In-service training (IST) was full of lots of informative sessions, some not-so informative sessions, and a ton of time spent with all my fellow March staigaires. I failed miserably at documenting the whole thing, but my lovely friend LaRocha did an excellent job, so instead of stealing her photos, I'll direct you to her blog: http://thissenegaleselife.blogspot.com/.
After 2 weeks of IST, I headed to Dakar for 3 days. I had a few med appointments (don't worry, no infectious tropical diseases) and some more time with some of my favorite people. I ate delicious ice cream, thai food and pizza, went to Casino, a real live grocery store with air conditioning and aisles, and enjoyed the luxury of the climate-controlled med hut with hot showers and comfy beds.
4 of us from Linguere got back yesterday afternoon just before 5 after a 6-hour ride in a 7-places car. Our month 8 (Islam's month 9) welcomed us with lots of hungry people. Ramadan, bismillah. If you're interested, here's an article about Ramadan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/ramadan_1.shtml. If not, the basic idea is this: During the whole month, one lunar cycle, Muslims fast from the first prayer of the day until the main evening prayer around 7:30. It's sort of like lent- people also refrain from sinful behavior and read the Koran as much as possible.
Lots of volunteers fast with their families; I've decided to give it a try, but I'm not in it for the long haul. My older sister is pregnant and not fasting, so I'm counting on her to cook us delicious lunch every day. I'm headed back to the village this afternoon. We'll see how it goes.
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