Greetings from the country where "Waaw" (sounds like "wow") is how everyone says yes! Wolof, the most widely-spoken local language in Senegal is hard for me to get in my head. With many aspirated sounds of Arabic and common words with Fulfulde (or Pulaar, as they call it here), my brain is never quite sure what is the meaning of the words that are coming through my ears. Though my new Wolof vocabulary is limited, it is of course versatile and efficient. I know how to say yes (Waaw), no, thank you, how are you?, i am fine and you are weird. Not too shabby, huh?

Great things to celebrate: On Friday morning, i took my last journey on transportation in West Africa! From here on out, it's airplane, baby! Whooohoo! On Friday, the ride into Dakar from Thies took more than 4hrs... for 70km! Quite appropriate for the two years of amazing adventures on decrepit modes of deplacement that I've experienced. Through the flooding that has drenched the outskirts of Dakar, we got the scenic route, squeezing our 7-place taxi through residential alleyways and puddles the size of kiddie pools. It was an absolute mess, but most commuters were quite courteous to one another - alleged, that is because we are in the month of Ramadan...

In my travels, I am moving slowly up the development ladder, from Burkina, to Mali to Senegal, and I have been amazed by the small increases in development and comfort. Most of the taxis are in better condition that any of the taxis I was used to in Burkina. (Though, they often still fail my three mirror check.) In a few days, I am off to Morocco. I am excited to go back after 4 years. I studied Arabic in Fes during college and had a great time. So, I am looking forward to returning and seeing what's changed.

ok, until next time! Ciao!