Paris was absolutely amazing. Minus the fact that anytime I wanted to take a nap or go home for the night, I had to climb five fights of stairs, the apartment was adorable. If we walked a couple of blocks on one side we were right on the steps of Sacre Coeur. Drinking wine on the steps with all of the frenchies (sigh). We sat there a few nights and watched the sunset. One night, we decided to cook dinner (steak and salad with bread and cheese) DELISH!!! Only problem, which I discovered later, was that for some reason, the sun sets later there. And by later I mean like 1030pm. So a huge steak dinner at 1230am? A little strange, but was tasty regardless of the hour. I made sure to get in most of my cravings. One morning, I was dead set on having a strawberry tart. The first two boulangeries didn't have them but I felt weird walking in without buying anything, so I had three different pastries for breakfast. Fat kid at heart I guess :)
After doing the museums, the Eiffel Tower, all your typical touristy things, even some that aren't so touristy and way too much shopping, wine and cheese, we headed off to Dakar. Happy Hour and some non-3rd world things are the typical things to do in Dakar. So, we headed off to Ile de Ngor where we took a little canoe-like boat (pirogue) across and i succeeded in soaking my pants and covering myself with sand. After drinking some Gazelles and taking in the view, we headed down to Kedagou for the 4th of July party and a 36k bike ride to the waterfalls.
Ok, let me just say.....I kicked Chris's butt on that bike ride. No offense babe, but you should practice before I come home for good. This is a habit that I think will be kept. Any way, overall, it was a pretty nice bike ride. Nice view, nice pulaars, nice waterfalls....and then a nice flat tire. LAME! Who knows what did it, but turned out the patches were crap and I did not have my glue. A "nice" pulaar man stopped and helped us try to patch the hole, but lo and behold, crappy patches. So he told us to go to Segou, the next town, and that he would be back with a car. He was going back to Kedagou as well. So we walk my bike there and wait. and wait......and wait. It would have been nice if he had told me he was going back 3 days later. So we walked back to the town and stayed that night at the waterfall, where we
were eaten alive by any an everything. Not fun. Granted the people were really nice and the view was gorgeous, I wanted to be in an uncomfortable hammock at the regional house. The next morning, being the charming pulaar lady that I am, we hitched a ride on a massive truck coming from Guinea up into town again. We made it finally, tired and hungry.....or well....tired and really needing a beer. So we did, we partied it up in the name of independence and then floated down the gambian river on intertubes (with the hippos) to obtain more much needed beers and eat warthog sandwiches. Sorry pumba....but I was achin' for some bacon!!
Back up to Kaolack, that wonderful cess pool of a place (especially during the rainy season) before going to Pakane. My village was one of the highlights. I put that boy to work making live fences, planting my papaya trees and of course greeting the village. Which was well, necessary, but a lot of work for me. I don't really do it that much anymore. He also got to accompany me as I yelled at a villager about letting all of his outplanted mangos get eaten by goats. Not so much as yell but sas him until he apologized. The food was a surprise for Chris. On the first day, the bowl was opened and hello bassi! A dish of white 
rice with ground peanuts, hot peppers and dried fish. Chris was terrified, I let him fend for himself haha. And he absolutely hated millet. I think he may have gagged a few times. If you recall, I used to hate it as well (referencing my millet poem/blog entry). I laughed at him....and then made fun of him with my host family.
The best part of the village would be the death of the goat. Yes ladies and gentlemen, there is one less goat on this earth, alhumdoulillah! I helped the ladies cook, the men sat. big surprise there. But it was delicious, by far the best meal at site in the past year!
Toubacouta was our last little mini vacay. We stayed in the mangroves (a funky looking tree that grows out of the water). The first night, we were typical cheapos living on a budget. But the second, Chris treated me to a fancy hotel overlooking the river. It had a pool, included dinner and breakfast, air conditioning and hot water!!! I'm telling you, I got way too used to this. I'm actually thinking about installing some AC into my hut. You think they do that solar? I actually was cold that night and shivered all night long. It was GLORIOUS!!!!! We even went kayaking, which is nowhere near as fun as jet skiing in the ocean like at Myrtle Beach. Pushing myself along? Pssshhh....who are we kidding, "oh butler.... prepare the air conditioning and run my bath....while you're at it, get me a beer." Man, I could get used to that life! Oh who am I kidding...I live in a freakin village.
I'm sad that this month went by so quickly. Chris is home, I head back to the village tomorrow with 3 bacterial infections and strep throat. Thats right folks, I'm back in Senegal. Kuddi. At least I'll be home for Christmas. 4 months!
A cute picture and the typical senegalese pose....at the gambian bar!
