, although lunch we have more options. My family eats supper after 10 at night which is ridiculous for me, because I am ready to go to bed by then. They all stay up really late and they are so noisy. Luckily I have an ipod that works here or else I would never sleep. I haven't communicated a whole lot with my family, they mainly just speak in Wolof unless they are addressing me directly. I generally spend most of my time at home playing with the grandchildren. My homestay "parents" have around 8 children and I think 6 or 7 live with us right now and then there are 6 grandchildren and a cousin who lives there sometimes. I really enjoy the kids a lot. Yesterday we played on the roof where they also keep a goat. I can't wait for our workshops on music and dance. After that we have our first village excursion. It is so wonderful here and I am having the best time!