Ok, so maybe I was a little tough on life here in the last post. I'm just feeling very ready to go home and am eager to get a move on doing things like finding an apartment. But I will miss some great things from here (at least I think - it's hard to tell how I'll feel about not being here when I am still here). For one, my host family has turned out to be great. At first there were difficulties. Even if you know that there are cultural differences, it's still hard to deal with that and remember that when you're living amidst them. But now I like being at home and seeing my family and they tend to seem to be pretty happy to see me. There isn't a whole lot that we talk about- it's mostly small talk, but that's ok. I like that I am somewhere that gives me the freedom to come and go, and I love coming home to have my brothers rush up to me to say hello! I'm currently trying to figure out what kind of a thank you present to get for them for hosting me. I'll be going to Touba next Tuesday, which is the Mouride capital (Mouride is the most popular Muslim brotherhood in Senegal, and Touba is like their Mecca) so hopefully I can find them something there. They're very excited for me to go (my brother Khadim says that there is everything there, anything you could want is there) and I'm very excited to get the opportunity to go, especially since it will be with my Islam class (and awesome Islam professor) so it'll be in a small and educational group. So much to fit in during these last few weeks.
It's really strange to think about how life will be like at home. All of those things that I miss will suddenly be right in front of me and will probably be overwhelming. Also, the transition back to American food will aparently be difficult, which is no fun, but I think I'll manage to trudge through it if it means I get to eat my favorite foods again. The adjustment is going to be hard but as I've said before (I think- I feel like I often repeat myself in these blogs) I'm glad to have the time here to reflect on all of these things and consider how I feel about being here while still being here. Not much time left, but I'll do my best to keep taking advantage of my awesome/interesting situation!