Dude looks like a lady...

Well, I can officially eliminate cross-dressing from the "things I need to do before I die" list. Tamkharit rolled around today, and overall it was a very subdued celebration, except for the evening. The day came and went like any other, and the only real difference was what we ate for dinner. The local missionary, Roy, came over for dinner (he doesn't have a host family and thus often comes over for local celebrations), and we all ate "Ceere", which is millet based couscous. Once dinner was done, things got interesting. Tradition has it that once dinner is done, the children cross dress and go around to the different households asking for candy and money (kind of like Halloween, but with only one costume...). The women in my family had asked me if I wanted to partake in the event. Severely disappointing the men of the family, I accepted the challenge. With most of us gathered in the living room, my host sister, Kine (she is on my left in the group picture), brought the clothing out. All of a sudden, I was a full fledged Senegalese woman in heels. My appearance caused such riotous bouts of laughter that taking pictures was only an option after about 2o minutes or so. Time and time again, "GALASS BU JIGEEN" (Galass the woman) was shouted out, each time garnering a fresh round of laughter. The pictures were taken solely for the amusement of my western family and friends, and even my host family admitted that. So I hope everyone enjoys the pictures, because I'm not really sure when I'll get to play the part of a Senegalese woman again.

As for New Years, it was a wild time. About 40 of us went to the touristy city of St. Louis. Little did we know, about 100 Peace Corps volunteers from Mauritania had the same idea. The end result was that Peace Corps took over the town. In our little section of the city, no street corner was devoid of a volunteer. In fact, the night of the 31st felt much like any other wild Friday night in the U.S, since I was surrounded by westerners the entire time. Despite the fact that I got a high fever the next day, it was a great time and I would not be opposed to returning there for New Years 2010. In other news, I'm still working with local shoemakers. I'm trying to get them to improve their accounting practices so that they stand a better chance at securing loans to increase their workspace and manpower. I'm having to come to terms with the fact that things really do take quite a bit longer out here. For instance, it took me 3 days to make 4 photocopies because the machines were broken for several days. But my work partners are great and eager to get work going, so that's very refreshing. When I'm not working with the shoemakers, I'll usually go to the Maire's office and study Wolof or talk to the employees for an hour or two. Other than that, I'll be at site for the next week and a half and then head off to Dakar where I'll once again flex my muscles (or lack thereof) on the softball field. Then, on the 26th, I'll go back to Thies for 3 weeks to complete my training with IST (Inter-Service Training). During that period, I'm fairly sure that my friends and I will be commuting from our homestay villages, which means that I will make a glorious return to Tassette. That about sums it up for now, so I hope everyone back home had a good New Year and enjoys my feminine side. A plus tard!

P.S The one picture of the water is in St.Louis.