For our first couple of days here, we were basically locked in the safe, secure, Americaville that is the PC compound in Thies. Yesterday was our first real trip outside to take a guided walk through the market, see the sites, smell the smells (!) and get a beer. Unaccompanied wanderings were allowed today - a morning run at the nearby stadium/athletic facility, another walk through the market to buy seriche (gifts for our host families - I bought tea and sugar), and a visit to another local bar for a relaxing sit under a mango tree.
After much anticipation, we found out about our language and pre-service training homestay assignments this morning. There are 5 or so local languages and several sites around the area where trainees will be staying with host families for increasing amounts of time over the next 9 weeks. The first visit starts tomorrow afternoon and lasts 6 days. I'm learning Wolof and am staying in Mboro, which is reportedly a good sized town not too far from the beach! My training group has 4 people in it, and we will have an LCF (language and cultural facilitator) staying in the town with us and helping with all the inevitable questions, awkward moments, and "cultural exchanges" that we are bound to encounter.
So all in all, things are fabulous thus far, although they are about to get a lot more challenging. We shall see...
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