That Dang Little Muhammad!!!!

My little host brother Muhammad came very close to getting a spanking the other day.

He was sitting at the breakfast table whining for no reason, and his dad told him to come which he didn't do. He just sat there crying like the little baby he is.

All of a sudden dad gets up but mom rushes in and grabs baby, saves him from a spanking. Dad had a belt in his hand ready.

I just sat at the table laughing. Then he looked at me and says, "this is not in America." I just smiled and said we got beat growing up too. We got beat probably more than they do here. In my house the belt didn't come out for no reason. If my daddy took his belt off he was going to use it on one of us...maybe both. That was the way it was.

If that had been me my dad or mom would've said, I'll give you something to cry about, and that would've been it. The thing about it is I have never seen a little boy in Africa or America, that needs to get beat as badly as Muhammad needs to get beat. That little boy needs to get his butt whooped like...every 2 hours. That'll show him. He hits, he spits, he yells, he throws things, he tried to pull my pants down on the school bus he's so bad. And he'll do something, laugh and walk away, and he gets away with it every time. Talk about things that are unfair.

He came in my room one morning and spat on my sheets but do you think he got in trouble OF COURSE NOT. Now it's getting cold and I have no sheets. Maybe it's because he's the baby, maybe it's because he's the only boy I don't know. But I'll tell you this, I'm glad mama is pregnant and I hope she has a boy. Then maybe Mohammad will finally be able to calm down and act normal...or maybe not.

(it's always better when he's sleeping)

The Fam...

Just a few pics, more coming. My internet has been down :(

Charlotte Young Est Charlotte Ndaw

J'aime my host family!!!!

I have finally moved into my homestay with Pape Ndaw who works at the school and his family and I love them. It's very different from the Kanes.

Pape Ndaw lives in Mamel which is about a 10 minute drive from Almadies where the Kanes live. The house is large; 2 stories about 5 bedrooms, 3 common spaces, a dining room, kitchen...it's large. Plus there's space up on the roof which will be absolutely BEAUTFIUL once they fix it up. They recently moved there so there is still work to do on the house.

The family dynamic is COMPLETELY different. First there's Pape Ndaw, his wife and 4 children, 4 men who are the brothers of either Pape Ndaw or his wife and 2 women who are nieces. That's 12 people, 13 if you include me, all in one house...beaucoup de famille. And they all speak Wolof excluding Pape Ndaw, one of the brothers and the English that the children know.

As much as I would love to say that language barriers don't matter and that together we cobbled together a language filled with laughter that was understood by all, that didn't exactly happen. I proudly spurted out three of the five wolof phrases I knew, and looked confused upon the next question. It occured to me then that I only know introductory phrases. There's been a lot of me just standing around silently and looking confused or in a daydream.

The first night I walked around Mamel with the 2 nieces and one of the brothers. I enjoy walking around Mamel and seeing people. I mostly spoke to the brother as he is the one that speaks English, but he won't always be around.

He wasn't around at all last night, and I spent most of the time with the women, watching Madame Ndaw sew (she's a seamstress) with her fellow seamstress people and walking around with one of the women. I really need to remember everyone's name.

Then the power shut off and I realized how different it is when the power is off and there is no generator. Candles provided a soft glow of light throughout the various rooms, and I watched the children mischievously play in the tips of the flames while they completed the homework by candle light.

The lights did not come back on before dinner so we ate in the dark. "Mange! Mange!" (Eat, Eat.) They encouraged even though I was full. I have a hard time telling people in English that I do not want anymore so you can imagine how it was in Wolof/French--there was nothing else I could do but eat even though I was full.

Eventually the lights came back on and the children scrambled in a race to blow out the candles. Then we sat around the living room talking and laughing. I learned several new words.

Kay tok fee-- Come sit down.
Lek gue be soure--Did you eat enough?
Lek nabesoure. Tog bi nekhna. I ate enough. It was delicious.

And finally, Mague dem nelow. Basouba. I am going to sleep. Good night.

After getting ready for bed in the bathroom, I noticed a plate of apples and pears by my bed. It was the sweetest thing everrrrr I love my new family! :)