maa ngiy saint louis!

I'm in Saint-Louis!

And I adore it. The university is gorgeous (in a Senegalese way)- it's in the savanna, bordering on desert (we're right next to the Sahel). It's really really sandy, which is hard on my contacts but lovely on my feet, and there are animals everywhere- goats, sheep, donkeys, cows, hedgehogs, cats. I'll take some pics and post them soon.

I'm living in a single room, with my own shower, but have to share the turkish toilets with my floor. I've mostly been hanging out with the Penn and UWisconsin students, but I did make one Senegalese friend, I think: Astou, she's really sweet. And, good news, no marriage proposals yet, which is a welcome change from Dakar.

The city is also really beautiful, and there seems to be a lot to do- also some really great beaches (with really cold water... so really great beaches for sitting and basking). I'm going to pick my courses tomorrow, and hopefully start W African dance asap.

So I don't have much to say, just wanted to let everyone know I made it to phase 2 of my trip alright... but before I go, a quick story:
Monday night was Tamxarit, the Islamic New Year. Our Wolof prof invited us to his home to feast on couscous all night, as is the custom, and so we went with 2 UW girls. The food was alright (I've stopped judging things like food... especially at the university, you really have to eat to survive, not eat to enjoy), but the holiday was hilarious. In the Muslim\Senegalese version of trickortreating, bands of preteen boys run around the city all night dressed as women, banging on empty plastic gasoline containers and singing. A couple times they actually danced right on into the house we were staying at, and danced and drummed and screamed for about 10 minutes, pretending to flash everyone and being absolutely hilarious. Then they asked for candy. It was such a great night. I wonder what Halloween would be like if trick or treaters walked into peoples houses and started dancing...

K more later!