Saturday Morning

Today is my third real day here, but it feels like it’s been much longer. I’m doing pretty well, physically and emotionally. A man who sits near me at work named Alook came over to my landlord’s house (which is right next to my flat) last night and introduced me to the landlord’s daughter, who is just a few years younger than me. She seems very cool, and her English is better than anyone else I have met. She said she would be happy to take me clothes shopping, so I need to see if tomorrow would work for her.

I told Satish that I’m nervous about the weekend—I don’t necessarily need to go somewhere, but I need something to do so that I don’t just sit alone in my apartment all day. He told me that we work Monday-Saturday, so the weekend is only Sunday, so that will be nice while I’m alone. He's trying to find something for me, but I'm not that confident about it. Helen comes three weeks from today! I can't wait.

Last night I had sort of a breakthrough. I needed to buy some things for cooking dinner, so I made myself actually go for a walk and find what I needed. I knew by then that if I turned right outside the gate and followed my street, it would meet up with a main road where there were some stalls that might have what I needed. I found bottled water, lentils, potatoes, and onions. And for all that, I paid 17.5 cents. Awesome.

Later, when I was chatting with Alook and the landlord and his daughter (whose name, embarrassingly, I’ve already forgotten), they told me I should never go out after dark, and especially never alone. Which is what I had just done. I decided not to tell them that, and not to repeat my adventure. Unfortunately, I often don’t get home until dark, so I don’t know what I should do about making dinners.

Yesterday morning, I met Satish by my house and he walked me to his house. It was a short walk, maybe 5 or 10 minutes. I got to use his internet and Skype with Jeff and my parents. It was so nice to see their faces and hear their voices! I’ve been feeling like I’m in a whole other world here, and it was so nice to remember that my loved ones are still there, even if I can’t see them. The other nice part about going to Satish’s house was that they fed me breakfast! I had already eaten breakfast, but it was good to have more, especially since people here don’t snack between meals (or so it seems).

Satish said I should just come over every morning whenever I want before 10. That way, I can come to work in their vehicle with them. (Sidenote: It seems like they hire a vehicle to go to work every day, but every day it’s a different car but the same driver. It’s odd to me.) Satish also figured out my internet situation, I think, but it has not actually been dealt with yet. At least I can go use his internet in the mornings.

One last thought before I get moving. I seem to be having a recurrence of the foot fungus that I first got when I arrived in Senegal. That means I need to find an anti-fungal cream, and I have NO idea where to find that. 

Also, I feel like my body is constantly swollen, I think from the heat. It’s mildly unpleasant.

Okay, that’s all for now.