Les pensées

So, I feel like I should update, as it has been a week, but I have very little to write about... hmmm...

Well, first of all, it should be noted that I will be traveling to a more remote region of Senegal the 7th-13th, where I will not have internet. Thus, do not expect me to immediately reply to any emails during that time. During this week, I will be working with the organization Association pour la Promotion de la Femme Sénégalaise (APROFES) and staying in a smaller village near Kaolack, Senegal. This is a women's empowerment organization that does a wide variety of projects including education programs and microfinancing. I'm not entirely sure what specifically I'll be doing, but I'll be sure to write about it when I get back! Other people in CIEE are staying with Peace Corps volunteers and then others are staying in villages, doing work like community health or environmental education.

I would also like to note that I am on the sixth Harry Potter book at this point: Le Prince de Sang-Melé. I registered for classes for next semester, too. It should be a very interesting while challenging semester. I will be taking International Economic Politics, Analysis of US Foreign Policy, Microeconomics, and then two Honors colloquia, one about the history and culture of Istanbul and the other about the European Union. It will be weird to not be taking a French class, but I was not thrilled with the ones offered and I think after this semester I will be needing "une petite pause" from French.

I also have basically given up all hope that I will reach full health this semester. Just when I think all will be well, a bout of diarrhea or some crazy dizziness hits me and it is back to square one. I have been exercising, although not too intensely nor too often as I am sick so much, which has definitely improved my mental health. The mood swings I experience here are absolutely insane. When I am in a good mood, something really depressing will come my way, and then I will fall into a bad mood. Then other times, I get so frustrated by little things like the attendant on a car rapide not giving me back my proper change and pretending he can't understand me when I call him out for it. It does work both ways though, as many times I have been either depressed about something or angry and then I come home and Soso will do something to make me laugh. I guess having more control over emotions is something that comes with time when leaving comforts of the developed world. Or maybe it is something one has to force him or herself to learn. Either way, there is no rest for the weak.

Also, after this semester there is no way I will ever look at rice the same way again, or white pasta. Baguettes have been growing on me though. I often feel helpless when it comes to eating healthily... For breakfast and dinner it is generally all really simple carbohydrates, sometimes I get vegetables with dinner, though not always. Lunch, which I buy, I try to eat fruits and nuts and yogurt but even after days of constantly eating those things I have grown weary. The problem, and this is probably a public health problem in general, is that healthy food is just so much more expensive than regular food. The cheapest salad I have found at a restaurant is $5, and compared to the fried egg on a baguette sandwich that costs $1, it is easier to choose the latter.

On a more positive note, I spent my first day of November at the beach... pretty sure the only time I've ever gone to the beach in November!

I promise my next post will be more interesting!

Ciao ciao!