To Do:

My list of things to do in the next fifteen days:

Read Emile (100 pgs left)
Another reading by J.J. Rousseau
Read Kant
Read 2 books by Voltaire
Read Montesque (I don't remember how to write his name)
Write a 4 page paper on the 18th century literature in France
Read a short story novel (?) for Af. Lit class
Presentation for Translation on student strikes
Paper to go along with the presentation
Exam for French Lit.
Exam for Af. Lit
Exam for Comparative Lit.

And then let's start talking about my project/ research!

Oh well. Point is... lots to do. I'll update with pictures when I get the chance.

And if you hear about a tailor who got beaten up by one of his toubaab clients... it wasn't me... I'm just saying that he has stuff still from three months ago. I might beat him up. And he wasn't open today......... GR.

Anyway. 5 weeks until I see your gorgeous faces!

Bisous!

Kate

R.I.P.

This past Tuesday, a great man passed away. Mr. Cabakulu, our professor of African litterature died in Paris. Super sad, but he was suffering. Bless his soul.

May he rest in peace.

Nothing new has happened.

I GOT a package from Kari filled with Easter goodies.

I missed an exam because no one in my class was smart enough to read the schedule and told me incorrectly when the exam was! :( I have to do the exam now as homework and then take another exam!

One month left of classes... and to do my thesis project. I guess its time to start asking people to fill out questionnaires...! I'm not so sure how this is going to go, but oh well... not too worried!

That's all.

REALLY INTERESTING, huh?

Kari, have a good time moving to Chicago.

Emily, same to you with Colorado...

and to anyone else who might be moving that I don't know about. It seems to be the time to start moving. I want to join the trend!

klb

Likes/ Dislikes

THINGS I WILL NOT NOT NOT NOT MISS UPON ARRIVAL TO america

-pee on my feet
-pee splatter redirecting to my face... All due to turkish toilets
-Senegalese women (except a few... emphasis on FEW)
-Non-flush toilets
-Central Medicale... the med center... which sucks.
-the resto and it's bad food.
-crazy seller men.
-cooking on a hot plate
-hand shaking... hugs? kiss greetings? That's all I ask for!
-The dirty market to get into town...
-bad conversations lasting forever but never talking about anything substantial.
-people not sitting with me at the resto because thye think i'm diseased.
-being called red ears (kind of a slur... depends on how they say it)
-people thinking i'm rich
-kittens... that are dying constantly.
-soccer video games
-mean baayfalls
-saturday classes
-friday classes
-not knowing how to clean
-TUMBLE WEAVE. I will not go on a rant on how much I hate weave.

THINGS I WILL MISS UPON RETURN TO AMERICA ThE BEAUTIFUL..

-Friends (MODOU FALL, STEVENS LESCOUFLAIR)
-singing circles (their praise song time) as long as they aren't outside my window.
-seeing Joleen, Hannah and Andrew everyday.
-Yangi noos and A qui de droit (the two guys who work at the resto)
-a good ceebu-jeen bu xonq (fish and rice... red style)
-THakri (a yogurt item)
-Mangoes.
-ceebu yapp (meat and rice)
-not having to pretend i have Jbiebs...
-cheikh my tailor... if he gets my stuff done by tomorrow
-Pont Faidherbe (saint louis'big bridge)
-eating out of the same bowl.
-going into town on a hot day.
-new boutique and ISA the guy who runs it.
-Naman naa la!
-baby Ibrahima
-Baydallaye Kane (he's amazing!)
-breakfast costing 20cents
-senegalese accent in french, so much better than the parisian one.
-being albbe to get amazing pastries for 1.20
-the crazies: I WANT MONEY. I WANT WIFE. No? how about you?!
-The talibes (beggar children) on campus... super cute.
-funny baay falls who don't think i'm rich!
-bissap (tea, juice, however!)_
-SUN!

With under 50 days to go, i want to embrace the time I have left while looking forward to my return... so that's what I'm going to dO!!!!!!!!!

love you

kate

School.

Exams are going on. Nothing too interesting. Just 2 weeks of exams...! I have one more to go!

Today, I realized that I am an addict. I am completely addicted to fabric. I broke down and bought more fabric. I was going strong on two weeks of not buying fabric, but I saw one my mom wanted and I bought it. Thanks mom, continuing the addict in me. I also bought another baayfall blanket (patchwork) which is really cool. I got an okay price on it and it's really pretty.

Power outages are becoming ridiculous. They are consistent, every day from the morning (not sure what time, I get up around 8 and its already gone) until 3 or 4... and then sometimes at night. This is really cramping my style. I can't cook oatmeal for lunch. I just want to eat my cinnamon banana oatmeal.

Anyway, dad, here you go. It's a post. Kind of like a phone conversation. Random!

Dad, I have a question for you, but I can't remember. Oh and don't forget to call the dentist!

LOVE YOU ALL!

less than 2 months until my GLORIOUS return!

kate

True Life: I'm in a tourism class in Senegal

These are a list of "facts" compiled from my tourism class over the period of four days. There are several more things that have been said, but were not documented.

ENJOY.

*The Panama Canal is located in Mexico.

*The French can come to Senegal without passports or visas. They only need a card with their picture on it.

*People who wash dogs in the US make more money than professors.

*Clinton is more handsome than Kennedy. And Kennedy was not better than Nixon.

*Obama is ugly and wasn't elected based on race, beauty or the fact that his vice president wasn't Sarah Palin.

*You should be able to take a tour guide out of his country, put him in another country and if he is a "professional" he'll be able to take you to the tourist sights and tell you all about them.

*One year = 364 days.

*If someone sees a picture of two separate things, but they are photoshopped for stylistic reasons (i.e. advertising) They will NEVER know it. Everything in tourism advertising is a lie (and no one knows it)

*I can't read French that is typed out. He pulled this from no where... because I can't read his handwriting.

*I have no idea why the financial crisis happened. The bankers knew it was happening and maliciously forced the crisis...

*To take a cruise... you MUST be a millionaire.

*Those who take cruises have their money in banks, for that reason in 2007 (crisis), there weren't many people taking cruises because they lost their money in the bank (as if they just couldn't find it)

*The U.S. was formed by the gold rush. ONLY reason the immigrants crossed the Atlantic. Forget about that religious persecution!

*To speak French, you have to speak latin. Balanaire in Latin... "bitch... you know bitch...?" After a second, I realized he was saying beach.

*You can be arrested for wearing a t-shirt with words... KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN!

*If you go to Gandiol (an area near St Louis) at certain hours, you will never find your way back... it is ENCHANTED!

*If you offer a German water, he'll never come back to your house. You MUST give him beer. Americans...? Ask them, but have EVERYTHING available... or just receive them where you have nothing to offer. I.e. the desert.

*Blood is pink.

*If you walk on the beach by the Presidential Palace at night, don't look at the palace or you'll instantly have a bullet in your head.

*Hotels. 5 stars. 5 star luxury. Palace. There is a Palace hotel in Dakar.... ? yea right..........

* The US knows where I am at ALL times. 24/7/365. There are spies in my classes, but at home, no one is surveilled... ONLY IN AFRICA!

*In the North, if you offer a child somethign for good work in school, you MUST give them it... unlike here where children just work hard. (WHICH IS BS!)

*Students here who are intelligent are Serrer (an ethnicity) because they eat humans.

*In the Congo, yuo take a live monkey, tie it up, cut its head off and eat its brains... LIVE. And the monkey doesn't scream... or the prof doesn't remember if it screamed while he was eating.

*Cars that will come out in 30 years are already made and locked up in a vault... or it could just be that cars here are 25 years old and no younger...!


Anyway. Hope you enjoyed.

Less than 70 days...

Kate

LIFE again.

well...

I'm sorry these posts aren't as interesting as they could be. I do apologize.

BUT NEW UPDATE. I will be coming home the 28th of JUNE. I will be arriving in ORD at 1pm approximately. Which forces my wonderful parents to drive to Chicago to come pick me... on their anniversary. :) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!


Classes started this week. But I did not. We were in the Casamance on vacation. We left Friday (2 weeks ago) and arrived Saturday at 8pm. We took a bus to get there... and had to drive around the Gambia due to a misunderstanding in French AND English.(something I am still very bitter about). So that trip took us 24 hours of driving time. :( So depressing. Therefore after being squished together for ONE WHOLE DAY, the three of us decided that the bus was simply not an option for our return. So we went to the boat station (port as known in English) to buy tickets on the boat. It was full the Thursday after, the Sunday after and so we had to return the Thursday (3 days ago or 2...) and the boat left Ziguinchor at 3pm and arrived in Dakar around 8am. I ran some errands in Dakar and came back to St Louis arriving at 7pmish Friday. Therefore I missed every class of second semester... but graul (not grave) quoi (what, just used as an interjectory phrase)

I am happy to be sleeping in a fantastic bed... which I never thought I'd say about my University bed. Since its horrible! Oh! That's what I'll do. Here's some pics of school. I don't think I put them up yet!