So I've never done the whole blogging thing, but I figure my first trip to Africa isn't a bad time to start. Today was my eleventh day here and so far it's been absolutely amazing. My blogs or photos won't be able to do justice to the experiences I've has thus far.

For the first few days we stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Dakar, so that we could get adjusted to the time difference, the weather, and basically prep for our impending experience. During this orientation period we would spend the mornings getting "the breakdown" of Dakar from our SIT coordinators: Soleye, Bouna, Sarah, and Ami. They would prepare us on what to expect from our homestay families, downtown Dakar, the food, the culture, as well as the the do's and don'ts of Senegal. 

In the afternoons we visited various cartiers (neighborhoods) of Dakar, and at night we would have a different traditional Senegalese dish. The national dish here is Ceebu jen or thieboudienne, which is rice, fish, and turnips. It's not bad, but my favorite food so far is easily yassa poulet. It's sautéed chicken and rice covered in this delicious spicy onion sauce. It's like a little piece of heaven comes down and touches my tongue every time I eat it. 

The dynamic of the group is really good. Everybody gets along really well and seem excited to be here. There are 18 girls, and 3 guys. I was prepared for such a ratio because for some reason not a lot of guys decide to go to West Africa for their semester abroad. It might be that not a lot of us take french classes but who knows. 

After a few days, we moved in with our homestay families. I was a bit nervous because they don't speak English so I was going to have to speak french all the time. But I'm going to have to go ahead and say that my host family are probably the nicest, most patient people on the planet. They do a great job of being extremely hospitable, yet also treating me like a normal part of the family instead of a guest, which I appreciate. I have 8 brothers and sisters, most of whom are adults that work in other countries. There are however, three grandchildren in the house by the ages of 2, 3, and 4. So needless to say, there aren't many boring moments. Between the karate chops, hide and go seek, and horseback rides, I can always count on them for a little entertainment. Three of the brothers live in the house and two other cousins. I actually can't really tell who lives here and who doesn't because different people are coming in and out of the house all the time, and there's always somebody new at the dinner table each night. I share a room with my brother Abdou. He's 22 and is a student at one of the local universities. I'm the only person in the SIT program who has a roommate but I'm actually pretty happy that it ended up this way. I can talk to Abdou about things that probably would not be as easy to talk to my host parents or professors about. Plus I can get everything from the perspective of someone around the same age as me, which I find really helpful and refreshing. He and my other two cousin often spend nights staying up and talking about our political, religious, and social views until the wee hours of the morning. 

SIT does a good job of maintaining a sense of order, while at the same time not over-structuring our day. We have three classes per day. It varies between French, Wolof (unofficial language of Senegal, spoken in most households), an Arts and Culture Seminar (visits to museums, sculptures, as well as dance and music classes), and a Field Study Seminar. The professors who teach us French and Wolof are all really chill and are all Senegalese. Everything is discussion based, as opposed to lecture based, which I couldn't be happier about.

We have every Wednesday off and today we spent the day at the beach. I think it was called N'Gore but I'll have to check on that. The weather was probably around 80 and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Avery and I played beach soccer with a bunch of locals who seem like they do nothing but play there 24/7. Beach soccer is definitely tougher than soccer on grass and the dynamics of the game are alot different. It's a lot of fun though. Before a group of like 20 other people joined we had a little game of Senegal vs. America going. We held our own, but ended up losing. It seems like these guys could run forever. But I can promise that there is going to be a lot more beach soccer where this came from.

There are so many things I could go on and on about and so many incredible experiences I could delve into. It's crazy to think that I've been here less than 2 weeks. I've already learned so much about Senegal and myself that I had no idea about before. This trip will definitely be an experience that juxtaposes what I deem "the norm" and will challenge me in a multitude of ways. But I think I'm up for the challenge...