camel back riding!

this was back in dakar, when naima and i went to the pink lake. yes, the lake actually looks pink. i have read that this lake looks pink because of the high salt concentration and bacteria(?). but it's really salty and they make salt from the lake. Lac Rose is 10 times saltier than the ocean. we were gonna go swimming, but then we ran outta time cause we had to head back to the PC bureau.
so yeah, camel back riding was fun. a little cher. a nice ab workout. and probably not pc. but definitely fun!!!

happy turkey day!

i am jealous that everyone back home gets to eat a ton of delicious food. however, i am excited because i get to have 2 thanksgivings! we are having one here during our training in Parakou and then another one down in Cotonou on Saturday. thank you mom for sending the stuffing mix and cranberry sauce! we will enjoy it!

i am in charge of the fruit salad. i hope it's good. and i hope i make enough to feed 18 people. i am excited because we got a hold of turkey, and we'll have mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, some Nigerian bread--that tastes like rolls, salad, but no pumpkin pie or apple pie. :(

it's hard to believe that it it thanksgiving today for several reasons. back home, i would be helping out/cooking for the feast. then i would stuff my face. then i would lounge around maybe watch a movie, Planes, Trains, and Atuomobiles! one of my top 10 faves. and also carefully read each ad from the newspaper because i am/was greedy and would oogle at the stuff i would like to buy. but there will be none of most of that.

i am however thankful for my family. and for the new friends i have made here. your support has made it easier to be here than i thought. thank you. and to my students and the town of Lokossa. the one day i spent there before leaving again for training, i really felt missed and appreciated. and to the peace corps for giving me this chance of a lifetime. i am also thankful for all the opportunities that there are in life to go out there and do something.

xoxo

michelle

"if it makes sense we're not gonna do it"...

...this is my favorite quote by my fellow pcv Nora. i think it pretty much sums up almost any situation you find yourself in, here. luckily i got a good sense of humor, otherwise i might go crazy.

for instance, Naima wanted to withdraw some money from her account while here in Dakar. so she walked over to the bank...it's the same bank we have in Benin. they are all over west africa. well, it turns out that because her account is in Benin, she couldn't take out any money, here.

another example. we went to a happy hour last night. it's a bar/restaurant. all the tables/seats at the bar are taken. so we plop ourselves down at a table in the dining area. the waitress gets mad at us and immediately starts taking away the glasses, silverware, and continues to rip off all three layers of tablecloth off the table. rude! why did she have to do that?

and another. well, i can't think of another because there are so many. but i will put some more up, eventually.

books

not that i have been reading a lot, but more than i have in the past. a few days ago, i finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. i can't believe i have read all of HP! i've read a few others, can't think of the names off the top of my head, but i am in the process of reading guns, germs, and steel. it was a little dry and boring at first, but it's starting to pick up a little.

later

i've been here to long.

in dakar, that is. do you know why? well, the other day I was at the Casino grocery store, (see picture below) and i was not phased at all by all the stuff they had. which makes me think i have been here for too long. when i first arrived, i couldn't believe all the westerness surrounding me, it was overwhelming.

but now i feel too comfortable here, and am quite nervous for my return to post. what's more is that i have missed 3 weeks worth of classes as of the end of this week. on top of that, TEFL (my sector) has a week-long training thing next week. sooo, i will have pretty much missed a whole two weeks of school. yuck. that makes me uncomfortable, but, hey, what can ya do...??

More Dakar pictures

these pictures and the ones in the previous post are in order within each post...but not in order overall. Naima let me upload pictures from her camera, and i don't want to go through the hassel of putting them all in order...it's too comfusing. but enjoy them anyways!



me, amy (also Benin PCV), and danielle (Togo PCV) at a little bar.







banner for the swear-in ceremony for stagaires of PC Senegal.







me by the pool...a pool! drinking "bissap" juice. it's a drink made from hibiscus flowers. it's delicious.









Naima in front of the Ambassador's house. it was enormous and beautiful. inside and out.
















in front of the pool area of the fancy hotel. we came across the hotel on our walk back to the Bureau.







at the beach front thing at the fancy hotel.



moi in front of the Presidential Palace. and for the record, one is not allowed inside, lol.











humongous Baobab tree. seriously.


















seriously!



















resting, with a view. two seconds later i got up to take Naima's pic and fell on my face. i don't know what it is about this continent, but i am always falling down. good thing i think it's funny when i do, otherwise we might have some issues.







Goree (there's an accent on the 1st e) Island.










me in the beach there. i really wish i had brought my swimsuit!











looking back on the beach (from the picture above!)








almost to the top of the mountain...we stopped to soak in the beauty.




on top of the island. posing for a Glamour Shot!














that building thing on the FAR left is, we think, someone's summer vacation house. how cool. i wouldn't mind living here. in fact, i found a spot around here where i can pitch up a tent like the rasta men have done.












caught!...looking down at the beautiful ocean and scenery.
















this is my hiker pose.














this is Casino. the amazing grocery store where you can buy all sorts of goodies. there is nothing else like it here that i have experienced. so much goodness.

pictures and captions

this preying mantis was IN my bathroom. staring down at me.














preying mantis on the wall in the "hall" between my room and the bathroom. you better believe i screamed a little when i had to walk past it. look at it's eyes. it weirds me out to think that these guys are so big and watch me and whatnot. and i believe they know how to change color.
















this is the picture of me with a big pineapple that i bought right before Angelina and I got caught in the big rainstorm. i guess this picture should go with the post shown down below a few entries...but i am too lazy and don't have time to figure it out.







a one legged grasshopper(?) got into my kitchen and decided to hang out on my dish drying rack.







This guy was found chillin' in the tub of laundry i had soaking in the bathroom. he was actually kinda cute. but that's not my hand holding him. no siree. that would be christopher. and FANOU told me that most bugs in Africa are not harmless. in fact, i should pretty much just worry about the mosquitoes.






this is a handful of the volunteers in my region. here we have a hippee, me/Dorothy of Wizard of OZ, i have no idea, a Beninese farmer, and a bicyclist.








halloween bonfire. we lit up the candy wrappers and the boxes they were sent in. i haven't seen a bonfire in ages!















the snails here are HUGE! this one wasn't even THAT big.













but still pretty darn big. i think my hand was a good 6 inches or so away. i didn't want to go too close.












me pretending to paddle along in the lake. i almost fell on my face getting off the boat. i slipped and stubbed my toe and i was worried it was going to get infected. but no blood, no worries!















a canoe carved out of one piece of wood. i tried to capture some of the lake too...oh well, still looks kinda cool though, no?












a view of the lake.










the beach of Possotome.









fisherman on the lake. it's not deep at all. i could probably walk out there.









me in front of the natural spring thing. the water that comes out is nice and warm! this is also the city where they bottle spring water.














me and some goats in Possotome.












______________________________________
Dakar trip...i mean medevac
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found this at the supermarche and thought it was creepy. Polly Pockets that you have to assemble yourself. also, as i pulled out my camera to take this, is when i realized that i have a broken camera screen. so it's back to the old fashioned way and using the view finder...but the following pictures are nice, no?






eatin some n'ice cream ice cream. OMG, soooooooooooo good. bubble gum and vanilla.









this is the presidential palace.










these stairs reminded me of the time i was in Cuzco and we had to hike up the un-godly amount of stairs to watch the festival thingy. but these weren't bad...i was just tired of walking. oh, and i guess there are goats everywhere here too.









we came across this writing on the wall on our walk along the coast of Dakar. It was on the road under the presidential palace...it was a gorgeous walk...







a boatful of yovos. oops. i feel bad for writing that. but not really because tourists are annoying and i feel that they were indeed yovos. any-yovo, i haven't seen this many white people together in one place in a REALLY long time...






this was our boat, the SS Beer!











a really pretty "street" we walked down as we wandered around the island.









this is me in front of the history museum. i think it used to be fort or a castle or something...i dunno caue we didn't go in. but i thought it was cool that it had a draw bridge and a moat! ****this one is for Cole and Cade, who love castles (they still do, right??)****







Baobab tree lined hike up to the top of Gore Island

















this is a mural on a wall. somehow, all the colors all over the island were bold and beautiful...










this is Gore Island. took a trip out there today..