ramadan, rashes, and the rains

Just a quick update on my general state of being:

*Ramadan has begun. Not too bad so far. I was sick the first few days, so I wasn't able to try fasting, and even after, my family wanted to make sure I was A-OK before they were going to let me give up food. They are very concerned about making me "very, very large!" so when I go home to America, everyone will be able to tell how wonderful Senegal is based on how fat I get. I definitely am not planning on fasting for the entire month, but when I get back to village I would like to give it a try for a few days. I'll let you know how that goes. I anticipate being very, very hungry.

*It is more humid that one can possible imagine at the moment here in Kaolack - never thought there could be 100% humidity without rain, but never fear, Senegal managed to make that a reality. My skin has decided not to get along with the humidity, and I am at various times covered with heat rash. Luckily, a cold shower, some talc powder, and a good dose of an antihistamine do wonders.

*Rainy season is in full force now, and man oh man can it rain! For the past week at site it has rained every day, ranging from just a few light showers to full on hurricane strength gales. One night the lightening was so crazy, you didn't even need a light to go out because the entire sky was constantly ablaze. Crazy! It is still deafeningly loud inside the hut since I have a tin roof, but I am starting to get used to it; just need to get passed the sense that the roof is going to cave in on me! The main bush path that I take to get from my village to the road has become more of a river, which I learned the hard way when I tried to bike out this morning. It was literally a lake that I had to trudge through, in flip flops, with my bike. Lovely. I tried to fight my way through the bush in an attempt to stay dry, which partially worked, but since it is the rainy season, the bush is no longer sparse, but teeming with flora. So I was basically bush-wacking my way down the road. I felt like I was in the Jungle Book or something, and it is a serious shame that no one was around to witness my battle against the bush, as I can only imagine how ridiculous I looked. Needless to say, I will not be taking that particular bush path for a while.

Tomorrow I am off to another village to plant some trees for a live fence, then going home and hopefully painting some murals in the next couple of weeks, so I will be sure to take some pictures!

Jamm & Love