Fallou (Gallas) Niang arrives in Mekhe!

Greetings to everyone back home. I have officially been installed as the new volunteer in Ngaye Mekhe. Everywhere I go, people shout out "Tafa! Tafa!" (short for Mustafa, the volunteer I'm replacing here). Thus, each time, I have to stop and say "Tudduma Mustafa, Gallas la tudd!". Despite that, things could really not be going any better. My family here is another experience in itself. They are not only a massive family, but they are intensely Wolof. We seldom speak french, and they are typically loud and aggressive (if you overhead my household having a conversation, you might think domestic abuse was about to occur), but in a friendly manner. They have been extremely helpful with me so far, and seem genuinely excited to have a new white kid in the house. Not only is the family great, but my living arrangements are superd. My room is on the 2nd floor, and in addition to having the internet, it has a great window with a beautiful view of the landscape. The food here has also been a source of jealousy for my fellow newly made volunteer friends. Simply put, we weat extremely well by Senegalese standards. Last night, we ate french fries with pasta and chunks of cow meat with onion sauce. Needless to say, it was a tad bit better than village sand (or millet couscous as they like to call it...I'm pretty sure it's just sand).
I've also been lucky in that I may get to do some work rather early on here. During this initial three month period, the Peace Corps does not expect much from us in terms of work. The pre-IST (Inter-Service Training, held in early February), period is to be used to integrate into the community and the host family. However, yesterday, the volunteer I'm replacing came by with some other americans to help make a film about local artisans. Thus, we spent yesterday afternoon filming a local shoe shop, and all day today filming the women of a basketweaving village. It was a lot of fun and really got me excited to actually work out here. I made it clear to the current volunteer that I'm perfectly willing and able to work if possible, and so I already have a meeting scheduled on Tuesday with another volunteer and the vice president of a village association to prepare the villages for a potential large order of baskets. Also, I'll be going to Dakar for the weekend to take a look at the artisanal exposition held there each year. It will be a great opportunity to see first hand what some of my future work partners do. Also, it doesn't hurt that some of my best friends from training will be there and that there are two softball games on Saturday as well...
Anyways, it's getting late and I should head off to bed, but I'll post updates when I get back from Dakar. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Ba suba ak jamm!
Pictures are of the village we went to today and of the actual interview of the basketweavers.