Popenguine Weekend

We've just returned from our highly anticipated beach outing to the beautiful Popenguine region. After scrambling around for a few days, we managed rent a large house for fairy cheap. The house was fantastic, as it was on the beach and provided us with some rare toubab amenities, such as a fridge, working showers, etc... Since we got to Popenguine at around 4pm, we were able to go to the local general store and buy beverages appropriate for a massive group (40) of recent college graduates, which included some disconcertingly cheaply priced alcohols (a $3 large bottle of whiskey...?). Once stocked up for the night, we paraded out to the beach and had a blast, enjoying warm Gazelles, frisbee games, and even chicken fights (I was 1-0) in the warm ocean water. For dinner a few of my fellow trainees cooked up massive heapings of spaghetti, and then the party began. Dancing, flip-cup, and other festive activities continued into the wee hours of the morning. Waking up on the tile floor at 8 in the morning, I went out for a swim, and spent the majority of the day between swimming and lying on the beach until we had to pack up. After a hectic cleanup, we were off to Thies, very tired and even more sunburnt. Everyone seems to have had a great time, and some people even got the chances to make fools of themselves, which always makes for good comedy.
Tomorrow, we'll have another full day of classes, and then on Tuesday afternoon we'll head back to our homestay villages for a short stay. After a few more days of Wolof Total Immersion (sounds somewhat intense doesn't it?), we'll once again come back to Thies. A trip to Dakar will follow, and well as more days in Thies. As you can all obviously tell, I'm still living out of my duffel bag/backpack, with some of my clothing resting in a dusty room in the village, some here in Thies, and some in a state of total filth. Thus far, this experience has been even better than I could have imagined, and I can't wait to see what the next two years have in store for me. The only negative on finishing training is that I will be seperated from some good friends here at the center, as many of them are going to remote village in the south of the country, making it difficult to see them a lot. Despite that, I'm still very excited to get to my site and get going with the "real deal", if you will. I'm off to the center to enjoy a somewhat quiet evening after last nights craziness, and get ready for the week ahead (which will include the "Olivers largest laundry load of all time" challenge starting tomorrow). I will also update my permanent address on here in a week or two, so all of you adoring fans dying to send me packages (insert sarcasm) will know where to send them soon enough. A wish list for a few useful items and foods will accompany the address. Hope everything is all well back home, and that Texas is enjoying having defeated Oklahoma yesterday (sorry James...). Mangiy Noos bu bare! (I'm having tons of fun).

P.S Internet is being retarded slow again, thus no pictures this time...