A few of my favorite things . . .

There are a few random things about Dakar that I thought I'd share that I like about here:
1)The peanuts- peanuts are one of Senegal's natural resources, which means that they sell wonderful little packs of peanuts all over the place, for 25 CFA (about 5cents), and they make for a delicious snacks
2)the religious environment- I've really gotten used to the mosque blaring prayers at different hours of the day, and its so interesting to see people stopping what they're doing, rolling out their prayer mats and taking the time to pray. It's a devotion you definetly don't see very often in the States
3) Cafe Toubab- it's very hard to explain, but it tastes like a mixture between tea and coffee with some kind of spice in it. You can get it on the street from vendors and a dixie cup costs 50CFA, which is nice and cheap! Not to say that I don't miss coffee from the states, but it's a nice change-up
4) the weather- i'm not gonna lie, it is gorgeous here most of the time, and I love how warm it is in February- it's insane!
5) the clothing- everyone here dresses in such a vibrant and beautiful style. The men wear boubous, which are long baggy pants and long baggy tops with beautiful embroidery. And of course the women have their colorful and well tailored dresses- sometimes it's hard not to stare and covet their clothes!
6) the fruit stands with all of the nice and fresh fruit for such a good price

They're the little things in life that keep things going for me. I can't believe that I've been here for over three weeks already. The days seem to pass by pretty quickly. I'm doing my best to get involved in as much as I can, but sometimes it's hard when you just want to relax and chill out- something about being here is very exhausting! Nonetheless, I really feel like I'm settling into life here and I am enjoying it. In all reality I don't have that much time here so I have to make the most of what I do have!
This weekend the whole group is going to Toubab Dialow which has been described as an artists colony of sorts with a gorgeous beach- I am going to take a Batik class, and I cannot wait! People have really enjoyed the visit in the past, and I'm very interested in seeing other parts of Senegal.
Never fear, I do have work to do, and I am learning a lot in my classes. My two topic classes (Islam and Social Anthropology) tend to have a lot of connections between the two, so I can get frustrated with some repition, but for the most part its good reinforcement. I have a presentation in a week about the marriage tradition of the Wolof's- it should be really interesting. Here marriage isn't considered to be between a man and a woman, it is between two families. It's very complicated and a long process, and makes me glad to be able to marry whomever I would want to! It definetly gives insight into the culture.
Lunchtime now!- leggi leggi (means see you later!)