dragon slayers

so needless to say this was a beautiful thanksgiving season for me.

thursday night suffolk put on a fete for all the students.
in true american fashion, we got there at 7pm (exactly when the party was supposed to start) because we wanted to make sure we got turkey. in true african fashion...the food didnt come out until maybe 830 or 9. lawlz

it was unlike any thanksgiving i have ever had. mainly because there was club music bumpin drinks flowin and many different languages spoken. oh and a ton of food.
the only things really missing were stuffing and cranberry sauce. but there was mac and cheese and plantanes and grapefruits with olives and "meat" stuck inside them with toothpicks. everything was still so good.

the night ended with modou and i going to a bowling alley. and then i kicked his butt in air hockey. how romantic. happy thanksgiving to all and to all a goodnight.

the next day we left for st. louis, our last trip as a ciee group together.
we drove to the lompoul desert and spent the afternoon to evening romping around on huge sand dunes, somersaulting (later regretting that idea) down the dunes, riding camels and living la vie tranquille in the sand. we slept in these amazing tents that look like arabian herdsmen tents with lanterns hanging on the front of each one. we lay under the stars for a long term and laughed and danced around a fire and played drums and ate good food. the desert life is the life for me.

the next day we drove to see some birds. it was cute and all but literally we were in the bus for like 3 hours and we saw some pelicans flying in a circle. sorry if i sound ungrateful, i'm not but it was just really sweaty.

after that we drove to st louis. its very french colonial looking hence the name and all. we stayed in a really lovely auberge by the water and had BRICK OVEN PIZZA for dinner. talk about luxury. i bought a piece of art for 5000 cfa which is $10 and i spent a lot of time convincing myself that was ok because it is only the 2nd thing i have bought here and it was a local artist and balbalbla....im stingy.
we went out later that night and saw some live music and roamed the city. at one point a few of us were sitting out on a dock type thing and some senegalese men came up and started doing tricks on their mopeds. it was weird and funny because....youre riding a moped. not that b.a. if you know what i mean.

also my dad (carlos) is home from mecca. he was SO happy to see me and i was SO happy to see him! it was the nicest greeting when i came home last night. my yaay seemed legitimately delighted to see me and she said that they missed me all weekend and my dad just kept saying its nice to be back and he was laughing and giddy and i loved my family at that moment.

i would like to watch love actually and drink hot chocolate and eat pumpkin pie while i read a book by the fire. but that can wait. because i have 3 weeks to be in this country that i love with people i love and i am blessed to be able to do that.