just so you know

I'm in Dakar right now. I'm staying with an employee of the American Embassy. Since so many volunteers are in town at once our country director set up homestays for us. It's a great idea.

First thing I did when I got here was take a shower. The combination of hot water and pressure felt so good I decided to make it a bath. Twenty short minutes later I was regretting the decision, because I couldn't unplug the drain. Ten long, frantic minutes later I finally figured it out.

You might not think asking for help with the plug would be such a big deal, but you would be wrong. I've been taking bucket baths for almost six months now and I am disgusting. Or I was until shortly before this post. I didn't want anyone seeing that bath water.

So there's no confusion in future e-mails, I went to Mbour but ended up skipping the big event. My stomach was doing horrible things and I thought it would be best to sweat it out alone in the dark hotel room - dark because the electricity shut down as soon as we got there - while everyone else attended the dance party. I wasn't bored for long. The combination of worms (possibly amoebas), a broken toe and stomach issues of his own brought Ben back to the room early and he caught me up on all I missed.

I shared a bed with Maggie who came back around 2 or 3 a.m. The poor girl had just fallen asleep when I rolled over and punched her in the head. She was really nice about it.

P.S. It was the first day of school for both Jackie and Jen last week. I hope it went well and I was thinking of you both.

Comments

[Missy]

Hi Emily,

I love reading your blog!!! Thanks for the text message too. My hand is a mess but will get better hopefully. Go to doctor's for debridement every day for a week to get the debris out of it. Debridement sounds like it will hurt but will just have to suck it up. At least at home Johnny is spoiling me and I'm loving it!

Recently I've had some stomach issues so I feel your pain with that. Hope you're feeling as good as new now.

Love, Missy