Visitors, Strep Throat and Other Fun Things

So its been awhile since Ive actually written anything on here and I apologize to both of you who read this regularly (dont think anyone else noticed). As you can see from the title a lot of fun has been going on down here in Senegal. I got back to site last Saturday and everything went really well. Ive been doing a lot of greeting and giving people their suriche (gifts) that I brought them from England. Everyone except for one person has been so excited and grateful and its gone really smoothly entering back into life here. I dont know what I was worried about.

Monday an American student studying abroad in Dakar for the semester showed up for a week long visit so that she could see what life was like elsewhere in Senegal and it went really well. She was super cool and we cooked a lot and I showed her around the town, we went to Thies for a day and to the beach at Popenguine. She had been told that she would be going to a small village with no electricity or running water and was kind of dreading the experience, so imagine her surprise when she shows up in my "village" of 25,000 with running water and electricity, then gets to my house where she gets her own room and I have my own shower. She wasnt prepared for all that Pout had to offer, but I think she had a good time. It was really nice to have a guest, especially one who has been in the country less time than I have, because I got to see just how far Ive come these last seven months. She was really impressed with my Wolof and I was flattered and thought, you know, my wolof really has improved.

Halfway through her visit I woke up with a really sore throat. One thing led to another and I had a full blown case of strep throat. Suck. Its kinda weird getting what I consider normal diseases here. You come prepared to face malaria and parasites, and then when you come down with the common cold youre a little surprised. I guess there are still ways that I myself am unprepared for life in this country. Moral of the story is that Ive spent the last 6 days in bed with my fan blowing on me drinking anything cold I can get my hands on and taking copious amounts of ibuprofen to deal with the pain. Getting sick here sucks. What I would give for a pint of Ben & Jerrys and a Law and Order Marathon. Oh well, at least I dont actually live in a village, right?