Random pictures and observations

So I have noticed that during my short time here I have become used to things that I would normally have found strange. I want to share some of these with you and as time goes by I hope to show you more such things. Also, because I know some of my readers like to see street scenes from Senegal, I have included those as well. Please let me know if I'm starting to get a little weird for thinking this is all just normal!!

My brothers and some of their friends hanging out in my compound playing a card game. Behind them you can see my well so when running water stops we have a back-up; however, when the well drys up, well guess we'll figure something out!

this is the front of my compound. The pink building is the one I live in, not only do I have my own room and bathroom, but I have a rooftop which is where I'll be sleeping come the hot, dry season!

This is one side of my street. It's a quiet day because it was taken on a Sunday. Usually there are people, bikes, goats, sheep, and cars along the road.

This is the other side of my street. If you look at the pile of white dirt on the right-hand side you can see some goats chilling in the dirty. I've just become so accustomed to seeing goats every where that when I walk into my compound and find 10 goats there, none of them ours, I don't think twice about it.

So I was sitting by the pool with one of my friend yesterday and we happened to notice a goat jumping around, neither of us thought anything about it till I realized, I would be quite surprised in American if I saw a goat jumping around a pool!

This is David chopping some wood for out pizza party. The hut that you see behind him is his hut that he built himself!

I am preparing my pizza with some garlic, tomatoes, cheese, and thanks to David's father, pepperoni!!!! YUM!!

And how do we cook our pizzas? In the clay pizza ovens that we built! Who says you have to eat poorly in Africa?

Here is picture of my old host mom, the reason that I have it here is because I want everyone to look at the amount of makeup that she put on (the picture doesn't do her justice) and Senegalese women wear this much makeup and think it looks good. Guess they don't understand what the natural look is.

And where do you get the best food in Senegal, the garage of course. The garage is where all the buses and sept-places leave for Guinea or Dakar, we grab a seat where you can and dig into a communal bowl. Trust me, it's good!!

Here is a typical family's "common room". It's outside and it has mattresses and mats thrown about so that there is always room for everyone to sit or nap.

This is a typical family meal, find a place to wedge yourself in and dig in!

Here is a typical street scene in St. Louis, I included these so that people can see what an average city here looks like. Not too bad, right?

Well not all the parts of a city are nice, here's what the other half of the street looks like. Unfortunately the Senegalese haven't figured out a good way to dispose of their waste so it usually ends up strewn all over the place.

Since fishing is a the major industry in St. Louis I thought that it was interesting to notice that they don't use any fancy gadgets to find the fish, they just take out a boat, like the one above, cast their nets, and hope that something bites.

Another picture of the low-tech, but very efficient boat.

Another typical street up north.