this is why I should never assume anything

I am sorry folks about going dark side for the last few weeks. IST turned out to be a more intensive than I expected and the WAIST was....I will explain waist after this very important message.
I, who has never lost a phone since I got in, lost my phone. Don't know how but I did. I have a new phone now. 77-683-1800. I apologize for this (and trust I am throughly disgusted with myself because I had everyone who I have ever met in Senegel's number in there and now I have zero. Not even my village family's number. I suck!)
Next point. I thought I came to Africa because it was warm. It has been in the 60's here and I have been freezing. I had to go to Fukijay (salvation army senegal style) to get a sweater. It was warmer in kolda than it was in Thies and Dakar. FI HODUM! (WHY!) In 1 month I will regret saying this but I miss being too hot.
IST was pretty good. Originally the plan was to learn wolof but a man from my village when I told him this, he said, don't do it! Learn french, if you want to communicate with the officials.
However got to Thies and some how I got put down for Pulafuta (the pulaar for southeastern Senegal). I have enough trouble with fulakunda and while I passed by test I decided to continue with fulakunda. It was a small class and this time around we learned articles (like 17 of them), better grammer and proverbs. Like these ones
The tail leads the cow-it means something weird is happening.
You ran away from fart and you stepped in poop-the grass isnt always greener on the other side.

Once I get my pulaar book out of my bag I'll post them in pulaar for you.
We did some techical training though I expected more. Went seed collecting and learned that aggressive species here are truely aggressive. Like you cannot touch them with out being in pain. Acacia mellifera-if it were in a motor cycle gang it would be Hell's Angels.
Also did tree grafting. Sharp knife here is completely diferent from sharp knife in America. For one thing I can't cut with 'sharp' knives here. Demba (it is a common name here but this guy is the training manager) is a grafting whiz and I am pretty such could graft a tree by staring at it. I wish we had more practice with grafting because it was cut short but it would have been useful.
I stayed with a new familly. They were used to the volunteer thing and I loved the girls (i never get placed in families with boys. ) even the baby who managed to pee on me.
My little sister Fatou I am pretty sure has some kind of hyperactive disorder because even around 11PM she was bouncing off the walls. I said I was going to bed, she got sassy and said if I did she would stand outside my door and make noise till I got up. Ingenious for a 4 year old.
After IST was WAIST-West African Intrural Softball Tournament.
For the record I still suck at this game. However soccer could not be an option because lets face it drunken soccer is still more dangerous than drunken softball. Volunteers from all over, Guinea, the Gambia, Mauritania, and Mali came and it was a party. There were also ex-patriot teams (embassy, NGO, international students workers) and Senegalese teams.
Kolda and most of Senegal did not care who won. At one point the softball game turned into a kickball game, people were running bases carrying other people on their shoulders, and a kankeran (a mythical creature who sneaks up on children and looks like Harry from 'Harry and the Hendersons') played for us and scored a homerun.
But I think the best part of WAIST was the homstay. We stayed with an international teacer (me and two other girls) and it was like being in the US. We had pancakes and burritoes made from scratch and a maid did our laundry for us with a MACHINE! There was a bath tub and hot water. and a real bed (shared between the three of us but if we really wanted there were three couches).
We went out to dinner last night and got authentic chinese food. I am finding that being part of one international group is that you become aware of one else. Like the chinese restaurant was run by chinese expats and it looked the same as it would in China. And they, for the most part did not speak french, but we hada volunteer with us who spoke a little chinese and was very accepted by the people there.
I feel like hearing someone else speak your language, makes you feel really that much closer to that person. It takes real fluency to be able to express yourself in another language and I can't help but think I will not be able to do that. Hopefully I will but it will take the whole two years.