May 12

So this may or may not be my last post in Senegal, depending on wheteher anything super epic happens in the next 24 hours or so...and whether or not we have power/internet access tomorrow.
This week has really beena  blur of packing, lasts (among them, a last trip to N'Ice Cream, where we purchased the largest supersize-aptly named, the American Cone-to say our last farewell), and last minute shopping.  Fortunately, after making some crucial wardrobe decisions (do I need this tattered t-shirt at home?), it appears that my one suitcase will, in fact, be able to fit all of my belongings (including all Senegalese purchases)...with a little effort.  Packing up my room was bizarre...all of the kids have been in my room "helping" me (by which I mean talking and distracting me, and attempting to pilfer things when my back was turned), and to be honest, it was kind of sad (and embarrassing...my room is filthy, not necessarily because of my own habits, but because, unliek the Senegalese, I seem to have attracted an inordinate amount of bugs, which have promptly crawled into all of my suitcases and drawers to die among my possessions).  So sorry Mom and Dad, but there's a good chance that I'll eb bringing home a few dead coackroaches with my clothes (hey, at least they're dead...probably).
Last night, I learned how to make fish, frites, and yassa, my family's favorite special occasion meal.  Shopping through consumption took almost 5 and  ahalf hours, which was ridiculous, and mostly a result of the inefficiency of those around me...but I suppose when in Senegal, do as the non-toubabs do.
It surprisingly easy to make yassa-a few kilos of chipped onions, a few cloves of garlic, crushed pepper, piment, vinegar, salt/seasonings as needed, a green pepper and green onions, and you're good to go!  It mostly took forever because
a) we have a tiny gas burner that can cook like one french fry ata  time, and
b) there are 23 mouths to feed.
In America, I imagien that this could be an easy, time-saving, impressive ethnic dish.
Today, we did a last market day,a nd got our hands hennaed...despite some smudging (because despite being in Senegal for 4 months, I have not developed the Senegalese virtue of endless patience) it looks pretty decent.  And even if I'm just saying that to convince myself I don't look like a giant tool (a la hair braiding episode), it comes off in a week or two.  And cost about two dollars. So no worries; except that the henna man insisted on doing a design on my feet for free, which I'm sorry to say, looks ever so slightly like a piece of the male anatomy, rather than the flower that he insisted it was intended to be.  Whoops.  But I've added a little lime juice to the ink and it's almost gone.
Tomorrow I am meetign up with one of my mentor teachers from my teaching internship to visit her and her family for lunch...should be interesting to see another Senegalese family in their own home. And it will be a nice opportunity to say goodbye.
Other than that...I'll be distributing host family gifts tomorrow, and attending our mandatory "reintegration session" at the university, and then it's off to the airport to come home!  At the very least I'll be back for a nostalgic wrap-up post once I'm back stateside, so until then, fanaanal ak jamm.